THE FIRST SHELF-FULL OF SEMTEX WAS AIMED AT THE PRIME MINISTER. I hate talking about politics in terms of personalities, and I find the vindictive tone towards Gordon Brown – booing him at a D-Day commemoration? – unpleasant. But we can't live in a fantasy world. Labour has just taken its lowest share of the vote since 1910, before the First World War – and if it keeps on marching in the same jerky formation, it is heading for a political Somme. The attempts to take Brown down have come almost exclusively from the Blairite wing of the Labour Party.

THE SECOND BOMB CAME CRASHING IN FROM THE EXTREME RIGHT – THE BNP – which now has two MEPs, both with records of extreme bigotry. Nick Griffin has bragged about how much he learned from Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, while as a young man Andrew Brons joined the National Socialist Movement, set up on Hitler's birthday as a tribute to him.

THE THIRD BOMB IS THE RISING REJECTION OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. We have now reached a point where Britain's governing party has been beaten by an organisation whose sole purpose is to yank us out of the EU. This undercurrent is tugging at the entire political system. CAMERON'S TORIES WOULD FORM THE MOST ANTI-EUROPEAN GOVERNMENT IN LIVING MEMORY. How long can we spit at the 450-million-strong trading block on our borders, with which we do 60 percent of our business, before it has consequences?

The draft, prepared for the June 18-19 EU summit or Council in Brussels, showed the EU leaders would approve the creation of two new bodies to assess potential threats to financial instability and protect small financial firms and consumers. The banking sector remains under stress and credit flows are still constrained, so governments should be alert to any need for further measures to stem the crisis, said the draft, obtained by Reuters.

"The European Council calls for rapid progress to be made in the field of regulation of (the) financial market, notably on the regulation of alternative investment funds and on improved capital requirements for banks," said the draft conclusions.

"...The banking sector remains under stress and credit flows continue to be constrained. Governments must therefore stay alert to possible further measures which may be needed. Any further actions must be consistent with single market principles and take into account a credible exit strategy."

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country's response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I AM PROUD TO BE THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO APPOINT OPENLY LGBT CANDIDATES TO SENATE-CONFIRMED POSITIONS in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration - in both the White House and the Federal agencies - openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include ENHANCING HATE CRIME LAWS, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ENSURING ADOPTION RIGHTS, and ending the existing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

"The IDF's future operations will be BROADER AND MORE DEMANDING IN TERMS OF THEIR SCOPE AND PACE, with more risks than Operation Cast Lead (in the Gaza Strip). We in the political echelon will act so that the ordeal won't come to pass but, still, you must win every trial," The Jerusalem Post quoted Ehud Barak as saying on Tuesday.

He made the remarks days after the Israeli military held its most extensive nationwide drill dubbed "Turning Point 3", preparing itself for a possible regional war by attacking Iran's nuclear facilities. During the 5-day military drill, Israeli forces and civilians prepared themselves for A SIMULTANEOUS WAR AGAINST HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, SYRIA AND IRAN and practiced counterinsurgency tactics against Israeli Arabs.

The Israeli Defense Minister cautioned that this war would take place in a condition that the army has not so far experienced, and asked the ISRAELI SOCIETY TO BE PREPARED TO A PAY A HIGHER PRICE IN TERMS OF LOSSES. "The country will have many challenges, but what matters is the IDF's (Israel Defense Forces) durability and its ability to come out on top in every battle," he added.

"Wealth creation via our globalised economy has not come about by accident. It is the result of a collective choice for openness," he said. "Now more than ever, we have to resist. Protectionism doesn't protect. In the long run it just makes things worse." He added that British companies were the largest foreign investors in the US, supporting one million American jobs that on average pay 30 per cent above the national average.

"We have no equivalent 'Buy British' requirements for government procurement in the UK. Shutting out foreign competition sends a bad message on how open markets are valued in the United States and will often end up with taxpayer money going less far," said Sir Nigel. British and European firms have reported being excluded from or not bothering to apply for lucrative civic projects funded by President Barack Obama's £490 billion stimulus package.

State and local governments have stuck closely to Buy American sections of the legislation, even though the language of the bill encouraged open competition.

