Monday, July 31, 2006

How I learned to love Vlad

How I learned to love Vlad

The Guardian
31 Jul 2006

As it feels like a sin, then this must be a confession. I have been in Moscow for four and a half years , reporting on the presidency of Vladimir Putin — its slow erosion of democratic freedoms, its savage disregard for the individual, its petrodollar... read more...

WILLTHISBETHE TIPPING POINT?

WILLTHISBETHE TIPPING POINT?
From Richard Pendlebury in Qana and Kirsty Walker in San Francisco
Daily Mail
31 Jul 2006

This was one of the heartrending scenes yesterday in Qana, southern Lebanon, after Israeli missiles claimed more than 60 lives. At least 37 children including a day-old baby were killed in the deadliest strike of the conflict so far. Despite defiant... read more...

Friday, July 28, 2006

Bombings fail to take Al-Manar off the air

Bombings fail to take Al-Manar off the air

The Wall Street Journal Europe
28 Jul 2006

Hezbollah organization, a militia and political party that encompasses everyone from teachers and social-service providers to hardcore fighters and suicide bombers. Al-Manar means “signpost” or “ beacon” in Arabic. Partially owned by Hezbollah and... read more...

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Israelis ignored repeated warnings before killing UN observers

Israelis ignored repeated warnings before killing UN observers
Rory McCarthy Haifa
The Guardian
27 Jul 2006

Israel came under mounting pressure last night to explain why its military ignored repeated warnings and bombed a prominent UN post in southern Lebanon, killing four unarmed international observers. The four UN soldiers, from China, Austria, Finland... read more...

The summit fails. War rages

The summit fails. War rages
Ewen MacAskill Ian Black Jerusalem Rory McCarthy Haifa
The Guardian
27 Jul 2006

Ewen MacAskill Ian Black Jerusalem Rory McCarthy Haifa Israel yesterday suffered its worst day since the Lebanon conflict began when 13 of its soldiers were believed to have been killed in fighting with Hizbullah, a military calamity that could prove... read more...

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Iran warns the west: ignore us at your peril

Iran warns the west: ignore us at your peril
Simon Tisdall and Ewen MacAskill
The Guardian
26 Jul 2006

Iran warned the west yesterday that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal at today’sRome summit were destined to fail and predicted a backlash across the Muslim world unless Israel’s military forces were immediately reined in. Senior government... read more...

Monday, July 24, 2006

Rice finally sets out in search of ceasefire formula

Rice finally sets out in search of ceasefire formula
Ewen MacAskill Ian Black Jerusalem Brian Whitaker Beirut
The Guardian
24 Jul 2006

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, was last night embarking on a mission to the Middle East to stitch together a peace plan, even as Israel came under increasing criticism over the humanitarian crisis enveloping Lebanon. Twelve days into the... read more...

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

On the move – thousands flee conflict by air, land and sea

On the move – thousands flee conflict by air, land and sea
Brian Whitaker Beirut
The Guardian
19 Jul 2006

HMS Gloucester was designed to protect groups of Royal Navy ships from air attack, but last night the Type 42 destroyer fulfilled a very different role. As the warship eased into Beirut’s port to pluck the first group of stranded British citizens from... read more...

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Mandela keeps his opinions to himself as a nation marks its idol’s birthday



Mandela keeps his opinions to himself as a nation marks its idol’s birthday
Rory Carroll Johannesburg
The Guardian
18 Jul 2006

He still attends public events and lends his name to numerous causes but when it comes to politics Nelson Mandela, perhaps the world’s most powerful moral voice, has fallen silent. South Africa is celebrating his 88th birthday today in a blaze of... read more...

Lebanon: the world dithers

Lebanon: the world dithers
Ewen MacAskill Rory McCarthy Nahariya Patrick Wintour St Petersburg
The Guardian
18 Jul 2006

criticism of Israel in an original draft was diluted after pressure from Britain and Germany, Israel’s closest EU allies. In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike yesterday afternoon on a bridge in the port city of Sidon left 10 civilians dead,... read more...

Israel batters Beirut, suburbs

Israel batters Beirut, suburbs
From Wire Reports
Dallas Morning News
16 Jul 2006

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Waves of warplanes thundering through the darkness bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs for hours early today, a day after Israel stepped up its airstrikes and tightened a noose around this reeling nation. The Israeli air force on... read more...

