Liam Bailey 2008-04-19 08:26:51

Zimbabwe is to recount votes for 23 out of 110 seats in the parliamentary election, a move which has caused suspicions over just how impartial, the impartial elections commission is, especially after it was Mugabe's Zanu-PF who asked for the recount having lost their majority in the assembly.<p>The opposition Movement for Democratic Change's secretary general Tendai Biti says the party will not accept the recount, as the "ballot boxes have been stuffed". "Those ballot boxes have become pregnant and reproduced," he added.</p><p>The Zimbabwean high court overturned the MDC's motion against the recount, saying their claims had no merit.</p><p>Meanwhile results of the Presidential election have still not been revealed, it is highly likely that the MDC have won the Presidential race, and Mugabe is holding them back till he can manoeuvre his party's majority back in the assembly by rigging the recount � that is assuming the true result of the Presidential election is ever revealed.</p><p>In other related news, Dockers in South Africa have refused to unload a Chinese cargo ship of arms and munitions destined for Zimbabwe. The cargo ship was forced to leave South African waters after South Africa's highest court ruled against allowing the arms to pass through their territory. There was complaints at the South African government not intervening in the dispute, but it is because of their need to maintain a good relationship with China that had the S.A. government's hands tied.</p><p>This is yet again an example of China's unscrupulous approach to maintaining growth in its economy, selling (almost giving probably) arms to a leader like Mugabe, and Ahmadinejad, to keep them sweet, to keep oil and other basic materials flowing into its machine of massive economic growth.</p>

Zimbabwe is to recount votes for 23 out of 110 seats in the parliamentary election, a move which has caused suspicions over just how impartial, the impartial elections commission is, especially after it was Mugabe's Zanu-PF who asked for the recount having lost their majority in the assembly.<p>The opposition Movement for Democratic Change's secretary general Tendai Biti says the party will not accept the recount, as the "ballot boxes have been stuffed". "Those ballot boxes have become pregnant and reproduced," he added.</p><p>The Zimbabwean high court overturned the MDC's motion against the recount, saying their claims had no merit.</p><p>Meanwhile results of the Presidential election have still not been revealed, it is highly likely that the MDC have won the Presidential race, and Mugabe is holding them back till he can manoeuvre his party's majority back in the assembly by rigging the recount � that is assuming the true result of the Presidential election is ever revealed.</p><p>In other related news, Dockers in South Africa have refused to unload a Chinese cargo ship of arms and munitions destined for Zimbabwe. The cargo ship was forced to leave South African waters after South Africa's highest court ruled against allowing the arms to pass through their territory. There was complaints at the South African government not intervening in the dispute, but it is because of their need to maintain a good relationship with China that had the S.A. government's hands tied.</p><p>This is yet again an example of China's unscrupulous approach to maintaining growth in its economy, selling (almost giving probably) arms to a leader like Mugabe, and Ahmadinejad, to keep them sweet, to keep oil and other basic materials flowing into its machine of massive economic growth.</p> 2008-04-05 20:54:49

