Rapper Rick Ross crashes Rolls Royce into a Fort Lauderdale building following shooting incident

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Rapper Rick Ross might be the target of an investigation involving a shooting incident and car crash in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Police are looking into what caused a Rolls Royce, driven by Ross, to go crashing into a building early Monday morning.
According to NBC Miami, Ross sped away as another vehicle opened fire at his car, sending it off the road.
Authorities confirmed that neither Ross, 37, whose real name is William L. Roberts, nor his passenger Shateria L. Moragne-el, 28, was injured. Initially Ross and his companion were not named because they were "fearful for their lives," police said.
Several witnesses claimed they saw Ross driving the silver 2011 Rolls Royce, but police are still looking for the shooter and driver in the other car, which they say fled the area before officers arrived.

Smokers’ Corner When in Canada

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Speaking near the Canadian Parliament Hall, Pinto told the mega-ultra-epic-mammoth crowd that he had returned to Canada to get rid of its corrupt politicians, parties and political system and impose true democracy with the help of the country’s armed forces, judiciary and ice hockey team.


‘I won’t move from here until I achieve my goal,’ he promised. ‘I will turn Ottawa into Nazareth and send Creaser and his evil men home even if they feed me to the lions!’

Most Canadian politicians in the government and opposition have been critical of Pinto. They have accused him of staying in Pakistan as a Pakistani only to return to Canada on the instructions of those who want to derail Canada’s democracy, topple an elected parliament and replace it with a technocratic set-up backed by the military, judiciary and the country’s ice hockey squad.

‘Pinto is a former failed politician and a spiritual fraud,’ a government spokesman claimed. ‘We know who he is working for, and believe me, it’s not John the Baptist.’

Pinto refuted the claim: ‘I don’t want power,’ he shouted from behind his bullet-proof, water-proof, sound-proof, smoke-free, digital, 60-inch flat-screen altar. ‘I am ready to give my life for my country!’
This created some confusion as many were not quite sure whether he meant giving his life for Pakistan or Canada.
‘For Canada!’ He clarified.
‘Does that mean you are ready to renounce your Pakistani citizenship?’ A nosy journalist asked him.
‘I’m a citizen of the world. Of Christendom. Of true democracy. What’s in a passport? Repent, fool!’ Pinto replied.

As he was saying this, he began to weep: ‘I had a dream last night. It was a most glorious dream. I saw a light descending from the blue skies of Ottawa. The light hit the ground and on the ground emerged tanks and soldiers marching towards victory and then snow began to fall. I looked closely and realised the big snow flakes were actually white curly wigs — the sort judges wear. Hallelujah!’

‘Hallelujah!’ The crowd chanted back. ‘Change! Change! Change!’ They began to shout, even though most of them were women who were basically demanding that they be allowed to change their babies’ diapers in peace.

‘I’ve been here for hours,’ one such woman who was with a shell-shocked baby told journalists. ‘The government is not allowing us to change our babies’ diapers. This is an outrage! We want change.’

And then it happened. While Pinto was speaking, an aide of his whispered something into his ears. Pinto stopped for a while, threw up his arms and began to shout out loud: ‘Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice! The Supreme Court of Canada has just ordered the arrest of the Prime Minister! Rejoice! Throw your children in the air and then catch them after they perform two somersaults and you perform four cartwheels. I hear the tanks coming. I hear the judiciary puffing its chest. I see an elected government collapsing. A glorious day for democracy!’

The Canadian media went into overdrive. Why did the SC decide to choose this very moment to deliver its verdict in an old case filed against the PM? Was it in on Pinto’s agenda and game? Would the military or a technocratic set-up follow?

A spokesperson of Canada’s Chief Justice (who also doubles as a TV anchor) denied the allegation: ‘The CJ doesn’t even know who Pinto is,’ he said.

The Canadian Supreme Court is situated only a few kilometres away from where Pinto was holding his rally.

‘Oh, that,’ the spokesperson replied. ‘The CJ thought there was a huge baby diaper sale taking place there.’

But as SC supporters continued to insist on the diaper sale theory, detractors warned that the SC’s decision was part of the Canadian establishment’s plan to derail democracy.

Canada’s leading political parties agreed, but were still cautious. However, everyone now looked towards what the party headed by the former captain of the Canadian ice hockey team, Jim Kant, would do.

Jim’s party has no representation in the parliament but does have street power.

During a press conference he put forward seven demands to the government: ‘We have taken a wait and see approach,’ Jim told reporters. ‘But we are putting out a list of seven demands to the government. 1: Hold elections ASAP, that is As Soon As Possible and not America Speaks Armenian Punk, okay? 2: Change some fishy personnel in the Election Commission of Canada; 3: The President of the country should resign. Just for the heck of it. 4: A truly neutral caretaker government should be formed, preferably in Zurich, Switzerland. 5: Five. 6: Seven. 7: One, Two, Three, Four and Five. Dig?’

At the time this report was filed by this correspondent, Pinto was still holding fort and sharing his latest dreams that now included visions of fairies and angels descending from the skies and rewriting the Canadian Constitution according to the dictates of the Bible (King James edition); Jim’s musclemen were trying to convince him to let them storm the Bastille in Paris; the SC was running out of prime ministers to fire; and the media was loudly gazing at its navel and calling it ‘Breaking News!’

Imran threatens ‘tsunami march to save democracy

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The PTI, he said, would go for its own protest plan, when required, stating that the party workers had already been told to remain prepared for his call.


Referring to the long march led by Dr Tahirul Qadri, Mr Khan said it was the first step towards a ‘true change’ and the next elections would herald a major change in Pakistan. “The status quo forces are now claiming that the long march has failed. Actually this was the first step towards change as thousands of people came out on roads to bring about a change,” he said.

Mr Khan, who had refused to join the TMQ’s sit-in at the last moment, on the one hand termed Dr Qadri’s march a positive step but on the other called it ‘unconstitutional’, saying the PTI did not participate in the long march because it always resisted ‘unconstitutional moves’.

He said the nation had already endured the PPP government for five years and now when polls were just a few weeks away the PPP would not be allowed to become ‘a political martyr’.

The declaration signed by the government with Dr Qadri, he said, had no legal or constitutional status and it was not binding on the rulers.

Responding to a question, Mr Khan did not rule out possibility of electoral alliance with Dr Qadri. However, he said that Dr Qadri was yet to decide about participation in elections.

Mr Khan said both the TMQ and PTI had similar demands and views regarding change, but their approaches were different. The PTI, he said, wanted change only through the ballot.

The PTI chief reiterated his demand that President Asif Ali Zardari immediately resign as under him holding of free, fair and transparent election was almost impossible.

He criticised the comments of PML-N president Nawaz Sharif that in case of President Zardari’s resignation, the PPP would elect a new president. After his resignation, Mr Khan said, Senate Chairman Nayyar Bokhari would become the acting president of the country.

