Comment and analysis selection
Quelle difference! Since his election 100 days ago, Nicolas Sarkozy has swept like a whirlwind through France and across the international arena. But is there a touch of Napoleon in the little president?	Nice concert. But can it really save millions from dying? Those who marched and partied this weekend can tell themselves that they have made a difference, that the world has changed. But we said that after Live Aid, and Sport Aid too, and it did not do so then, though the will was there, because the wrong solutions were adopted, because doing the wrong thing was considered better than doing nothing at all. Geldof may not like critics, and he is very good at shouting down those who voice their doubts. But sometimes it pays to listen, too.	Slaughter of the innocents in Darfur's 21st century pogrom This is not living. It is slow death. It is ethnic cleansing. It is the destruction of a people.
Putin rearms his Cold War military Russia is determined to recover its status as a global superpower. The message to the West is clear: the days of being able to dismiss Russia as a spent force are over. Bolstered by the cash from sales of oil and gas and President Putin's steely determination to re-establish the country on the world stage, the Russian military machine is back in business.	As countdown goes on so does the killing The UN might just as well have presented Khartoum with a sack of weasels and given it a month to teach them to tap-dance. It cannot do it, and it does not want to.	Inside the War on Terror:The US wakes up to winning a war for hearts and minds IF there is a soundtrack to the war on terror, it is the echo of stable doors slamming shut.
The spies who clutched at straws No longer does Mr Blair talk about Saddam's weapons of mass destruction; now, if pressed, he refers only to WMD programmes. As each purported breakthrough is revealed to be another false dawn, so their confidence has dwindled. Mr Bush and Mr Blair put their trust in their intelligence services: now they have the baffled air of children who have just discovered that their parents lied to them about the existence of Father Christmas	Analysis: Risk of attack is the price we must pay for liberty A society has to understand that it is not possible to mount a complete defence against terrorism while maintaining the civil liberties to which it wishes to cling. There has to be a level of risk which is deemed acceptable, a level beyond which the adverse effect on the civil liberties of those protected outweighs the effect on those liberties of a terrorist attack.	Survival of the fittest in Hong Kong Ten years ago, as Britain handed over Hong Kong to the Chinese, the predictions for its future were uniformly bleak. So far, however, the pessimists have been proved wrong.
Waging war as a world terrorist franchise "I no longer believe that Santa Claus brings me Christmas presents and I'm not so sure that Osama bin Laden and his little elves personally deliver every bomb attack. In this, I am clearly at odds with Sir Ian, the British intelligence services and the government, whose determination to prove that the London bomb attacks of the past couple of weeks are the work of bin Laden smacks almost of desperation."	Britským flegmatismem proti teroru GETHIN CHAMBERLAIN, britský novináø Britové jsou národ flegmatikù. Pøíliš se nièím nenechají rozrušit, a to ani když v jejich hlavním mìstì dojde k sérii bombových útokù. Tím se asi vysvìtluje, proè i ve chvílích, kdy policie a záchranáøi v pátek ráno (den po útocích) ještì stále vyprošovali tìla z trosek stanic metra, lidé dál chodili do kanceláøí. Dìlat cokoli jiného by bylo krajnì nebritské. V Londýnì podle pamìtníkù panuje stejná atmosféra jako za nìmeckých náletù. Lidé stejnì jako tehdy pokrèí rameny a nenechají se vyvést z míry. Zní to trochu jako klišé, ale je v tom víc než zrnko pravdy.	Leader: the world averts its eyes from the tragedy of Darfur HOMELESS, hungry, hopeless. The people of Darfur, those whose skin is the wrong colour for their government's liking, huddle in makeshift camps, driven out of their villages, many driven from their own country. They have run from the death squads and they have cowered as the bombs exploded around them. They wait for the world to help them. And the world looks away.
Investigation runs into political wall of denial IF THE British government was hoping that the world would unite around its efforts to track down those people behind the London bomb attacks, it is facing bitter disappointment. Denial appears to be the order of the day.	UN's shame over Sudan ANOTHER month, another 10,000 dead. The United Nations will today let down the people of Darfur again. On 30 July, the UN Security Council warned Sudan that it had 30 days to clean up its act and end the persecution of its people in the region. A month later, a damning UN report demonstrated that it had done no such thing.	Analysis: Blair's case for taking us to war was built on sand - and now it's shifting: Is the Prime Minister the last person to believe the intelligence on WMDs? FIRST there were weapons of mass destruction that could be launched within 45 minutes, posing a threat to mainland Europe. But they became battlefield WMDs which could threaten only troops attacking Iraq. In time, they metamorphosed into programmes for the production of weapons that could or could not be used against coalition forces at some unspecified point in the future. And now it seems they may never have existed at all.
