Paris— A wide-scale study published Wednesday
has strengthened warnings, spelt out last year
by UN scientists, that climate change is already
on the march. The paper, published in Nature,
goes beyond the scope taken by a landmark report
issued by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) in February 2007.
Beirut— An Arab League delegation was meeting
with rival leaders in Beirut on Wednesday in a
bid to mediate a settlement to deadly sectarian
gunbattles that have driven Lebanon close to
civil war. The team, headed by Qatari Prime
Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin
Jassem al-Thani, was holding talks with members
of the US-backed government and the
Hezbollah-led opposition who have been locked in
a bitter political feud for 18 months.“Last
chance for compromise or chaos,” said Al-Akhbar
newspaper, which is close to the opposition.
Colombo— Sri Lanka pressed ahead with air and
ground attacks Wednesday against Tamil Tiger
rebels in the north, the defence ministry said,
as the prime minster ruled out any ceasefire.
Jaipur, India — Police sifted for clues
Wednesday after seven near-simultaneous bomb
blasts tore through crowded markets in the
Indian tourist city of Jaipur, killing at least
80 people.
IN April, a review of 2006 congressional
financial disclosure statements by the
nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found
that lawmakers have as much as $196 million
“invested in companies doing business with the
Defense Department, earning millions since the
start of the Iraq war.” An Associated Press
article on the report, however, offered a
caveat: “Not all the companies invested in by
lawmakers are typical defense contractors.
Corporations such as PepsiCo, IBM, Microsoft and
Johnson & Johnson have at one point received
defense-related contracts.”
