Three explosions rocked India's busy financial capital at rush-hour Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and injuring 54 in what officials described as another terror strike on the city hit by militants nearly three years ago..
Television footage showed dozens of police officials, several of them armed, at the sites of the explosion and at least one car with its windows shattered.. A photograph showed victims of a blast at the Jhaveri Bazaar crowding into the back of a cargo truck to be taken to a hospital..
Indian media reported the Home Ministry had called the separate blasts in three busy locations a terror attack.. No officials there could be independently reached for comment..
The explosions happened around 7 pm.. when all the neighborhoods would have been packed with office workers and commuters..
The blasts.. if confirmed as a terror strike.. would mark the first major attack on Mumbai since 10 militants laid siege to India's financial capital for 60 hours in November 2008..
That attack, which targeted two luxury hotels.. a Jewish center.. and a busy train station.. killed 166 people and was blamed on Pakistan-based militant groups.. The attacks escalated tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals and prompted them to suspend peace talks..
However, the talks have recently resumed..
This latest attack will certainly cast a pall over discussions to come.. for if Pakistan can't control the Taliban and al Qaida, it loses whatever strategic value it still holds..

President Obama collected $86 million combined for his re-election campaign and the Democratic party during the past three months, giving him a large fundraising advantage over the Republican field seeking to challenge him in 2012..
Obama has a large fundraising lead over Republicans..
President Obama collected $86 million combined for his re-election campaign and the Democratic party during the past three months, giving him a large fundraising advantage over the Republican field seeking to challenge him in 2012..
Obama has a large fundraising lead over Republicans.
Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a video posted early Wednesday that it raised more than $47 million and the Democratic National Committee brought in more than $38 million through the end of June, building a foundation for advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts in next year's election. Obama's team had set a public goal of $60 million combined..
Mind you, the fund raising's nowhere near over yet.. and it could well take every penny in the war chest to offset the negativity of unemployment figures over 9%.. inflation on the rise.. and an economy which appears to be at the best, flagging..
Mind you, the timing of the return of American Forces from Afghanistan is key.. it's one of the few positive pieces of news this administration will have over the next 16 months or so..
There are some who believe the American man on the street will give Barack another kick at the can..
But, with all the indicators we have in place.. it will likely be a Republican administration, with Mitt Romney carrying the colours..
Regardless of who sits in the Oval Office, this plan Barack's fighting for tooth and nail in the House and Senate for a long term commitment, rather than another three or four month postponement of yet another debate..
The World's markets are in turmoil, as the US debates it's own future.. with a default looming in the air..
It's bad enough the States is on the verge of bankruptcy.. with the same scenario developing in Europe, it's an even bleaker future in the offing..

Newspaper proprietors, editors and politicians including the Prime Minister face being called to give evidence under oath before a far-reaching inquiry into the hacking scandal, David Cameron announced.. Cameron named Lord Justice Leveson as the head of a two-pronged inquiry that will trawl through the details of journalistic malpractice and police failings and also craft a new system of press regulation..
He said he would be happy to give evidence himself as he said the relationship between the media and politicians had to change..
Cameron, who this afternoon is due to meet the family of Milly Dowler, the murdered schoolgirl whose phone was hacked, said of the inquiry: “We want it to be one that is as robust as possible. One that can get to the truth fastest and get to work the quickest. And one that commands the full confidence of the public.”
Mind you, if the goal of these investigations is to eradicate yellow journalism.. it is doomed to utter failure from the start.
There will always be a segment of the British public who lives for their 'stories'.. the likes of Corrie or Eastenders.. and who will fight for the right to see embarrassing photo's of our celebrities.. and who's having illicit affairs with whom..
Already there are plans on the table for a 'Sunday Sun'.. the newspaper of 'Page 3' fame.. The gap in the market left by the News Of The World will not remain vacant for long..
The market's too great to be ignored.. and these replacement publications for tabloid journalism will see the niche filled quickly..

Now, try to make sense of this..
UK unemployment fell 26,000 in the three months to May.. to 2.45 million.. official figures show..
The unemployment rate was 7.7%, according to the Office for National Statistics .. down from 7.8% in the previous quarter..
However and herein lies the conundrum.. the number of people claiming Jobeekers's Allowance in June rose by 24,500 to 1.52 million.. the biggest such increase in two years.. the total number claiming unemployment benefits reached its highest level since March 2010, while the claimant count rate held steady at 4.7%..
It is the second month in a row that the claimant count has risen while the unemployment total.. which is based on a separate survey.. has fallen..
Makes no sense to us, either..But anyone, posed with such a question, would be forced into an honest assesment, amounting, on the whole, to a re-evaluation of what a job's worth..
If it's redundant to the power of two that would save us some £45thousand a yeat, while allowing those who could do well well..

Ministers, parliamentarians and thousands of other people joined the Afghan president Hamid Karzai to bury his half-brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, a political strongman who was praised for his efforts to bring peace to the southern province of Kandahar..
Ahmed Wali Karzai.. dubbed the president of Kandahar.. was killed on Tuesday at his home by his long-trusted Security Chief..
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for killing Ahmed Wali Karzai..
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday Karzai said.. "This is the life of the people of Afghanistan. Afghan families, every one of us, have suffered from it and we hope, God willing, for our suffering to be over.. Once again I call on the Taliban, my dears, my brothers and friends, come and join me in building the country.. Stop destroying the country.."