The PTI chief also claimed that so far his party had not been consulted on the issue of the nomination of the caretaker prime minister.

It may be mentioned that PML-N’s Chaudhry Nisar had claimed that the PTI had even suggested its own names for the caretaker prime minister. Mr Khan said the federal and Punjab governments were dolling out huge funds in the name of development to its
lawmakers and even candidates.

He urged the Election Commission of Pakistan to take notice of this practice.

He urged the chief justice to take notice of mysterious death of NAB officer Kamran Faisal who was investigating the rental power project scam.

He said that Kamran had been murdered to send a message to others investigating sensitive cases.

Visions of hell

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HELL,” wrote Jean-Paul Sartre in his play No Exit, “is other people”. But Satan, in Milton’s Paradise Lost, utters this anguished cry: “Which way I flie is Hell; my self am Hell.”

He goes on: “The mind is its own place, and in itself / Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.”

Both quotes are drawn from the recent Christmas edition of The Economist; this is my favourite end of the year read, containing as it does an eclectic collection of long articles on a variety of subjects. One such piece, ‘Into Everlasting Fire’, examines the evolution of the concept of hell across time and in different faiths.

I remember reading Dante’s Divine Comedy in my late teens. The classic work contains probably the most gruesome and vivid description of hell in literature. The section titled ‘The Inferno’ gives a detailed account of the nine circles of hell, ranging from the outer circle for unbaptised babies to the innermost one where Satan is frozen up till his neck.

There was no concept of hell in early Judaism, and it only made an appearance due to Hellenic influence. But even then the Jewish gehenna is more of a purgatory where souls are cleansed; whatever their deeds in life, they don’t stay in this waiting room for more than 12 months.

In medieval Christianity, the Vatican authorised the sale of ‘indulgences’ that helped to offset the buyer’s sins after he died. This device raised a lot of money for the Church, but was subject to much abuse as the rich used it as a licence to sin. In fact, this was one of the major aberrations that Martin Luther wanted to cleanse Christianity of. Having read of this practice at university, I was delighted to learn recently that it is still possible to buy indulgences online.

In a sense, this is not unlike our custom of asking the local mosque to send a group of students to recite from the Holy Book. We hope that after a relative’s death, this will help the dear departed to clear up some of his or her sins. We have all seen these young aspiring clerics racing through the sacred verses at funerals.

Note also the similarity between the Jewish gehenna and our jahannum. The latter, of course, is quite detailed in its description of everlasting torments, while in the New Testament the former is a reference to a rubbish dump that is always on fire and where the bodies of criminals are thrown.

Greek mythology contains many blood-curdling accounts of what happens to those who have offended the gods in this life. But most souls are placed in an indeterminate state where their days are spent in shadows and dark dreams. Ultimately they fade away. Hades, the god of the underworld, governs this part of creation, and his servant, Cerberus, the terrifying multi-headed dog, guards the way across the river Archon. Charon ferries souls from the world of the living, provided a gold coin is placed on the lips of the dead body.

Both Buddhism and Hinduism contain robust accounts of hell. Indeed, divine retribution in one form or another is the staple of most religions. It probably makes human suffering in this life more bearable if we can visualise the rich and powerful being subjected to everlasting torment.

Many of us have joked about preferring hell to heaven as the more interesting people will be there. In truth, it’s hard to imagine the likes of Sartre, Brigitte Bardot and Albert Camus — to name only a few I’d like to spend eternity with — being sent to heaven. So personally, I’ll settle for the demons and the hellfire if I am spared endless mealy-mouthed piety.

On a more serious note, I often used to wonder when I was young why a compassionate deity would inflict eternal pain on beings created in their maker’s image. The Anglican Church has resolved this dilemma by accepting that the Christian hell is metaphorical and not a real place. Other faiths downplay eternal damnation in these sceptical times.

After all, a lack faith should automatically doom the non-believer to perdition. And yet, in the recent census in England and Wales, only 59 per cent of the population declared themselves followers of any religion. This figure has declined from 72 per cent in the last census. So should the other 41 per cent go to hell after they die? It would certainly make for overcrowding …

Incidentally, out of the 59 per cent who declared they subscribed to a faith, many thousands put down Jedi Knights in the religion column. If they go over to the Dark Side in this life, will they be condemned to serve the evil Sith Lord forever?

Some fundamentalist Christians in the United States run ‘hell houses’ to introduce teenagers to the tortures of the damned. These contain sights and sounds from an imaginary hell intended to scare the young into believing in the real thing, thereby — in theory at least — bringing them closer to the faith. At one famous Buddhist temple I have visited in Sri Lanka, images of demons and the damned are painted on the walls. This, again, is intended to frighten those of feeble belief into accepting the gospel without questioning it.

The location of hell differs from faith to faith. The general consensus is that it is deep underground, near the hottest part of the earth’s core. Some speculate that as the sun generates the most intense heat known to us, that’s where hell is. For the Greeks, underground rivers like the Styx provided the entrance to hell. But wherever it is, it’s not a very pleasant place.

Reward and punishment are woven into the fabric of most religions: be good and go to heaven; sin, and it’s off to hell you go. In this Manichean view, there is little room for morality and ethics for their own sake. Our maker clearly views us as too weak and fallible to do good simply because it’s the right thing.

And while many around the world have discarded the notion of a literal hell, others believe in hellfire and brimstone. My personal vision of hell is being locked up with crowds of shoppers in a mall in Dubai for all eternity.

Oldest and youngest vie for best actress Oscar

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This year’s nominees for the best actress Oscar include the oldest ever and the youngest, nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis, who reportedly lied about her age to get the job.


At 85, French actress Emmanuelle Riva in “Amour” is only two years younger than the oldest ever nominee in an acting category, 87-year-old Gloria Stuart, nominated as best supporting actress for “Titanic” in 1997.
Riva is tipped for her role in Austrian Michael Haneke’s “Amour,” which is also nominated for best film and best foreign language film, after winning the Cannes film festival’s Palme d’Or last year.
Schoolgirl Wallis meanwhile was nominated for her role in “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” a fantasy drama in which she lives at the edge of the world in a community reminiscent of Louisiana faced with Hurricane Katrina.
According to the IMDb movie industry website, she had to fib about her age to audition for the movie, as she was five at the time and the minimum age to be considered was six.
Director Benh Zeitlin said that when he auditioned her, he realized she was what he was looking for, and changed the scrip to accommodate her “strong-willed personality,” it said.
She also appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” last June and told him that the Zhane part of her name means “fairy” in Swahili.
On Thursday, the movie’s co-producer Michael Gottwald told how filmmakers “freaked out for about 15 minutes straight” while watching the pre-dawn announcement, before going to Wallis’ hotel room to celebrate her nomination.
The other nominees up for best actress are Jessica Chastain for “Zero Dark Thirty,” Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Naomi Watts for “The Impossible.”
The winners will be announced at the 85th Academy Awards, to be held on February 24 in the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood.

