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Beena Sarwar
Journalist in Karachi, Pakistan
There was no electricity at our place in Karachi yesterday but it was cool so we hadn't turned on our little generator. "Aren't you watching our president's speech on TV?" asked a friend on the phone.
On came the generator. Live on Geo, the TV channel that spearheaded the media boom under Musharraf, was the President in a dark western suit and tie (rather than the high-collared 'sherwani' that leaders tend to don when trying to appease nationalist or religious forces). The obligatory portrait of the country's founder (sherwani-clad) on the wall behind him, Musharraf was listing his government's achievements.
The economic achievements are tempered by rising inflation and increasing divide between the rich and poor but he made a couple of good moves when he restored the women's reserved seats in parliament and introduced thirty percent women's seats at the district level, as well as striking down the 'separate electorate system' that divided voters on religious grounds. Reminding people that he is a human being prone to make mistakes whose intentions were always noble, he thanked his mother, his wife, and his children for always standing by him.
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Filed under: Global 360° |
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Morning people...
Tropical Storm Fay, not HURRICANE Fay, made landfall in southwestern Florida early Tuesday, coming ashore at Cape Romano just south of Marco Island...Forecasters immediately dropped hurricane warnings for the storm as it never reached the 74 mph threshold necessary for hurricane status.It was the third landfall for the storm, which came ashore in western Cuba Sunday night and then again over Key West Monday afternoon. This storm doesn't seem to know what it wants to do... Voluntary evacuations were urged Monday evening on Marco Island, a community of about 12,000 people near Naples on southwestern Florida's coast. Fay is expected to continue in a north-northeasterly direction throughout the day, passing near Orlando, and entering the Atlantic as a tropical depression off the coast of northeastern Florida early Wednesday. The biggest concern from Fay is RAIN...Rainfall amounts up to 10 inches are expected across portions of southern and east-central Florida, with 4 to 8 inches elsewhere along the storm's path. Gary Tuchman is near Marco Island, so he will he bring us all the Fay brought Southern Florida tonight....
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