The United States didn't take Spain's withdrawal very well, with President Bush 'voicing regret' over the 'abrupt' action of the Spanish government. Although given that Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been talking about this for about a month, not to mention the months prior to the election when his party promised to withdrawal the troops, it's unclear to me exactly how 'abrupt' this action is. Abrupt might be more like Honduras and the Dominican Republic's call to do the same. Although Spain dedicated only 1300 troops, the Dominican Republic 300, and Honduras 370, a number that accounts for less that 1% of the total troops, it may do more to shake up America's existing allies and put a halt to US interests in using NATO. Poland is rumored to be considering its own withdrawal, but has yet to make an announcement. The use of the UN though is still being tossed around by both presidential candidates.
The American-led coalition has drafted a plan that it hopes will end the current standoff between itself and Sunni Iraqis that includes the surrender of heavy weapons. Civilians have begun to slowly trickle back into the city as the violence subsides. Life hasn't gotten any easier for the occupying forces though, as ten people died today in car bomb explosions in Riyadh, another car bomb killed 55 in Basra, and shelling on a prison killed 22 prisoners outside of Baghdad. Add to this the fact that all the recent action is stretching resources thin, putting pressure on the administration to seek yet another boost to military funding and a leaked Coalition memo detailing how Iraq has a good chance of falling into civil war. Despite all of this, support for George Bush has not been affected by the continued violence, though Tony Blair faces a different fate with support for his stand on Iraq falling sharply.
In Israel, the United States is calling for Hamas to 'be put out of business,' and Ha'aretz published a good interview with Dr. Hanan Shai, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his work on suicide bombings and asymmetric warfare.
In what might have seemed like a Noble Peace Prize convention, the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Iranian human-rights activist Shirin Ebadi spoke at the University of British Columbia about non-violent resolutions to global conflict. Another Peace Prize laureate, Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi, might be freed from house arrest by Burma's military junta later this week.
Also:
- The Lyrids are kicking off this year's meteor season tonight.
- Tornadoes on Mars are the latest peril to the rover missions.
- The Gravity Probe has made it successfully into orbit.
- Particle physics has been used to save old vinyl recordings.
- An international team of scientists have published a detailed map of over 21 000 human genes with the hopes that it will increase scientific discovery.
- Chocolate cake is good, but recent studies show it might also be addictive.
- Rock art from the Stone Age may indicate a long history of whaling in ancient tribes.
- Studies of humpback whales provide evidence that their song might not be used just for mating.
- Marine life appears to be getting sick more often according to US researchers, though they have yet to determine a cause.
- A presidential commission has advised the US government to create an oceans fund that will protect and improve the health of the nation's oceans.
- The wolf population in Norway is decreasing and scientists suspect that illegal hunting might be to blame.
- Another dinosaur extinction theory: a lack of females did them in.
- Apple Computer is moving towards a focus on laptop vs. desktop sales.
- One of the internet's central technologies has been found to have a serious security vulnerability.
- National Geographic has an article covering how NASCAR technicians are making the cars safer without trading off speed.
- Canada's fertility rate has dropped to 1.5 children per woman.
- MRI scans of people watching political ads show that different parts of the brain light up depending on your political persuasion.
- A Chinese restaurant featuring sushi served on nearly naked women has been fined by the government.
- In an election year, the university campuses are heating up with activity.
- The Christian Science Monitor published a story about the effects of the Columbine shooting five years later.
- France has expelled a Muslim cleric who advocated beating women.
- Saudi Arbia has denied having a deal with the Bush administration to fix oil prices before the November election, in opposition to details in Bob Woodward's latest book.
- The Pentagon, however, has edited an official transcript used by Woodward deleting a statement by Donald Rumsfeld that Saudi Arabia was given a two-month heads up about the Iraq invasion.
- The US Supreme Court is hearing the cases of detainees at Guantanamo Bay.
- The salaries of Sinn Féin MPs may be cut because of their continued support of paramilitary violence.
- The UN has a team set to investigate alleged atrocities against non-Arabs in western Sudan.
- India's general election has begun, illustrating the difficulties of voting in a country with over a billion people.
- Slate answers the pressing question, what exactly is a Planetary Protection Officer?
- The New York Times ponders T. S. Elliot.
- A amateur soccer player in Britain has scored the fastest goal ever in a game -- 2 1/2 seconds after kickoff.
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