kahkashankhan

The killing of 59 innocent people in Las Vegas by Stephen Paddock, a white male, has reignited the issue of who gets to be called a terrorist. Again, reading the headlines of most of the western media houses gives us the impression that a white person can only be a lone-wolf or might have some mental issues if he ruthlessly kills dozens of innocent people. The rule is simple, for the same or even less severe crime, a Muslim perpetrator is automatically termed a terrorist, unless proven otherwise. While for white males it is the other way around. Stephen Paddock opened indiscriminate fire on a large crowd gathered for an outdoor festival in Las Vegas, killed 59 and injured 529 others, but he was instantly humanized in the mainstream media by terming him a country music lover. Despite committing the most deadliest mass shooting incident in American history, Mr. Paddock escapes the title of being called a terrorist, thanks to his white blood. Witnesses described the massacre as “nonstop g...

Recent Screenshot of the WhiteHouse.Gov Website Recently, various media networks reported that soon after Trump’s inauguration, his administration  took down pages  related to Civil Rights, LGBT, Abortion, Climate Change and Spanish language content from the White House website. The news sent shockwaves among many who were already wary of President Trump’s various controversial pledges during his campaign. However, contrary to the misleading reports, in fact every new administration is handed over a fresh version of White House website where they showcases their own policies. The old website is wiped clean with every new presidency. The content of the old website are archived. For example all Obama-era material of the White House website have been archived and are available at Obama whitehouse.gov. Similarly, the official twitter handle of the United State President  @POTUS  was also wiped clean and handed over to the new incoming president. At the tim...

US President Trump’s executive order to ban immigrant and non-immigrant entry into the United States from seven Muslim countries has been met with serious criticism. However, one important part of the ban which has been not been properly reported is that the ban is only for 90 days. According to the executive order’s text, the current visa process will be assessed and loopholes identified so that a uniform screening standard and procedure is developed during this 90-day ban. Nonetheless, thousands of people have been affected by this decision which came as a surprise to many despite Trump’s explicit resolve to do so during his campaign. As the ban came into effect, seven migrants were stopped from boarding Cairo flight to New York and two Iraqis were  detained at New York’s JFK airport . Not only does the ban affects immigrant and non-immigrant visa holders, but it also blocks green-card holders from entry into the United States. The so-called green card makes an individual a ...

People ride along a street on a smoggy day in Daqing, Heilongjiang province. REUTERS/Stringer China and the United States are the top two biggest global carbon emitters. China has not taken drastic measures to curb carbon emissions until recent past, the US was playing a lead role in devising environmental policies and the Obama administration took several measures to minimize the impact of climate change. Former US President Obama had put a stop to the 1,179-mile Keystone XL Pipeline, which would have carried crude from Alberta tar sands to the Gulf of Mexico. In Obama’s view, the environmental cost was too much for a relatively modest supply of oil, and would have been at odds with this nation’s commitment to join a global pact to reduce greenhouse gases. He solidified his environmental legacy by putting an end to oil drilling in large areas of Atlantic and Arctic oceans during his last days as President. During the last two weeks, we saw a contrasting approach by the US and China to...

Since the day Daesh [Arabic acronym for ISIS] captured Mosul in June 2014, the group has defended the city by putting civilians as human shield and hiding in places like hospitals, schools and busy neighborhoods. Thousands of the Iraq’s displaced from Mosul have lost their loved ones or were injured on their way out as a result. The liberation of Mosul comes at a time when Daesh has to deal with the death of their leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliph of the Muslim world. According to latest reports, Daesh has confirmed the death of their leader. What does the liberation of Mosul and the death of al-Baghdadi mean for the people of Iraq, Syria and more importantly ISIS itself? Nothing much is left for the living in Mosul after the year-long heavy fighting between Iraqi forces and ISIS. The city has been destroyed into rubble. According to UN estimates, building the bare-minimum and most important infrastructure of the city will cost almost $1 billion. While th...