"PEACE MEANS BANKRUPTCY FOR US." Despite a UN arms embargo on Somalia, the Horn of Africa nation is awash with weaponry from all over the world that has fuelled one of Africa's longest-running conflicts. In the latest cycle of civil war, militant Islamists have been fighting the Somali government for the last two years and 18,000 civilians have been killed in the crossfire. Weapons are captured, sold and recycled constantly between both sides, experts say. Many arms have come from Ethiopian soldiers who intervened in Somalia between 2006 and early 2009.

HERE IS A PRICE LIST FOR SOME POPULAR WEAPONS:

Anti-tank weapons cost $5,000, while a rocket-propelled grenade launcher is quoted at $200, plus $150 per grenade.
A new pistol from Yemen is $650, a second-hand one from Russia is $400 and a new American pistol is $700.
A new Belgian pistol is $500 and a new Russian one is $1,000. Rounds cost between $1.50 and $3 each.
An Indian-made AK-47 costs $140. Better quality versions from North Korea cost $600 and the Russian original costs $400.
Hand-grenades go for $25 each, landmines $100.

"BUREAUCRATS MANAGING COMPANIES DOES NOT WORK, POLITICIANS DOMINATING THE ECONOMY DOES NOT WORK," Gingrich told about 2,000 Republicans who attended a fundraising dinner at the Washington Convention Center last night. Gingrich was preceded by a series of speakers who also took aim at Democrats and the government bailout of Detroit-based GM, New York-based American International Group Inc and other companies, as well as the $787 billion economic stimulus legislation passed by the Democrat-controlled Congress in February.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Obama has a "radical agenda." Republicans have "watched them take over banks, insurance companies, auto companies," he said, "and now they want to take over your health care."

Actor Jon Voight, the master of ceremonies, opened the evening with a series of sharp attacks on Obama, something many Republican leaders have been hesitant to do in light of the president's high approval ratings. "WE ARE BECOMING A WEAK NATION," said Voight, calling Obama a "FALSE PROPHET." Republicans need to find their way back to power to free the nation from "this Obama oppression," he said.

THE ESTABLISHMENT LEFT HAD BEEN CRUSHED ACROSS MOST OF EUROPE, JUST AS IT WAS IN THE EARLY 1930S. It is not clear why a chunk of the blue-collar working base has swung almost overnight from Left to Right, but clearly we are seeing the delayed detonation of two political time-bombs: rising unemployment and the growth of immigrant enclaves that resist assimilation.

Note that Right-wing incumbents in France and Italy, survived the European elections unscathed. Left-wing incumbents in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, and of course Britain were either slaughtered, or badly mauled. In Germany and Austria, the Social Democrats suffered their worst defeats since World War Two. It was the peeling away of Socialist support during the Bruning deflation of the Depression years - so like today's Weber-Trichet deflation - that led to the catastrophic election of July 1932, when the Nazis and Communists took half the Reichstag seats.

But as readers know, I still fear that this depression is quietly deepening. So, we may lose three or four governments in Europe in coming days or weeks - or even worse, they may survive. The drama is unfolding as I feared. Half way through the depression, WE ARE FACING EXACTLY THE SORT OF POLITICAL DISINTEGRATION THAT OCCURS IN TIMES OF PROFOUND ECONOMIC RUPTURE.

Remember, the dangerous phase in the Great Depression was Stage II, after the collapse of Austria's Credit-Anstalt in mid-1931 set off a disastrous chain-reaction that Autumn. DON'T COUNT ON THE POLITICAL FABRIC OF EUROPE HOLDING TOGETHER if our green shoots shrivel and die in the credit drought of the long hot rainless summer that lies ahead.

It argues that "religious literacy" is a "vital skill" in a globalised and multicultural society. The project is running in schools in Asia, North America and Europe. The Faith Foundation, created by Mr Blair after stepping down as prime minister, has the aim of fostering better relations and understanding between world religions.

