Don’t be fooled by the love-in between the Hugh Grant and Colin Firth of politics – this is a Left-wing coup By Melanie Phillips The sense of disorientation following last week’s tumultuous events and the formation of a coalition government has far from abated. People are still trying to work out the contours of this most unfamiliar political landscape. We don’t know if this is a temporary phenomenon or if a great political realignment is under way. Lib Dem grandees and others have come out against the coalition – on the grounds they couldn’t stomach an alliance with ‘unprogressive’ Conservatives … Continue reading Another reason to support the New Government – Melanie Phillips is against it!

The Saïd Foundation Child Development Programme Officer Recruiter: Saïd Foundation Job Title: Development Programme Officer Job Description: Part time development professional required to implement our grant making programme for children in Palestine, Lebanon and Jordan. The Saïd Foundation is a UK registered charity that works in the Middle East and the UK to bring positive and lasting change to the lives of children and young people. We now seek a Child Development Programme Officer to implement a well established grant making programme which currently focuses on the themes of education and disability. The Officer will be responsible for making recommendations … Continue reading Saïd Foundation Job Offer – London

I-Fairy robot weds Japanese couple Machine with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails presides over wedding of Kokoro employee and robotics professor Jay Alabaster and agencies, Tokyo guardian.co.uk, I-Fairy and the happy couple. Photograph: Yuriko Nakao/Reuters Almost everyone stood when the bride walked down the aisle in her white gown, but not the wedding conductor, because she was bolted to her chair. The nuptials at this ceremony were led by I-Fairy, a 4ft seated robot with flashing eyes and plastic pigtails. The wedding today was the first to be led by a robot, according to the manufacturer, Kokoro. “Please lift the … Continue reading Should iFairy robot replace Mullahs, Priests, Rabbis and Gurus?

Wielding swords in Samurai Camp is the new aerobics for Japanese women Leo Lewis in Tokyo Aerobics is for wimps, marathons are for the uncommitted and kickboxing is yesterday’s game. If you really want to vanquish your flab, no exercise can compete with an hour of vigorous feudal massacre. Welcome to Samurai Camp, a fitness regime that fuses ritualised 16th century swordsmanship, an imaginary bloodbath and throbbing techno music — and which has captivated 21st-century Japanese woman. The traditional katana swords may be plastic and the slaughter imaginary, but as The Times discovered, when it joined a session, the sweat … Continue reading The reason why Japanese women are not fat

Answer the lesbian question, Ms Legal Eagle Andrew Sullivan thetimes.co.uk <!– –> The nominee to be the next justice of the Supreme Court has no opinion on anything. Well, that’s not entirely true. She did believe in providing free coffee for students when she was dean of Harvard Law School. She once publicly protested against the ban on honest homosexuals serving in the US military — but that is genuinely the only controversial statement she has ever made in public. How do such people exist? Well, the truth is they have existed on the career ladder for the US Supreme … Continue reading Obession with sexuality clouds judgment

Killer fungus is no mystery to Afghan poppy growers Afghanistan’s opium producers believe they are victims of a biological attack by the United States Nushin Arbabzadah guardian.co.uk Will resentment among Afghanistan’s poppy farmers drive them into the arms of the Taliban? Photograph: Reuters Reports of a “mysterious” fungus that has damaged opium poppy crops in Afghanistan have hit international headlines but on the ground the “mystery” is an open secret. Helmand farmers interviewed by BBC Pashto service for the early morning news programme a couple of days ago were convinced that “they” had deliberately destroyed the crops. The pronoun “they” … Continue reading Afghanistan’s opium producers believe they are victims of a biological attack by the United States

Should Cameron and Clegg wear matching ties? It would be nice, but it’s never going to happen. New politics, same old ties Hadley Freeman guardian.co.uk David Cameron and Nick Clegg – no matching ties. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images In the true spirit of football-team-colours-politics, should we expect to see Cameron and Clegg in matching green ties? Emelia We should hope for it, Emelia, but we shouldn’t expect it. There is much that one can hope for from this alliance: a new way of politics, non-primary coloured ties. But so far, those ties remain decidedly primary-coloured and the compromises just seem to put … Continue reading Cameron and Clegg should publically burn their ties to liberate men

Boris Johnson unveils London Routemaster bus design Mayor says new jump-on, jump-off Routemaster will give passengers a ‘greener, light and airy’ service from 2012 Matthew Taylor guardian.co.uk A computer-generated image of the new Routemaster bus. Photograph: TfL/PA Boris Johnson has unveiled the final design for London‘s new-look double-decker buses. The mayor said the updated jump-on, jump-off Routemaster would give passengers a “greener, light and airy” service when it is introduced in the capital in 2012. The vehicles were a key part of Johnson’s 2008 election manifesto and will feature two doors as well as an open platform allowing passengers to … Continue reading The New London Routemaster

Arab American takes Miss USA title A 24-year-old Arab American has won the Miss USA title, despite nearly stumbling in her evening gown. telegraph.co.uk Miss Michigan Rima Fakih, reacts as she is crowned Miss USA 2010 by Kristen Dalton, Miss USA 2009 Photo: AP Rima Fakih of Dearborn, Michigan, won the pageant at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip after strutting confidently in an orange and gold bikini, wearing a strapless white gown and saying health insurance should cover birth control pills. While it is though Miss Fakih is the first Middle Eastern woman to … Continue reading American Muslim takes Miss USA title

dawn.com Afghan letter writers wait for customers in Kabul May 17, 2010. – Reuters World Tradition and Taliban threats give Afghans a dilemma INSIDE AFGHANISTAN Tradition and Taliban threats give Afghans a dilemma KABUL: Scribes like Mohammad Qasim once wrote poignant love letters of Persian poetry for illiterate Afghans. Now he mostly helps people fire off forms to the government, especially complaints over abuse of power. And business is booming. Traditional letter writers in South Asia appear a dying breed amid rising literacy and Internet. But in Afghanistan with much criticised crime and violence under President Hamid Karzai coupled with … Continue reading Business booms for ancient Afghan letter writing art