As U.S. President Bush meets with President Putin in Russia in an attempt to repair relations between the two countries, after Bush's plans to put a radar guided missile system in two soviet satellite states has took us far too close to another cold-war scenario, I want to make my feelings on the matter clear. <p>The mainstream media, when it does mention the chances of a US attack on Iran, fails to mention the likelihood of China and Russia backing Iran directly. But as tensions continue to mount between Bush and Putin, on top of the struggle for control of the world's remaining resources turned violent by the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, I have become almost certain that, if the U.S. and/or Israel attack Iran, China and Russia are almost certain to take action in defence of Iran.</p><p>As all analysts state the Bush-Putin meeting will come nowhere close to resolving their differences I am going to go one step further and say these differences won't be resolved because Bush doesn't want them to be. </p><p>Bush is the biggest megalomaniac to ever inhabit the White House, his invasions of two countries, both of which he thought would be quick wars shows his overblown opinion of U.S. military strength. Plans for a Missile Shield are not to protect against Iran, as Bush claims but to ensure U.S. supremacy over Russia in preparation for the scrap over resources, a move he thought Russia wouldn't dare challenge, but instead it is a move Russia will go to any length to prevent.</p><p>Putin has recently said that not only is Russia maintaining its nuclear capability but further developing it, and also <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-02/2008-02-14-voa12.cfm?CFID=222273332&CFTOKEN=59674363">reiterated a threat</a> that he would re-targeted Russia's nuclear arsenal on Europe for the first time since the Cold War. </p><p>Putin has also warned that any expansion of the North American Treaty Organisation will be seen as an act of aggression. </p><p>At the recent meeting Bush failed to secure NATO entry for Georgia and Ukraine, and said he will keep trying, I am not sure if their entry will receive Putin's stamp as an aggressive act, but the Missile Shield is firmly in there on the aggression stakes, mind you retargeting nuclear arsenals isn't exactly pacifism. </p><p>I am genuinely worried. As the Iran nuclear crisis hanging over Israel continues to damage Jewish migration to the fatherland, and the Arab/Jew ratio continues to increase the chances of Israel losing its Jewish predominance, it becomes almost certain that Israel will launch a first-strike against the Iran nuclear program, and they are most likely to do it before Bush leaves office.</p><p> If Israel does attack first, they will probably use tactical-nuclear "Bunker Busting" bombs, to ensure destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities, which are deep-underground. The U.S. will be informed of Israel's desperation to launch the attack, and in all likelihood they won't stop them, worst case scenario they will help them, absolute worst-case scenario, Russia and China launch a counter attack and World War III erupts.</p><p>I will catch flak here for what can be called blatant speculation, but no one can say what I have laid out above is impossible, and like I said; I am genuinely worried.

As U.S. President Bush meets with President Putin in Russia in an attempt to repair relations between the two countries, after Bush's plans to put a radar guided missile system in two soviet satellite states has took us far too close to another cold-war scenario, I want to make my feelings on the matter clear. <p>The mainstream media, when it does mention the chances of a US attack on Iran, fails to mention the likelihood of China and Russia backing Iran directly. But as tensions continue to mount between Bush and Putin, on top of the struggle for control of the world's remaining resources turned violent by the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, I have become almost certain that, if the U.S. and/or Israel attack Iran, China and Russia are almost certain to take action in defence of Iran.</p><p>As all analysts state the Bush-Putin meeting will come nowhere close to resolving their differences I am going to go one step further and say these differences won't be resolved because Bush doesn't want them to be. </p><p>Bush is the biggest megalomaniac to ever inhabit the White House, his invasions of two countries, both of which he thought would be quick wars shows his overblown opinion of U.S. military strength. Plans for a Missile Shield are not to protect against Iran, as Bush claims but to ensure U.S. supremacy over Russia in preparation for the scrap over resources, a move he thought Russia wouldn't dare challenge, but instead it is a move Russia will go to any length to prevent.</p><p>Putin has recently said that not only is Russia maintaining its nuclear capability but further developing it, and also <a href="http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2008-02/2008-02-14-voa12.cfm?CFID=222273332&CFTOKEN=59674363">reiterated a threat</a> that he would re-targeted Russia's nuclear arsenal on Europe for the first time since the Cold War. </p><p>Putin has also warned that any expansion of the North American Treaty Organisation will be seen as an act of aggression. </p><p>At the recent meeting Bush failed to secure NATO entry for Georgia and Ukraine, and said he will keep trying, I am not sure if their entry will receive Putin's stamp as an aggressive act, but the Missile Shield is firmly in there on the aggression stakes, mind you retargeting nuclear arsenals isn't exactly pacifism. </p><p>I am genuinely worried. As the Iran nuclear crisis hanging over Israel continues to damage Jewish migration to the fatherland, and the Arab/Jew ratio continues to increase the chances of Israel losing its Jewish predominance, it becomes almost certain that Israel will launch a first-strike against the Iran nuclear program, and they are most likely to do it before Bush leaves office.</p><p> If Israel does attack first, they will probably use tactical-nuclear "Bunker Busting" bombs, to ensure destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities, which are deep-underground. The U.S. will be informed of Israel's desperation to launch the attack, and in all likelihood they won't stop them, worst case scenario they will help them, absolute worst-case scenario, Russia and China launch a counter attack and World War III erupts.</p><p>I will catch flak here for what can be called blatant speculation, but no one can say what I have laid out above is impossible, and like I said; I am genuinely worried. 2008-04-01 07:59:14

