7/7 anniversary
Britons mark the first anniversary of the 7/7 bombings with two minutes of silence. More commemoration coverage here and here. After a year-old video of one of the 7/7 bombers is released this week, London Police Commissioner Ian Blair says the threat of attack has "palpably increased." In a recent Observer piece, Euan Ferguson paid tribute to how, a year on, London has gotten back to being London.
At the centre of what we for a second or two called our Ground Zero, the Russell Square/Tavistock Square area, you can hardly move in the sun for happy, busy people. Just around the corner, in Cartwright Gardens, all the hotels, the Euro and the Crescent and the Avonmore and the Mentone and The George, have prominent 'hotel full' and 'no vacancies' signs on their doors and windows. A group of drunk young Americans - how did they manage to get that drunk? So early? And since when did Americans get happy drunk in London? - ask me to take their picture outside a shop called 'Gay's The Word' while they pose like, um, the only word is 'poofters'; I sweetly decline. There is not, it has to be said, much fear in the air.
Gaza
Yesterday was one of the bloodiest days in Gaza since 2000. Twenty-two Palestinians and 1 Israeli are killed in fighting. An Israeli official says a prisoner swap may be in the works.
Iraq
In a highly unusual move, two top American officials publicly apologize for the alleged rape and murders committed by four US troops in Mahmudiya. Iraq's army gets Soviet-era tanks.
War on terror
US officials announce they have foiled an attack on New York City's tunnels. The NYT delivers an incredibly disturbing report on a victim of US rendition. A Gitmo detainee reports worsening conditions at the camp and the WaPo's Igantius argues that the Hamdan decision offers the Bush administration an important opportunity to turn back toward the rule of international law.
Elsewhere
South Korea suspends food aid to the North. Violence in Darfur has worsened since the signing of a peace deal two months ago. Calderon wins in Mexico by less than 1 percent, and Lopez Obrador vows a fight. Russia cracks down on Voice of America. Ahead of the G8 meeting, a valentine to Russian business.
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