Altaf likens his British nationality to Quaid-i-Azam’s

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MQM chief Altaf Hussain on Thursday laid the foundation of a new controversy in the country by equating his 22-year stay in Britain and acquisition of the nationality of that country to that of Quaid-i-Azam who not only carried the same document but as the governor general of Pakistan had also taken the oath of allegiance to British King George VI.In his 90-minute address to a gathering of his supporters at the Lal Qila Ground, telecast live by almost all channels, he said Quaid-i-Azam’s successors Khwaja Nazimuddin and Ghulam Muhammad had also taken the same oath.Before his speech the media came up with a variety of speculations about the possible ‘drone attack’ that the MQM leader could come up with. However, none had the wildest idea that it would be this.Reading out the wording of the governor general’s oath, the MQM chief also defended the Quaid’s act as an unavoidable legal requirement.It is unfair to infer that allegiance to another country taken just to meet a legal formality dilutes the maker’s patriotism, the MQM leader argued. “If the Quaid could do so, why Pakistanis living in other countries could not do the same?” he asked.Then he cited the examples of the PPP and the PML-N leaders to support his argument. He said PML-N President Nawaz Sharif, along with his family, stayed in Saudi Arabia for some eight years and various PPP leaders spent some 10 years out of Pakistan. But, he wondered, nobody questioned their patriotism. He said even such religious parties as had opposed the very creation of Pakistan were now regarded as patriotic.Altaf Hussain asked if the Saudi monarch would have offered him a ‘palace’ when he had left Pakistan in 1992, he would not have taken the British citizenship.Nobody, he said, would like to stay out of his country by choice. He asked his supporters if they would like him to take the first available flight back to Pakistan. In response, they said he shouldn’t. They said the reasons on the basis of which the Quaid-i-Azam had stayed in Britain were also applicable to him. The MQM chief used the same arguments to defend Tehrik Minhajul Quran Chairman Dr Tahirul Qadri, who is a Canadian national. He said dual nationality did not make anyone’s loyalty to his parent country suspect. The MQM chief reiterated that his party would take an active part in the long march to be led by Dr Qadri from Lahore to Islamabad to mount pressure on the government to accept his demands.He said if in reaction to this decision the government removed the Sindh governor, who is an MQM nominee, he would not care.“We are not power hungry”.Altaf Hussain said in a coalition the partners had to digest even such decisions as were unacceptable to them. The MQM had acquiesced to many such decisions taken by the PPP leadership, and now it’s the PPP’s turn to stomach the one taken by its partner.This clearly meant that he wanted the PPP to accept the MQM’s decision to take part in the long march.Alleging that all parties talking of democracy were not democratic in their attitudes and the MQM was the only exception. This, he said, was the only party that brought educated middle class people to the assemblies in large numbers.He said feudals were part of every system, no matter what it was.The MQM believed in real democracy which started with the local bodies system. In the absence of this lowest tier of government, the system could not be called democratic.He said in case the government did not take steps for the local government system in Sindh, Urdu-speaking population would be constrained to seek the creation of a separate province. But he hastened to add that the MQM did not support the division of Sindh and the PPP should not push it to the wall.

Qadri calls for formation of ‘impartial’ election commission

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Tahirul Qadri, chief of the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran (TMQ), has called for the Election Commission of Pakistan to be dissolved and a new “impartial commission” to be formed, two days before his party marches on Islamabad for electoral reforms in Pakistan.

Speaking at a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, Qadri announced his charter of demands before the upcoming general elections. Qadri said that the charter consists of seven points out of which one will be announced today and the rest will be revealed in Islamabad.

Among his demands, Qadri called for the formation of an impartial election commission to be formed in place of the current ECP.

Qadri said that, apart from the chairman of the ECP, all four heads of the provincial commissions were politically appointed by the provincial administrations.

Qadri said that the CEC Fakhruddin G Ebrahim was an honest man, however, he would not be able to conduct impartial elections due to his old age.

The TMQ chief further demanded that polls be held according to Articles 62, 63 and 218 of the Constitution.

He said that the people will not accept elections if they are not held under these constitutional articles.

Qadri added that the door for negotiations was never closed, however, final negotiations will only be held in front of millions of people in Islamabad.

Vice President Joe Biden's plan to curb gun violence falls on deaf ears in meeting with National Rifle Association

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The National Rifle Association came out firing Thursday after meeting with Vice President Biden on curbing gun violence, calling the sitdown worthless and vowing to thwart new gun laws in Congress.
The politically powerful lobbying group issued a scathing statement accusing the White House of waging war on the constitutional rights of Americans to bear arms.
“While claiming that no policy proposals would be ‘prejudged,’ this task force spent most of its time on proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners — honest, taxpaying, hardworking Americans,” the NRA said. “It is unfortunate that this administration continues to insist on pushing failed solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems. We will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen.”
The 90-minute, closed-door sitdown between Biden and gun-owner groups headlined a day of meetings convened by the vice president’s task force to develop a plan to curb gun violence.
Biden announced that he will present President Obama with a package of proposals by Tuesday - a month and day after the deadly shooting rampage at a Newtown, Conn., grade shool galvanized the White House into action.
There has got to be some common ground - to not solve every problem but diminish the probability" of mass killings like the rampage in Newtown, Biden said. "There is nothing that has gone to the heart of the matter more than the visual image people have of little 6-year-old kids riddled - not shot with a stray bullet - riddled, riddled, with bullet holes in their classroom," Biden said.
As Biden spoke, a teacher and a student were shot and wounded at a high school in California’s San Joaquin Valley.

The injured student was in critical condition and another student was taken into custody.
White House officials said the vice president didn’t expect to win over the NRA and other gun groups. But the administration was hoping to soften their opposition in order to rally support from pro-gun lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
Complaining that Biden and his task force spent most of the closed-door meeting on "proposed restrictions on lawful firearms owners," the NRA declared that it "will not allow law-abiding gun owners to be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen."
"Instead, we will now take our commitment and meaningful contributions to members of Congress of both parties who are interested in having an honest conversation about what works - and what does not."

The statement, to which Biden's office refused to respond, amounted to a declaration from the gun owners' group that it will end its grudging dialogue with the White House and work with allies in Congress to block new gun controls.

