News updates

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Obama Presidential agenda is how little anyone has questioned in the media or elsewhere why at all the United States Pentagon is committed to a military occupation of Afghanistan. There are two basic reasons, neither one of which can be admitted openly to the public at large. Behind all the deceptive official …

It is not likely that China will offer an alternative to US hegemony regarding Palestine anytime soon. (MaanImages) George Habash, the late leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), called China Palestine’s “best friend.” Indeed, he was on an official PFLP visit to China when the conflict between Palestinian forces and the Hashemite Kingdom erupted in …

Cairo – Al-Azhar University in Cairo is one of the oldest and most respected Sunni religious institutions in the world. It works hard to uphold the image of Islam by supporting tolerance, urging Muslims to avoid extremism and rendering edicts on the proper behaviour for Muslims—such as respect for one’s neighbours and the need to practice charity towards anyone in …

The enormity of the carnage that visited the civilians at the Meena Bazaar in Peshawar on Wednesday is certainly not going to be Pakistan’s last. The blast at a bazaar that sells largely women merchandize, some say, was an attack on Pakistan’s way of life. But the picture behind the horror is more complex and has many hands behind it. …

Edited extracts from his recent interview with Channel 4’s Jon Snow The lesson is that terrorism has causes ? unless the causes are addressed; you’re not facing the problem. Now a lot of it is criminal activity, and criminal activity should be punished in the legal system fairly and honestly. But unless you address the grievances, you are more or …

A Muslim writer begins an article with, ‘who says the campaign for animal rights was started in the West ..’ She goes on to argue that Islam provided the original treatise on the humane treatment of animals. Her case was poorly constructed, inadequately executed, although the essence of her idea was to a degree, accurate. Islamic tradition has indeed laid …