The Kensington Review

21 July 2008

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Latest Commentary: Volume VII, Number 87
Iraq-Nam’s PM Backs Obama’s Withdrawal Timing -- In an interview with Der Spiegel, Iraq-namese Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stated in answering a question about the departure of US troops from his country, “US presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.” Since that came out, Mr. al-Maliki’s government has said his words were “misinterpreted and mistranslated.” The US embassy had called to “explain” how the remarks were being interpreted. Or maybe he was told to change his stance.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai Sign Deal to Talk -- The Zimbabwean government has signed a deal with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. It’s not a final settlement by any stretch of the imagination. Rather, it’s an agreement on how talks are going to be held. Be that as it may, they have 2 weeks under the terms of the agreement to come up with a unity government and figure out how to hold new elections. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

HBOS Shares Go Unsold -- HBOS, Britain’s biggest home lender, tried to raise funds through an emergency rights issue, £3.8 billion worth. It managed to sell just 8.3% of the shares. Because the issue was underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Dresdner Kleinwort, HBOS will get the money to clean up its books. However, the underwriters are stuck with millions of shares that will take forever to get off their books.

Senegal Hosts Francophone Scrabble Tournament -- Senegal is playing host to the 37th Francophone Scrabble World Championships this week. Some 600 competitors from 21 countries are participating in Dakar, the nation’s capital. While their soccer team is admired around the world among aficionados of the game, the Senegalese are world beaters at Scrabble in French. The Ministry of Sport says it gives the game as much attention as soccer, and that could be true; Scrabble 2008 in Dakar has its own anthem.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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