Pub Talk

(Source: The Independent) - make sure you read all the way to the end... :)

"Miles Kington: Slavery, the Ashes and other sorry international affairs...
'Wasn't moving convicts to Australia a kind of slavery? I wish they'd kept Shane Warne's ancestors back here in Britain...'"

Robert Fisk: Dragons of Lebanon's past emerge for Gemayel funeral

(Source: The Independent) Robert Fisk comments on the implications of yet another political assassination in Lebanon.

Independent Articles on Lebanon (Fisk)

(Source: Independent) You may be aware of a recent assassination in Lebanon. These two articles review the likely impact - a potential resurgence of the civil war.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/fisk/article2004230.ece
http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article2004204.ece

New Zealand's Place in the World

(Source: Scoop) The NZ Prime Minister, Helen Clark, recently addressed the London School of Economics (LSE). Putting some of the political 'spin' aside, this copy of her speech provides a useful overview of NZ's place in the world, and our relationship with the UK.

Oil-rich Dubai redraws the atlas

(Source: CNN) Some amazing statistics on the well-known story of Dubai's breakneck growth. Impressive land-reclamation projects.

Robert Fisk: This was a guilty verdict on America as well

(Source: The Independent) I recently read/ waded my way through a lengthy book by Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation - rather a long historical narrative about the situation in the Middle East.

I discovered a writer who was compelling in his description of the (in)humanity of war, and someone who made sense of the sometimes bleak events of the Middle East. He publishes from time to time in the Independent. If only history was taught in this compelling manner, when I was at school.

I encourage you to have a read. I am confident your views of the Middle East and US foreign policy will never be the same again.

Quality commentary on world affairs

I have found the articles on world affairs published by the Independent (UK) newspaper to be especially insightful and thought-provoking. Click on the title link above.