Despite the fact that there have been very few (if any) Palestinian rockets landing in Israeli territory over the past few days, four Israeli tanks rolled into central Gaza in a pre-dawn raid and killed two Hamas members. This on top of new Israeli plans to build yet more settler homes in East Jerusalem, which has, is and will prompt massive anger within Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, liberals and anyone else with a thread of decency around the world. <p>If the Israelis can't even adhere to an informal agreement to stop violence if the Palestinians stopped the rockets, what chance do we have that they will adhere to a larger agreement to return the land, especially as they continue to annex yet more and more Palestinian land. Over 40 years ago, Israel annexed land with its military, and ever since it has been annexing land by building Jewish homes and structures on it, in the hope that after what the Nazis did the world will never have the stomach to expel Jews from their homes, whether they sit land the world says should be give back to Palestine or not.

Despite the fact that there have been very few (if any) Palestinian rockets landing in Israeli territory over the past few days, four Israeli tanks rolled into central Gaza in a pre-dawn raid and killed two Hamas members. This on top of new Israeli plans to build yet more settler homes in East Jerusalem, which has, is and will prompt massive anger within Palestinians, Muslims, Arabs, liberals and anyone else with a thread of decency around the world. <p>If the Israelis can't even adhere to an informal agreement to stop violence if the Palestinians stopped the rockets, what chance do we have that they will adhere to a larger agreement to return the land, especially as they continue to annex yet more and more Palestinian land. Over 40 years ago, Israel annexed land with its military, and ever since it has been annexing land by building Jewish homes and structures on it, in the hope that after what the Nazis did the world will never have the stomach to expel Jews from their homes, whether they sit land the world says should be give back to Palestine or not. 2008-03-25 22:21:16

I can't imagine anything more embarrassing than what Hilary Clinton has been making the headlines for. She said Monday that she landed in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire, the claim has made Clinton a figure of American ridicule as the real footage of her arrival shows something far less dramatic. The story had become something of a Chinese whisper, getting more and more dramatic and further from the truth each time she told it, which is a lot because of her image-building as a suitable commander in chief, who will be ready from day one. <p/>On Dec 29 she said she had "landed in one of those corkscrew landings and ran out because they said there might be sniper fire", by February 29 the greeting ceremony "had to be moved inside because of sniper fire," and Monday March 25 she just went too far: <p/>I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." <p/>What actually happened was the then First Lady and her daughter Chelsea, were met from their C-17 transport plane by a smiling 8 year old, Emina Bicakcic, who said: "There is peace now because Mr Clinton signed it. All this peace. I love it." <p/>I mean we've all done it, well I know I have; embellished a story for maximum effect, which means I also know how utterly embarrassing it is when an eye-witness tells the true story, and it becomes all to apparent exactly why you weren't completely honest. <p/>Clinton's response to the "blip" was to issue a press-release of Barack Obama's clangers, like saying last Autumn that 10,000 people died in a Kansas Tornado, when in fact 10 people were killed, but none of them were so apparent as being obvious embellishments to boost his image. I feel sorry for Clinton, not a great deal though, I mean how stupid can you get; did she forget TV cameras existed back then?

