The change has been swift as well as melodramatic. Only a month ago, the nuclear rivals India and Pakistan were trading threats of war, vowing to obliterate each other. But the situation has suddenly been transformed, with their leaders now holding out the olive branch.........detail

Zaman, a resident of a squatter settlement in Peshawar, did not bother even to have a glimpse of his only daughter, Sara, born after four sons. Neither did he decide on a name, as the very future of the newborn girl seemed bleak, at least in the father's mind.......detail

When Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage swung through South Asia last week, he sounded cautiously optimistic. He welcomed Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's overture to Pakistan on Kashmir, calling it a "far-reaching act of statesmanship." But he also acknowledged that it would be a "long trip" to resolving conflicts between India and Pakistan. . ......detail

The fate of over 300 Iraqi nationals, many of whom fled to Pakistan after the 1990 Gulf war, remains uncertain. With the ouster of Saddam Hussein's regime, the refugees - of which a sizeable number are based in Balochistan - are looking to return to Iraq.....detail

I do not understand why I am being compared to Amitabh Bachchan. If I were an actor like Mr. Bachchan, the comparisons would have been valid. But there is no comparison - he and I are two different people. In fact, we are poles apart. Undoubtedly Mr. Bachchan is an extremly talented man with a great voice and personality.....detail

We remember fashion icons best by the jewellery that they wore. Coco Chanel, adorned always in a long string of pearls. Princess Di and her diamond chokers, and Elizabeth Taylor with her legendary rocks. The list is endless. And here in the exotic east, jewels have reigned for centuries......detail