Probably shouldbe from the department of the obvious, but this is also I think the first time anyone involved with government or policy anywhere in the UK has stated it so big news.

I doubt we will be able to get Blair to hang for this - we could do with a good lynching, but he is way too slippery to get caught out by things like facts and the truth.

Read all about it @ The Guardian

Female students wearing a full face veil will be barred from Syrian university campuses, the country's minister of higher education has said.

Ghiyath Barakat was reported to have said that the practice ran counter to the academic values and traditions of Syrian universities.

His ruling, published on the All4Syria website, was said to be in response to requests from students and parents.

The issue of full face veils has caused controversy in other countries.

Kinda al-Shammat, a law professor and women's rights activist in Damascus, welcomed the decision and said it was in line with the Syrian belief in moderation.

Apparently there was a recording released recently of Netanyahu talking to some settlers in 2001 telling his side of the story and mentioning how he had subverted the peace process amongst other things.

To me atleast it shows how his policy was deliberate and well, kind of exactly what I and many many others had suspected.

“I know what America is,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a group of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, apparently not knowing his words were being recorded. “America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get in their way,” he said in Hebrew.

Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, attacks 'extraordinary and outrageous' waste and predicts tough settlement

The BBC licence fee could be cut as part of the government's public spending austerity drive, the culture secretary has said.

Read more @ The Guardian

Plants are able to "remember" and "react" to information contained in light, according to researchers.

Plants, scientists say, transmit information about light intensity and quality from leaf to leaf in a very similar way to our own nervous systems.

These "electro-chemical signals" are carried by cells that act as "nerves" of the plants.

Read more @ BBC News

Previously secret papers show true extent of involvement in abduction and torture following al-Qaida attacks of 2001

The true extent of the Labour government's involvement in the illegal abduction and torture of its own citizens after the al-Qaida attacks of September 2001 has been spelled out in stark detail with the disclosure during high court proceedings of a mass of highly classified documents.

Read more @ BBC News

Authorities said homes were built without planning permission, which Palestinians say is almost impossible to obtain

sraeli bulldozers destroyed at least three Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem yesterday, breaking an unofficial moratorium on such demolitions since the end of 2009.

At least one of the homes was occupied by a family of seven, who removed their belongings shortly before it was razed.

Read more @ The Guardian

France's lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a bill that would ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public.

There were 335 votes for the bill and only one against in the 557-seat National Assembly.

It must now be ratified by the Senate in September to become law.

Read more @ BBC News

The bloody al-Shabab attacks in Uganda underline that the US cannot simply outsource policing the Somali failed state

Last Sunday, during the World Cup final, suicide bombers struck two targets in Kampala, Uganda, killing 74 people and turning a global celebration into an unspeakable tragedy. The Somali militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which targeted both a rugby centre frequented by foreigners and an Ethiopian restaurant. The bombers targeted Uganda because it is a leader in the African Union-led military force in Somalia backing the country's unpopular and fragile western-supported government.

Credibility of project damaged by widespread belief in Muslim communities that it was used to gather intelligence

The government's £60m "preventing violent extremism" programme is to be dismantled after a widespread loss of confidence in it within Muslim communities, it was confirmed today.

Read more @ The Guardian