Labour's Rebels Study Rule Book--UK

[Gloria]

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1//The Independent, UK--LABOUR’S REBELS STUDY RULE BOOK (Labour MPs dusted down their party rule books this weekend as they started to think the once unthinkable - how to topple Tony Blair. His left-wing critics tried to trigger a leadership election in the last parliament but failed to muster the signatures of 20 per cent of the Parliamentary Labour Party, as required under the rules. . … . But the rulebook does not make clear whether a Prime Minister can be challenged; some senior Labour sources say the "20 per cent rule" applies only when the party is in opposition. . … . However, Labour insiders believe Mr Blair's fate is unlikely to be sealed by a formal challenge. A more likely vehicle would be the equivalent of the Tories' "men in grey suits". If Mr Blair lost the confidence of a majority of his MPs, they would tell him his time was up.)



2//The Jordan Times, Jordan--SAMARRA COPS TRY TO BREAK REBEL GRIP (Moose is six-foot three, missing several teeth and deaf. He belongs to the new Iraqi police corps, a ragtag underdog outfit, that is meant to bring law and order to Samarra. The 432-man force, dressed in an uneven match of dark and light blue uniforms, is expected to take control of the city August 1 when it swells to 1,200 strong. More than half the ranks will consist of outside recruits. US forces are hoping the revamped cops can break the rule of intimidation imposed by insurgents in this Sunni Arab bastion 125 kilometres north of Baghdad. The men, some of them baby-faced, others middle-aged and grey, admit they lack confidence and fear a repeat of last summer when US forces withdrew from the city and rebels imposed their own rule of law for four months. Some of them remember that time with dread and don't believe they can control Samarra, without the current presence of two interior ministry commando and one public order battalion stationed around the city.)



3//The Toronto Star, Canada--AFRICA AN AL QAEDA BREEDING GROUND, CSIS WARNS (The Canadian Security Intelligence Service warns much of Africa could be fertile soil for Osama bin Laden's terrorist network to cultivate new recruits. Foreign extremist organizations such as Al Qaeda "have exploited the permissive environment of the continent," CSIS says in the report obtained by The Canadian Press. . … . The newly declassified report notes that, while Muslim communities of sub-Saharan Africa have grown more militant since the advent of multi-party democracy in the mid-1990s, this militancy ``is driven more by domestic politics than Islamic extremism." CSIS argues, however, that could change. . … . In addition, the political instability of most West African states has left them susceptible to the "proselytizing of extremist Islamic clergy" calling for a return to strict enforcement of Muslim law. However, CSIS stresses that while western countries remain seized with the fallout of the 9/11 attacks, Africa has been subsumed by its own horrible turmoil. The report notes the terrorist outrages motivating the West are ``seen as relatively minor when compared to the depredations perpetrated by domestic terrorist groups operating in sub-Saharan Africa.")



4//Xinhua Online, China--CHINA, TURKMENISTAN TO FURTHER BILATERAL TIES (Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Turkmen counterpart Saparmurad Niyazov met here Sunday and both leaders agreed to further expand trade and economic cooperation. . … . Niyazov said that Turkmenistan's rich natural resources provide good opportunity for the future cooperation between the two countries. President Hu said the China is encouraging its enterprises to strengthen cooperation with Turkmenistan's counterparts in exploration of gas and oil reserves in the Central Asian country.)



RELATED: DELHI INSISTS ON PIPELINE PLAN (India will not be deterred by US opposition to a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan as it is imperative to meet the country’s energy growing needs, the foreign minister said in a report on Saturday. “Our energy needs are going to increase exponentially in the next 20 years and there’s no other way but to have this kind of an arrangement,” Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said in an interview with The Hindu newspaper.)

5//The Scotsman, UK--CORPORATE ELITE PREPARES SECRET HQs TO ESCAPE G8 CHAOS IN CAPITAL (Fears of violent protest at this summer’s G8 summit have led six of Scotland’s biggest companies to draw up detailed evacuation plans. . … . Hundreds of anti-capitalist protesters are expected to descend on Scotland during the three-day summit, and there are fears major businesses could be prime targets for anarchists. Such is the level of concern, the six companies involved have already tested their evacuation plan. Last month, staff were transferred from their Edinburgh offices to a "recovery centre" in nearby Livingston, West Lothian. More than 400 workers were involved in the test, relocating to premises owned by US disaster recovery group Sungard, where they were able to continue working. The test was designed to simulate what would happen if their offices became unusable in the event of a wide-scale power loss or crowd trouble.)