...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
and Qatar to halt help for Syrian rebels, a senior politician in the Russian ruling party said.
Russia and China yesterday proposed a meeting to support peace efforts by United Nations
...an organization whose definition of
human rightsis interesting, to say the least...
envoy Kofi Annan
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo.... The two nations, along with the U.S., the U.K., La Belle France, the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, the Organization of Islamic Conference and Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
States, Turkey and Iran should take part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Beijing yesterday after talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits he is the current Prime Minister of Russia. His sock puppet, Dmitry Medvedev, was installed in the 2008 presidential elections. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law. During his eight years in office Russia's economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase, poverty decrease and average monthly salaries increase. During his presidency Putin passed into law a series of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%, a reduced profits tax, and new land and legal codes. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile...and Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao
...Hu has been involved in the Communist party bureaucracy for most of his adult life, meaning his viewpoint has a lot more theory than it does practice. He espouses a
Harmonious Societyapproach, suggesting everybody should play nice or they'll be shot...
"Boats carrying weapons are being dispatched and they are getting financing too because Saudi Arabia and Qatar are paying salaries to members of the Syrian Free Army," Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign-affairs committee in the lower house of parliament, said in a telephone interview today. "Instead of supporting the armed actions of the opposition, we want them to exert a restraining influence."
Saudi Arabia and Qatar, ruled by Sunni monarchies that are at odds with Syria's mainly Shiite ally, Iran, have publicly voiced support for arming the rebels. Syria's ambassador to Russia said last week that the two countries are sabotaging a UN plan to end the 15-month conflict in his country by continuing to arm rebels in violation of a cease-fire agreement reached in April.
"Weapons are entering Syria through its borders with Leb and Turkey," Riad Haddad said in a June 1 interview. "And these are heavy weapons."