World News!

Australia

• In an effort to cut carbon emissions, the Australian government plans to levy a AU$25 per metric ton tax on carbon dioxide emissions on the country's 500 worst polluters.  The plan is fairly unpopular, as it is expected to drive up household energy costs.

Canada

• Canada has withdrawn from the UN Conference on Disarmament, a permanent 65-member-nation conference on nuclear disarmament.  North Korea is the current chair of the conference, and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has stated "North Korea is simply not a credible chair of a disarmament body.  The fact that it gets a turn chairing a United Nations committee focused on disarmament is unacceptable, given the North Korean regime's efforts in the exact opposite direction."

Egypt

• Masked gunmen forced guards at a terminal on the pipeline supplying gas to Israel and Jordan to leave the terminal at gunpoint before blowing it up.  This is the fourth attack on the pipelines this year.

European Union

• In a move that surprises nobody, the EU has acknowledged that it may need to accept some form of sovereign debt default to cut Greek debt.

France

• President Sarkozy has announced plans to withdraw a quarter of the French troops stationed in Afghanistan by the end of 2012.  This constitutes about 1000 soldiers.

Israel

• By a 47-36 vote, the Israeli parliament has passed a law making it illegal for any Israeli individual or organization to boycott the (illegal under international law) settlements in the West Bank.

Japan

• It has come out that between fifty and one hundred workers at the Kyushu Electric Company posed as ordinary citizens and lobbied for Kyushu's Genkai plant to be reopened.  Their efforts accounted for more than 30% of all the messages supporting the reopening of the plant.

Pakistan

• The United States has suspended $800 million in military aid to Pakistan.

Syria

• Supporters of the Syrian government stormed the US and French emgassies in Damascus, and then the residence of the US ambassador.  One building was damaged, but there were no injuries to embassy personnel and Marine Corp guards were able to disperse the - shall we say it? - "armed terror mob".[1]

United States

• Cisco Systems Inc has announced plans to eliminate around 10,000 jobs - about 14% of it's work force - to revive profit growth.  The company plans to release more details during its August 11 earnings conference call.
• Anonymous is back in the news, this time for hacking Booz Allen Hamilton, a US military contractor that offers "cybersecurity solutions".  They plan to release some 90,000 military email logins.
• In "gun control fail" news, Arizona state Senator Lori Klein made news when she carried a loaded handgun into the state Capitol - which is, by definition, an illegal action.  Her attempts to become a flash point for handgun rights may have been hampered when she later pointed the loaded handgun (which has a laser sight but no safety) at a reporter, while stating "Oh, it's so cute."  She then said the reporter didn't need to worry because "I just didn't have my hand on the trigger."

[1]  Of course, given the general lack of response from Syrian security forces, and the general popularity of Brutal Dictator[2] Assad, it is probably not irrational to assume that the "supporters" were Syrian security forces.

[2]  Excuse me.  That was a typo.  Clearly, I meant to type "President".