Image: Caters News Agency Two men in UK made history by becoming the first gay Muslim couple of the country. Jahed Chaudhry, 24, married Sean Rogan, 19, in a closed event in West Midlands. The two met while Jahed was out in a park trying to kill himself because of the criticism and bullying he was facing due to his sexuality. Sean found him stranded and comforted him. Two years later they both said their vows and married in a typical Bangladeshi attire with only their families present. Jahed’s open confession about his sexuality did not go well with his family and relatives. Most of his relatives though stayed quiet but cut all ties with his family. Some however, gave them death threats. He was even assaulted by fellow Muslims on the street where he lived and the word “fag” was sprayed on his front door. Jahed says, after being bullied, banned from his local mosque and treated like the “black sheep” of his Bangladeshi community, he tried to change his sexuality and also went on religio...

Henriette, 17, was found dead in her parents home with stab wounds to the neck in the Central town of Ramle, Israil on June 13. According to Jerusalem Post, the father, Sami Karra, believed Henriette’s actions “damaged the honor of the family and made him feel ashamed.” The local news source reported that the killing sparked a wave of outrage from Israeli-Arab Members of Knesset and community leaders accusing the police of not properly protecting the teenager despite her complaints against her family. The victim left home two weeks before her murder after her family used violence against her to try to end her year-long relationship with a Muslim man. After the abuse she feared for her life and hid from her family in a number of places. On June 11, the police summoned Henriette and her parents for a joint meeting after which she returned home on her parents request. On June 13, the day of her death, she deposited 400 Shekels (113 dollars) in her Muslim boyfriend’s prison canteen acc...

Chester Bennignton, the lead singer of one of the most celebrated band in the rock world, Linkin Park, is no more as the rock star allegedly took his own life by hanging himself. His body was discovered at 9 am Thursday at the Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles. Chester, 41, was the lead singer of Linkin Park. He joined the band in 1999 giving two successful albums called “The Hybrid Theory” and “Meteora”. Overall he made seven albums with the band and was currently on a tour for his latest album. Bennington’s best friend Chris Cornell also committed suicide few months back. He performed on his funeral to pay tribute to his best friend. According to some reports, Chester also suffered from drug abuse and had alcohol addiction. Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda also took to twitter to express his shock. Other names from the industry such as Rihanna, Nikki Sixx also termed Chester’s death as an irreparable loss to the music industry.

Did you know which of the world’s beautiful islands is on the fault line? Kos island in Greece, the main center for tourists and famous for its long beautiful beaches and vibrant nightlife is one of the most quake-prone places. Kos hosts around 700,000 tourists, mainly British, during the summer season each year. Neighboring islands of Kos are Pserimos, 4 km North,  Kalimnos, 12 km North, Nysiros, 12 km South, Astypalaia, about 43 km to the West. On July 21st, 2017, a powerful overnight earthquake of 6.7 magnitude shook several Greek islands and Turkey’s Aegean coast, injuring more than 300 people and leaving two people dead on the Kos island. The two revelers at a bar were crushed in a building collapse. Earthquakes in the region are not uncommon. Intersecting fault lines make Greece, Turkey and islands in the Aegean sea one of the most quake-prone regions in the world. There is significant movement in the Eurasian and African plates. There is a smaller plate between these two lar...

We have grown accustomed to the idea of women being featured in washing powder ads while men shown making mess in various energy drink ads. Apparently UK is breaking this tradition by banning all such stereotypical advertisements. The controversy started when an advert for Aptamil baby milk formula showed a girl predicting herself as future ballerina while the boy was imagining to become a scientist. Another advert of Gap clothing was also criticized for showing a girl becoming a social butterfly while a boy becoming more academic. The topic of advertisements spreading various stereotypes was under discussion since 2015 when Protein World placed sexist ads and billboards that showed people an unrealistic image of a “perfect beach body”. Backlash on these advertisement apparently took a serious turn and the authorities have now taken serious steps about it. According to a research by the Advertising Standard Authority (ASA), these stereotypes can boost “unfair outcomes” especially for y...

An injured woman is being carried on a stretcher after clashes broke out inside Al-Aqsa Mosque’s compound [Ahamd Gharabli/AFP] After a two-week protest and praying outside of the Al-Aqsa mosque, Israeli authorities yielded to the Muslim protesters and removed all controversial security devices installed at the entrance of the compound. Israeli police had installed security cameras and metal detectors on the Muslim entrances of the compound leading to Al Aqsa after two Israeli policemen were killed by a Palestinian gunman on July 14th. The Israeli authorities also stated that anyone below the age of 50 was not allowed to offer Friday prayers in the mosque. The move was severely criticized by Muslim religious and political leaders alike and they refused to pray inside the compound until the coercive security measures were taken back. Thousands of Muslims worshiped on the streets outside Al Aqsa mosque in protest and clashed with Israeli police which resulted in the killing of at leas...