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Former President Bill Clinton pushes for stricter gun control during Consumer Electronics Show speech

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Former President Bill Clinton was a surprise guest on Wednesday at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where he seized his opportunity to make a push for greater gun control during a speech about technology.
“I grew up in this hunting culture, but this is nuts,” the Arkansas native said. “Why does anybody need a 30 round clip for a gun? Why does anybody need one of those things that carries 100 bullets?”
Clinton’s remarks come as an Obama administration task force is crafting a series of recommendations to stem gun violence following the horrific mass shooting at an elementary school in Newton, Conn., which killed 20 small children and six adults.
Vice President Biden, who is spearheading the effort, is scheduled to meet on Thursday with the National Rifle Association as well as with Wal-Mart, the nation’s top seller of guns.
During Clinton’s speech on Wednesday, the former president seemed to favor reinstating the federal assault weapons that expired 10 years after he signed into law in 1994.
“Half of all mass killings in the United States have occurred since the assault weapons ban expired in 2005,” he said. “Half of all of them in the history of the country.”
Clinton also alluded to the National Rifle Association’s controversial proposal to protect students against mass shootings by placing armed guards in schools, saying it can’t be the only solution to the problem of gun violence.
“Do there need to be some armed guards in some schools where there is a high crime rate and kids themselves may take weapons to school? Absolutely,” he said. “But it is not an excuse not to deal with this issue.”
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Spend for growth

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If you think the United States’ policies are to be blamed for the global financial uncertainty, think again.

Nobel laureate in Economics Joseph Stig-litz feels it is the structural shift in the global economy, especially in the developed economies that has caused the crisis and thinks that the governments take lead in finding solution to it.
“The financial crisis represents structural changes taking place in the global economy. The world is shifting from a manufacturing-based economy to that of a services-based one. The Great Depression was also due to structural changes, which were witnessed when there was a shift from agriculture to manufacturing,” Dr Stig-litz said here on Friday.
A staunch critic of self-regulation for markets, Dr Stiglitz said the world was able to get out of the Great Depression due to the World War II, which increased government spending on armaments (also reconstruction) ser-ved as an industrial stimulus to the developed world.
“But now (when the world faces a crisis of similar magnitude), governments are cutting spe-nding, making the pros-pects of recovery bleaker,” the Columbia Univ-ersity Professor said.
Reacting to the calls of spending cuts, Dr Stiglitz said the growth can achi-eved by higher government spending and higher taxes.
“A cut in government spending cannot be solution. It will worsen the situation,” he explained.
“Scandinavian countries — Denmark, Norw-ay and Sweden — are best examples of sustainable growth and welfare economy,” the Columbia Uni-versity Professor said.

Karzai in Washington

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BY the time this article appears President Karzai will have arrived in Washington and possibly have had his first round of talks with President Obama and with a now recovered Secretary Hilary Clinton. What are the expectations from the visit that Karzai entertains and what are the contentious subjects that will dominate the discussions?

The most important point to my mind is that Karzai is convinced that only reconciliation with the Afghan Taliban can bring peace to Afghanistan. This will be the prism, which will determine his position on every issue to be discussed with Obama

Karzai knows that the 2014 date for withdrawal of all Nato troops is set in concrete and that long before December 2014 most Nato troops would have gone. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) alone will then be required to maintain security even though the American training mission estimates that only one out of 23 Afghan Army brigades is classified as capable of operating without external assistance.

He believes that Nato’s departure will facilitate an acceptable reconciliation. The government may then be seen to be negotiating from a position of comparative weakness, but all Afghans know that Najibullah’s forces were able to hold their own against the Mujahideen after the Soviet withdrawal for as long as the Afghan national forces continued to be financed by the Soviets, even though their level of preparedness was worse than that of the current ANSF

The financing of ANSF, due to reach its full strength of 352,000 by the first quarter of 2013, will need $6.5 billion annually and the Afghan exchequer will be able to contribute only $500 million a year towards this. The international community promised at the Chicago conference to provide some $3.6bn ($2bn of this from the US) towards this cost. But this will be enough only to maintain a force of 230,000 and that number will only be reached through attrition by 2017. So in addition to the pledges made in Chicago the US will be required to pay an additional $2.5bn annually for the 2015-2017 period.

Karzai has said that much of the corruption in Afghanistan has been fuelled by the manner in which Nato and America in particular have awarded contracts. He has a case to make. But he also knows that he has done little so far to meet the reform conditions laid down in the Tokyo Conference for providing economic assistance at $4bn a year for four years. This $4bn annually, even if it is all forthcoming, will not prevent a considerable economic slump in Afghanistan. But without it there would be a total collapse.

In these circumstances, Karzai’s criticism of the US notwithstanding, he will recognise that to maintain the level of aid he needs he must be prepared to accommodate American demands on immunity for the American troops that remain in Afghanistan after 2014 and to allow them the freedom of action that they will need for counterterrorism operations. This would mean free use of Afghan airspace to carry out drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas and special operations forces in Afghanistan against the remaining Al Qaeda operatives in that country.

He will probably welcome the movement of the Obama administration towards restricting this presence to 3,000-6,000 troops despite the US military’s demand for more because this may well be the sort of figure and the sort of mission that the Taliban would not regard as a bar to negotiation aimed at reconciliation. The Taliban know that there will be no meaningful negotiations at all unless they publicly renounce ties with the Al Qaeda and that Pakistan too will push them to make such a declaration. After that a minimal US presence aimed at the Al Qaeda and probably at the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan would perhaps be acceptable to the less hard-line members of the Taliban Shura and to Mullah Omar.

Within Afghanistan, the loyal opposition, whose support is essential for reconciliation, has also made it clear that they do want a residual American presence. Additionally, Karzai knows that in the absence of such a presence he will be hard put to prevent the growth of the sort of private militias that Commander Ismail, who used to style himself as the amir of Herat, is putting together.

Before leaving for Washington, Karzai organised a well-publicised release of prisoners whose custody had been transferred in accordance with the US-Afghan agreement to Afghanistan. Further releases are planned all with the objective of promoting prospects for reconciliation. Karzai will demand and the US will probably agree that all remaining Afghans currently held by the Americans also be handed over and released if Afghan law so requires.

Perhaps the most important demand from Karzai will be that President Obama should find a way to exercise his presidential power to overrule the provision in the defence authorisation bill passed by Congress, that prohibits the transfer of prisoners held in Guantanamo to another country. Despite Karzai’s reservations about talks with the Taliban by anyone other than the Karzai administration he knows that for the Taliban the proposed exchange of five Taliban, currently held in Guantanamo, for an American soldier the Taliban are holding is a prerequisite for serious negotiations on reconciliation.

Karzai is understandably anxious that the 2014 election to select his successor brings to the presidential office a man he can trust and a man who will not hound him and his family for the many misdoings (real and imagined) during his years in office. He has proposed fundamental changes in the election law that would make many potential candidates ineligible to contest the elections.

In brief this law if passed would disqualify anyone who has a disability, physical or psychological, anyone who can’t speak and write in Dari and Pushto, anyone who doesn’t have 10 years of work experience in the administration, anyone who doesn’t have a university degree, anyone who can’t pay one million Afghanis (the equivalent of $20,000), and anyone who can’t come up with 100,000 signatures cumulatively from at least 20 different provinces.

