y e s o n t h e J u d i c i a r y

The tribal administration of Balochistan

governments and especially the four-year rule of the PTI and the incumbent PDM Government, have contributed to the dreadful situation: economic meltdown, high unemployment galloping inflation rise in terrorist acts increase in dacoities/burglaries and soaring street crime

The country is at the verge of financial default and essential items of daily use are fast disappearing from the markets The record inflation has rendered millions hungry and broken the back of the middle class There is no such thing as governance, much less good governance, exposing citizens to suffer oppression and violation of rights without any hope of remedy or relief Consequently there is widespread gloom and depression amongst the people encouraged by the withdrawal of the establishment from the political arena the politicians and especially the leaders who were convicted or underwent trial for taking commissions or skimming billions of rupees from

T h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l m a n d a t e o f h o l d i n g e l e c t i o n s o n t i m e mu s t b e u p h e l d , n o m a t t e r w h a t t h e c o s t a n d h ow i t m ay a f fe c t t h e p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s T h e C o u r t n e e d s t o b e o n t h e c o n s t a n t w a t ch a n d i n t e r v e n e w h e n ev e r a n d by w h o m s o ev e r, t h e r e i s a t h r e a t t o t h e d e m o c r a t i c g ov e r n a n c e o r a d ev i a t i o n f ro m t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l d i s p e n s a t i o n

The US-Saudi relationship: What’s love got to do with it?

W H O I N T H E I R R I G H T M I N D WO U L D WA N

K E T S I N A ington remain ironclad and the US is a priority

D I S P U T E W I T H T H E WO R L D ’S L E A D I N G O I L E X P O RT E R?

So what went wrong? That would require a series of columns to answer in full But in summary there has been mistrust on the Saudi side and miscalculation on the US side

The Saudi mistrust is well placed; this is an administration hostile to our leadership from the get-go

It placed Saudi civilian lives at risk when it revoked the designation of the houthis as terrorists, and withdrew Patriot missile batteries from the Kingdom when the Iran-backed militia were deliberately targeting Saudi cities

The US miscalculation took many forms the national kitty, have the audacity to target the judiciary They are also calling for the abolition of the institutions of accountability in particular the National Accountability Bureau This institution, having been deprived of much of its powers and jurisdiction, thanks to the amendments made to its law by the PTI and PDM and having earned a bad name for being used for selective accountability, is already teetering on the edge The heir apparent of one-party leader is asking for the reversal of court verdicts of conviction against her and her father and insisting on getting a clean chit; or else, elections will not be allowed to be held!

In short the country is in dire straits and is faced with the worst political and economic crisis Institutions like the police, the Federal Investigation Agency and the rest of the bureaucracy are being abused and misused for narrow partisan ends Constitutional mandates are brazenly violated and court verdict, even orders of the Supreme Court, are jeered at The resulting state of affairs undoubtedly poses an existential threat to the very survival of the state and society But apparently there is no way out of the crisis The distraught nation is in deep pain and agony, looking forward to a saviour!

In the given circumstances all eyes are on the judiciary It is the only institution which can and must play its due role After all, the judges of superior courts have taken a solemn oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” There is hardly any regard or respect for its rules or principles by the Government or Opposition

The sacred document is under threat, even though it is a social contract between the people and regions to form a State and live together as one nation

The institution of the judiciary is no shining example of an effective and efficient institution and the Supreme Court is often maligned for validating successive martial laws in the country This Court is perceived to have been playing second fiddle to the establishment and helping it in toppling political governments and thwarting constitutional rule Undoubtedly it has to its discredit quite a few most controversial verdicts, including sending one Prime Minister to the gallows and disqualifying another for life This is in addition to a spate of most atrocious judgments on the dissolution of Parliament, dismissal of governments and validating the imposition of martial law And quoting erroneous theories and doctrines like “doctrine of necessity” and theory of revolutionary legality not just coup d états were legitimized but the martial law administration per- mitted to amend the Constitution

It led the country to suffer successive bouts of the rigours of martial law, each one of which wrought greater disaster to the country Thus cases like Federation v Molvi Tamizuddin (1955), State v Dosso (1958), Begum Bhutto v Chief of Army Staff (1977) and Zafar Ali Shah v Gen Pervez Musharraf (2000) will always remind the nation of the dark era of its judicial history

Notwithstanding the above, there were moments, when certain courageous judges resisted pressure stood the ground and decided cases purely on merit and strictly in accordance with the law/Constitution Justice Constantine of the Sindh Chief Court, Justine Cornelius of the Federal Court Chief Justice yaqub Ali Chief Justice Saeed-u-Zaman Siddiqi and Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, are few such examples Other than that, the high Courts and the Supreme Court have the distinction of standing by the law and protecting the fundamental rights of citizens The suo motu powers have been employed for resolving conflicts and disputes and providing socio-economic and political justice to the community The Court intervention in reversing the dissolution of the National Assembly by the former Prime Minister, Mr Imran Khan and ordering the holding of General elections in the provinces of the Punjab and KP despite the reluctance of the PDM Government were well-received by all and sundry It helped in resolving a serious political crisis and prevented a breakdown of the constitutional machinery

The author served as Registrar Supreme Court and Secretary Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan

IN an interview with Arab News last Sunday, American financier and former White house official Anthony Scaramucci described the 78-year-old US-Saudi relationship as a Catholic marriage Urging leaders in both countries to think long term he said: Our economies our governments our intelligence communities, our defense departments are very much intertwined ” Scaramucci was speaking in Abu Dhabi which was hosting SALT his thought-leadership summit for the second time he revealed plans to bring a version of SALT to Saudi Arabia which he applauded for its ongoing reforms with its best years ahead of it

Not far from the UAe capital, another thought-leadership forum was taking place in the historic Saudi city of AlUla Its focus was a candid discussion of the status of Saudi-US relations It was sponsored by ThINK an affiliate of SRMG which publishes this newspaper at the Maraya hall where the AlUla Declaration was signed two years ago As with the US-Saudi relationship, the AlUla signatories (Saudi Arabia the UAe Bahrain egypt and Qatar) demonstrated that they share unbreakable bonds The declaration ended a 43-month boycott and one of the most dramatic periods in recent Gulf history

Now, had I not known that our interview with Scaramucci was recorded before the AlUla forum I would have said he was either psychic or had been eavesdropping on its discussions

The marriage metaphor was so repeatedly and humorously used that the forum began to sound like a couples therapy session (that those attending were sitting in a large circle might have contributed to that)

Scaramucci has hit the nail on the head: the US-Saudi relationship is indeed like a Catholic marriage Anyone who argues otherwise is either misinformed or delusional Readers may need reminding that whatever the armchair Middle east experts in DC say even at the lowest points of Saudi ties with the current US administration, President Joe Biden’s team was determined not to “rupture the relationship ”

After all who in their right mind would want to damage relations with the Custodian of the Two holy Mosques and thereby upset 2 billion Muslims? And who in their right mind would risk disrupting energy markets in a dispute with the world’s leading oil exporter? equally, Saudi officials have repeatedly said that ties to Wash-

The Biden administration underestimated the popularity of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, hailed by a vast majority of Saudis as a liberator It also was slow in understanding that it is dealing with a new progressive and different Saudi leadership The Saudi view is simple: Treat us as true partners, not lackeys

It also is evident that Washington has miscalculated its own interests with its constant characterization of Riyadh s relationships with China and Russia as a betrayal American retailers in the early 20th century created the concept that “the customer is always right how, then, does the US think Saudi Arabia should deal with China, its biggest oil customer, purchaser of 1 75 million barrels per day in 2022?

China is also a leading global economy and manufacturing hub that is happy to sell its premium and much-needed products without any drama If the US cannot offer an alternative what should the Kingdom do? Not upgrade its communications networks, or risk the lives of its citizens?

Indeed America itself is so reliant on China that not doing business with it hurts its own interests China holds $867 billion in US debt, second only to Japan It also tops the list of US trading partners with American exports to China supporting a million jobs in 2021

As for Russia, Riyadh s relationship with Moscow is the subject of constant US misrepresentation The Kingdom condemned the Russian invasion at the UN last year; Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky thanked Saudi Arabia for its support; November ’s OPeC+ production cut led to reduced oil prices the US aim all along but despite all that, Washington labeled the Kingdom pro-Russian! The US ignores the benefits of the trust Riyadh has built with Moscow over the years which materialized in last year s prisoner swap with Ukraine and the release of US citizens It is now emerging that this same trust might just might result in a serious discussion to end the war a war for which apart from the ghastly loss of life, the world and the US economy are paying a hefty price

The bottom line? As the AlUla declaration demonstrated, mutual benefits are all that matters; and there are many from which both Riyadh and Washington can benefit beyond the outdated oil for security trope which is no longer valid As Winston Churchill put it: We have no lasting friends, no lasting enemies, only lasting interests ” Or if the US would prefer something more American as Tina Turner sang: What s love got to do with it? Faisal J Abbas is