I can't imagine anything more embarrassing than what Hilary Clinton has been making the headlines for. She said Monday that she landed in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire, the claim has made Clinton a figure of American ridicule as the real footage of her arrival shows something far less dramatic. The story had become something of a Chinese whisper, getting more and more dramatic and further from the truth each time she told it, which is a lot because of her image-building as a suitable commander in chief, who will be ready from day one. <p/>On Dec 29 she said she had "landed in one of those corkscrew landings and ran out because they said there might be sniper fire", by February 29 the greeting ceremony "had to be moved inside because of sniper fire," and Monday March 25 she just went too far: <p/>I remember landing under sniper fire. There was supposed to be some kind of a greeting ceremony at the airport, but instead we just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base." <p/>What actually happened was the then First Lady and her daughter Chelsea, were met from their C-17 transport plane by a smiling 8 year old, Emina Bicakcic, who said: "There is peace now because Mr Clinton signed it. All this peace. I love it." <p/>I mean we've all done it, well I know I have; embellished a story for maximum effect, which means I also know how utterly embarrassing it is when an eye-witness tells the true story, and it becomes all to apparent exactly why you weren't completely honest. <p/>Clinton's response to the "blip" was to issue a press-release of Barack Obama's clangers, like saying last Autumn that 10,000 people died in a Kansas Tornado, when in fact 10 people were killed, but none of them were so apparent as being obvious embellishments to boost his image. I feel sorry for Clinton, not a great deal though, I mean how stupid can you get; did she forget TV cameras existed back then? 2008-03-20 08:08:02

In the latest Osama Bin Laden audio message released Mar 19 by Al-Shab, which the Washington Post calls "Al-Qaeda's media arm", Bin Laden threatens Europe with retaliation for the cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. The original 12 cartoons, published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2006, brought massive protests throughout the Muslim world, ironic as the cartoons depicted Muhammad leading protests throughout the Muslim world. The cartoons were republished in other Danish magazines and newspapers as a show of freedom of speech. <p/>Then last month another cartoon by the same illustrator, depicting the prophet Muhammad with a bomb for a turban, was published in Holland after Copenhagen police announced they had foiled an assassination attempt on the illustrator. <p/>The cartoons formed the centre of a row over the balance between freedom of speech and respecting people's beliefs. I don't think they have found the correct balance in Holland yet. To Muslim's drawing and displaying pictures of the Prophet Muhammad is a high form of blasphemy, even by Muslims, by non-Muslims it is ten times worse. <p/>We have had an Al Qaeda bombing in London, perhaps if they had had one in Holland they would think twice about publishing the cartoons. <p/>I am a devout supporter of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but I don't think it needs to be done at the expense of someone else's religious beliefs. Drawing the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as a turban is downright disrespectful by anybody's standards and as far as I'm concerned, not all that funny.

In the latest Osama Bin Laden audio message released Mar 19 by Al-Shab, which the Washington Post calls "Al-Qaeda's media arm", Bin Laden threatens Europe with retaliation for the cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad. The original 12 cartoons, published by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2006, brought massive protests throughout the Muslim world, ironic as the cartoons depicted Muhammad leading protests throughout the Muslim world. The cartoons were republished in other Danish magazines and newspapers as a show of freedom of speech. <p/>Then last month another cartoon by the same illustrator, depicting the prophet Muhammad with a bomb for a turban, was published in Holland after Copenhagen police announced they had foiled an assassination attempt on the illustrator. <p/>The cartoons formed the centre of a row over the balance between freedom of speech and respecting people's beliefs. I don't think they have found the correct balance in Holland yet. To Muslim's drawing and displaying pictures of the Prophet Muhammad is a high form of blasphemy, even by Muslims, by non-Muslims it is ten times worse. <p/>We have had an Al Qaeda bombing in London, perhaps if they had had one in Holland they would think twice about publishing the cartoons. <p/>I am a devout supporter of freedom of speech and freedom of expression, but I don't think it needs to be done at the expense of someone else's religious beliefs. Drawing the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb as a turban is downright disrespectful by anybody's standards and as far as I'm concerned, not all that funny. 2008-03-19 07:10:00

