Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor reverently referred to as the Sage of Oma- ha, has confessed to a catastrophic blunder in his insurance operation. Its policies covered terrorist acts without charging a proper premium for doing so.This is a blow to Buffett’s many followers. His approach has been to invest conservatively and hold the [...]

The engines apparently fell off seconds later, as the plane plummeted. The final crash sequence started shortly after the plane encountered turbulence left by a jumbo jet which had taken off just before it.While sabotage or terrorist intent has still not been ruled out, few officials were taking any such scenarios seriously, pointing instead [...]

Put it into your wallet or pocket and walk away, and count it later. Do not leave receipts behind.• If you put your card behind the bar, be sure it is a place you can trust.• Report lost or stolen cards immediately.• Always check your monthly credit card statement thoroughly against receipts.• Tell the [...]

For the time being it will be progress enough to persuade Afghans to settle disputes with words rather than arms.As for the position of women, in the cities they will be able to leave off the burqa and go to work – if they can find any. For the foreseeable future, however, women in [...]

“In the south,” he said, “they have gone into places and met resistance and dealt with it.” But the other Pentagon briefer, Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem, said that American soldiers are not “roaming the country and looking to engage in fights”.The reason for this becomes evident when you look at the numbers of special [...]

But the foreign Taliban will never accept this,” he said on Saturday Reuters. They are calling it peace, but it is too feverish, too frenetic to deserve that name. Less than one week after the Taliban fled, Kabul is wallowing in a manic little boom – the first fruits of Afghanistan’s dramatic success in [...]

Quite the opposite.
The defiant words of their supreme commander, Mullah Mohammed Omar stood in contrast to the behaviour of the Northern Alliance, whose leaders argued, paraded their men, but showed little inclination to fight just yet. When they did indulge in the odd skirmish it embarrassed their new allies. Faced with the spectacle of [...]

As Waugh recounted in his memoirs:”I repeated an old army joke about the curious trousers worn by men in certain parts of the near East … Furious letters were received from half the embassies of Islam, demonstrations were held in Printing House Square and the British Council Library in Rawalpindi was burned to the [...]

Why are they here? We don’t need them.” No words highlight more clearly why it is far from being “all over now”.
One of the objectives binding the international coalition was the prospect of an inclusive government in Kabul, not an administration dominated by the Northern Alliance. Pakistan in particular will be alarmed at the [...]

It is then for the newspaper to justify publication.In the next few months we should see more clarity as more carefully argued cases reach the Court of Appeal. It is to be hoped that the pendulum, which has swung in favour of the rich and famous, swings back to protect the right to freedom [...]