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

U.S. Shifts Policy on Geneva Conventions



U.S. Shifts Policy on Geneva Conventions
By Charles Babington and Michael Abramowitz
The Washington Post
12 Jul 2006

The Bush administration has agreed to apply the Geneva Conventions to all terrorism suspects in U.S. custody, bowing to the Supreme Court’s recent rejection of policies that have imprisoned hundreds for years without trials. The Pentagon announced... read more...

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

U.S. disaster insurance runs short



U.S. disaster insurance runs short
By Liam Pleven, Ian McDonald and Karen Richardson —Kris Hudson and Jon E. Hilsenrath contributed to this article.
The Wall Street Journal Europe
11 Jul 2006

LAST YEAR’S VIOLENT U.S. hurricanes continue to roil a vital corner of the insurance industry: Demand for disaster coverage is far outstripping supply, and the consequences are rippling through the economy. The crunch isn’t coming just because... read more...

Two Bills forge ties to fight AIDS



Two Bills forge ties to fight AIDS
By Marilyn Chase
The Wall Street Journal Europe
11 Jul 2006

THEIR EGOS are supersized and their styles are worlds apart, but global health is their mission. Bill Gates, the world’s richest man, gives away billions through his family foundation to underwrite health programs from childhood vaccines in Africa to... read more...

Friday, July 07, 2006

On the roof of the world, India and China put aside differences to reopen trade route (The Guardian, 07 Jul 2006, Page 9)



On the roof of the world, India and China put aside differences to reopen trade route
Randeep Ramesh New Delhi
The Guardian
07 Jul 2006

China and India yesterday bridged decades of distrust and the world’s highest mountain range by opening a direct trade link along a winding road that runs between the planet’s two most populous countries. The Himalayan pass of Nathu La, perched at more... read more...

Thursday, July 06, 2006

As Georgia’s ‘Rose Revolution’ blossoms, thorny issues emerge



As Georgia’s ‘Rose Revolution’ blossoms, thorny issues emerge
By Marc Champion
The Wall Street Journal Europe
06 Jul 2006

OTbilisi, Georgia N A RECENT AFTERNOON, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili stood 60 meters above this capital city pointing out pet projects from the rotating deck of an observation tower his nation had just purchased in France. Along the river,... read more...

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Jonathan Freedland We must not give Cameron the chance to tear our country apart (The Guardian, 05 Jul 2006, Page 23)



Jonathan Freedland We must not give Cameron the chance to tear our country apart
Jonathan Freedland
The Guardian
05 Jul 2006

The cross of St George still flies from the odd car roof and hangs in the occasional newsagent’s window. Their owners know England are out of the World Cup; they just don’t want to believe it yet. Meanwhile, on Andy Murray’s website a row rages over whether Scots should support the English in their sporting endeavours and vice versa. And now the Conservatives are fleshing out their plan to stop Scottish and eventually Welsh MPs from voting on laws that only affect England. We are, in other words, in the midst of one of those perennial debates about our national identity.
They come regularly, often in summer, usually coinciding with a major moment in sport. In the case of the latest Tory announcement, that’s unlikely to be a coincidence: it’s proved smart media management to raise English votes for English laws while the white and red face-paint is still wet. A victory last Saturday would have made it even more timely.
The motive is pretty obvious, too. When Alan Duncan says it has become “almost impossible” for Britain to have a Scottish prime minister, we know who he has in mind. The Tories are raising the English question now to undermine Gordon Brown.
Which is not to say they don’t have a point. The logic of the case is as sound now as it was 30 years ago when Tam Dalyell, arguing against devolution for Scotland, raised his famous West Lothian question: why should Scottish MPs be able to vote on schools or hospitals in England when English MPs cannot do the same for Scotland? The Conservative proposal — not new but in the manifesto in 2001 and 2005 — would untangle that anomaly. The Scots would do their thing in Edinburgh, and English MPs would do theirs at English-only sessions at Westminster. When there were matters affecting the whole of the UK, then everyone would come back together. That makes sense and, what’s more, it’s popular: polls show healthy majorities of Scottish and English voters in favour... read more...