First up today, and rather embarrassingly, rumours are starting to circulate that some of the Libyan rebels we’ve been helping out recently have links with al-Qaeda. America has been chewing on its fingers nervously on this one. Gaddafi did warn us they might be involved, but it was about the same time he started ranting hysterically and likening his people to various species of vermin – so we didn’t take him seriously.
It wouldn’t be surprising if there were members of al-Qaeda jumping on board with the Libyan rebels, but equally, it seems unlikely that they are steering the revolts with any significance.
Obama has given a speech in which he made it clear that the US would not get involved in the business of actually overthrowing Gaddafi or making changes to the regime. He made the point that we’d done that in Iraq and it had “taken 8 years, thousands of lives and nearly a trillion dollars.”
Britain seems to still be keen, however, to roll its sleeves up and get some hands dirty – and have said that we might consider arming the rebels with more scary weapons at some point.
Over in Syria, protesters were left disappointed as President Assad spoke to them publically for the first time since the demonstrations started – and promised them no concrete change. Instead he blamed “conspirators” for spreading rubbish and working everyone up over nothing.
In Japan, the headlines have shrunk away but things are still sticky at the Fukushima plant. New readings have showed a dramatic rise in radiation in the sea nearby. Engineers are still camped inside the plant battling to contain the damage, allegedly with little food or rest and apparently being paid a small fortune to do so. You’d have to be.
Back to America, and animals rights charity PETA, who are famous for their extreme and wacky stunts, have really taken the biscuit with their latest offering. They have always been big on owners getting their pets neutered – which is a very sensible and noble cause. Their latest competition, however, comes with a puzzling grand prize: A free vasectomy. For you. Not your dog.
Their reasoning? Humans breed too profusely as well and the world is running out of space. You’ve got to give them points for originality.
Finally, talking of space, you might be wondering what the blotchy grey square at the top of the page is. It’s Mercury. As in the planet. As in the first ever photo of it taken from an orbiting spacecraft, snapped only yesterday. Cool? I think so.
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