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Reliable sources in the Indian capital with links to Indian police told a Pakistani Web portal that senior Indian officials have discussed the elimination of Ajmal Kassab, the lone surviving terrorist in the Mumbai attacks, in a staged attack that would be later blamed on Pakistani intelligence. The Indian police went defensive after the report leaked into the mainstream media. But insider sources in New Delhi insist the plan is real. It's not clear why the Indian government might want to kill Mr. Kassab. The loopholes in the Indian story on the attacks have been increasingly highlighted since Nov. 28, when the Mumbai siege ended. ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—In response to PakistanKaKhudaHafiz (PKKH)'s exclusive report about Kassab's death, the Maharashtra government on Friday said the lone terrorist arrested in 26/11 Mumbai attacks is very much alive. "Kassab is in Mumbai police custody and very much alive," state Home Minister Jayant Patil said. [Rediff] In ad

How in the world does a woman with six children get a fertility doctor to help her have more — eight more? An ethical debate erupted Friday after it was learned that the Southern California woman who gave birth to octuplets this week had six children already. Large multiple births "are presented on TV shows as a `Brady Bunch' moment. They're not," fumed Arthur Caplan, bioethics chairman at the University of Pennsylvania. He noted the serious and sometimes lethal complications and crushing medical costs that often come with high-multiple births. But Dr. Jeffrey Steinberg, who has fertility clinics in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York, countered: "Who am I to say that six is the limit? There are people who like to have big families." Kaiser Permanente announced the mega-delivery Monday in Bellflower, with delighted doctors saying they had initially expected seven babies and were surprised when the cesarean section yielded an eighth. Multiple births this big

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistan looks forward to a new beginning in its bilateral relationship with the United States. First, we congratulate Barack Obama and the country that had the character to elect him, and we welcome his decision to name a special envoy to Southwest Asia. Appointing the seasoned diplomat Richard Holbrooke says much about the president's worldview and his understanding of the complexities of peace and stability and the threats of extremism and terrorism. Simply put, we must move beyond rhetoric and tackle the hard problems. Pakistan has repeatedly been identified as the most critical external problem facing the new administration. The situation in Pakistan, Afghanistan and India is indeed critical, but its severity actually presents an opportunity for aggressive and innovative action. Since the end of the Musharraf dictatorship, Pakistan has worked to confront the challenges of a young democracy facing an active insurgency, within the context of an international economi

The Obama administration well appreciates the critical importance of Afghanistan, Pakistan and by extension India to the security of the United States, NATO, Europe and the region.   More over, its most senior officials have direct experience and deep understanding of the stakes involved.  Vice President Joe Biden chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  National Security Advisor James Jones was the former NATO commander when NATO took command of the International Security Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.  And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spent four years on the Senate Armed Service Committee addressing these issues. That said, reality rather than ideology must dominate the policies that the United States, NATO and other friends pursue if success is to be achieved in the region .  By success, the current security and economic crises confronting Afghanistan and Pakistan must be contained .  That will be a Sisyphean labor even though the conceptual solutions for resolving Pakis

A few days back, Mangalore, India witnessed an incident which has brought shame and utter disrespect for the so called Indian fundamentalists. Workers of the Shri Ram Sena (Lord Ram's Army) entered a pub and started beating up women who were partying. According to the Sena, all these activities, when done by women are unethical and against moral grounds of Indian culture. Women must not drink, smoke, dance in public places, and must be dressed in ethnic wear only, is what the Indian Fundamentalists, like the Sena think. When asked about the incident, women from metropolitan cities condemned it as an act of Hooliganism and Terrorism. Should we, the Youth take such acts quietly? No where in the culture does it specify that women should not be allowed to indulge in such social activities. Director Pooja Bhatt said that the act was akin to what the Taliban or a hardline group from Pakistan would do. More often than not, attacks on women are backed by so called cultural and religious re

A nine-year-old tribal girl in eastern India has married a stray dog as part of a ritual to ward off an "evil spell" on her, Indian newspapers have reported. An Indian villager poses with his dog and Karnamoni Handsa The girl promised to "take care of the dog" The girl, Karnamoni Handsa, had to be married quickly because she had a tooth rooted to her upper gum, which is considered a bad omen by her Santhal tribe in the remote village of Khanyhan, about 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Calcutta. "Members of the village jury asked us to get her married to a dog or to face the bad omen," the girl's father was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. The tribe elders said the marriage would not affect the girl's life, and that she would be free to marry again later and did not need to divorce the dog. "It will not spoil her future. We will marry her off to eligible bachelor when she grows up," the girl's mother told AFP. 'No regret

Just four years ago, the defense establishment decided to carry out a seemingly elementary task: establish a comprehensive database on the settlements. Brigadier General (res.) Baruch Spiegel, aide to then defense minister Shaul Mofaz, was put in charge of the project. For over two years, Spiegel and his staff, who all signed a special confidentiality agreement, went about systematically collecting data, primarily from the Civil Administration. One of the main reasons for this effort was the need to have credible and accessible information at the ready to contend with legal actions brought by Palestinian residents, human rights organizations and leftist movements challenging the legality of construction in the settlements and the use of private lands to establish or expand them. The painstakingly amassed data was labeled political dynamite. The defense establishment, led by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, steadfastly refused to publicize the figures, arguing, for one thing, that publicati

In the wake of Operation Cast Lead, a group of American university professors has for the first time launched a national campaign calling for an academic and cultural boycott of Israel. While Israeli academics have grown used to such news from Great Britain, where anti-Israel groups several times attempted to establish academic boycotts, the formation of the United States movement marks the first time that a national academic boycott movement has come out of America. Israeli professors are not sure yet how big of an impact the one-week-old movement will have, but started discussing the significance of and possible counteractions against the campaign. "As educators of conscience, we have been unable to stand by and watch in silence Israel's indiscriminate assault on the Gaza Strip and its educational institutions," the U.S. Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel stated in its inaugural press release last Thursday. Speaking in its mission statement of th

On the first day of Operation Cast Lead, the air force bombed the graduation ceremony of a police course, killing dozens of policemen. Months earlier, an operational and legal controversy was already swirling around the planned attack. According to a military source who was involved in the planning, bombing the site of the ceremony was authorized with no difficulty, but questions were raised about the intent to strike at the graduates of the course. Military Intelligence, convinced the attack was justified, pressed for its implementation. Representatives of the international law division (ILD) in the Military Advocate General's Office at first objected, fearing a possible violation of international law. "This was a very large group of people who at that moment were ostensibly civilians and the next day would become legitimate military targets," says an operational source. "You take these dozens of policemen and put them in your gunsights. That certainly came up in a