UK Protesters Send Message to US: Stop the Illegal War and Repression of Civil Liberties! (and more!)

It’s your daily dose of Kandy Korrespondent!

International tensions are building up once more over Irans’ nuclear program. On June 1st, the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany agreed to offer Iran various incentives in return for the halting of its uranium enrichment program. They also warned, however, of punitive measures should Iran refuse the proposition. During his farewell travels throughout Europe, President Bush made sure to keep the threat of action against Iran in the news. He discussed the adoption of harsher measures against Iran with each world leader he met.

Despite these efforts, on Saturday Iran voted once again to continue its’ uranium enrichment program—sending a clear message to the rest of the world that it will not be bought off nor intimidated.

In response, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday that he and other EU leaders will begin to freeze the assets of Bank Melli– Iran’s largest bank. In anticipation, Iran pulled $75 million out of Europe.

In Other News:

Also over the weekend, Ireland voted against the European Union’s reform treaty, sending the rest of the EU scrambling. Every EU state must approve the treaty for it to go into effect. Following the intense embarrassment of 2005- when Dutch and French voters overwhelming voted against the treaty—this time around, Ireland was the only country to hold a popular vote. The rest of the EU countries decided to hold parliamentary votes rather than risk another popular upheaval.

President Bush’s farewell trip to the UK isn’t going so well. During a dinner hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, 2,500 protesters against the Iraq war gathered nearby screaming “terrorist” and waving placards. Acknowledging that Bush is basically already a lame duck president, one protester stated, “This is also a signal to the incoming president that the people of this country are absolutely against this illegal war and destroying civil liberties,”

Prime Minister Brown is facing increased popular pressure to pull British troops out of Iraq. According to The Independent, a British newspaper, Gordon Brown is planning to tell Bush that he will begin to withdraw troops in the coming months. The Bush administration has counseled him against such a course of action arguing that the military success in Iraq will be undermined should such a pullout occur at this time.

Meanwhile on the campaign trail, presumptive Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama attended a Father’s Day service in Chicago at the Apostolic Church of God. During his 30-minute speech to the congregation, Obama spoke plainly about the need for African American fathers to step up to their role in their children’s lives. This is a very important topic with the black community where over half of all the children live in single-parent homes. He called on black fathers to become active in raising their children, stating, that they are “missing from too many lives and too many homes […] They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it”

And Now For Something Completely Different…

DOONESBURY RETURNS!!!

After taking a three-month hiatus, today Garry Trudeau resumes his publication of the hit comic strip Doonesbury. While Trudeau offered subscribing papers three months of free re-runs, many strips, including my local Washington Post, opted to use the time to test out new strips on their audience.

As we brace ourselves for a national presidential campaign, one that in all likelihood will go down in the books as a highly messy and contested race, I for one draw some comfort from my daily dose of satirical Doonesbury.

That’s the News!

[photo courtesy of Al-Jazzera English]