Empty gestures as UN takes the path of least resistance There is a school of thought that argues that by the time the United Nations Security Council applies its attention to a crisis anywhere in the world, that crisis will already be out of hand, or the moment to intervene effectively will have passed. That is an argument that is particularly apposite in relation to what is going on in Darfur. The same school of thought also contends that when the UN does finally accept that something must be done, it will do the wrong thing, and do it so slowly that it merely compounds an already hopeless situation. And here we have Darfur again. Given the opportunity to act firmly and decisively, for once to present a united front to face down an aggressor and to protect those who cannot defend themselves, the UN has chosen the path of least resistance. It has shied away from using its power for good in favour of mealy-mouthed attitudes and toothless threats of some future, ill-defined, approbation.	Uneasy reality of passer-by who could be concealing a suicide bomb BRITAIN is a different country this morning. Yesterday, the possibility that suicide bombing may have come to these shores was still mere speculation. Today, if the police are correct, it is a fact. It was a small detail, in the description of what may turn out to be the bomber who blew up the No 30 bus in Tavistock Square, that gave the clearest indication of what has changed. The detail that Richard Jones thought important to record, aside from the agitated behaviour of the man fiddling with his bag, was that he had "olive skin". He considered it to be significant, and others will too.	While they do nothing, 35,000 more die in Sudan THE price of the United Nations' procrastination over the genocide in Sudan is revealed today in stark human terms: 35,000 further deaths since the UN Security Council first warned Khartoum to clean up its act. As the 15-strong Security Council meets in special session in Nairobi to debate Sudan, the crisis in Darfur is worse than on 30 July when the first resolution was approved by 13 votes to 0. Every five minutes, another person dies. UN staff say the Khartoum government's armed forces have continued to attack their own people. Refugees have been beaten while UN workers stand by helplessly. Women and children have been gunned down in Darfur's marketplaces. The world's worst humanitarian crisis is getting worse.
DULL OR DIM THE phoney war in the race to become American president is over. For a couple of fleeting moments, it looked like the underdogs might do it. But this isn't a Hollywood movie and the good guy doesn't get to ride into the sunset. In the real world, it's the men with the biggest wallets who win.	US is inching closer to military action on Iran If anyone thinks for a moment that President George Bush is not seriously considering a military attack on Iran, this might be the time to reconsider. Operation Persian Freedom is not just the stuff of Jack Straw's nightmares; if Iran ..	A time to remember and say thank you IT IS the unexpected tear forming in the corner of the eye, the catch in the throat when it comes to speaking the words "we will remember them" that catches out the unguarded.
Analysis:Softly, softly approach is over as Britain finally loses its patience	Analysis:Bombs blast myth of grateful natives taking tea with friendly forces	Fighting on Blair's orders but facing the axe

First-person features selection
How the West won my heart   I noted with bleary-eyed alarm the notice at the start - Welcome to Bear Country, or something equally disconcerting - and the long list of things to avoid doing, which encompassed just about every human function. It did not mention jogging, presumably because the writer never envisaged that anyone would be that stupid. I lurched on for 20 minutes or so, casting nervous glances around me, before becoming aware of the presence of several large animals ahead on the path.	Demonstrator shows G8 protest roadblocks a clean pair of wheels   "ERE... Look at that." The policeman outside the steel fence surrounding the G8 summit site at Gleneagles was pointing at the rear panier of the bike in which I was sitting, waiting patiently for a small gap in the protesters around me to open and allow me to squeeze through. "That's the easiest one to spot so far." His colleague looked over, and started to chuckle. I looked down. They were pointing at the writing on the panier. The pair had about them the look of men who would find amusement in home video out-takes, but I suppose I was asking for it. In big writing, it read: "Two Wheels Demonstrator".	The odds and all the ends   Staring at their results from the Linear Observatory's automated sky survey programme in New Mexico three weeks ago, US astronomers noticed something which prompted them to put down their cups of Starbucks' finest, sit up and pay attention. Lurking among the reams of data they had spotted a small - by the standards of an infinite universe - lump of rock, barely two kilometres across. Compared with the quasars, supernovas and black holes which make the life of an astronomer so exciting, it had little to recommend it as an object worthy of another moment's thought, apart from one small detail ... it appeared to be travelling uncomfortably close to the Earth.
IS IT REIGNING CATS OR DOGS?   THE new movie Cats And Dogs alleges that our humble household pets are at loggerheads, with man's best friend trying to stop the monster moggies in their fight for world domination. So if this battle were really to take place, who would win?	The day that never happened   For the Ford motor company, preparing to launch its new Fiesta model at the Frankfurt Motor Show, things couldn't have been better. A complete revamp of one of Britain's most popular cars was certain to secure a good few column inches, complete with flattering pictures, in broadsheets and tabloids alike. The company had lavished millions of pounds on the new model and was pinning its hopes on the launch. Then at 1:46pm, Mohammed Atta flew American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. New cars were suddenly the last thing on anyone's mind.	What Scotland does best   Fishing and whisky, what a fine combination they are. At a time of year when thoughts inevitably turn to sunnier climes, it's refreshing to think that there are still some things Scotland does best that can tempt even the most want-away soul to consider staying on these shores and savouring the delights of home. There are some holidays that demand sunshine, and there are others that seem to improve the worse the weather gets. Standing on the banks of the Tay at Kenmore, salmon rod in hand, rain lashing down and the prospect of catching a cold far more realistic than catching the king of fish, may not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those whose idea of fun does not involve grilling slowly on a Mediterranean beach this must be one of life's finer pleasures.

Copyright ©2006 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved.