The average energy bill for a British household could rise by as much as 46pc this year, market experts warned today.
If oil and wholesale gas prices continue to soar, energy bills could hit £1,327 by the end of 2008, an unprecedented increase in one year, according to price comparison website uSwitch. for more click here
BELGRADE, SERBIA — In an upset, pro-West democrats declared victory late Sunday in crucial Serbian elections dominated by questions of pride and humiliation, and whether Serbia has a future in the West or must take refuge in old-school nationalism.
Partial returns put the Democratic Party of President Boris Tadic ahead of his ultranationalist rivals, defying preelection surveys. Still, Tadic will have to find coalition partners in order to govern, and he doesn’t have many suitors. The nationalists did not concede defeat and said they might try to form a ruling coalition themselves. for more click here
Desperate survivors of Cyclone Nargis poured out of Myanmar’s Irrawaddy delta in search of food, water and medicine but aid workers said thousands would die if emergency supplies did not get through soon. for more click here
Left-leaning journalists don’t just pull their punches when it comes to criticizing liberal politicians, they also seem paradoxically inclined to do so when it comes to discussing radical Islam. This curious phenomenon (curious in that modern liberalism is highly secular and radical Islam decidedly is not) has repeated itself many times over the years and is really one of the most bizarre behaviors I’ve seen in politics. for more click here
After his wife of more than two decades filed for divorce in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Irfan Aleem responded in writing in 2003, and not just in court.
Aleem went to the Pakistani Embassy in the District, where he executed a written document that asserted he was divorcing Farah Aleem. He performed “talaq,” exercising a provision of Islamic religious and Pakistani secular law that allows husbands to divorce their wives by declaring “I divorce thee” three times. In Muslim countries, men have used talaq to leave their wives for centuries. 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
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
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
FM Livni is making political preparations to replace PM Olmert and the coalition partners may accept her. Livni is said to be “turning rightward.” for more click here
Staffers in the Attorney General’s office: the findings in the latest Olmert scandal collected thus far will “shake the country when revealed.” for more click here