He has further proposed that there be no elections complaint commission to adjudicate election disputes this task being left to the Supreme Court, which comprises all Karzai nominees. The opposition is understandably opposed to these proposals Karzai believes that Nato members worked against him in the last election and probably fears they will do so again in 2014. But he cannot afford to antagonise them if he is genuinely for reconciliation and wants their support or at least neutral posture on his election law proposals. He will therefore have to adopt a more conciliatory approach not only on the residual military presence issue but also on other matters of interest to the Obama administration.

Islamabad braces itself for Qadri’s march

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ISLAMABAD: Although the capital administration and police have started acquiring containers to seal the red zone on Jan 14, they are in a quandary over whether to let Dr Tahirul Qadri’s march proceed to the city or counter it in the absence of a clear directive from the government.

Sources said the administration was waiting for the interior ministry’s advice about ways of handling the march, but there was a complete silence.

The administration and police expect a large number of people to turn up and feel that there is need to make proper arrangement so that residents are not inconvenienced, chalk out plans for blocking roads and diverting traffic and, if necessary, declare a holiday in the city. The deployment of police and personnel of other departments is yet to be finalised.

A senior police officer told Dawn on Tuesday that Punjab and Kashmir police had been requested to keep 5,000 and 3000 personnel, respectively, on standby and send them immediately when asked for. Rangers have been requested for 5,000 personnel.

The officer said Punjab and Kashmir police had been asked to arrange 10 armed personnel carriers, 1,000 rings of barbed wire, long- and short-range teargas shells, guns and rubber bullets. He said the capital police were arranging 40 containers to seal the Grand Trunk Road and Motorway if the government denied permission to the long march.

He said Interior Minister Rehman Malik was likely to convene a meeting on Wednesday to decide whether to allow the march or counter it.

All entry points from Margalla, Ataturk and Suharwardi roads would have to be sealed by containers if the government decided to block the march, another police officer said, adding that the containers had been placed on the roadside as a precautionary measure.

CONFISCATION: Over 25 containers were confiscated by police from GT Road on Tuesday and taken to different areas in Islamabad.

Dil Afser Khan, owner of the Lahore-Hazara Goods Transport Company, said Tarnol police had confiscated their containers.

“Police have confiscated three containers of my company. But after a request and payment of some money, two containers loaded with goods were released,” he said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Yaseen Farooq did not receive calls despite repeated attempts.

SHO of Tarnol police station Fazalur Rehman confirmed the confiscation of containers, but did not say who had ordered them to do so.

The capital police had confiscated 17 private containers to block the red zone during a protest against an anti-Islam film in September last year and the containers were not returned to the owners even after a fortnight. In a report sent to the inspector general, the special branch of capital police said the strength of police was inadequate to tackle a large number of marchers and called for seeking help from police of other provinces. The report said the Tehrik-i-Minhajul Quran had assigned the task of bringing people to the march to its office-bearers in the capital.

Sources said officers of the administration and police were of the opinion that the government should not allow the march.

In a letter to the interior secretary, the administration called for seeking necessary manpower and logistics from other provinces to maintain law and order and avert any untoward incident. It has also sought permission for making arrangements and facilitating the marchers in case the government intends to allow the march and sit-in.

The letter written on Jan 5 by Islamabad Chief Commissioner Tariq Mehmood Pirzada said there were reports that Dr Tahirul Qadri also planned to hold a sit-in outside the Parliament House till the acceptance of his demands.

The interior secretary was informed that officers of the capital administration and police said at a meeting that the government should not allow the march because Islamabad was a city of diplomats. Any rally held in the city will inconvenience the diplomatic community.

Besides, Islamabad is a city of 0.831 million people and a gathering of one or two million would adversely affect its civic life.

“The weather is extremely cold and serious health-related issues can arise.

Health institutions are not in a position to cater for the medical requirement of a huge crowd,” the letter said, adding that the TMQ rally might also attract terrorists who had already placed Dr Tahirul Qadri on their hit list. MEETING WITH TMQ: Meanwhile, a meeting was held between the capital administration and a delegation of the TMQ. It was attended by the interior secretary, chief commissioner, IG and director general of the National Crisis Management Cell.

The TMQ delegation sought permission for a sit-in in the Parade Ground and parking facility in F-9 Park.

IGP Bani Amin Khan said the Parade Ground could not accommodate four million people and suggested that the sit-in should be held in a segregated place like F-9 Park which could be cordoned off effectively by law-enforcement agencies. The interior secretary said that because of severe cold weather the marchers would wear warm cloths and it would be difficult for security personnel to carry out adequate body search. He suggested that the march should be postponed to mid-February. The TMQ delegation assured the meeting that matchers would remain peaceful and would not go to parliament or Diplomatic Enclave.

Steubenville High School students joke about alleged rape in highly-charged case against Big Red football players

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An inflammatory video leaked by a hacktivist group purportedly shows Ohio teens laughing and cracking jokes about a student allegedly raped that same night.
Steubenville police said they’re aware of the crude 12-minute clip, posted to YouTube on Wednesday, and that it was previously given to prosecutors in the highly-charged rape case against two players on a local high school football team.
“Since late August 2012, the subject who made the video was interviewed,” Steubenville Police Chief William McCafferty told CBS affiliate WTRF-TV. “This has all been turned over to the prosecutors, which are the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.”
The video is the latest electronic evidence that has resurfaced in this case, which has sharply divided Steubenville, a dwindling steel town on the West Virginia border. Making the situation even thornier is that Steubenville High School and its football team, known as Big Red, are widely celebrated for their state championship titles.
Two 16-year-old players, Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond, were charged with rape and kidnapping in the alleged sexual assault of a 16-year-old West Virginia girl last August, according to the Herald-Star. A trial is scheduled for Feb. 13.
The incident gained traction when other players and students talked about the incident on Twitter, posted pictures on Instagram and also uploaded video of the night to YouTube.
Events began at an end-of-summer party in a volunteer football coach’s home, where alcohol was freely flowing, The New York Times reported last month. The girl may have been unconscious, dragged to different parties and raped over several hours, The Times said. She may even have been urinated on.
Meanwhile, hacktivist group Anonymous has been trying to keep a spotlight on the case, claiming officials are trying to cover up the crime that may involve other football players. The group has organized protest rallies, including another one for Saturday, and recovered some online posts that were deleted by students.
The latest video shows a former Steubenville High School student talking about the alleged rape and referring to the teen involved as a “dead girl.”
Others in the video tried to explain the seriousness of the situation.
“What if that was your daughter?” someone asked.
“But it isn’t,” the student said. “If that was my daughter, I wouldn't care. I would just let her be dead.”
He went on to ask “is it really rape if you don’t know if she wanted to or not? She might have wanted it. That might have been her final wish.”
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine told WTRF-TV that his office is trying to figure out what happened that night and prosecute those involved.
“We fully understand the importance to the community in making sure that the truth comes out and that we know exactly what's going on,” DeWine said.