N G is going very wrong for teenagers

Between 1994 and 2010, the share of British teens who do not consider themselves likeable fell slightly from 6 per cent to 4 per cent; since 2010 it has more than doubled The share who think of themselves as a failure, who worry a lot and who are dissatisfied with their lives also kicked up sharply The same trends are visible across the Atlantic The number of US high school students who say their life often feels meaningless has rocketed in the past 12 years And it’s not just the anglosphere In France rates of depression among 15- to 24-year-olds have quadrupled in the past decade Wherever you look, youth mental health is collapsing, and the inflection point is ominously consistent: 2010 give or take a year or two when smartphones went from luxury to ubiquity

The theory that having social media and other digital delights within arm’s reach 24/7 may be having a harmful effect on mental health is not new Its leading advocate is Jean Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of dozens of pioneering studies on the topic

But it is still far from universally accepted The work of Twenge and her regular co-author Jonathan haidt has at times been criticised for simply surfing the wave of popular opposition to big tech yet as evidence for their arguments mounts, many are now wondering why it has taken us so long to accept what was right in front of us The signs are everywhere First digital socialising has displaced in-person gatherings The share of US teens who meet up in-person with friends less than once a month stood at 3 per cent between 1990 and 2010 but reached 10 per cent by 2019, meanwhile the share who say they are constantly online has now reached 46 per cent

Some counter that it can’t just be that apps are crowding out real life after all the people who are busiest on Instagram are often the busiest in the real world too But that misses a key dynamic: these trends operate at the generational level not the individual As screen-time has surged everyone hangs out less But the individual-level dynamics are striking too Studies show that the more time teens spend on social media, the worse their mental health is The gradient is steepest for girls who also spend much more time on social media than boys explaining the sharper deterioration among girls mental health than boys

It’s a similar story with the higher rates of depression among liberal teens than conservatives If you suspect liberal kids are more depressed due to growing up in a culture that valorises concern for injustice, I would advise caution First, Twenge’s research points to a likelier explanation: liberal youths simply spend more time online than conservatives Second, we see the same rising trend among conservatives it s just lagging Some suggest that modern society is more open about discussing mental health so what we’re seeing is just a rise in reporting not prevalence But British teens who spend five or more hours a day on social media are at two to three times greater risk of self-harm than their less-online peers It’s a similar story in the US with suicidal ideation Grimmest of all the now-familiar hockey stick trend is also clear in rates of suicide deaths among British and American teens Others point out that correlation is not causation Indeed But we now have a growing body of research showing that reducing time on social media improves mental health

So, what can we do? The most common response is educate kids and parents” But as the cases of obesity and smoking show public information campaigns are notoriously ineffective in the face of addiction

Another option would be to build on the evidence that when people are encouraged to take an extended break from social media some disconnect for good And then there s regulation why not increase the age limit for social apps and punish companies that don’t enforce them? Ultimately though I m not optimistic Combating obesity has been so hard because you can t stop people eating food And fighting social media addiction is hard because you can’t stop people using smartphones and apps Until someone invents the equivalent of a weight-loss drug for Instagram the future looks ominous the wrong thing Like so much else in the finance world it requires context and a little nuance Obviously, if you were hungry lacking security health care a roof over your head and other basic needs you would not be especially happy At least not in society as we know it today

Perhaps a better question is framed as “What is the value of money beyond its basic utility for survival? Where do the laws of diminishing returns kick in? Where is the line where each additional $X dollars creates little or no increase in happiness or life satisfaction?”

Bloomberg reports on research that found “Contentedness does increase steadily in line with incomes and even accelerates as pay rises beyond $100,000 a year as long as the person enjoys a certain baseline level of happiness to begin with ” how much? Where is the ceiling? Does everyone experience this the same way? Let’s jump right into it Money and happiness: The 4word question Does money buy happiness? is really asking

That is only part of the twist revealed by the latest research: There is a plateau, but only among the unhappiest 20% of people, and only then when they start earning over $100,000 ” (emphasis added) This suggests that your outlook and personality are perhaps more determinative of your individual happiness levels than we may have previously believed The research (which Danny Kahneman collaborated with) contradicts a 2010 paper by Danny Kahneman and economist Angus Deaton which found happiness plateaus between $60 000 and $90,000 a year So money can buy some happiness, but only up to a point around $500k unless you are one of those unlucky unhappy people that peak around $100k All of which suggests it s nowhere near as clean or simple as we previously imagined