Ukraine’s red alert
Russia’s old attitude The long ongoing proxy warfare in Ukraine formally entered the religious realm this week when the Russian Orthodox Church severed relations with Patriarchate of Constantinople – the historical seat…
Dubai Test: Pakistan miss out with Australia there for the taking
Pakistan needing seven wickets on the fifth day of a UAE Test to win the match, with runs superfluous, is as nailed on a position to win as any in all of…
Cul-de-currency
Just whose money runs the world? The Pakistani rupee retraced an historic low this week, touching 138 against the US dollar. Given the International Monetary Fund’s conditions, the currency is expected to…
10 years on…
The ‘mother of all recessions’? By the end of September 2008, Lehman Brothers had collapsed and the then US President George W Bush was speaking of an “issue in the Wall Street”.…
Pakistan need to forget the Asia Cup disaster ahead of Australia series
LAHORE: The Asia Cup exit understandably has had its ramifications and the aftershocks being felt in the statements coming out of the Pakistani camp. It isn’t particularly encouraging when the captain comes…
How the Asia Cup debacle burst Pakistan’s ODI bubble
LAHORE: Surprise knockouts and early tournament exits can happen to the best of sides. This on its own should never be used to conjure knee-jerk reactions or call for a mass exodus.…
From Kargil to cricket
Musharraf’s legacy? Just when one thought events inside Dubai International Stadium couldn’t get any worse with India pounding the national cricket side, one saw Pervez Musharraf in the VIP box enjoying the…
Case against impeachment?
How close will this one get? Veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s latest book Fear: Trump in the White House is the latest – and arguably the most high-profile – in a series of…
Pakistan, India clash anything but a dead rubber
LAHORE: Technically Wednesday’s Asia Cup clash between Pakistan and India is a dead rubber. For, there would be no impact on the final standings no matter which side wins the match. This…
Diplomatic dilemmas
Khan might go with what Pakistani leaders have normally gone with Almost a month into the new government taking oath there already are quite a few talking points. While many of these…
‘Secular’ PPP’s Ahmadiphobia
This is where PPP cochairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has been in a particular fix Pakistan People’s Party leader Shehla Raza’s rants against a ‘Qadiani’ (derogatory term for Ahmadis) being appointed to Prime…
Comedy weds drama
Of the three Eid-ul-Azha releases, which also included Jawani Phir Nahi Ani 2 and Parwaz Hai Junoon, Load Wedding was perhaps the hardest to categorise. JPNA 2 was of course a sequel,…
Despite recent successes, Asia Cup will be a unique challenge for Pakistan
After a hard-earned break of around two months, Pakistan will begin a continuum of high-value clashes with the Asia Cup in mid-September. Pakistan’s last challenge was the tour to Zimbabwe, where the…
PM Imran Khan missed a trick by replacing Najam Sethi as PCB chairman
LAHORE: Despite the rise of Pakistan cricket under former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Najam Sethi, his exit was always a foregone conclusion once the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government came to power.…
Original phir nahi ani
The releases lined up on Eid-ul-Azha were significantly better on paper as compared to what was on offer at Eid-ul-Fitr. However, given the string of disasters that Lollywood served two months ago,…
The saffron surf
Vajpayee and the BJP Former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ashes would be ritualistically immersed in the Mandovi and Zuari rivers of Goa on Thursday, eight days after he passed away…
Crude weaponry
‘Oil is always the answer’ Not that oil is ever not smack at the centre of global politics, but three recent developments serve as a crude reminder of the underground puppeteer’s clout.…