All for Dutch troops

KABUL: President Hamid Karzai said that his war-torn country would benefit if the Netherlands maintained its military and civilian presence in Afghanistan, rather than withdrawing as planned. About 2,000 Dutch troops are deployed in Uruzgan, one of the most insurgency-hit regions in southern Afghanistan. The deployment is set to end next year. “The decision of the Dutch parliament and government about ending the duration of the Netherlands’ troops in Afghanistan is a sovereign decision,” said Karzai.

A dose of humour

LAHORE: If the Taliban produced a soap opera, Pakistani comedy writer Younis Butt pondered one day, what would it be like? The love triangles would be impossible to understand, he thought, because all the women would be hidden behind burkas and no one would know which character was engaged in a heated tiff with another. An Islamist variety show would be equally absurd. With singing and dancing frowned upon, women covered from head-to-toe could only sit in a spotlight with their backs turned to the camera. For the creator of Pakistan’s most popular satirical television show, the prospect was too tempting and the spoof Taliban “T Channel” episode was born.