Congratulations Arab News!

The full page announcement that Arab News carried on May 31 and June 1 made us, the readers, curious about the paper’s new look to be launched on Saturday (June 2). As promised by the editor in chief, it did not disappoint us. In fact, it gave us more than what we expected. I have no doubt that the readers will enjoy the new look.

Being a reader of this great newspaper for more than three decades, I have always enjoyed all the changes the newspaper underwent. This announcement made many of us impatient until the sun dawned on Saturday morning. I would like to recall what J.K. Rowling, the famous British author of the “Harry Potter” series, once said in her speech to the Harvard Alumni Association: “We do not need magic to change the world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.” Congratulations! We thank Arab News for what it has generously dished out for us on our breakfast tables! - S.H.Moulana, Riyadh


World must unite on Syria

The horrifying massacre of 108 people in the central Syrian town of Houla and the ongoing atrocities by President Assad›s security forces have been widely condemned by the world at large. The UN monitors have said that some of the victims in Houla, which included 49 children and 34 women, might have been killed by heavy artillery fire and that most of them had been summarily executed by forces loyal to Assad.

It seems that Assad used Kofi Annan›s «peace plan» to buy time and to continue his repression of innocent civilians.

It is high time that the Syrian president accepted Annan›s plan and seized the opportunity. The onus is on him to respect the Annan plan and order his troops to hold their fire so that a solution can be found, otherwise the scenario could well turn bloodier with an increase in human rights abuses and a risk of a full-scale civil war, which could be deadly, not only for Syria but also for its neighbor — Lebanon, where Syria has great influence.

The world must speak in one voice on Syria. The Indian External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna has been taking keen interest in the Middle East affairs and has developed good relations with Arab countries. He should, therefore, take an initiative along with Saudi Arabia, the GCC countries and others to help in ending this stalemate and to put an end to the inhuman atrocities that innocent civilians in Syria are being subjected to. - Ramesh G jethwani, Bangalore

IISD’s falling standard

Again the girls have outshone boys in Class XII examinations. The three toppers in three different streams, Aiswarya Kaladharan (Science), Sanya Suhema (Commerce) and Rabeeha Abdurehim (Arts) deserve congratulations and appreciation. Concerning the International Indian School-Dammam, one notes with dismay the total number of compartments (15) and failures (5) out of 483 students. This indicates that the school standard is going down. Earlier, the same school recorded 100 percent results. The new managing committee will have to investigate the reasons behind so many failures. Let the schoolteachers pay full attention to students in the school rather than focusing on home tuitions. - Mohammad Rahat Sultan, Alkhobar