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Civil war has returned to Lebanon and Hizbullah seems to be winning, having taken over parts of Beirut. for more click here

Well, the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold.

Probably a smart move. As I said yesterday, it’s hard to see what an interest rate cut can do other than add to inflationary pressures. A cut in the base rate won’t make consumer borrowing cheaper. The UK economy is built on consumer borrowing. Therefore, the economy is in trouble, and the Bank can’t ‘save’ it. But it can stop the situation getting worse by at least trying to fend off inflation.

Of course, the pundits still haven’t figured that out. A short piece in The Times described the Bank’s ‘hold’ decision as “a blow to homebuyers and businesses struggling with rising costs.”

But right beneath that there’s a much more important story. One that shows the last bastion of disinflation in the UK is set to vanish…
Read the rest of this entry »

BEIRUT (AFP) — Deadly gunbattles erupted in Beirut on Thursday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah charged that a Lebanese government crackdown on his group was tantamount to a “declaration of war,” stoking fears of a full-blown sectarian conflict.

The international community launched urgent appeals for calm in the deeply divided country after two days of clashes between rival political factions that signalled a major escalation in a bitter 18-month power struggle. for more click here

The Australian dollar nudged lower against the US currency on Friday after comments from the central bank were seen to reduce the risk of a further interest rate rise in the coming months.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) in a quarterly policy statement said that demand in the economy was slowing down considerably and was likely to curb inflation, currently at 17-year highs. for more click here

Burma today said it was not ready to let in foreign aid workers, rejecting international pressure to allow experts into the isolated nation where disease and starvation are stalking cyclone survivors.

One week after the devastating storm killed tens of thousands, Burma’s ruling generals - deeply suspicious of the outside world - said the country needed outside aid for those still alive but would deliver it themselves. for more click here

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s long-simmering political crisis lurched deeper into violent civil conflict Thursday as bands of Shiite and Sunni gunmen battled in the streets for a second day and politicians took to the airwaves to denounce each other for pushing the country toward war. for more click here

JERUSALEM — Frustrated by years of on-and-off peace talks with Israel, Palestinians are losing hope for an independent homeland, and some are proposing a radically different cause: a shared state with equal rights for Palestinians and Jews. for more click here

In the spring of 2003 Dahr Jamail, a fourth-generation Lebanese-American with a taste for adventure, was up a mountain in Alaska, climbing and earning a living by working as a guide. He was, though, following news of the invasion of Iraq, and what he read and heard made him so furious that he decided to leave the mountains - “my church”, as he calls them - and head for that newly subjugated land, armed only with a laptop and a digital recorder. for more click here

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA — Nyasha Putana could not help crying in pain as ruling party supporters in Zimbabwe whacked his buttocks and the soles of his feet in front of hundreds of fellow villagers.

At least five people died from beatings at Monday’s “political meeting” at Dakudzwa village, about 60 miles north of Harare, in Mashonaland, according to witnesses, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and a human rights worker who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals.for more click here

Islamic preacher Abu Qatada has been granted bail with a 22-hour curfew by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, the Home Office has said.

Qatada last month won an appeal against deportation but remained in prison. for more click here