No parrot joke A Pennsylvania woman is suing Bank of America after a contractor mistakenly confiscated her beloved pet parrot. Luke, a blue macaw, was separated from his owner, Angela Iannelli, for over a week after debt collectors wrongly repossessed her home. Mrs Iannelli suffered such ?emotional distress? at her separation from Luke that she was forced to take prescription medication for anxiety. After the beep… Government employees still working despite Monday’s strike were told to ‘imitate answer machines’ to cope with calls from the public. Staff at the Department for Work and Pensions in Carlisle said they were given … Continue reading And finally…bizarre real life stories!!!

Bibi’s snub to Biden may backfire Intentional or not, the announcement of new settlements in East Jerusalem may push the US into a tougher stance towards Israel Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk US vice-president Joe Biden, on a visit to Israel, has condemned the plans for new homes in East Jerusalem Photograph: Ariel Schalit/AFP/Getty Images It’s not the first time that Israel has stiffed Barack Obama over his attempts to kick-start Middle East peace negotiations. But the sudden, highly inflammatory announcement of plans to build an additional 1,600 homes in occupied East Jerusalem, in the midst of a visit to Israel of … Continue reading Is the United States beginning to take a more fairer stance between the Israeli and Palestinian people?

Posted by Kalsoom Lakhani  There has never been a shortage of fatwas. These legal rulings or opinions made by religious authorities address a wide array of issues concerning politics and social norms, and have both justified and widely condemned the use of violence. In 1998, Al Qaeda ideologues Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri issued a fatwa “to kill the Americans and their allies.” However, since then, a number of imams and scholars have issued fatwas against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.  In November 2008, for example, more than 6,000 Muslim clerics in India signed a fatwa against terrorism, … Continue reading A fatwa vs. suicide bombings -what is really needed?

Kidnapped schoolboy tortured with hot iron and boiling water by gang for £20,000 ransom By Daily Mail Reporter A gang who kidnapped and tortured a schoolboy by burning him with a hot iron to gain a £20,000 ransom have been jailed for a total of 40 years it was confirmed today. The 16-year-old had boiling water poured over his legs during the five-hour ordeal in a bid to blackmail his family as part of a ‘drugs debt’. Shaheed Rahman and Syed Ahmed, both 24, admitted conspiring to kidnap the boy and blackmail at Leeds Crown Court yesterday. The gang, which … Continue reading What can British Asians do tackle the increase of crime in the UK?

So, who’s laughing now? The moment a clamper got clamped himself By Andrew Levy In the natural world, it’s known as the hunter becoming the hunted. On the mean streets of Britain, it is poetic justice. This was the moment a clamper got a taste of his own medicine when his vehicle was impounded by council parking wardens. The white Renault van was spotted without a valid tax disc and clamped before being loaded onto a flatbed lorry and driven away. The boot’s on the other foot: The clamper stands beside his clamped white van Unable to contain his fury, … Continue reading Clamper Pimp gets PIMPED!

By Irfan Husain Dawn.com Indians born on the bottom rungs of the social hierarchy suffer a legacy of caste bigotry, rural servitude and class discrimination, Randeep Ramesh wrote in his article. –Photo by AFP Every now and then, I get an email from one irate Indian reader or another, demanding to know why Jawed Naqvi, Dawn’s erudite and irreverent New Delhi correspondent, is so critical of India. Invariably, I reply that they should ask Jawed about his views. I also point out that just as I am often critical about Pakistan, he has every right to point out his country’s … Continue reading Don’t shoot the messenger

Invisible victims of terror By Rafia Zakaria A woman, standing next to her mother, holds a picture of her brother at the site that went missing in Lahore’s latest suicide attack on a law enforcement building in Lahore. –AFP Photo/Arif Ali The morning of International Women’s Day 2010 in Pakistan was a bloody one as a car laden with explosives rammed into the wall of a building in Lahore’s Model Town area and blew up. Among the first dead bodies taken to hospital were those of a mother and her daughter on their way to the latter’s school. Another woman … Continue reading Women – Invisible victims of terror!

Protection for women Dawn Editorial President Asif Ali Zardari signing the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Bill 2010 at the Aiwan-e-Sadr. –APP Photo Editorial Equal rights Equal rights Pakistan entered a new era on Tuesday when the president signed the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2010 that is designed to provide a safe working environment for women. Considering that one factor that deters female mobility outside the home is sexual harassment and that no other country in South Asia has a law like this, it is indeed a landmark event. But can we be … Continue reading Protection for women – A basic right now law?

Politics or parenting? Posted by Murtaza Ali Jafri  Last month, the Punjab Assembly resolved to ban all late-night call packages offered by mobile telecommunications companies in the province. During vigorous assembly debates, it was concluded that the ability to make cheap, late-night phone calls was having a negative impact on this country’s bright young things. Forget terrorism, the energy crisis, a weakened government, and water shortages – apparently boys and girls texting and calling each other past their bed time has become a matter of national concern. Hence the assembly resolution demanding that mobile companies stop promoting “cheap rate, late … Continue reading Politicians want to get involved in YOUR private lives….

Oghi attack Dawn Editorial A policeman looks for evidence in an office of the World Vision aid agency after militants attacked it in Mansehra. Suspected extremist militants attacked an office of the US-based Christian aid agency with a bomb and gunfire, killing 5 people, police said. –Reuters Photo/Abrar Tanoli Pakistan Militants blow up charity’s office in Mansehra, kill six Wednesday’s attack on the office of an American charity in Oghi, in the NWFP’s Mansehra district, reflects the insecure atmosphere in which foreign NGOs work in Pakistan. Suspected militants stormed the office of World Vision, a Christian charity, killing at least … Continue reading Mullahs attack charity after blowing up schools…