It would seem the African Union has, at least in theory, succeeded where Western diplomats could not... Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa, says he's sat and had talks with Mohammar about this situation, and that there's to be an 'immediate ceasefire' while some deal is worked out..
Just whether Mohammar will deal with this cease fire... The UN certainly had no effect..
The leader of the opposition party, Guma al-Gamaty who's based in Britain, has said there could be no deal brokered by anyone, if it included Gadaffi or his sons remaining in power..
However, the AU delegates will head to Benghazi on Tuesday to talk with the leaders of the 'freedom fighters'..
Jacob said the details of the plan would be released within days, but the ceasefire must start now.
Tell that to those in running gun battles in Benghazi today. Mohammar will stall the system for as long as he can, while he tries, by force, to regain control.
In his eyes, it's all, or nothing, and he won't settle for nothing...


This might be the first laugh of the day..
The British and Dutch governments are going to sue Iceland for defaulting on repayments made when 'IceSave' collapsed..
Depositors here and in the Netherlands were given full rebates for the Icelandic bank which went bust...
The sum they're looking to recoup is a mere 3.5 billion Pounds..
The suit itself could go on for at least a year... and then will there have to be further litigation to recoup costs...?
It's a Three Stooges act.. with only Hal Roach missing...

The Law comes into effect today in France, that bans the wearing of the Islamic women's head-dress, the burqa..
It's interesting what the various Muslim Communities consider proper dress codes for women.. A Turkish woman, for example, will wear a scarf over their heads, believing the face can be uncovered.. A Yemeni woman will wear a complete niqab, leaving only a slit in the cloth for them to see from.. And there are some Communities who have completely discarded the old interpretations, and women wear what they want, as long as it's demure..
But the interesting part of all of this, is the lack of impact this has had on the Muslim Community in France. A few straggling protesters are walking about in front of the Paris High Court, but the French seem so much more pliant in accepting laws which diminish their personal freedom.. It's almost a tacit agreement between those who enforce the Law, and those who break it, that the infraction will likely be ignored.. Yet reports are that two women have already been arrested, likely from among those staging a pallid protest..
Seems the French make Laws, simply to make Laws.. An exercise designed to keep up the appearance that Lawmakers are a busy bunch, working to protect the general public's interest..
Belgium has an even more stringent Law before their Parliament, but with the state of Belgian politics in general, it could be a while before it's Tabled..

Yet another tremor has shaken Japan, in the Fukujima Prefecture.. this one weighed in at 7.7 on the Richter Scale, and workers scampered from the damaged nuclear plants as yet another tsunami warning was issued, then lifted..
It's been exactly a month since the original quake and tsunami, and many are waiting with 'bated breath for "the big one" to hit the island..
The damage these quakes have caused, both in Japan and to all those they trade with and supply throughout the world.. will eventually be measured in the trillion dollar range.. and the loss of jobs and production in all downstream operations..

Some more government restrictions on our banks... Banks have several sectors within their infrastructure, and one of which is 'retail banking'.. the money available to the national business structure..small business loans in particular... This new report recommends that there be a "ring fence" around a certain percentage of any banks capital.. the investment section would be left with the rest.. but venture capital for local business would likely be in jeopardy....
It's been suggested that a tenth of the entire worth of a bank should be ring fenced, others are calling for something closer to 15% would be safer...
The entire report from the Commission will be published in September, but their idea, they say, is to protect the public.. to make the lender responsible for any losses, not the taxpayer..
Not going to be a popular move with the banks..
But what was interesting that the Chairman of the Commission threw out the remark that this could lead to a 'global banking system..with essentially two arms.. one dealing with venture capital and investments, the other dealing with retail banking..
a "global banking system"...?
Frightening..


Just a brief mention here of a somewhat delecate subject..
The Polish Government has quietly decriminalised cannabis... Not legalised, but made the use of the drug no longer a criminal offence..
How long will it be, before we shake off the weight of the US, and follow suit, joining Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, and now Poland...
How long will our government support organised crime...?