In years to come, Tuesday 18 march could be remembered as one of the most important days in the history of American gun-crime. For the first time since 1939, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution">the second amendment</a>, which until now has been treated as a blanket right for all American's "to keep and bear arms", is being <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031802731.html">debated by the U.S. Supreme Court</a>. The debate comes to the Supreme Court to challenge a District ban on all private ownership of handguns (with few exceptions) which is one of the strictest gun controls in America. <p/>The debate has gone ahead because of ambiguity in the second amendment's language, it reads: <p/>"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." <p/>Some say it means that regulated militia's, like the National Guard can carry and use guns, not the general public at large. <p/>It is unlikely the court will rule conclusively that the second amendment doesn't give the public the right to carry guns, because how can anyone gesticulate on what someone meant so long ago, and to do so would create such massive uproar in America. <p/>However it could still mean a massive change in the future of America. Because I can see them allowing the district gun controls to stay in place and with it possibly leave gun controls or the lack thereof in the hand of individual states, districts, possibly even towns. With the amount of death-by-shootings in the States, it is likely this freedom to stop the free ownership of guns will be used considerably across the great land of the free, and perhaps a few less people will be shot dead this year.

In years to come, Tuesday 18 march could be remembered as one of the most important days in the history of American gun-crime. For the first time since 1939, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution">the second amendment</a>, which until now has been treated as a blanket right for all American's "to keep and bear arms", is being <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/18/AR2008031802731.html">debated by the U.S. Supreme Court</a>. The debate comes to the Supreme Court to challenge a District ban on all private ownership of handguns (with few exceptions) which is one of the strictest gun controls in America. <p/>The debate has gone ahead because of ambiguity in the second amendment's language, it reads: <p/>"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." <p/>Some say it means that regulated militia's, like the National Guard can carry and use guns, not the general public at large. <p/>It is unlikely the court will rule conclusively that the second amendment doesn't give the public the right to carry guns, because how can anyone gesticulate on what someone meant so long ago, and to do so would create such massive uproar in America. <p/>However it could still mean a massive change in the future of America. Because I can see them allowing the district gun controls to stay in place and with it possibly leave gun controls or the lack thereof in the hand of individual states, districts, possibly even towns. With the amount of death-by-shootings in the States, it is likely this freedom to stop the free ownership of guns will be used considerably across the great land of the free, and perhaps a few less people will be shot dead this year. 2008-03-14 19:10:00

Voting closed in Iran's parliamentary election at 23:00 Friday 14 March (19:30GMT), after being extended several times to allow more voters to reach the polls. The outcome of the vote will have a big impact on the future of the nuclear row. <p/>Ali Larijani is one of the candidates. He recently stood down as chief negotiator in the nuclear row, because his feelings that Iran should be seek to find a peaceable agreement with the west weren't being listened to, and his attempts to offer compromises to the west were slapped down publicly by Ahmadinejad. <p/>Larijani supposedly stepped down because of the mess Ahmadinejad has made of the country's economy, and that is a big part of why Larijani seeks to enter the global-economic fold, to reverse the damage done by UN resolutions, which have mostly targeted the country's economy. So Larijani getting elected might be the only chance that the Iran nuclear crisis has of being resolved peacefully. Of course if it is true the US wants war for Iran's oil then it is possible the election could speed the path to war. <p/>The result of the voting should be announced sometime on Monday. I for one will be hoping that Larijani is victorious.

Voting closed in Iran's parliamentary election at 23:00 Friday 14 March (19:30GMT), after being extended several times to allow more voters to reach the polls. The outcome of the vote will have a big impact on the future of the nuclear row. <p/>Ali Larijani is one of the candidates. He recently stood down as chief negotiator in the nuclear row, because his feelings that Iran should be seek to find a peaceable agreement with the west weren't being listened to, and his attempts to offer compromises to the west were slapped down publicly by Ahmadinejad. <p/>Larijani supposedly stepped down because of the mess Ahmadinejad has made of the country's economy, and that is a big part of why Larijani seeks to enter the global-economic fold, to reverse the damage done by UN resolutions, which have mostly targeted the country's economy. So Larijani getting elected might be the only chance that the Iran nuclear crisis has of being resolved peacefully. Of course if it is true the US wants war for Iran's oil then it is possible the election could speed the path to war. <p/>The result of the voting should be announced sometime on Monday. I for one will be hoping that Larijani is victorious. 2008-03-06 19:10:00

