Coming to the US is always great fun. As I write this, it is a sunny day outside and the temperature is trying to cross over into acceptable (for a Lahori) levels. In another day or so I will get to see my new grandson and then participate in the valima celebrations for my nephew who got married over the last weekend. I will get a chance to meet my siblings, their children and grandchildren, a pretty large number of first cousins and their children also. All good stuff. And so I have had little time to get too involved in the news. Fortunately, load shedding in the land of the pure has already weaned me from my television watching habits. But, even so, three important bits of news have managed to filter into my consciousness. First, of course, is about the Pakistani government and especially the Prime Minister’s (PM’s) conniptions about helping the Saudis out in Yemen. Perhaps the PM should hearken back to his initial attempts about the Taliban types almost a year ago. He and the All Parties Conference (APC) that he will inevitably call should agree to what they agreed about the Taliban all those months ago: “The Houthis are our brothers though slightly lost so we should talk to them and convince them of the error of their ways.” Perhaps the PM can nominate the people that he nominated to talk to the Taliban to go talk to the Houthis on behalf of the Saudis. It did not work out for them in the Pakistani badlands but with their recently garnered superlative negotiating skills they could well have success in Yemen. In the meantime, the Pakistan army should agree to post soldiers around the holy cities, freeing up Saudi soldiers to fight in Yemen. Most importantly, we in Pakistan definitely want to prevent a repeat of what the Qaramatians did to Mecca all those centuries ago.The second bit of news that I followed somewhat was about the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear aspirations. It seems that there is some forward movement that could well lead in time to a real solution. This, of course, will exceedingly irritate the two middle-eastern allies in this matter, the Israelis and the Saudis. However, if such a deal leads to the return of Iran into the community of nations and the progressive lifting of sanctions then it is quite possible that Pakistan might benefit financially from bilateral trade with Iran to a much greater degree than it would by waving the begging bowl in Saudi royal faces. Of course the PM’s family investments in Saudi Arabia might become imperiled if, under the PM’s watch, Pakistan starts cosying up to Iran. It could actually even make the Saudi king start looking his age. Finally, to the news that in its own way affected me quite a bit. During my trips to the US during the previous year, on both occasions news cycles where overwhelmed by unexplained air crashes, one in the Far East and the other in Europe. This time, also soon after I landed in the US, a plane belonging to an otherwise very reliable airline crashed into the French Alps on a routine trip from Spain to Germany. Latest reports seem to suggest that the co-pilot, a young man with a history of mental illness, had planned such an ‘accident’ for some time. What caused this young man to decide upon suicide and mass murder remains to have been figured out but, fortunately, he was a true blood German type without any connection of any sort with Islam. Thank heavens for that. Otherwise Muslims and Islam rather than mental illness would have been blamed for his actions. Sounds familiar?That brings me to a question I am asked every time I travel to the US: why do I choose Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) for my trip? Before I go any further, I must confess that over the last 40 years that I have travelled by PIA, I have almost always travelled at the ‘front’. There is much talk of poor service and bad conditions of the planes, and I must agree that the previous time I travelled to and from the US, the airline seats were in pretty bad condition, probably in preparation for a forced privatisation that has since, it seems, been temporarily suspended. This time the seats even in the back had been refurbished and the seat controls as well as the entertainment stuff worked well though the movies on offer were the same that were there six months ago. The service upfront was pretty good as always though the obsession with chicken in the food on offer is a bit excessively excessive. Does it have anything to do with the fact that the heir (and hair) apparent in Punjab is now heavily into chicken? Here I have another confession to make. Of the few times that have I visited the front bathrooms, the door to the cockpit was often opened and closed during my visit to the facilities. Perhaps what PIA does is follow the US rule that a pilot is never left alone in the cockpit. Besides that, one of the most reassuring things about flying PIA is the very nepotism that ‘honourable’ Pakistanis get so upset about, especially when they themselves are neither the uncle nor the nepotismo (nephew) involved. When the pilot’s entire family, including his young wife and small child, his mother, father, siblings and of course the revered uncle that got him his job are all sitting in seats across from you, albeit against the rules and at considerable cost to the national exchequer, their presence is very reassuring. It is obvious that the pilot knows that the plane is air worthy and they, the family, know that the pilot is trustworthy enough to fly with. What is wrong with that picture? The author is a former editor of the Journal of Association of Pakistani descent Physicians of North America (APPNA)