Now, RSS' Mohan Bhagwat makes derogatory comments against women, says rapes happen in India, not Bharat

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New Delhi Defending Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's controversial remark that rapes hardly take place in "Bharat", but they occur frequently in "India", RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav on Friday said "we have great respect for women."
"The statement of RSS chief should be taken in proper perspective. He (Bhagwat) has already demanded strict punishment for rapists and even called for death penalty if required," Madhav said.

"All that he said is that in Indian tradition we have great respect for women and we should learn to uphold this tradition. If one goes away from this tradition it will result in rise of crime against women," he added.

Addressing a citizens' meet here on Tuesday during his four-day visit to Silchar, Bhagwat criticized "western" lifestyle of people in urban areas and said, without empirical evidence to back such a claim, that rape is prevalent mainly in cities where Indians are deeply influenced by western values and not by rural India.

"You go to villages and forests of the country and there will be no such incidents of gangrape or sex crimes. They are prevalent in some urban belts. Besides new legislations, Indian ethos and attitude towards women should be revisited in the context of ancient Indian values," he added.

However, Bhagwat said he wanted stringent laws in sexual crimes against women and will favour capital punishment for those convicted of rape.

English education triggers suicides, murders: Mumbai top cop

Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh had earlier said that there was a direct link between school and college education and murders and suicides, and students who study in English-medium institutions are especially vulnerable.

“In Mumbai, if there are 150 murders, there are eight times (more) suicides. All of the perpetrators are educated people. I have never seen an uneducated person committing suicide. I have researched this even while I was police commissioner in Pune. There were engineers and IT professionals committing suicide,” Singh had said.

“Most suicides,” Singh had reportedly said, “are committed by those who have studied in the English medium. I have never heard of or seen a Sanskrit-medium educated person committing suicide. And it is a known fact that more and more people are today sending their children to English-medium schools”.

Singh had blamed crime in cities like Mumbai and Delhi on flaws in the education system.

“Jo Delhi ka case hua ya phir Mumbai ke andar jo case hote hain, uske peechhe bhi jo... isko main sanskriti nahin kehta, usko main asanskriti bolta hoon... woh asanskriti ka parinaam hai... Hamare schools aur college ke andar jo shiksha di jaati hai... sanskaarheen shiksha di jaati hai. Jeevangun koi sikhaata nahin hai. (What has happened in Delhi or what happens in Mumbai, it is the consequence of the absence of culture. The education that is imparted in our schools and colleges is devoid of cultural content. Life values are not taught.)”

Jet Airways finally confirms stake sale talks with Etihad Airways

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MUMBAI: After intense speculation for several months, India's largest airline by way of market capitalisation - Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet AirwaysBSE 0.80 % - on Thursday confirmed that it is in talks for a stake dilution with Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways.

In a communique to stock exchanges, the airline said: "Jet and Etihad are in a discussion regarding a potential investment by the latter in the former, these discussions have commenced recently pursuant to the liberalised FDI policy which permitted foreign investment in the shares of an Indian airline. The discussions are in progress but no terms have been firmed up at present."

Jet has been consistent in the past not to ascribe any credence to reports stating that those media reports are 'speculative'.

The proposed deal, sources told ET, is in the works and is likely to be announced by the end of this month. The Jet-Etihad deal was first reported by ET in its September 19 edition. The proposed deal will need several regulatory hurdles to be sorted out from both sides.

The investment from Etihad, if it happens with Jet Airways will be first such investment made by a foreign carrier after the government last year allowed international carriers to invest in Indian aviation companies.

According to a source, the Mumbai-office of law firm Amarchand Mangaldas & Suresh A Shroff & Co (AMSS) is advising Abu Dhabi-based-Etihad Airways for the proposed deal and Clasis Law is representing Jet. "AMSS has got the mandate and the law firm is going through the due-diligence of over 150 documents," said a person privy to the deal.

The source said that Jet is likely to get a huge premium for the strategic deal as the airline is being valued at Rs 7,875 crore. Its current market capitalisation is about Rs 5,239 crore.

"The talks are for the minority stake of around 24% for close to $350 million, which will value the company over $1.5 billion," the same person said.

This valuation essentially means that Jet will get a deal that will be about 53 times of its current EBITDA levels of Rs 148 crore for March 2012. Jet's projected EBITDA for financial year 2014 is about Rs 1,874 crore. Jet's shares are trading at Rs 606.85 a share, gaining 4.70%, or Rs 27.25 a share on Thursday. If the deal fructifies with Etihad, the UAE airline will have to cough up a 50% premium to that price.

"It is essentially a strategic alliance so whatever Etihad ends up paying will be based on an assumption of a significant improvement in the EBITDA levels over two to three years' time," explained an investment banker.

The investment by Etihad, according to a person privy to the deal, would be made through a dilution of Naresh Goyal's stake (who holds 80%) in Tail Winds, the holding company for Jet Airways which is registered in Isle of Mann. But that mode of transaction could not be exactly ascertained as sources said that there is a possibility of a deal which will have some form of equity in the form of compulsorily convertible debentures, a deal structure that was done at the time of an investment made by US billionaire investor Wilbur Ross in budget airline SpiceJetBSE -1.69 %.

Hillary Clinton released from hospital with Bill at her side after being treated for blood clot near her brain, after day of mystery surrounding her status

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Hillary Clinton released from hospital, leaves with former President Bill Clinton

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was released from a Manhattan hospital Wednesday evening after doctors said she was making “good progress” in her recovery from a blood clot near her brain.
Clinton, 65, left New York-Presbyterian Hospital Columbia at about 6:30 p.m., accompanied by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and a security detail.
She appeared pale and stoic with her hair pulled back and a gray scarf around her neck as she headed to her Westchester County home in the back seat of a black van — one of three in her motorcade.
“Her medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery,” said Philippe Reines, Clinton’s deputy assistant secretary of state.
Reines said Clinton appreciated the “excellent care” she received from the doctors, nurses and staff at the hospital.
“She’s eager to get back to the office,” said Reines, who did not elaborate on Clinton’s schedule.
Earlier Wednesday, Clinton emerged from a hospital side entrance in a van, only to reenter a different part of the same facility just 20 minutes later. Bill Clinton, sporting a smile, and daughter Chelsea, holding her mom’s hand, were spotted exiting with her and a security detail.
Both the hospital and the State Department declined comment on the member’s strange and short trip. The Associated Press reported she was simply moved from one part of the large facility to another.
Clinton was admitted Sunday with the potentially dangerous blood clot, with her nervous family keeping a vigil at the hospital.
State Department officials said she remained in contact with staffers in Washington while recovering from her health woes.
“She’s been quite active on the phone with all of us,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, declining to provide any update on her condition.
Clinton was treated with blood thinners to help dissolve the clot, doctors said. An MRI revealed the problem after Clinton suffered a concussion in a fall last month.
The clot was located in a vein behind her right ear that runs between the brain and skull. Doctors said there was no neurological damage.
Doctors previously said Clinton would leave the hospital once the proper dosage of blood thinners was in place.
Clinton, who was already planning to step down from her position as Secretary of State later this month, is among likely Democratic hopefuls for president in 2016. President Obama has nominated Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) to succeed her as Secretary of State.
The one-time New York senator’s last official public appearance was Dec. 7 in Belfast before her unexpected rash of health woes.
She was battling a stomach virus when she became woozy and took a tumble in her Washington home, forcing her to curtail her typically hectic schedule.
If not found and treated, the rare type of clot was possibly life-threatening, according to medical experts.
The illness forced Clinton to cancel her scheduled appearance before Congress about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya.
U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in the attack on the 11th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in lower Manhattan and Washington.
Clinton was treated in 1998 for a clot behind her right knee while her husband was still in the White House.
Before her admission to New York-Presbyterian, she was easing her way back into work with phone calls to her counterparts in Syria and paperwork delivered to her hospital room.

