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Is he right ? Why does it seem that wherever Robert Mugabe goes in his part of Africa he's treated like some kind of hero ? Are some people missing the bigger picture ?

And still in Africa, the head of the new combined United Nations and African Union peacekeeping mission for Darfur has warned the world not to expect too much too soon when the first troops arrive next month. General Martin Luther Agwai told the Ö÷²¥´óÐã that the peacekeepers weren't there to conquer anyone or to force an end to the conflict -- but gradually to create an atmosphere conducive to peace talks. If General Agwai wants any more advice he need look no further than
as Romeo Dalliaire, the man in charge of the Rwandan peace keeping force after the genocide there, tells him not to expect too much support from above...

Belgium continues to fascinate as it seems to be getting closer and into Flanders and Wallonia. A leader of one of the Flemish nationalist party says the problem is simple : "There's no Belgian sentiment," says Filip Dewinter. "There's no Belgian language. There's no Belgian nation. There's no Belgian anything."

An odd sight here in Britain ; thousands of people queuing outside branches of the Northern Rock Building Society trying to withdraw their money. In scenes reminiscent of "It's A Wonderful Life", investors in a very big show of NOT panicking are in fact, panicking. About two BILLION poundssince the end of last week.
We've discussed the credit squeeze a few times on WHYS, but it doesn't look like the story is going away any time soon..

Have a look at . It's the blog of a serving policeman in the UK. Using the pseudonym David Copperfield , PC Stuart Davidson told stories of how bureaucracy and political correctness stopped him and the rest of the force from doing their jobs properly. We had a conversation in the office about this last week : is it ALWAYS right to be a whistleblower (if you'll pardon the pun). And if you look at Stuart's site, there are a lot of other Police bloggers out there...

On a lot of front pages today is the terrible in Phuket, which has killed 90 people... the black box recorders have been found but already questions are being asked about the weather conditions when the plane was trying to land- and of course, budget air travel is under the spotlight...

and The European Union's second-highest court (the Court of First Instance) has upheld a record fine of nearly seven hundred million dollars imposed on Microsoft for abusing its market dominance. Given their profits though, it's a drop in the ocean...

and more pressing matters for us in the office....a RAT was spotted in our new 6th floor eyrie last week, so we'll be taking steps to er....remove him from the premises today...