"Another G8 shell game"

Another G8 shell game
Bob Geldof and Bono may have screwed it for the world's poorest countries. These are two well-meaning guys, and they certainly deserve kudos for the attention they have helped to focus on the plight of the world's poor. But when they offered flippant sound bites last week about plans to relieve some of the debt of poor nations, they set back the path to economic justice by huge strides. It must be assumed they did not do so deliberately, but their fame and their ability to buttonhole the leaders of the wealthiest nations may have clouded their judgment enough to prevent them from remembering that they are spokespeople, not experts.

Mugabe orders army to rebuild shanty homes
President Robert Mugabe has mobilised Zimbabwe's army to build new houses for those made homeless by his "clean-up" operation that flattened and burnt shanty towns across the country.

Other analysts claimed that Mr Mugabe was angry at the heavy-handed way that police units, said to have been reinforced by paramilitary youth groups, carried out the operation. At least three children were killed when the shacks were demolished.

UN renews Ivory Coast mandate

'Don't judge Africa on Zim'
Africa should not be defined in terms of what was happening in Zimbabwe, businessman Cyril Ramaphosa told Irish radio in Dublin on Saturday morning, shortly after receiving an honorary law degree from a university there.

Blair does not want to hear this. He is dangling the carrot of pseudo-aid for Mugabe's head on a block. NO WAY!

AU stand on Zimbabwe criticised
European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso has said he is "disappointed" by the African Union's response to Zimbabwe's demolitions campaign.

Sorry for disappointing you daddy!

Mexico's Zapatista rebels to weigh future

Egypt unveils grand museum design
Egypt has unveiled the design of a giant museum that will house King Tut's mummy and treasures along with tens of thousands of other artefacts.

Hardline mayor heads for Iranian presidency
The hardline Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sweeping toward a stunning presidential election victory over the former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, officials said early this morning.

President Self-Centered
During the recession of the early 1990s, George H.W. Bush famously tried to reassure voters about his compassion by reading aloud his talking point, "Message: I care." Now, as the nation grieves the loss of more than 1,700 soldiers in a seemingly futile war in Iraq, George W. Bush has announced, "I think about Iraq every day, every single day."

Down With the Ship
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen spent an estimated quarter of a billion dollars building the 414-feet-long Octopus. Equipped with a swimming pool, a music studio, a mini-submarine, and a basketball court that doubles as a helipad, it was the world's biggest private boat at the time of its launching in 2003.

Italy Judge Orders Arrest of 13 CIA Agents

Freeport moves to seize 3 properties
Court's decision empowers the city to acquire the site for a new marina