Why is Dr Tahirul Qadri back?

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In 1985, when Dr Tahirul Qadri rose to prominence, he claimed to have had spiritual dreams. But political analysts say the motives behind his recent return to the limelight may not be entirely spiritual.


Senior journalist turned politician Azeem Chaudhry, who had covered some of his sermons at that time, said Dr Tahirul Qadri was close to the father of then-chief minister Nawaz Sharif, but even he could not save him when the cleric was made to leave the Punjab University law college in a controversial decision. That is not the only controversy Dr Tahirul Qadri has been in. Chaudhry questions the motives behind his return to politics.

Dr Tahirul Qadri addressed a large public gathering at Iqbal Park near Minar-e-Pakistan on December 23, saying he had come back to Pakistan to save the country from corrupt and dishonest leaders. He criticized politicians without naming them, but the references were more than obvious. He quoted generously from the constitution, at times without proper context. He made the case for involving the two main "stakeholders" - the judiciary and the army - in the selection of a caretaker set up to "hold free, fair and transparent elections". For that, he said, the constitution allowed delaying the polls.

"Dr Tahirul Qadiri must read the post 18th Amendment Constitution," Zafarullah Khan of the Center of Civic Education Pakistan said in his recent blog, pointing to the fact that a caretaker prime minister is now appointed by the leader of the house and the leader of the opposition.

But when the cleric warned he would march towards Islamabad with millions of people if his demands were not met by January 10, he knew what he was saying.

The cleric warned he would march towards Islamabad with millions of people if his demands are not met by January 10
Sources close to him say he has a roadmap in the run-up to the general elections that includes making alliances with like-minded parties including the MQM and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf.

MQM expects to organize a matching rally at Karachi's famous Nishtar Park, to be addressed by Dr Tahirul Qadri. It would probably be the first time MQM chief Altaf Hussain would limit himself to just welcoming another speaker.

Sources in the PPP said Interior Minister Rehman Malik tried his best to persuade the MQM against attending the Lahore rally, but he failed. The presence of the entire Rabita Committee of the MQM in the rally indicated it would love to capitalize on Dr Qadri's support base.

The political circles in Islamabad are speculating if Dr Tahirul Qadri, Altaf Hussain and Imran Khan can forge an electoral alliance. "The script has already been written," said a PML-N leader. He said Dr Qadri had given a voice to the concerns of the judiciary and the army.

Sources said the two mainstream parties are likely to develop a consensus on the appointment of a caretaker prime minister, since none of them would like the Election Commission of Pakistan to make the final call.

Senator Ishaq Dar, who is probably the least hated PML-N leader among the PPP leadership, is spearheading the backchannel dialogue with the ruling party.

Several names surfaced during the talks, including Asma Jehangir, Justice (r) Nasir Aslam Zahid and Justice (r) Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui. The latest of these names is Shaukat Tareen, the former finance minister.

The replacement of Governor Latif Khosa with Makhdoom Ahmed Mehmood in Punjab is one of the two steps President Zardari has recently taken to win improve the PPP's electoral performance in Punjab. The other was the appointment of Manzoor Wattoo as PPP Punjab President.

In its game plan, the PPP has divided the province in three parts - the south, the center and the north, where the Gilanis, Manzoor Wattoo and Raja Pervez Ashraf managing the affairs respectively.

And as the entire nation is gearing up for the most exciting elections, the calls of delaying them under Article 254 of the constitution may not become popular among the masses.

The Article 254 says: "When any act or thing is required by the Constitution to be done within a particular period and it is not done within that period, the doing of the act or thing shall not be invalid or otherwise ineffective by reason only that it was not done within that period."

Law Minister Farooq Naek does not agree with Dr Tahirul Qadri's argument that the provision can be used to delay elections. He said the timeframe for holding the general elections was specifically and clearly defined in the constitution, and that could not be done away with.

Some PPP leaders have suggested introducing a new constitutional amendment restricting the caretaker government from extending its tenure under any circumstances.

They even suggest any such action by the caretaker government, without or without the collusion of the judiciary or any other quarter, should be punishable under Article 6 of the Constitution.

But articles of the constitution may not be applicable to Dr Tahirul Qadri, because he is a citizen of Canada.

Profile Ajmal Abidy, President Aria Television

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I recently sat with Ajmal Abidy, the owner and president of Aria television, to discuss his vision of the future of media in Afghanistan.Having returned to the country from Pakistan, in 2002, he worked various stints with the United Nations, USAID and the public affairs section of the Afghan president’s office.
He decided to launch Aria after realizing that there was no effective programming targeting children. And after several months of gathering content launched the station which has apparently taken of like a rocket.
AR: What was it like when you came back to Afghanistan?
Abidy: It was like being home. I missed my country and always wanted to be back. It was almost surreal for me. But surreal in a good way.

AR: As a media founder what are some f your challenges here?
Abidy: Well, the challenges change every day. One our initial challenges was to come up with programming which would be liked. And programming which would build a loyal following. That way we could get our messages out to the viewers. Which leads me to say that our viewers, as you know, are mostly children. These children are the most loyal viewers of all.

AR: Why did you decide to target the children?
Abidy: I just thought that the older generations were a bit too rigid. Just like everywhere in the world once people reach a certain age they get set in their ways. With children it is easier to entertain them, it is easier to use positive reinforcement with them and they retain more since their minds are still developing. Some children here take the Taliban as role models because that is what they know. We just wanted to give them a second option. A second option which would instill in them a need to learn…learn about their own country and about other places in the world.

AR: Did you see that as important.
Abidy: Of course. It is sort of like learning a new language. What I mean is when you are a child it is very easy to learn how to speak French or Turkish or some other language. But when you are an adult it becomes much more difficult. This is why I really wanted to target the young minds.

AR: Who are your direct competitors?
Abidy: We really don’t have any direct competitors for the target demographic we are aiming for. We really are the only station only going for the children and younger people. However, in terms of the advertising space we compete with every station in the country.

AR: What are your plans to expand?