<h5>8 killed at Religious School in Jerusalem</h5> <p/>8 Israelis were killed today and scores more were wounded when Palestinian gunmen attacked a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. One of the attackers reportedly wore a suicide bomb belt which he failed to detonate. From being seemingly close to ending last year the Israel-Palestine conflict is returning to the levels of bloodshed we saw in its darkest days when the second Intifada was launched and suicide bombings were almost a weekly occurrence. <p/>The school shooting was obviously a revenge attack for the Israeli onslaught that killed over 120 Palestinians, a quarter of them children in Gaza. The operation ended in the main at the weekend, but has continued sporadically from the air as rockets continue to be fired from Gaza. <p/><h5>U.K. Government's Apparent Climb-down on ID Cards</h5> <p/>The British government today announced that carrying a biometric ID card is not going to be compulsory for British citizens after all. Airport staff will have to carry them first, immigrants from outside the EU will be next and students will pretty soon be encouraged to carry them. The government said of its apparent climb-down that passports could instead carry the biometric data. Channel 4 news wonders if it is really a climb down or an attempt to introduce the ID cards by stealth. <p/>ID cards have proven to be one of the most controversial policies the current British government has attempted to put in place, and as Brits are already the most heavily watched citizens in the world it is little wonder the plan had people screaming at further reduction of their civil liberties in what is supposedly the free world. <p/><h5>Nicaragua Severs Ties with Columbia, Mounting Regional Tensions</h5> <p/>The situation in Latin America worsened today when Nicaragua's President Ortega severed ties with Columbia in a motion of solidarity with their Ecuadoran allies. The statement comes after the Organisation of American States passed a resolution that was supposed to go some way towards easing the tensions. Tensions started by the Columbian army launching an unauthorised cross border raid into Ecuador and killing seventeen anti-Columbian rebels. <p/>Nicaragua now joins sides with Ecaudor and Venezuela, the latter having sent troops and tanks to its border with Columbia just a day after the raid. The common belief is that Columbia would have U.S. support in the event of any attack.

<h5>8 killed at Religious School in Jerusalem</h5> <p/>8 Israelis were killed today and scores more were wounded when Palestinian gunmen attacked a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. One of the attackers reportedly wore a suicide bomb belt which he failed to detonate. From being seemingly close to ending last year the Israel-Palestine conflict is returning to the levels of bloodshed we saw in its darkest days when the second Intifada was launched and suicide bombings were almost a weekly occurrence. <p/>The school shooting was obviously a revenge attack for the Israeli onslaught that killed over 120 Palestinians, a quarter of them children in Gaza. The operation ended in the main at the weekend, but has continued sporadically from the air as rockets continue to be fired from Gaza. <p/><h5>U.K. Government's Apparent Climb-down on ID Cards</h5> <p/>The British government today announced that carrying a biometric ID card is not going to be compulsory for British citizens after all. Airport staff will have to carry them first, immigrants from outside the EU will be next and students will pretty soon be encouraged to carry them. The government said of its apparent climb-down that passports could instead carry the biometric data. Channel 4 news wonders if it is really a climb down or an attempt to introduce the ID cards by stealth. <p/>ID cards have proven to be one of the most controversial policies the current British government has attempted to put in place, and as Brits are already the most heavily watched citizens in the world it is little wonder the plan had people screaming at further reduction of their civil liberties in what is supposedly the free world. <p/><h5>Nicaragua Severs Ties with Columbia, Mounting Regional Tensions</h5> <p/>The situation in Latin America worsened today when Nicaragua's President Ortega severed ties with Columbia in a motion of solidarity with their Ecuadoran allies. The statement comes after the Organisation of American States passed a resolution that was supposed to go some way towards easing the tensions. Tensions started by the Columbian army launching an unauthorised cross border raid into Ecuador and killing seventeen anti-Columbian rebels. <p/>Nicaragua now joins sides with Ecaudor and Venezuela, the latter having sent troops and tanks to its border with Columbia just a day after the raid. The common belief is that Columbia would have U.S. support in the event of any attack. 2008-02-28 19:10:00

