TO SUCCEED over the global credit crunch in aftermath of sub-prime crisis, the European Central Bank (ECB) has announced to grant a record double loan to its banks. The ECB has decided to pump 348.6 billion euros ($501.5 billion) into the banking system through its banks. Though lending to banks at 4.21% rate of interest is available only for two weeks, it is expected that the grant will boost the diminishing confidence of the bank.

Robert Fisk writes on the murder of Benazir Bhutto, points the finger at Musharraf & Pakistan's security services.

Barclays Bank is included in a list compiled by the UN Expert Panel on the Democratic Republic of Congo as one of the companies that breeched the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Guideline through its involvement in ‘Bloody Diamonds’.

The Brazilian semi-arid is immense: 912 thousand square km. It is populous: 22 million people in rural areas. It is the most rainy of the planet: 750 mm / year, on average, which corresponds to 760 billion cubic meters of rainfall per year. It is not true, therefore, that there is no water there.

Contrary the hypocrisy of the traditional Christmas-celebrations and the consumption-hysteria, the message is to work for peace, against racism and exclusion of ''illegals'' To say it shortly: the advancement of human rights, without distinction

An airline specialising in deporting people says it's approaching the Government to offer its "services". Asylum Airways, based in Austria, say they have specially designed seats in their planes and have identified the UK as a "key market" for them. This "market" is the one that XL Airways were forced out of by direct action, though British Airways, Virgin, and British Midland are still involved. Perhaps the UK's identified as a "key market" for specialist scumbags because of the success of campaigns here?

The gap between the urgent threat of global warming and the collective will to do something about it has never been greater. The recently concluded Conference on Climate Change in Bali was a grand opportunity to act. Instead, it was another missed opportunity. Unfortunately, the United States played a very negative role, standing in the way of consensus at every turn. And unfortunately, the rest of the world thought that seducing the US into a new agreement on climate action was top priority, resulting in a Bali Roadmap that was very sketchy.

The Prefect of the Rhone hastily expels the adoptive black son of a French "native family".

So what are you going to do about it ?