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

By Jawed Naqvi dawn.com Apart from the thousands killed by Hindu mobs in Gujarat in 2002 and in Bombay in 1993, individual acts of terrorism suspected to be carried out by rightwing Hindu groups are beginning to leave a long trail. — Photo by Reuters Was Adolf Hitler history’s best known fascist or was he also a terrorist in the sense that terrorism has come to be defined today — the highest form of evil? In other words, is fascism a form of terrorism? The answer to this question will define the strategy India chooses to confront rightwing Hindu groups … Continue reading Hitler was a fascist, but was he also a terrorist?

Dawn Editorial At its core, the Balochistan problem remains an issue of an enormous trust deficit. –Photo by Reuters The comments made by former COAS Waheed Kakar at a seminar organised by the ‘Friends of the Baloch and Balochistan’ on Saturday ought to stir some soul-searching in the Pakistan Army high command. From expressing concern over the plight of the ‘missing persons’ to the warm remarks about the character and leadership of the slain Akbar Bugti, Gen Kakar struck a sensible tone on the problems in Balochistan and, implicitly, criticised the army for its approach towards the restive province since … Continue reading Rethink needed

By Ardeshir Cowasjee dawn.com Husain Haqqani, our ambassador in Washington, ends his book: “Pakistan was created in a hurry and without giving detailed thought to various aspects of nation and state building … Both Pakistan’s elite and their US benefactors would have to participate in transforming Pakistan into a functional, rather than ideological state.” – Photo by AP. A common reaction to the almost universal conclusion that one of Pakistan’s main exports is terrorism — bolstered by the latest would-be hero of Times Square who fortunately failed — is that the larger majority of the Pakistani nation and its would-be leadership … Continue reading Our combined failure – how to get out of this rut?

By Javed Hussain dawn.com Nine years on into the occupation of Afghanistan, Americans have finally understood that it will be far more difficult to withdraw than it was to go in. — Photo by AFP On March 8, 1965, when the US Marines landed on the beaches of Da Nang in South Vietnam, history was poised to repeat itself as the Americans were poised to repeat the mistakes made by the French in 1946 when they returned to colonise Indo-China. The marines had come with the belief that the ‘racially inferior gooks’ would not stand up to America’s military forces … Continue reading American arrogance – it will not win wars

by Alnas Zia It is a matter of great national pride when your country tops headlines in the international news media. But Pakistanis only seem to make the news for actions that leave their compatriots blowing down their heads in utter shame and disappointment. Ajmal Kasab and Faisal Shahzad, for instance, have truly disgraced the country, and it remains a sad reality that we don’t get to hear stories of Pakistanis who show courage and determination in times of distress. Thankfully, a recent article published by the BBC is a rare exception that deserves to be shared with the world, … Continue reading Her jihad is the true jihad!

Sheikh Salman al-Oadah At the present time, the word “extremism” is probably the most incessantly repeated word on the tongues of journalists, writers, and politicians. It is likely that the events of September 11 are what put it in the forefront of popular terminology, for such terminology gives expression to inner feelings and makes up for a lot of talk and lengthy explanations. Extremism is a derived word, and it seems that those who use it mean by it a person who stands far off to one side of the center. This maze of terminology is a major cause of … Continue reading Extremism and Reverse Extremism