Trump’s warning has gone unnoticed in Pyongyang. Thousands in North Korea held a massive rally to protest the new UN sanction on their country. The rally was held at Pyongyang’s Kim Il-sung square. Citizens marched through the square holding various placards against the sanctions. Tensions between United States and North Korea have grown due to the Pyongyang’s new missile tests. Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s notorious supreme commander, said his country was examining a potential strike on areas around Guam which is an American territory. Pyongyang has also threatened attacking the same territory through some of its previous propaganda videos. Guam is one of the 14 unincorporated US territories with a population of 160,000 people. It is a self-governing territory and is part of the Mariana Islands close to japan and Philippine. Its inhabitants are American citizens. Pyongyang’s intermediate-range missile is planned to be fired east and over Japan landing around 30 to 40 kilometers (18 to 2...

Ofcom, a media regulator in the UK, closed down Iman FM radio station for airing 25 hours of lectures by an alleged former Al-Qaida leader, during the month of Ramadan. The radio station, admitted the breach had taken place but claimed it was not aware of Anwar Al-Awlaki’s background, who was a radical US born cleric and was killed in September 2011 by a US drone strike in Yemen for his terror activities. The FM radio came up with the excuse that its regular presenter was not available in Ramadan, hence it was decided to air lectures on Islamic topics from the internet. It said it would have never aired these lectures, had the background of the preacher been known. But Ofcom said the licencee acted extremely recklessly by not checking the source of a content that was going on air. It added, Al-Awlaki’s lectures directly motivated Muslims for the killing of non-Muslim people and the management remained unaware. This approach by a license holder does not meet the standards expected o...

Hurricanes, tornadoes and the United States of America have a long history. Hurricane Katrina and hurricane Wilma made quite a show of their damages. Tornadoes are a usual scene in most of the country side of the continent. Nature hasn’t really been nice to the super power. It doesn’t end here. The follow up hurricanes after Katrina and Wilma are its example. First came hurricane Harvey on Texas. It was a major hurricane after hurricane Wilma which caused landfall in the United States. With 40 inches of rain in eastern Texas, Harvey is known to have ended a record 12 year drought and the heaviest downpour in the history of United States. Thousands of homes were destroyed and more than 30,000 people were displaced. The hurricane has reportedly sunk earth’s crust by 2 cm. Explosions were reported in 2 chemical plants in the north east of Houston leaving many hospitalized due to coming in contact with dangerous chemicals. A total of 71 people were reportedly killed in this hurricane follo...

Regional integration and intra-regional trade have played an important role in the economic prosperity of many countries, the Association of Southern Asian Nations (ASEAN) being one such example. The first attempt to regulate and codify all the scattered provisions – under the auspices of trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan in 1965, when Pakistan and Afghanistan signed a bilateral Transit Treaty. The treaty recognized the right of Afghanistan to access to seaports of Pakistan, but did not address Pakistan’s access to Central Asia through the territory of Afghanistan. In spite of the bilateral Afghanistan Transit Trade Agreement (ATTA, 1965), Pakistani stakeholders still held the perception that the extension of transit facility to Afghanistan was being used for unauthorized trade, causing injury to the domestic industry and loss of revenue. Negotiations between Pakistan and Afghanistan on a new transit treaty commenced in 2008 after visiting a delegation from Afghanistan tabled a dr...

The last Vienna Plenary meeting of NSG ended without reaching any consensus on the issue of NSG candidature for non-NPT states. India was lately giving the impression that it has won the support of majority of the states including Mexico, Switzerland, Brazil, Russia and New Zealand. But the fact is that New Zealand doesn’t stand a chance against the US pressure. Similarly the countries in Latin American have different interest. However, three major countries Ireland, China and Austria have not shown any change in their stance against the Indian membership. India on the other hand, wants to send the message out that NSG issue is still alive and India is diligently working for its membership. It’s almost a decade that membership of NSG has become much contested, especially because of India and Pakistan interest its membership. Three dimensions to the whole issue are significant. First dimension is Commercial lobby; for example commercial purpose was the main idea behind Indo-US nuclear d...