Pakistani Teen Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Via CNN:

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to India's Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai for their struggles against the suppression of children and for young people's rights, including the right to education. Thorbjorn Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said, "Children must go to school, not be financially exploited." Yousafzai came to global attention after she was shot in the head by the Taliban -- two years ago Thursday -- for her efforts to promote education for girls in Pakistan. Since then, after recovering from surgery, she has taken her campaign to the world stage, notably with a speech last year at the United Nations. Yousafzai said Friday that the award is a "great honor for me," and that she's honored to share it with Satyarthi. "I'm proud that I'm the first Pakistani and the first young woman or the first young person getting this award," she said in Birmingham, England.

Yousafazai got the news this morning while in chemistry class.

Inside Gay Pakistan

The BBC reports on gay life in Pakistan:

Pakistan is not the kind of place that most people would associate with gay liberation. But some say the country is a great place to be gay - even describing the port city of Karachi as "a gay man's paradise". Underground parties, group sex at shrines and "marriages of convenience" to members of the opposite sex are just some of the surprises that gay Pakistan has to offer. Under its veneer of strict social conformity, the country is bustling with same-sex activity. Danyaal, as he's asked to be known, is a 50-something businessman who lives in an affluent part of Karachi, and uses his smartphone to organise Karachi's gay party scene. "One of the first things I did online, maybe 12 years ago, was type in G - A - Y and hit search. Back then I found a group and made contact with 12 people in this city," he says. "These days there are smartphone apps that use GPS to tell you how close you are to another gay person with an online profile. There are thousands of gay men online in Pakistan at any one time."

The report goes on to note that almost all gay men in Pakistan marry women in order to please their families. Doesn't really sound like "paradise."  (Tipped by JMG readers Eric and Eugene)

Religion Vs Science

Source.

Pakistan Sees Huge Anti-US Protests

PAKISTAN: Phone Companies To Block Texts Containing "Gay" & "Homosexual"

Pakistan's blogosphere is having a field day over a new government directive ordering phone companies to block more than 1700 words from text messages. Among the banned words are gay, lesbian, and homosexual. Also: Jesus Christ.

Operators have been directed to start blocking text messages containing these words from November 21. The move has been greeted with ridicule and derision, particularly by Pakistan's vociferous users of internet forums and micro-blogging sites like Twitter. Since the PTA's lists of offensive English and Urdu words and terms – containing 1,106 and 586 items respectively – became public a few days ago, it has become the butt of jokes on the web. While the English list has 148 items containing a four-letter swear word, it has had many scratching their heads by including words and terms like athlete's foot, deposit, black out, drunk, flatulence, glazed donut, harem, Jesus Christ, hostage, murder, penthouse, Satan and "flogging the dolphin".

Igor Volsky notes that homosexuality in Pakistan is a crime punishable by public whipping, imprisonment, and the death penalty.

Pakistan: Don't Try That Again

The Pakistan government said yesterday that if the United States carries out any more "unauthorized" raids within its borders, it will have to review the relationship with Washington.

Earlier Thursday, Pakistan's Pakistan Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir warned America Thursday of "disastrous consequences" if it carries out any more raids and hit back at international allegations it may have been harboring the al Qaeda chief. But the government in Islamabad stopped short of labeling Monday's helicopter raid on bin Laden's compound an illegal operation and insisted relations between Washington and Islamabad remained on course. With calls from some U.S. lawmakers to cut aid to Pakistan following the raid, the European Union said it would not turn its back on the nuclear-armed nation that is seen by many as key to helping negotiate an end to the war in Afghanistan.

Pakistanis Protest Bin Laden Raid

As anti-America protests go, this one doesn't seem that bad. But it's still very early.

"Great Hideout, Would Use Again"

Google Maps users are having some fun reviewing Osama Bin Laden's Pakistan compound.

Nightline: How They Got Bin Laden

PAKISTAN: Moderate Governor Killed Over Views On Religious Blasphemy

Salmaan Taseer, the governor of Pakistan's wealthiest and most populous province was assassinated today by his own bodyguard, who pumped 26 bullets into his boss for opposing a law that imposes the death penalty for "insulting Islam."

Taseer vented his opposition publicly - even using Twitter - to hard-line blasphemy laws that effectively order death for anyone convicted of insulting Islam. The laws have come under greater scrutiny in recent weeks after a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, was sentenced to death for allegedly insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Taseer said Bibi should be pardoned, earning him opprobrium from Islamist groups across the country and death threats, said Shahbaz Bhatti, the minister for minorities. "I was under huge pressure sure 2 cow down b4 rightest pressure on blasphemy. Refused. Even if I'm the last man standing," Taseer wrote on Twitter on Dec. 31.

Taseer was a passionate defender of women and minorities. His was the only Twitter feed out of Pakistan that I regularly read. Yesterday he tweeted: "So Facebook the social networking site started by a 26 year old has been valued at $50bn Same as our foreign debt! Something 2 think about?"

Bjork - The Comet Chase Song

Released today on iTunes, all proceeds to Pakistan.

Pakistan Arrests Man And Trans Woman, Charges Pair With Staging A Gay Marriage

Pakistani police have raided the purported wedding party of a man and a transgender woman, arresting the couple and many guests. The couple faces ten years in prison.

(Via - Dan Savage)

Pakistan Blocks Facebook And YouTube On "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day"

Spawned by a Seattle cartoonist who later denounced the campaign, today is "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." In response, Pakistan has instituted a block on YouTube, Facebook and other social media sites.

