News – Bad Times for World Leaders

Is it just me or have the last few years been bad in general for world leaders as a whole? So many problems for them, both self created and not.

Middle East

Pressure continues to ramp up on Olmert. Unless he has a good ace up his sleeve, he might as well pack it in and save Israel the grief of dragging out his fall.

Here’s a note on the report itself.

The US military and Iraqi government say they current leader of alQueda in Iraq was killed in a firefight in Anbar. Possible(though not yet fully confirmed), but one wonders if it would matter in the end.

Africa

The ICC has issued warrants for the arrest of Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman(AKA Ali Kushayb). The ICC believes that Haroun was responsible for organising and funding the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed and that Kushayb ordered the murder, torture and mass rape of innocent civilians during attacks on villages near Kodoom, Bindisi Mukjar and Arawala in west Darfur.

AU peacekeepers are patrolling Mogadishu. 1,600 strong, they’re there to replace Ethiopian soldiers who had been invited to aid in smashing the Islamists. Getting the Ethiopian troops out will help in some ways, lessening the unrest their presence caused.

Asia/Pacific

Australian senator Bill Heffernan makes a boneheaded comment about female politicians, describing them as ‘politically barren’ or some such. You’d think his mother would have taught him right. Maybe he just wasn’t listening.

Europe

Estonian Minister Urmas Paet opines that Russia’s response to the row over a Soviet war memorial is an “attack” on the whole European Union. He claims that ‘cyber terrorists’ attacked webpages of the government from Russian government computers and that the government paid demonstrators to lay siege to the Estonian embassy in Moscow. Russia just seems to have the most interesting spots of unrest and havoc, doesn’t it?

French Far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen encourages his supporters to abstain from voting in the run off election between Nicolas Sarkozy and Segolene Royal. He thinks neither deserves the support of those that voted for him in the first round. I think they should make their own decisions.

Americas

Bush vetoes the Iraq spending bill that included a framework for withdrawal of US troops. So now the political dance can wind down and the money will go out anyway.

According to the State Department, the world isn’t safer. In the strictest sense, people are more likely to be victims of terrorist attack than they were before.

The DHS might regret the town hall meetings they’re having with regard to the idea of a National ID card. Many people don’t like the idea one little bit.

Carmakers see a slip in sales as people worry about money and gas. Seeing as the gas prices have shot back up into the wince range, it’s not surprising. The bus is looking cheaper than ever and, with a plan, far from debilitating in terms of getting where you want to go when you want to be there.

The US military is putting the squeeze on soldier blogs and other correspondence.

General

Women who have their first child by caesarian are more likely to have placenta related issues during their second pregnancy.

A lot of ‘big’ movies are coming out this summer, making for significant competition for your entertainment dollar.

The Blogs look at the D.C. madam, melamine-tainted pet food and misogynistic blog comments.

Today’s Papers has how U.S. officials are trying to figure out a way to prevent British citizens of Pakistani descent from being able to enter the country without a visa, Rupert Murdoch’su nsolicited $5 billion takeover bid for Dow Jones, that the State Department will be conducting a mental-health survey of 1,400 employees who served in Iraq, after it was discovered that many of them suffer from the same symptoms as those that are affecting U.S. troops and more in the one page news.

Amusements

Traffic backs up when a gator wanders onto a highway in San Antonio… wait, where?

Soccer mascot thrown out of game because he was confusing the referee

I-Mockery takes a look at how “Spider-Man 3” is invading retailers everywhere. Your dog does not want a robotic spider-dog companion

New Orleans business owners shocked, SHOCKED, that living in a basin, between a giant lake and an ocean, in a hurricane zone, in an area that’s already been flooded out of existence, leads to high insurance rates

Columnist submits his top 10 weird news stories from Florida. See how many Fark submissions you can spot

According to this article, no one got upset about the partial-birth abortion ruling last week because the New York Times wants to outlaw premarital sex. Then the article gets weird

A New York landlord hired a marching band to drown out the sound of his tenant’s protests

Having trouble getting your kids to eat their veggies? New study suggests SURPRISE BROCCOLI

Good choice of graphics, Fox. Article about man pranking 9-1-1 over 400 times includes pic of person dialing the number 3

Trying to save someone who jumped off a bridge? Yup, that’s an $85 fine

<A HREF=”http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S74879.shtml?cat=1″>If pulled over for a DUI, you can: A: Politely admit your mistake B: Say you only had one beer, hope for the best C: Cause $1100 damage to the squad car by ramming your face “repeatedly with a great amount of force into the hood” (pic in video)

Disney unveils social networking for preteens. This should end well

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this cheerleader standing on air

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this creepy giant baby head

Fark Photoshop Challenge: Photoshop this evil cat. Difficulty: No Sauron