http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-09-24-voa21.cfm
The daily grind is back.
Militants in NW Pakistan wasted no time in resuming attacks today, following the end of the country’s Eid holiday. The targets were two separate anti-Taliban civilian groups, known as “lashkars.” The government supports these militias, but our Urdu stringer in the area interviewed a politician who opposes them.
Akram Khan Durrani, who is also the former chief minister of the North West Frontier Province, said lashkars divide the populace, making it impossible to restore order. It’s an interesting angle, which I plan on exploring in the future.
Meanwhile, local TV channels mentioned the violence only within their news crawls at the bottom of the screen. The big news for the day: sugar. Or, more specifically, lack thereof. The LA Times has a great article analyzing the situation.
Basically, the government has accused mill owners of hoarding sugar to artificially raise prices. But many of the mills are owned by the country’s most powerful politicians.
The bottom line though is that almost everyone is feeling the pinch. The end of Ramadan is a time for making special desserts, and Pakistanis have a fondness for sugar in their tea. Luckily for me, I take my tea black.
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