The launch of the education arm was marked by an international video link-up between pupils from Bolton, Delhi and Bethlehem. Pupils in the Middle East will be among those taking part - in an area where Mr Blair is now a peace envoy. "If you look round the different parts of the world and you look at conflicts, I would say a very large percentage of them have a religious dimension or a faith dimension to them," said Mr Blair at the launch in London. "So to get young people at an early age to be comfortable with people of a different faith is extremely important."

In Pakistan's Sindh Province, the City's School in Bhit Shah is participating. The school has Muslim, Hindu and Sikh students but its head teacher says the "real problem is not fanaticism", but the need for communities to get to know each other. Schools are also taking part in India, Singapore, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Thailand, Indonesia, the United States and Canada. The project, which has its own syllabus, has been accredited for an International GCSE.

Banks have been eager to pay back the money TO ESCAPE POTENTIALLY ONEROUS GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS, SUCH AS CAPS ON EXECUTIVE PAY. However, some observers fear premature repayment could stop the banks lending and thus undermine the chances of an economic recovery. The Treasury did not name the banks who got the approval to repay.

MANY BANKS HAVE CHAFED AT THE RESTRICTIONS ON EXECUTIVE PAY that accompanied the capital injections. Eight of them were pressed by the US Treasury to take government funds in late October at the height of the crisis. Permitting some banks to repay money to the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, effectively initiates a process of separating stronger banks from weaker ones as the financial sector begins to regain its balance.

Some banks remain on government life support, which makes them subject to the pay restrictions. Others complained they did not need the help and were being put at a competitive disadvantage because they couldn't set their own pay levels.

The tensions emanating from Pyongyang are beginning to hit nascent business ties with the South: a Seoul-based fur manufacturer became the first South Korean company to announce Monday it was pulling out of an industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong. The complex, which opened in 2004, is a key symbol of rapprochement between the two Koreas but the goodwill is evaporating quickly in the wake of North Korea's nuclear test on May 25 and subsequent missile tests.

Pyongyang raised tensions a notch by reviving its rhetoric in a commentary in the state-run Minju Joson newspaper today. "Our nuclear deterrent will be a strong defensive means… AS WELL AS A MERCILESS OFFENSIVE MEANS to deal a just retaliatory strike to those who touch the country's dignity and sovereignty even a bit," said the commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

It appeared to be the first time that North Korea referred to its nuclear arsenal as "OFFENSIVE" in nature. Pyongyang has long claimed that its nuclear weapons program is a deterrent and only for self-defense against what it calls US attempts to invade it. Intensifying its confrontation with the US, North Korea handed down 12-year prison terms to two detained American journalists on Monday.

Describing the event, the council's website "calls participants to seek justice for 'Palestinians' so that both Israelis and 'Palestinians' can finally live in peace," WORDING CRITICS SAY OMITS HALF OF THE CONFLICT. A participating church in Edinburgh, Scotland, will require attendees to walk around a replica of Israel's security barrier before entering. Efforts in Israel and the Arab-occupied areas will centre on protests at checkpoints, 'refugee' camps and Jewish communities in post-1967 territories. At least 20 nations will be represented in the World Council activities.

IT ALSO SIGNALLED A MAJOR TURNING POINT FOR ISRAEL, WITH WHOM OBAMA PROPOSES TO GRADUALLY MINIMIZE US STRATEGIC TIES. Obama and his advisers intend to start cutting down on their military and intelligence discourse with Israel. Instead of conferring with Israel on its military and undercover moves in the Middle East and Muslim world, Washington will make Cairo and Riyadh the crux of its regional teamwork, turning to Israel only when it is unavoidable.

The US administration has opted for this policy reorientation because it seeks to enter into negotiations with Iran unencumbered by Israeli baggage. Close US ties with the Jewish state are also seen as a burden in Obama's future diplomatic engagements with Arab and Muslim governments such as Syria, which he wants to bring into his new Arab line-up. When he stated in his speech in Cairo, "America will align its policies with those who seek peace", Obama was actually saying that he will pick and choose US allies without being bound by the past.

Meanwhile, Obama declared to the Muslim world on Thursday that he will "personally" see to it that THE HEART OF THE JEWISH HOMELAND [JUDEA AND SAMARIA] IS RENDERED JEW-FREE AND HANDED TO THE ARABS FOR THE CREATION OF A [TERRORIST] STATE OF THEIR OWN. "The only resolution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict, he said, "is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians [sic] each live in peace and security."