<p style="font-family:tahoma;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline">Prince Harry Fighting in Afghanistan</p> <p/>U.S. news source the drudge report, and sources in Australia and Germany revealed that Prince Harry has been serving on the front lines in Helmand province in Afghanistan. A media black-out had been agreed with the British media, after publicity prevented Harry from serving in Iraq last year. The media were given a photo opportunity in Helmand in return for not breaking the story until he returned to the U.K. <p/>After his set-back last year to work as a Scimitar light tank troop leader in Iraq Household Cavalry officer Harry retrained as a battlefield air controller known as a JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller), in preparation for a tour of Afghanistan. Harry has been in Afghanistan since December 14, spending several weeks just 500m from Taliban positions in Garmsir in the far south of Helmand Province. He has since been redeployed, to where cannot be revealed for obvious security reasons. <p/>It has not yet been said what plans are for Prince Harry now, but it is likely he will have to be withdrawn. <p style="font-family:tahoma;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline">Israeli Troops Enter Gaza</p> <p/>Amid rockets from the Palestinian side and air-strikes from Israel, <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3512829,00.html">Ynet News</a> reports that Israeli troops today entered Gaza near the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The report which apparently came from Palestinian sources puts the two sides engaging in gun battles inside Gaza. <p/>According to the <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=89411">Daily Star Lebanon</a>, four children have been killed in 48 hours of heavy Israeli shelling, one Israeli student has been killed by Palestinian rockets. The latest violence was sparked by Israel capitalising on an opportunity to take out five of Hamas's senior militia, as they commuted to a training camp in the same car. In response Hamas broke out the big guns, launching its medium range Grad rockets into Ashkelon as Qassams peppered Sderot. <p/>Israel's government has come under increasing pressure from those living in towns within the range of the rockets, and right-wing politicians, to launch a ground operation into Gaza, and today's ground incursion could well be the start of it.

<p style="font-family:tahoma;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline">Prince Harry Fighting in Afghanistan</p> <p/>U.S. news source the drudge report, and sources in Australia and Germany revealed that Prince Harry has been serving on the front lines in Helmand province in Afghanistan. A media black-out had been agreed with the British media, after publicity prevented Harry from serving in Iraq last year. The media were given a photo opportunity in Helmand in return for not breaking the story until he returned to the U.K. <p/>After his set-back last year to work as a Scimitar light tank troop leader in Iraq Household Cavalry officer Harry retrained as a battlefield air controller known as a JTAC (Joint Terminal Attack Controller), in preparation for a tour of Afghanistan. Harry has been in Afghanistan since December 14, spending several weeks just 500m from Taliban positions in Garmsir in the far south of Helmand Province. He has since been redeployed, to where cannot be revealed for obvious security reasons. <p/>It has not yet been said what plans are for Prince Harry now, but it is likely he will have to be withdrawn. <p style="font-family:tahoma;font-size:16px;font-weight:bold;text-decoration:underline">Israeli Troops Enter Gaza</p> <p/>Amid rockets from the Palestinian side and air-strikes from Israel, <a href="http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3512829,00.html">Ynet News</a> reports that Israeli troops today entered Gaza near the town of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The report which apparently came from Palestinian sources puts the two sides engaging in gun battles inside Gaza. <p/>According to the <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=89411">Daily Star Lebanon</a>, four children have been killed in 48 hours of heavy Israeli shelling, one Israeli student has been killed by Palestinian rockets. The latest violence was sparked by Israel capitalising on an opportunity to take out five of Hamas's senior militia, as they commuted to a training camp in the same car. In response Hamas broke out the big guns, launching its medium range Grad rockets into Ashkelon as Qassams peppered Sderot. <p/>Israel's government has come under increasing pressure from those living in towns within the range of the rockets, and right-wing politicians, to launch a ground operation into Gaza, and today's ground incursion could well be the start of it.