The Londoner

A day from today, more than seven million voters in Karachi will choose to exercise their right of electing a local representative who will manage their issues of basic governance. But it is not simple as that. This is Karachi; dynamic and volatile, where even matters of basic governance come with a great amount of baggage, be it from the way local governments have been formed and managed in the past or from political quarters that directly impact the performance of candidates elected on local government posts. The News sat down with key leaders of the four major political stakeholders — Waseem Akhtar of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Hafiz Naeem-ur-Rehman of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Ali Zaidi of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf and Najmi Alam of the Pakistan People’s Party — and discussed with them their expectations and fears for beyond whatever happens on December 5. Below are the leaders’ exclusive responses to a common set of questions which mostly pertain to matters of basic govern

The energy crisis in Pakistan which suffers about 12 hours of power cuts a day has worsened in recent years amid 4,000 megawatts of electricity shortfall which the Iran gas pipeline is being fostered to cover. Iran has completed its part of the project with more than $2 billion of investment but Pakistan has fallen behind the target to take gas deliveries in the winter of 2014. Addressing a seminar on business opportunities in the clean energy sector in Washington Tuesday, Pakistan’s Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Khaqan Abbasi said he hoped sanctions on Iran would be removed soon. “The Iran gas line project is the best option for Pakistan. But as long US sanctions are there, we cannot buy gas from Iran,” the website of the Dawn newspaper quoted him as saying. The remarks came as Turkmenistan’s leader last month ordered construction of a $10 billion rival pipeline to Pakistan and India through Afghanistan to begin despite questions about the project.  The US

Mir Ghazanfar Ali Khan took oath as Governor Gilgit-Baltistan in Gilgit today (Tuesday), the  Radio Pakistan reported.  Chief Judge Supreme Appellate Court Dr. Rana Mohammad Shamim administered the oath. The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Minister for Kashmir Affairs Barjees Tahir, and Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman attended. Mir Ghazanfar Ali, a sitting member of the region’s legislative  assembly  from Hunza  district , had served as the first chief minister of Gilgit-Baltistan, at the time when General (retd) Pervez Musharraf was president.  The decision to appoint him as Governer of Gilgit Baltistan was taken by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. During his visit, the Prime Minister will also meet quake affected people in the region and distribute financial assistance cheques among them. Read the full story here. Home 

The driver, a 38-year-old Moroccan immigrant who moved to the United States some five years ago, told the  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette  that the passenger asked him where he was from and then began to talk about the Islamic State. “He started the conversation and began to ask questions like, ‘You seem to be like a Pakistani guy. Are you from Pakistan?’” said the driver, who spoke to the paper on the condition of anonymity owing to concerns about his safety. Read the full story here.

By Sikander Hayat 1. India has never accepted Pakistan and whenever any Indian politician or intellectual tries to say anything of the sort, he or she is demonised by the Indian media and society and branded a traitor straight away. Story of Jaswant Singh is not very old and then there was Advani on Pakistan a few years ago. People like Amir Khan & Shah Rukh Khan and whoever does not fit the Hindutwa agenda is told to go to Pakistan.  2. The only country Pakistan has ever fought a war against is India and 1948, 1965, 1971 are examples of this long history of conflict. Siachin Glacier is still hot and many Pakistani & Indian soldiers have lost there lives to cold and hostile action by enemy. Siachin is the prime example of India's hate for Pakistan.  3. According to the formula of British exit from Pakistan & India in 1947, any autonomous Muslim majority areas were to join Pakistan but India forced the Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir to allow Indian troops

America is debating how to respond to the terrorist attacks in Paris. Unfortunately, both President Obama’s current policy and other recent proposals lack a strategic vision for the Middle East once the Islamic State, or ISIS, is actually defeated. There are no answers, or only outmoded ones, to the basic question: What comes after the Islamic State?Before transforming Mr. Obama’s ineffective efforts into a vigorous military campaign to destroy the Islamic State, we need a clear view, shared with NATO allies and others, about what will replace it. It is critical to resolve this issue before considering any operational plans. Strategy does not come from the ground up; instead, tactics flow deductively once we’ve defined the ultimate objectives. Read the full story here

The French finance minister, Michel Sapin, has announced a series of initiatives to improve the tracking of terrorism financing, Le Monde newspaper reports. The measures include better supervision of prepaid bank cards, which the ministry believes played an important role in the preparation of the 13 November attacks. The new measures will make it harder for card users to remain anonymous. Currently, prepaid cards can be recharged without identity checks, so long as they do not exceed 2,500 euros over one year, according to the AFP news agency. "There are new means of payment which have been created which should be on our radar," Bruno Dalles, head of the finance ministry's Tracfin intelligence unit, told AFP.    Read the full story at bbc.co.uk