The Wardman Wire

Here is todays roundup of stories.

Comment

Philip Johnston (Telegraph) - Abu Hamza extradition is no cause for rejoice
There has been general rejoicing at the news that Abu Hamza, the militant Islamist cleric serving seven years for stirring up racial hatred, is to be extradited to America to face terrorist charges there. The High Court ruled that he should go on trial in the US, where he faces an immensely long jail sentence, locked up for 23 hours a day in a top-security jail in Colorado. Two judges ruled that the decision to extradite Hamza was “unassailable”. So is that the end of the matter? Almost certainly not.

News

ROBERT F. WORTH and JAD MOUAWAD (NYT) - Agreements Are Elusive at Oil Talks in Saudi Arabia
A hastily convened global energy summit meeting led by Saudi Arabia ended largely in disagreement on Sunday, with only a modest pledge of increased production by the Saudis and no resolution on what other practical steps should be taken to ease the crisis over soaring oil prices.

Economist (Economist) - Nothing to lose but their chains
Robots are getting cleverer and more dexterous. Their time has almost come.

Washington Post (WP) - U.S. Network Falters in Mideast Mission
The Egyptian bureau of al-Hurra, an Arabic-language television network financed by the U.S. government, boasts a spectacular view of the Nile River and the capital’s bustling streets. But inside, all is quiet.

Independent (Independent) - Resistance snuffed out as Olympic torch tours Tibet
China paraded the Olympic torch through the streets of Lhasa at the weekend in a blaze of red flags, eager to present a picture of national unity and domestic harmony just three months after the Tibetan provincial capital was rocked by anti-Chinese riots.

Catherine Philp and Jan Raath in Harare (Times Online) - ‘Stop him’ plea to world as Mugabe gets a free run
Bruised, bloodied and bowed, the Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai withdrew from Friday’s presidential run-off election and called on the world to intervene and stop the genocide in Zimbabwe.

Robert Tait (Guardian) - Islamic scholar voted world’s No 1 thinker
A hitherto largely unknown Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gülen, has been voted the world’s top intellectual in a poll to find the leading 100 thinkers.

Scotland

BBC (BBC) - Plea over aircraft carrier deal
Scottish MPs are expected to urge the Ministry of Defence to sign a contract for two new aircraft carriers as soon as possible.

(Am I alone in being sceptical here - bearing in mind all the posturing about Faslaine)

Wales

BBC (BBC) - Bad weather halts powerboat race
Bad weather has forced the postponement of a powerboat race, only hours after its route off Wales was changed amid fears that it could harm sea life.

The Round Britain Race began on Saturday and was due in Pembrokeshire on Sunday, but organisers called off the leg from Plymouth to Milford Haven.

BBC (BBC) - How hard do our Welsh MEPs work?
How hard any of our elected representatives works is extremely difficult to measure, and provokes even the most modest politicians to become defensive about their own performance.

But undeterred by the methodological challenges, researchers at the Institute for Public Policy in Bucharest have used official statistics from the European Parliament, to draw up a league table, based on how frequently all 785 MEPs turn up for plenary meetings.

This research suggests that all four of the Welsh MEPs are in the bottom third of performers across the European Union - a conclusion that the MEPs in turn say is an unfair and flawed way of looking at the way they actually work. ”

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