Prompted by a court order, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority today told providers to suspend access. The order runs until 31 May. The Facebook group for "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" has more than 43,000 supporters. The group has become a target for protest in Pakistan, and today a group of Islamic lawyers obtained a court order for a full suspension of Facebook. The government had previously blocked access to only the "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" pages. The group's organisers say it is not designed to offend ordinary Muslims, but as a demonstration of their right to free speech and "to show the extremists... that we're not afraid of them". Islamic teaching typically forbids depictions of its prophet. After online threats of violence last month, the US cable network Comedy Central bleeped Mohammed's name in an episode of South Park that featured him hidden in a bear suit.

Wikipedia has been blocked in Pakistan as well.

Unibrower Had Big Plans

Would-be Times Square car bomber Faisal Shahzad, had he been successful, had plans to attack several other very high profile NYC locations.

If the bomb inside the pathfinder in Times Square went off as planned, a source tells fox 5 that Faisal Shahzad says he was taking aim at four other high-profile targets: Rockefeller center, grand central terminal, the world financial center which is across from ground zero, and Connecticut-based defense contractor Sikorsky. The company manufacturers helicopters for the u.s. Military, including the black hawk. Headquartered in Stratford, Sikorsky also has facilities in Shelton and Bridgeport -- the same two cities where Shahzad has lived. A source tells fox 5 that Shahzad says he had familiarized himself with all of these notable targets. Security expert Michael Balboni is a former homeland security adviser for New York State. He says casing out numerous locations is standard. "They want to maximize the exposure of the attack," Balboni says. "So they want to pick things that are iconic that perhaps have a lot of people so they can increase the body count. Anything to make it as dramatic as possible."

Investigators now say that Shahzad has access to two other SUVs besides the one in Times Square.

Sen. Joe Lieberman Wants To Strip Citizenship From Unconvicted Suspects

Backlash Against Pakistani-Americans

Fox News is wondering if it isn't time to start picking up recent Pakistani immigrants. Just, you know, in case. You knew this was coming, right? Lieberman shoots that right down.

Times Square Car Bomb Suspect Faisal Shahzad: I Acted Alone

Federal investigators say that Faisal Shahzad, arrested at JFK yesterday for the attempted car bombing of Times Square, has implicated himself and says that he was acting alone.

The law enforcement official who said Mr. Shahzad had implicated himself also revealed more details of the transaction. He said authorities had found Mr. Shahzad through the email address he had given the seller. He said the two had met in a parking lot in Connecticut, that Mr. Shahzad had given the Pathfinder a test drive, and the he’d negotiated the price down to $1,300 from the $1,800 initially sought by the seller. While Mr. Shahzad said he had acted alone, law enforcement officials have said the investigation is, in the words of one, “very much ongoing,” and the F.B.I. agents and police detectives from the Joint Terrorist Task Force who arrested him have not developed evidence to either prove or disprove his claims. Charges against Mr. Shahzad were not announced, but he was expected to be charged Tuesday in federal court. “Over the course of the day today, we have gathered significant additional evidence that led to tonight’s arrest,” Mr. Holder said. “The investigation is ongoing, as are our attempts to gather useful intelligence, and we continue to pursue a number of leads.” He continued, “But it’s clear that the intent behind this terrorist act was to kill Americans.”

Freepers are already calling Shahzad the "Uni-Brower."

PAKISTAN: Taliban Claims Credit For Failed Car Bomb Attack In Times Square

A Pakistani sect of the Taliban is claiming to be behind yesterday's failed car bomb attack in Times Square. Homeland Security officials and the NYPD say no evidence has yet been uncovered to verify the Taliban's involvement.

According to the Associated Press, a one minute video allegedly released by the group says the attack is revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and killings of top al-Qaida leaders in Iraq. In the video, images of the dead militants are shown along with a voiceover message. A U.S. based intelligence group that monitors militant websites uncovered the video. This, after U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the events of Saturday night's incident in Times Square an "act of terrorism." During an appearance Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," Napolitano said the investigation is in its early stages, but has no reason at this point to believe the incident is connected to any other plots. "You look for fingerprints, you look for all those kind of traditional things people read, hear about, see on television, and then we also begin looking at, for example, video tape. There's a lot of cameras in that area of New York City," Napolitano said.

S. Korea Gives Asylum To Gay Pakistani

A South Korean court has granted political asylum to a gay Pakistani man who says he faces persecution at home.

The individual had petitioned the government for refugee status in February of last year. The Justice Ministry rejected his application four months later, however, saying his petition did not meet the criteria of a "well-founded fear of being persecuted" as stipulated by the U.N. convention on refugees. The Seoul Administrative Court reversed the ministry's decision, saying that should he be repatriated "there is a high likelihood that the plaintiff will be subject to persecution by the Pakistani government and Muslim society simply because he is gay." "My life, as a homosexual, was in danger in my country," the plaintiff told Yonhap News Agency on condition of anonymity due to sensitivity of the issue. "My family and relatives were my enemy. They said I was insulting my family, Islam and my country and threatened that they would report me to police," he said.

Since South Korea signed onto a U.N. refugee accord in 1992, it has granted less than 10% of asylum requests.

Flogging Gay Pakistanis

Andy Towle points us to this LiveLeak video which purports to show gay Pakistanis being flogged in the street. Clip description: "Homosexuals Pakistanis recieving their punishment. You can see two lovers kiss at 0:15 before their flogging." Andy notes that the comments on LiveLeak are sickening.