2005

Dubya Freedom Fries; Dubya arrives in Europe amidst high security to schmooze everybody in sight; even his "Old Europe" enemies like Chirac and Schroeder. He goes so far as to host a private dinner for Jacques Chirac - were "Chicken Frenchies" and "Freedom Fries" on the menu? Great divisions still exist between the two continental powers; not least the issue of China. China is single handedly supporting the US Dollar by investing heavily in US bonds; a situation which happily keeps Bush's bankrupt economy above water. Meanwhile, the EU has expressed an intention to remove the 15-year-old sanctions on arms sales to China, opening up the possibility of greater trade with the emerging giant. This might mean Chinese investments shifting away from the US and into the coffers of Europe. That wouldn't play too well with Wall Street. Is this why Uncle Dubya is so friendly? Will Chirac share a fry or two? Or would he prefer Chinese?
Clarke Wallpaper; Home Secretary Charles Clarke announces plans to replace detention of terrorism suspects without trial with new "control orders", offering a range of powers including house arrest. He wants house arrest and other powers to replace indefinite jail for foreign terror suspects - something the law lords have ruled against.Is this house arrest any more just than prison? Is it simply replacing Belmarsh prison cells with nicely wallpapered cells?
Rice-Sharon; US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits the middle East to ensure that everything is hunky dory with the warring factions. Bush obviously views this as a critically important time in the process, seeing Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as its best chance of helping create a lasting settlement. She first visits Abbas and then moves on to the beleaguered Ariel Sharon. Support for the withdrawal fom Gaza and the slow move towards a two-state solution is dwindling inside Israel. Can plucky little Condi help Sharon through the minefield ahead by re-discovering the old Road Map? The promise of lots of lovely US dollars may help to keep him in tow.
Saatchi Testing; ex-Tory co-Chairman Maurice Saatchi publishes as mea culpa, stating that a lot of the failures in the 2005 election campaign could be laid at his door. However, his failures were of the "failure to convince" variety; he failed to convince the party that if "you don't stand for anything, you'll fall for anything". He suggests four essentials for a new leader, including a "noble purpose" and a sense of direction. As the candidates line up for the starting block in the party leadership campaign, do any of them match up to "Dr" Saatchi's fitness test? His intervention is set against the background of an internal debate about where the Tory heart lies - left, right or centre. Candidates in the queue are Ken Clarke, David Davis, Alan Duncan, Malcolm Rifkind and Theresa May. Others might include David Cameron, David Willetts and Liam Fox.
Bus Bomb; The dreadful carnage of the 7th-July terrorist bombs on the London transport system blew apart the previous day's euphoria following the announcement that London is to host the 2012 Olympic Games. The celebrations of Londoners turned to horror overnight. The stark image of the bus wreckage appeared on all front pages the following day.
Iraq Constitution; Is Iraq moving, inch by inch, towards becoming an Islamic republic? it is a prospect that is as unsettling for many Iraqis as it is for George Bush in the White House. Under Saddam Hussein, Iraq was a centralised and largely secular state. Now, if the Shia religious parties get their way, it will be a decentralised state with a pronounced Islamic identity. The draft of the new constitution describes Islam as "a main source" of legislation and stipulates that no law may contradict Islamic principles. It also says a group of provinces is entitled to form a "region", which can then expect a specified share of the national budget. George Bush, meanwhile, is faced with some unpalatable choices. He is determined to stick to a tight political timetable which would enable him to start withdrawing US troops from Iraq next year. But will his rush to come up with an "exit strategy" force him to abandon the aspiration to create a modern secular democracy out of the ashes of the