NewsRack: newstrust/Pakistan

Drumbeat: September 3, 2010 - The Oil Drum

Leanan — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

We need a better understanding of the 'environmentalist's paradox' We hear lots of concerned chatter these days – not least, here on this site - about peak oil, peak water, deforestation, resource depletion and the like, but a popular riposte offered by those doubting such concerns is something commonly referred to as the "Environmentalist's Paradox". The argument goes thus: "Why, despite resource depletion and the degradation of ecosystems, is average human well-being improving globally?" People such as Matt Ridley, author of the Rational Optimist, argue that environmentalists are needlessly downbeat about humanity's prospects. After all, we are a resourceful, adaptable, highly intelligent species more than capable of riding out any current ...

Portuguese court convicts all 7 defendants of child sex abuse after 6-year trial - Star Tribune: World

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Police say attacks on Pakistani minorities kill 44 - Star Tribune: Latest

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Suicide bombings targeting religious minorities killed at least 44 people in Pakistan on Friday, sharply driving up the toll of sectarian assaults in a country already battered by massive flooding.

Spare the children, re-open schools in Kashmir - New Kerala: World News

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Suicide bomb blast kills 42 in Pakistan - L.A. Times - World News

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Suicide bomb blast kills 42 in Pakistan

Attack on Pakistani Muslim Shiites Kill 23 - NY Times: World

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Police say a blast at a Shiite procession has killed at least 23 people in southwestern Pakistan in the third deadly attack this week on the country’s religious minorities.

Gates: U.S. troops face 'tough days' ahead - MSNBC

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

As the last of 30,000 U.S. reinforcements arrive in Afghanistan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Friday got a firsthand look at operations in the dangerous south. ...

Red Cross workers face anger in Pakistan - Hindustan Times: News

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Red Cross aid workers have faced angry crowds in Pakistan when distributing food and other supplies to flood victims, a disturbing trend that could jeopardise operations, a senior official said today.

Cancel all debt to Pak: Oxfam - Hindustan Times: News

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

International aid agency Oxfam has warned that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) latest instalment of $ 450 million loan to flood-ravaged Pakistan would risk plunging the country into debt that it can ill afford.

Blast in Mardan, 2 Injured - A Pakistan News

Sajid Manzoor — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

MARDAN, Pakistan News: A man killed and two others were injured in an explosion near the house a local trader at Mardan’s Canal Road. Police has cordoned off the area after the blast and investigating into the matter. The injured have been admitted at a local hospital. A homemade device was used in the bombing, [...]

Punjab cops clueless about missing Pakistani prisoner - New Kerala: World News

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Rare hope as hospital rises from ruin in Nowshera - DAWN

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Two doctors evacuating the sick had to be airlifted to safety after getting trapped on the top floor of the district hospital, the main source of health care for 1.6 million people in Pakistan's impoverished northwest. “Eighty per cent of the hospital staff were affected themselves. The water had destroyed their homes, cars and everything. No one was able to come to hospital,” said the hospital's chief doctor, Muhammad Arshad. But since the ruin, caused by monsoon-triggered floods which swept across the country, a massive volunteer undertaking has allowed the hospital to reopen, and Arshad now sits smiling on donated furniture in his freshly whitewashed office. The walls that were blackened and buried in mud for a week are now a hygienic ...

Explosion strikes near police mobile in Peshawar - DAWN

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The police mobile van was heavily damaged and the injured were rushed to the ...

Gates visits US forces in southern Afghanistan - Boston Globe: Latest

Anne Gearan, AP National Security Writer — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Gates visits US forces in southern Afghanistan

After Pandits, secessionsts want Sikhs out of Kashmir: Gadkari - New Kerala: World News

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Cancel all multilateral debt to Pak: Oxfam - Hindustan Times: News

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Green diary rescue & open thread - NewsTrust Yahoo Pipes Feed

Meteor Blades — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

At Grist , Randy Rieland writes : Ready for your morning bowl of crazy? Five years ago, Congress set aside millions of acres of public land in the Southwest for the development of solar farms. This was primo real estate for solar, considered one of the best spots in the world. So far not one solar panel has been erected. Oh, you want us to build something? This discouraging news comes courtesy of the AP's Jason Dearen , whose investigation shows that the understaffed U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) focused almost all its time on approving oil and gas projects and leased the land on a first-come, first-served basis, often to outfits with little or no experience in actually building solar farms. Case in point: Cogentrix Solar ...

Mozambican food riots are reminder of vulnerability of world's poorest nations - Star Tribune: World

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Mozambique riots spotlight world food price spike - Boston Globe: Latest

Donna Bryson, Associated Press Writer — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Mozambique riots spotlight world food price spike

Pakistan hails US decision to designate TTP as FTO Tahir Khan - The Frontier Post --- Top Stories

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday welcomed the US decision to designate Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP as a terrorist organization. The US Wednesday designated ...

Exodus to Iran feared - Hindu: News

Anita Joshua — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday warned that the deteriorating condition of the flood-affected people in Balochistan could force them to move into Iran's Sistan...

What Obama Won't Say Tonight - ConsortiumNews.com

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

In a mock draft of President Obama's Iraq War speech, Ray McGovern suggests a focus on the Afghan War quagmire instead. August 31, 2010

The Cacophony of Tragedy - CHUP! - Changing Up Pakistan

Kalsoom — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

I’ve felt very drained by the news of late. Cricket players implicated in a spot-fixing scandal. A flood disaster of epic proportions, affecting millions of people and requiring billions of dollars in long-term humanitarian assistance. Political violence and targeted killings in Karachi. A triple bombing that targeted a Shiite procession in Lahore, killing 25 people [...]

Libya frees ex-Gitmo detainee - Bill Roggio

Thomas Joscelyn — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

The Libyan government has freed a former Gitmo detainee who served al Qaeda and the Taliban for almost a decade as part of its reconciliation process with terrorists and extremists.

Pakistan Gets I.M.F. Relief, Tightens Security - NYT > World

By REUTERS — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:30:00 GMT

Pakistan Gets I.M.F. Relief, Tightens Security