MFS - The Other News

                         Afternoon Posting.

• Russia mobilises 240,000 to fight deadly wildfires.Almost 240,000 people have been mobilised across Russia to tackle wildfires that have killed at least 30, officials say.The military has pooled resources with firefighters; the emergencies ministry said 25,000 engines were being used.Hundreds of people have drowned over the past two months in an attempt to cool off in the record heat, with 170 such deaths recorded in Moscow alone, medical sources told Interfax news agency.The high toll has been partly blamed on drunkenness and the use of poorly equipped beaches.

• Debate Heating Up on Plans for Mosque Near Ground Zero.An influential Jewish organization on Friday announced its opposition to a proposed Islamic center and mosque two blocks north of ground zero in Lower Manhattan, intensifying a fierce national debate about the limits of religious freedom and the meaning of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.But the unexpected move by the ADL, a mainstream group that has denounced what it saw as bigoted attacks on plans for the Muslim center, could well be a turning point in the battle over the project.

• PLO official says Obama sent warning to Abbas.President Barack Obama warned Mahmoud Abbas in a letter that U.S.-Palestinian relations might suffer if the Palestinian leader refuses to resume direct peace talks with Israel, a senior PLO official said Saturday.

• Where In The World Is Imam Feisal?Questions multiply about $100 million Islamic center planned near Ground Zero.When will Rauf be back in the country? Maybe "the end of August, or early September," said his assistant. It seems that Rauf, having chafed old wounds and touched off quite a debate in the U.S., has checked out of the country for the rest of the summer.

• Video:Giant South Dakota hailstone breaks US record.A hailstone weighing almost a kilo that fell in the state of South Dakota has been confirmed as the largest ever recovered in the USA.

• Iran stoning sentence woman asks to be reunited with her children.Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's supporters call for support to free her from prison, after sentence was changed to hanging.It's high time the Mullahs got also a "Necktie"?

• 'Assad wants Hariri tribunal closed'.Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad told Saudi King Abdullah during their meeting in Damascus Friday that the UN tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri must be closed to protect Lebanon's stability.There's nothing as shocking as the naked truth!

• Will Washington's Failures Lead To Second American Revolution? Barack Obama, however, has pulled off the ultimate switcheroo: He's diminishing America from within — so far, successfully.He may soon bankrupt us and replace our big merit-based capitalist economy with a small government-directed one of his own design.

• Obama pal filing rash of media lawsuits?Group launches 80 copyright infringement claims against websites, bloggers.A company working on behalf of a Las Vegas newspaper has filed a spate of copyright-infringement lawsuits against as many as 80 individuals and publications since March, and now bloggers reveal the CEO may have crossed paths with Barack and Michelle Obama during their stints at a Chicago law firm.

• BP: RELIEF WELL COLLAPSE: 40 feet of “side walls kind of feel in on itself”; BP to take 24-36 hours removing debris from wellbore (VIDEO).

• HT:TheBlogprof.Irony: Obama in Detroit (30% unemployement rate): "we are moving in the right direction!" Shows his evil Humane side again!

• Civil Rights Groups Argue ‘Race to the Top’ Leaves the Poor at the Bottom.The dynamic duo from Harvard, President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan, are running into some tough talk from groups that are feeling pretty darn unappreciated right now.

• Report: Israel aiding plot for bloodless coup in Gulf emirate.Britain's Guardian newspaper reports that Israel's ambassador to the U.K.met with the exiled crown prince of the Ras al-Khaimeh in March; Ras al-Khaimeh is strategically located directly across the Persian Gulf from Iran.

• Video:Woman to Sell Baby for Medical Bill.A woman in India says she has to sell her 6-month-old baby in order to pay her husband's medical expenses.

• The Web's New Gold Mine: Your Secrets. A Journal investigation finds that one of the fastest-growing businesses on the Internet is the business of spying on consumers.A must read!

• Euro nears level not seen since European bailout package.Doubts about U.S. credit rating seen as catalyst for buying in single currency.Great policy Mr President !Real genius!

• HT:WeaselZippers.Video:Forced eviction of tent dwellers shock French.I especially liked how the Droit au Logement community organizers put all the women and children at the front, while the men lounged around at the back. Nice touch! And is that ululating I hear?

• Naked woman plunges through roof after 'rolling around' on top of four-storey building.The "barenaked "truth is you can't make up this sh...!