There have been five new arrests in the Spanish bombing case, bringing the total number of arrests to 11. A hearing is being held today to determine whether the current detainees can be held until trial or be allowed to post bail. In America, senior Republican Dennis Hastart has accused Spain of appeasing terrorists through its announcement to withdraw troops from Iraq, although the Economist disagrees with this assessment, stating that the truth of what happened is much more complicated. John Kerry has also stepped into the debate by personally asking Spain not to withdraw their troops. This ongoing debate only highlights the fundamental differences between the United States and Europe on how to deal with terrorism, leading to a rising dissent for global American policies. The Canadian government has repeated its commitment not to send troops to Iraq, even if Spain pulls out, as both countries are waiting on the United States to turn over power to the United Nations. All of this comes after a bomb hit a central Baghdad hotel yesterday killing at least 10 people.
In presidential election news, Vice President Cheney has come out swinging against Kerry, stating that the Democratic candidate could not be trusted on foreign policy issues. Slate details how the Atlantic believes Missouri is going to be the bellwether state for the 2004 election. Salon writes extensively on how the Bush campaign is intentionally distorting Kerry's words. Finally Rumsfeld gets hammered on Face the Nation over denying that he called Iraq an 'immanent threat.'
There has been a lot of action in Saudi Arabia lately as petitioners interested in forming a human rights group were arrested and jailed. Authorities then jailed a lawyer for criticizing the arrest of several top intellectuals. The government has also suspended 900 local religious officials for negligence, although the real reason seems to be to curb Islamic extremism.
Kosovo is having problems again, as 8 people are killed and over 200 wounded in the worst violence since the United Nations took over in 1999 -- the violence stemmed from the drowning of two Albanian children that was blamed on the Serbs. NATO has been quick to announce reinforcements to existing troops to ensure that the violence doesn't spread further. The Economist has published an article that provides an overview to the recent problems leading to the violence.
In ironic news, the Tennessee county made famous by the Scopes Monkey Trial that decided whether schools could teach evolution is back in the news attempting to enact an ordinance banning homosexuals from living in the county. The New York Times, on the other hand, offers a perspective on how formerly banned interracial marriages can lend us some perspective in the same-sex marriage debate.
- A 25-meter asteroid is about to make the closest approach to Earth by an asteroid on record.
- Astronomers have figured out where all the gamma ray radiation in the galaxy is coming from.
- Greenpeace activists raided a ship carrying timber from Indonesian rainforests to protest the logging and endangerment of species living there.
- What do you need to make ultra-thin high-performance semi-conductors? Apparently rocket fuel.
- A new hormone-blocking drug may prevent breast cancer patients from needing a mastectomy.
- Taking a queue from HIV treatment, scientists at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have found that using a combination drug therapy on cancer may treat cases previously resistant to standard methods.
- A molecular biologist at Pieta Research in Edinburgh has theorized that without the moon, there would have been no life on Earth.
- Two anthropologists at the University College London have speculated that human culture arose in large part as a way to control vital resources.
- El Nino has been blamed for many things in the recent past. Now some researchers are theorizing that it had a large effect during the last ice age.
- Also on the topic of ice ages, scientists in France and the US have speculated that the original breakup of the continents was responsible for global ice ages that would have covered the earth with ice almost to the equator 800 and 550 million years ago.
- NASA has developed a system that connects to the nerves in your throat, letting them know what you are going to say before you actually say it.
- The IAEA has come to an agreement with the US on creating new rules to curb nuclear proliferation.
- More than 60 people have been killed in clashes between Ugandan and Sudanese villagers.
- The government of Alberta is scheduled to completely pay off its debts this year.
- Speaking of money, the Bank of Canada has issued a new $100 bill with new security features.
- The Christian Science Monitor has published a story on why it is so difficult to find bin Laden.
- The Economist talks about future plans for the American military.
- The Village Voice published an article about how my generation is going to be crushed by debt.
- An Islamist trial in France is showing how intricate the web of terrorist cells really are.
- An exhibition featuring nudity has been deemed not fit for display in Darwin's parliament house.
- Are you a woman continually confused by men? A new book may help you by categorizing us into 27 different subsets.
- Salon asks whether hip-hop is killing poetry.
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