Congressman campaigns in pyjamas to advertise frugal office sofa sleeping arrangements A US Congressman who sleeps on his Washington office sofa every night has appeared in his pyjamas to advertise his credentials as a budget-conscious politician. By Alex Spillius in Washington Published: 7:54PM BST 02 Aug 2010 Pete Hoekstra appears in his pyjamas to advertise his credentials as a budget-conscious politician Photo: YOUTUBE With deficit-reduction a major issue, Pete Hoekstra, a Republican from Michigan, has decided to highlight the fact that for 18 years he has saved his constituents money by not renting a flat in the US capital. “I … Continue reading Pete Hoekstra leads

Pakistan president faces criticism over UK visit The President of Pakistan will arrive in Britain today facing accusations that he is using a meeting with David Cameron as a smokescreen for an attempt to shore up his political dynasty. By By Duncan Gardham, John Bingham and Gordon Rayner Published: 10:51PM BST 02 Aug 2010 Asif Ali Zardari faces criticism in Pakistan for pressing on with the six-day visit to Britain. Photo: EPA Asif Ali Zardari faces criticism in Pakistan for pressing on with the six-day visit at a time when his country is struggling to cope with its worst floods … Continue reading Zardari First – Pakistan Second?

A suspect arrest Increased police presence outside the seminary on Monday was taken as confirmation of the disputed arrest. Photos: Ijaz Mehmood/Express LAHORE: A suspected terrorist is said to have been arrested from Jamia Naeemia, one of the leading seminaries belonging to the Barelvi school, on Monday. The alleged terrorist is believed to have entered the city some days ago with four accomplices. Police officials told The Express Tribune that the group had plans to carry out suicide attacks throughout the city. According to details shared with the Tribune by a police official, the suspect has been identified as Qari … Continue reading Jamia Naeemia – A suspect arrest

Teaching our children about the ‘S’ word The assumption that boys and girls under 18 are ‘too young’ to need sexual and reproductive health information ignores reality At independence, Pakistan had a poorly educated population and few schools or universities. Although the education system has expanded greatly since then, debate continues about the curriculum, and, except in a few elite institutions, quality remains a crucial concern of educators. According to data provided by the Ministry of Education, there are 256,088 educational institutions of all categories in Pakistan, with a total enrollment of 37,462,884 students. Despite considerable development in this field, … Continue reading Sex and Pakistan

COMMENT: A globalised world —Aliya Anjum Absorbing culture from Hollywood is an insane notion, yet it is happening the world over. Movies depict life in a 90 to180 minute sequence. Real life is nowhere close to reel life. The pop culture heavily marketed to the youth for the creation of a hedonistic consumer society is lethal for any society Urban teenagers in any part of the world seem identical with Jeans, T-shirts, McDonalds and MTV. From New York to Madrid to Istanbul to Singapore to Karachi, the urbane youth looks alike. In Pakistan, the teenyboppers of today speak an Anglicised … Continue reading Absorbing culture

ROVER’S DIARY: Restoring secular democracy —Babar Ayaz Instead of expediency politics, the Awami League should take this opportunity to restore the country’s original name, ‘The People’s Republic of Bangladesh’, because you cannot be an ‘Islamic Republic’ and be secular at the same time The Bangladesh Supreme Court has courageously restored ‘secularism’ in the country’s constitution. The court also said that religious parties should be banned. The appellate division of the apex court said: “Preamble and the relevant provisions of the constitution in respect of secularism, nationalism and socialism, as existed on August 15, 1975, will revive.” That was the tragic … Continue reading Restoring secular democracy

DEVELOPMENT: Threat of rural discontent —Syed Mohammad Ali The Pakistani government and our international donors continue to shy away from dealing with the problem of unequal land ownership. It makes strategic sense for militant extremists in Pakistan to exploit deep resentment among landless tenants toward wealthy landlords, to engineer a class revolt The inability of our rulers to provide basic levels of services to citizens across Pakistan has justifiably provoked a widespread sense of disillusionment and despondency. Besides the human suffering caused by this repeated failure to ensure public welfare, the ongoing conflict with militant extremists has created a dangerous … Continue reading How Mullahs take advantage

VIEW: A beginning of sorts —Ishtiaq Ahmed The totalitarian nature of the dogmatic shariah has thus far served as the most efficacious means to obstruct the development of modern values among Muslims On June 30, 2010 I completed my three-year stint as a visiting research professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. Earlier I had applied for early retirement as professor of political science at Stockholm University. It was granted from February 2010 when I attained the age of 63. The idea was to return to Stockholm where I have lived most of my life … Continue reading The totalitarian nature of the dogmatic shariah

Pakistan president will ‘put David Cameron straight’ over terror claims Asif Ali Zardari will demand more support at Chequers meeting and warn against using India as a platform for accusations Simon Tisdall and Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk, Monday 2 August 2010 20.32 BST Article history Pakistani president Asif Ali Zardari will be doing some plain talking when he meets David Cameron, according to Pakistani officials. Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty ImagesThe row over David Cameron‘s claim that Pakistan is exporting terrorism threatened to escalate tonight as a senior Pakistani official revealed President Asif Ali Zardari planned to “put him straight” when he meets … Continue reading What No Bitch Fight? Zardari and Cameron