| The Kensington Review |
26 July 2006 |
| Latest Commentary: | Volume V, Number 88 |
|
Bush, Maliki to Send More Troops to Baghdad -- President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had a lovely talk yesterday about “stuff,” to borrow one of Mr. Bush’s favorite terms. The Israeli war on Hezbollah and its aggression against Lebanon probably made their chin-wag “cordial” rather than “friendly.” Nonetheless, they agreed that Baghdad needed more security, and that means more US and Iraqi troops in the city. It also means that the Iraqi Civil War has entered a new stage in which the Green Zone government is becoming irrelevant.
Doha Trade Round Talks Collapse -- The wealthy industrial countries of Europe and North America have failed to reach an agreement on agricultural trade during the latest “last-ditch” talks aimed at saving the Doha Round of trade negotiations. World Trade Organization [WTO] director general Pascal Lamy, said, “We have missed a very important opportunity to prove that multilateralism works.” However, it’s no skin of the noses of the Yanks or the Euros, since the people who really suffer from their trade policies weren’t even in the room, subsistence farmers in poor countries. Creditors Vote to Liquidate Yukos -- Not all that long ago, Yukos was the largest privately owned oil company in Russia, and indeed, a major actor on the world petroleum stage. Yesterday, though, the company’s creditors voted to liquidate the firm. At a court hearing next Tuesday, a judge is likely to give the final OK to that plan. This affair, however, was never about money; it was always about power within Russia. Three Italian Soccer Teams Returned to Serie A after Match-Fixing Appeal -- As winners of the 2006 World Cup, one might think Italian soccer fans were on a summer-long high. A recent match-fixing scandal has put a damper on things, however. Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan were all busted by an Italian Football Federation [FIGC] sports court. An appeal yesterday resulted in lighter punishments for all around than they initally faced, when they merited something more severe. © Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux. |
|