Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said in an op-ed piece in Washington Post that American efforts to protect its citizens should not create potentially greater risks for other Americans, but Bill Clinton’s visit to North Korea has done exactly that.
“While the United States is properly concerned whenever its citizens are abused or held hostage, efforts to protect them should not create potentially greater risks for other Americans in the future,” Bolton …

Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo revealed that even before Felipe Massa’s crash, he was already planning to ask Michael Schumacher to return soon to Formula One, Motorsport.com reports.
“I had been thinking for a long time of a third car for Michael,” Montezemolo said.
He said he therefore “immediately thought about” the 40-year-old German when he knew Brazilian Massa would need to be replaced at forthcoming races this season.

Former US Vice President Al Gore said today that President Barack Obama and his administration have been involved in the mission to free the US journalists who were jailed in North Korea.
Gore said in a ceremony after the plane with former President Bill Clinton and the journalists landed in Los Angeles, that he wants to thank President Obama and members of his administrations who were “closely involved” in the “humanitarian” mission to free the journalists …

Although there has been plentiful speculation about O2 losing their iPhone exclusivity over the last few weeks, Mobile Entertaiment reports that they have seen documentation that states it will end officially on 9th October.
O2 signed their original deal with Apple in late 2007, and are believed to have the rights to sell iPhone to 2012. However, the exclusive arrangement lasts only for two years – although sources say that O2 may retain sole rights to the …

South Ossetian “President” Eduard Kokoity equates Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and swine flu virus, Russian newspaper Pravda writes, using the quote as their own headline without quotation marks – apparently it’s the newspaper’s official position.
According to the newspaper, the situation in Caucasus reminds “theatre of absurd”.
Georgia’s Minister for Reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili, stated that the nation was expecting large-scale provocations from Russia in the region to coincide with the anniversary of the war with Russia in …

In some London boroughs, one in 13 young girls is falling pregnant, according to the Health and Public Services Committee report.
According to the report, young Londoners’ sexual health is still among the worst in the country, despite projects and improvements to the way services work, Conservative London Assembly member and the Mayor of London’s Ambassador for Youth, James Cleverly, writes in his blog.
Teenage pregnancy rates in 18 London boroughs are higher than the national average, …

John Bercow, the new Speaker of the House of Commons, is having his lavish grace-and-favour apartment in the Palace of Westminster refurbished at a cost of £20,000 to the taxpayer, the Daily Telegraph reports.
In the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, Bercow promised to help restore public trust in Parliament and said he would stop claiming the controversial second home allowance.
But within weeks of being elected to his new position, he has ordered a series …

A senior judge faces the sack after saying that “hundreds of thousands of immigrants” come to Britain to receive generous welfare payments, the Daily Mail reports.
Judge Ian Trigger was told yesterday that a disciplinary inquiry is to look at whether his criticisms of the links between crime, large-scale immigration and the welfare system were “too political”.
The official investigation has been ordered by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, who has the power, along with Justice …

Australia has reversed two previous decisions and is allowing Hizbollah’s al-Manar satellite television network, which has endorsed suicide bombers, to broadcast in the continent, ruling that the channel is not pro-terror.
The Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) ruled that the Lebanese-based network does not violate Australia’s anti-terrorism standards, although the network is banned in the United States, France, Spain and Germany, Arutz 7 reports. Australia’s ban on the armed wing of Hizbollah remains in effect.
The …

A middle-income family can expect to spend $291,570 (£172,210) including inflation to raise a child born in 2008 to adulthood, Reuters reports.
The estimate covers food, shelter and other necessities for a child to age 18, said the annual report by the Agriculture Department. The figure does not include the cost of childbirth or college.
Housing accounts for one-third of expenditures on children. Food accounts for 16 percent, the same as child care and education, said the …

According to US defence officials, two nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines have been patrolling in international waters off the US east coast for several days, in activity reminiscent of the Cold War, the AP reports.
US Northern Command would not comment on the Russian submarines’ movement, but in a prepared statement, Northern Command spokesman Michael Kucharek acknowledged the patrols and said the US has been monitoring the two submarines.
Two senior US officials, however, said the submarines had …

The Obama administration said on Tuesday that the families of two reporters imprisoned in North Korea had asked former President Bill Clinton to travel to Pyongyang to seek the women’s release, the AP reports.
A senior administration official said the families were joined in the request by former Vice President Al Gore.
The official said the former president’s mission did not include any discussions about issues beyond the release of Laura Ling, 32, and Euna Lee, 36, both journalists …

Two notorious IRA killers were released from jail today after serving ten years for shooting dead a Garda Detective in a hold-up, the Independent reports.
Pearse McAuley and Kevin Walsh were part of a Provisional gang which pleaded guilty to killing Jerry McCabe in a high-profile trial hit by witness intimidation.
The pair were freed from prison in the Irish Republic after serving three quarters of their sentences.
Jail-breaker McAuley had been on-the-run at the time of the …

Lloyds Banking Group says it has made a loss in the first half of the year, due to mounting bad debts at HBOS, which it took over in January, the BBC reports.
The group made a loss of £4bn in the first six months of 2009 after writing down the value of assets that are now worth less than previously thought.
The 43% state-owned bank took a charge of £13.4bn, mainly for bad loans, 80% of which …

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been sworn in for a second term as Iran’s president, after weeks of post-election unrest, the BBC reports.
In an address after the ceremony, he criticised foreign powers who have cast doubt on the validity of the election, saying Iran would resist them.
Opposition supporters protesting outside parliament were met by hundreds of riot police.
Germany, France, Britain and the US all said they would not be sending letters of congratulation to Ahmadinejad.
Taking his oath …

The BBC’s share of Britain’s TV viewing audience has slumped to a historic low as more people switch to commercial rivals, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Across all its channels from the flagship BBC One to digital news and children’s stations the corporation’s output now accounts for only one third of all TV viewing.
The corporation’s critics will seize on the figures as proof that the BBC’s share of the overall TV market is now in terminal decline …