School throws safety net to hungry Portuguese kids
It is hard to picture the scene in 21st-century Europe, but as debt-ridden Portugal heads into a new year of economic crisis, schools are stepping in to feed children who…
Shadow economy
A recent BR Research analysis points towards alarming growth in Pakistan's shadow economy. The story titled 'The shadows are growing longer' (published: 10 January 2013) estimated that the country's informal…
Role of qualified intermediary agreement in US taxation system
Qualified intermediary agreement represents a new withholding tax system by which foreign financial institutions, or foreign branches of a US financial institution, can receive favourable withholding tax treatment. This system…
Jobs for votes
As the story goes, a distant relation of a nawab once begged him for a job. The nawab, in his infinite generosity appointed him head of the treasury. When it…
New bailout package
The government, at the fag end of its tenure, has reportedly invited International Monetary Fund (IMF) for negotiating a three-year bailout programme. It is a rather surprising move, especially its…
Poor picture of health
Recent months have seen the deaths of some 300 children in Sindh, due to measles which is both preventable and treatable. No heads have rolled, however, and no sign of…
Spaniards brace for tough year as crisis deepens
The unemployed mason bought a cigarette lighter from a kiosk, walked a few blocks, doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire in front of a hospital in the…
Too big a mess
Following Dr Tahirul Qadri's speeches and TV interviews, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is under fire. But critics of the ECP overlook the fact that the mandate of the…
In search of a few heroes
When army generals in India and Pakistan, retired and serving, refer to a “spectrum of options” they could use against the adversary, they are crudely gloating over the nuclear stockpiles…
Obama may turn Medicare reform into wider health debate
President Barack Obama could seek common ground with Republicans in the looming battle over Medicare spending by broadening the debate over entitlement reform to encompass the spiraling healthcare costs that…