Obama compared 2,000 years of Jewish suffering that culminated in mass murder of six million Jews in the Holocaust with the "pain of dislocation" suffered by the Arabs who were made into refugees as a result of their own peoples' aggression against Israel 61 years ago, and whose leaders have kept them in that status as pawns with which to achieve their own political and religious aspiration. Obama insisted that Israel - whose 4,000-year existence has been richly recorded, both biblically and extra-biblically - must acknowledge THE 'PALESTINIANS' "RIGHT TO EXIST" AS A NATION, DESPITE IT NEVER HAVING BEEN A PEOPLE AND NEVER HAVING HAD A NATIONAL HOMELAND, A NATIONAL FLAG OR ANY OTHER NATIONAL SYMBOL.

Mitchell pointed out that a "normalization of relations" between Israel and Arab nations is in "the security interests of the United States." The Obama government has found a new basis for pressuring both sides to meet by making a regional peace and the creation of a PA state matters of American security.

Following Mitchell's statement, ABBAS REITERATED HIS REFUSAL TO MEET WITH PRIME MINISTER BINYAMIN NETANYAHU UNTIL THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT AGREES TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A NEW PA STATE. He also maintained, "We were requested to take care of security, and we have done this. Israel must fulfil its obligations" and stop building in Judea and Samaria.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU HAS OFFERED TO MEET WITHOUT ANY PRE-CONDITIONS BUT HAS POINTED OUT THERE WILL BE NO PROGRESS UNTIL PA CHAIRMAN MAHMOUD ABBAS ACCEPTS ISRAEL AS A JEWISH STATE. The Israeli leader has rejected President Obama's call for recognizing a yet-to-be created PA state, a move that Abbas likely would interpret as the acceptance of his demands that the new Arab country be established on all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, including eastern Jerusalem, where he wants the Arab capital.

A RECOGNITION BY ABBAS AS A JEWISH STATE WOULD PREVENT THE PA FROM IMPLEMENTING THE CONDITION OF THE SAUDI ARABIA PEACE PLAN, which calls for the immigration of five million foreign Arabs to Israel on the basis of their claim of ancestry in Israel. Abbas has said he would not insist that all five million be allowed to enter Israel but has not said what number he will settle for.

"To this day, there are those who insist that the Holocaust never happened – a denial of fact and truth that is baseless and ignorant and hateful," Obama said in the German death camp which witnessed the death of some 56,000 people, more than 50,000 of whom were Jews. "I have no patience for people who deny history," Obama added, "And the history of the Holocaust is not something speculative." Many saw Obama's visit to the Buchenwald concentration camp as an attempt to balance his Cairo speech a day earlier in which he reached out to the Muslim world. Obama also referenced Jewish suffering in that speech, hinting to the Muslim world that it must end widespread Holocaust denial.

OBAMA WAS WIDELY CRITICIZED FOR COMPARING THE DEATH OF SIX MILLION JEWS TO THE SITUATION OF PA ARABS. "Obama made a shocking parallel between the destruction of European Jewry and the suffering that the Arabs of Israel brought upon themselves when they declared war on Israel," Ichud Leumi (National Union) MK Aryeh Eldad said. "If Obama does not understand the difference between them, perhaps he will understand it better when he visits the Buchenwald concentration camp in the coming days.

AND IF HE DOESN'T UNDERSTAND IT EVEN THERE, THEN ISLAM WILL ONCE AGAIN TEACH IT TO HIM, JUST AS IT TAUGHT HIS PREDECESSOR ON 9/11."

Zionist Organisation of America President, Morton A. Klein said, "This was a primarily strongly biased speech, inimical to Israel, supportive of false Palestinian and Arab claims against Israel, and blatantly factually inaccurate. THE PRESIDENT'S REMARKS IN THIS SPEECH MAY WELL SIGNAL THE BEGINNING OF A RENUNCIATION OF AMERICA'S STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH ISRAEL."