Abidy: Right now we are only broadcasting in Kabul. But soon we will be broadcasting in many more provinces. As with any business plan we have to adjust and adapt and overcome issues as they arise. But I am please to tell you that we are on track to accomplish this.

AR: As your station progresses, do you see Afghanistan progressing?
Abidy: Well, Afghanistan, like all countries, has its problems. That goes without saying. I think Afghanistan will progress and even one day be a prosperous country again. It will take a lot of work, but it can be done. We will need help from the donors and from public and private organizations, but it can be done.

AR: Do you think the current help is doing the job?
Abidy: That is a very difficult question to answer. I think yes and no. I think a lot of money has come here but also a lot of that money has been misdirected. If the international community is really serious about helping Afghanistan it must focus on the youth of the country. Since young people make up the majority of our citizens they must be spoken to. Without them there is no Afghanistan.

AR: With media owners like you do you think there is a chance that Afghanistan will revert?
Abidy: I think the general consensus is that we won’t move backwards.

Idol worship

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tend to follow Art World news like it's The Bold and the Beautiful. I get off on the gossip and intrigue, on the meteoric rise and spectacular crash of artists as they make their way through galleries and art fairs, only to be spat out like used Kleenex. It's a savage world, built on delicacies and theories and aloof elitism. I stepped briefly into it while living in New York, made famous in every movie ever (Great Expectations has a particularly unrealistic take on it) and it took me about five minutes to figure out that, much like in Pakistan, the "global art world" consists of some 50 people, all of whom know one another and none of whom are likely to invite you to a party should you nudge them.

It's a savage world, built on delicacies and theories and aloof elitism
This week my news feeds were set aflame with the announcement that the most overrated artist of the world, that pallbearer of bad taste, that emperor with no clothes, the expensive Damien Hirst, has professionally divorced Larry Gagosian, owner of the eponymous mega-gallery. If you know nothing about the art world, know this: Larry Gagosian is it. If the art world was Star Wars, he'd be Darth Vader but with more money and a better wardrobe. He is the protege of Leo Castelli, the guy who discovered Andy Warhol. There are Gagosian galleries in almost every major world capital. They're less galleries and more museums - in their scope, resources and operational budget.

Given the respective star powers of both Hirst and Gagosian, you can imagine what shockwaves the divorce created. It was like Brangelina broke up (heaven forbid, praise the Technicolor Family of Beauty). That said, most people reading this probably don't know who Hirst is, or indeed Gagosian. That's okay. Contemporary art is so large, so multinational, so changeable, so crammed and so very full of complicated verbal BS that's its hard, if not impossible, to tell who is important. Or more accurately, who will remain important. That's partly why I don't like reading most contemporary art criticism. It'll always try to convince you "the work" you're reading about is the next best thing since croissants discovered chocolate, when it's hardly ever true. Most essays read like press releases, lifting paintings and photographs and sculptures and even (god help me) Happenings to a stratosphere of Amazingness they can hardly ever live up to.
It was while reading up on the art news of the week that I came across another interesting little story that shocked me to bits. Apparently the Starving Buddha (the single most important object in the Lahore Museum and the emaciated cover model of many a glam tourist postcard) was up for sale for millions of dollars at Christies last year. This was especially surprising, considering that the Fasting Bhudda was, when last I saw him, still looking bulimic behind a glass case in the museum.

The sculpture was part of a much larger sale of Gandharan art, almost sixty objects in total that ranged in value from a few thousand to a few million US dollars. And all the objects come from Pakistan.

A little background: in 1976 the intelligent countries of the world passed a law saying that after that year, it would be illegal to take archeological finds away from their country of origin. Anything acquired out of the ground after that year would have to be returned; things that happened before that are still in court. It's a fairly arbitrary pick, but there it is. The statue in question was bought fairly secretly in 1981, begging the question: who sold it?

Apparently the Starving Buddha, the single most important object in the Lahore Museum, was up for sale at Christies last year
won't know. Smuggling antiquities is an old and lucrative game, and like other vices, it does well in Pakistan. Did you know art and antiquities constitute the third biggest black market after arms and drugs? We of course are the perfect place for predators. We have a rich archeological history with absolutely no way or will to protect it. Or even to discover it. Did you know that a French team came here to excavate a stupa they found on the KK highway that led them to a massive monastic complex inside? The French. Not us. We didn't even know it existed. We still probably don't.

We also probably don't (and don't want to) know the extent of our heritage that has made its way to foreign collections. For a brief idea, visit Baltimore. In a small but famous museum there you will see the Ford wing of Gandharan art. The Fords are a childless couple who collect snuff boxes and Gandharan art and serve things like gazpacho for lunch. They gave the bulk of their collection to this museum for posterity. Lovely as the thought is, I felt physically ill walking around a mass of statuary knowing that 80% of the things I was seeing had a dubious provenance, if dubious meant fictitious. That must be what the Greeks feel like every time they see a classical wing in a museum.

The difference is that we are not producing enough new conservators or museum curators to deal with things even if we have them. There is little interaction between the NCA, a school funneling out art professionals, and the museum, despite the fact that they share a wall. Instead of fostering a love of culture, the museum and indeed all our cultural departments have become tacky temples to bureaucratic mismanagement. I mean, they used acrylic paint to restore the Wazir Khan Mosque frescoes. That's like using crayons to fix the Mona Lisa.

First Afghan web TV channel launched

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Kabul and Dubai-based producer Hamida Aman has launched Afghanistan’s first web TV channel Globox.tv, tapping into the country’s burgeoning social media culture.

The youth-focused platform streams two hours of new, short-format content every day, ranging from web series Campus FM, set in a journalism school, to a cultural programme called What Is Up In Kabul.
“It’s something totally new for Afghanistan,” says Aman, who has a track record in producing documentaries such as Kabul Underground through her Kabul-based Awaz Communication and Guru Production in Dubai.
“More and more young Afghanistans have access to the Internet and they’re heavily into social media, Facebook and YouTube,” said Aman.
“It’s a key way for them to communicate with their friends and other young people. It’s very difficult for them to socialise in person. There’s nowhere for them to hangout together, especially for girls.”
Afghan-born Aman grew-up in Switzerland and moved back to her native country in 2002 to work for an NGO specialising in media training, eventually setting up as an independent producer.
Most Globox.tv’s content is produced in Dari – an Afghan dialect of Farsi - in Awaz’ Kabul studio. Campus FM, consisting of 150 eight-minute episodes was shot there last year. A second series, bringing in a Hip-Hop element, is currently in production.
“Hip Hop is a way for young people to express themselves. There are more and more Hip Hop groups sprouting up in Afghanistan and we’re weaving this trend into the story,” said Aman.
Launched in October, Globox.tv is currently registering some 1,000 mainly Afghan-based hits a day.
Aman wants to extend the scope of its content. She recently set up a small production unit in Dubai to make Farsi-language, short format programmes capturing life in the UAE for the channel.