Blair proposes jobs plan for West Bank, Gaza; oil nears $100/barrel, fears of widespread recession; Senate bill bars telecom immunity in wiretap...

19 November :: Fmr UK PM Tony Blair, envoy for 'Quartet' —UN, US, EU, Russia— to Middle East, has proposed a sweeping economic regeneration, job-creation plan for Palestinian territories, to dissuade militancy, get territories on path to viable statehood, long-term peace; plan to include Jericho trade-park, a checkpoint-free Jordan-Jericho trade corridor, public works projects like new sewage system for beleaguered Gaza strip... Oil nearing $100/barrel, observers worry record price could cause recession in several economies around the globe; CSM report suggests OPEC, created to stabilize oil prices, has lost control of pricing due to market, political factors... US Senate committee has voted to strip telecommunications firms of immunity from prosecution for collaborating in illegal NSA wiretaps; telecoms have contended they were forced by gov't to cooperate, while critics charge the companies knowingly violated the law, aided in assault on Constitutional liberties... Transport strike deepens in France, as unions oppose Sarkozy's proposed pension reforms across nation; as more groups join work stoppages, threat of real national 'general strike' looms for president... AP reports "Everyone will feel its effects, [said Yvo de Boer, director of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] but global warming will hit the poorest countries hardest and will 'threaten the very survival' of some people", as UN scientists gather at Valencia IPCC talks to prepare language, agenda for Bali climate meetings...

Bank of England warns UK of economic slowdown; Pakistan detains another opposition leader, as student movement grows...

17 November :: Bank of England governor warns coming year will be hardest economically for Great Britain, with credit problems, banking tightness and housing slump contributing to general tightening of purse-strings, possible consumer slowedown as well; Bank gov. Mervyn King said it will be 2009 "before growth picks up and inflation is brought under control", according to the Guardian... IHT reporting from Lahore: "The opposition politician Imran Khan emerged from hiding Wednesday to the cheers of hundreds of students at a demonstration against General Pervez Musharraf at a university here, but he was quickly seized by hard-line students and turned over to the police, witnesses said"; Musharraf moves to contain virtually all aspects of opposition organization, leadership increasingly evident, US calls into question security rationale behind emergency rule... CSM, also reporting from Lahore: "What began last week as a protest against the arrests of academics at a university in Lahore has quickly spread across larger campuses, energizing new movements and inciting old student political groups from a near two-decade slumber. But when opposition leader Imran Khan, a perceived hero of the student movement, arrived Wednesday to address students in Lahore, members of a powerful and established Islamist student group quickly handed him over to police"... Google is offering $10 million in prize money for developers who produce the most effective software for its proposed open-platform mobile phone operating system; 'G-prize' for revolution in cellular software could herald new model of mass-market technology development... As Congress wrestles with question of telecom complicity in extralegal spying, Truthdig report revealing in terms of possible link between gov't backing of major telecom mergers, data-mining programs; report reveals that NSA in 2000, in efforts to gather new resources, maintain relevancy in post-Cold-War period, launched a "government-industry partnership for information technology infrastructure services"...

Musharraf forces beat, gas attorneys calling for rule of law; US energy bill could produce massive shift in national fuel consumption, wean off oil...

8 November :: Musharraf forces beat and tear-gassed demosntrating lawyers before taking them into custody; reports suggest intimidation has been widespread, with int'l press reporting security forces "charged" a group of more than 1,000 lawyers chanting anti-Musharraf slogans in Lahore; deposed supreme court chief Chaudry calls on lawyers to step up demonstrations nationwide, as demands grow for restoration of law-based democratic gov't, Scotsman reporting "A strongly-worded White House statement demanded that those detained under emergency regulations be released immediately, saying it was 'deeply disturbed'"; int'l press reportedly under strict censorship guidelines in new martial regime... CS Monitor reports "Energy-conservation measures in House and Senate bills approved earlier this year could by 2030 save the US twice as much oil as it now imports from the Persian Gulf, slash greenhouse-gas emissions by 40 percent, and reduce electricity use by at least 10 percent"; bill would push major nationwide shift in modes of energy consumption, fuel sources... 1.2 billion sms or text messages being sent per week across Britain in 2007, figure equates to 4,000 sms per second, making it the fastest growing means of wide-market communications; original developers admit they believed the technology would be used for limited business-to-business usage... Voters in NJ on Tuesday rejected a state-borrowing ballot measure to fund stem-cell research at state level, Utah voters similarly rejected school voucher program; worries about gov't debt, personal savings, income stagnation and economic slowdown, reported to be primary concerns driving opposition to spending-based ballot measures; Texas voters supported ballot initiative to spend $3 billion raised from bonds, over 10 years, to expand cancer research... Democrats gain Kentucky governorship, control of Virginia legislature, as corruption, support for Bush policies hamper GOP electoral efforts nationwide; Mississippi governor, Haley Barbour, a Republican, won re-election easily, Reuters reporting "Barbour was one of the few politicians to win praise after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 for working to reopen casinos quickly in coastal cities such as Gulfport that were devastated by the storm as a way of kick-starting the local economy"...

Mukasey refuses to denounce torture in interrogations, despite Supreme Court ruling; Bhutto says Zia agents seek her death; crude hits $90/barrel...

19 October :: US att. gen. nominee Mukasey has told Senate panel he believes so-called 'unlawful combatants' are not entitled to Geneva Conventions protections, a view contravened by existing law and jurisprudence; US Supreme Court has already ruled the Conventions govern US treatment of prisoners, not which prisoners enjoy protections; HRW reports "In Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the US Supreme Court held that the humane treatment obligations of Common Article 3 apply to 'enemy combatants' in United States custody. The Bush administration has since responded by issuing an executive order requiring the CIA to comply with Common Article 3 in its interrogation of detainees"; 'waterboarding' specifically has not only been prosecuted by the US military for over 100 years as illegal, but the Judge Advocates General of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines agreed in August 2006 it violates US law; Mukasey did, however, testify that "It is not constitutional for the United States to engage in torture in any form, be it waterboarding or anything else" and that "It's barred by the Fifth, the Fourteenth, and the Eighth Amendments"... Bhutto says agents of fmr dictator General Zia are behind bombing attempt on her life yesterday, are fomenting "extremism and fanaticism" to destabilize Pakistan; Interior Ministry says it believes Taliban, Al-Qaeda militants were responsible; Bhutto had been warned before her return of a plot involving military agents, one Taliban commander had threatened to send suicide bombers to kill her... Bloomberg reports "Crude oil for November delivery rose to $90.07 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since trading began in 1983"; 4 days of record-high prices have been driven by speculation about Fed rates, fears of Turkish invasion of northern Iraq, falling dollar value... Google mobile phone project aimed at freeing up software, service options across wireless spectrum; 'gPhone' would use open-source software, likely be free added value, financed by Google advertising links... Swiss conservative party draws int'l scrutiny as its campaign painting immigrants as black sheep to be kicked out of the country is considered racist, in run-up to elections... French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy has split from his wife, after 11 years and just a few months in office; press reports suggest Cecilia Sarkozy did not vote in the close election which brought her husband to power... Kenyan elephants can distinguish scents, appearance of Masai warrior/hunters from local farmers, who are usually not a threat; evidence suggests more intimate integration of large mammal into human element in their environment...