Today, the Hong Kong government is in hot water with investors and some companies on the HK Stock Exchange after stupid comments from the Treasury Department indicating that they would seek to de-list any company which traded at less than 50 cents for more than 30 consecutive days. Share prices of small listed companies tumbled, proving that people in government should stay out of business.

The main opposition party in Iran came under attack as a number of politicians were gaoled for various reasons, mostly to do with criticising the government. The news is disheartening given the recent push for reform in that country. The US and Israel is also eyeing the completion of a nuclear power plant in Iran, which has the potential to manufacture weapons grade radioactive material. A strike is entirely possible: hopefully it won't damaga the reform movement even further, but that's probably wishful thinking.

Across the border in Iraq, Saddam has been stirring the public into bracing itself for a war with the US. The common (mis)conception there is that Saddam stopped Bush Senior from taking Iraq in a Western invasion. Plans from Washington reveal that a US attack would secure Baghdad first, and then branch outwards into the rest of the country. It seems to me the only thing which has prevented an invasion so far is Israel's conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.

South Koreans have been complaining about the belittling treatment they get in the hands of the Chinese media, especially in the World Cup. SK did better than the PRC, and Chinese TV have been playing up the story that SK only made it as far as they did because of luck. Comments that the Dalai Lama's receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize denigrated its value have infuriated the South Koreans, since their president received it in 2000. South Korea imposed a huge tariff on Chinese garlic recently in an effort to support Korean farmers, and were pounded by enormous retaliatory tariffs from the PRC. SK had to drop the garlic tariffs.

In Isareal, Sharon has decided to let a third of the budget for Palestine get distributed, cash which was desperately needed since its distribution was suspended during the recent incursions into Palestinian territory by Israeli troops. Israel currently has all tax collected from Palestinians for the past year sitting its its coffers, amounting to approximately US$540 million.

I said before that the guys in southern Sudan were Christians - apparently they are actually pagan worshippers. Eh, small difference. [wink]

Finally, the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne has caused controversy at the Pope's big bash in Canada by saying that abortion was worse than child molestation. Some messed up reasoning there: even as an opponent of abortion, it takes some screwball logic to try and draw a comparison btween the two. Sounds suspiciously to me like some post-rationalisation of child abuse by priests of the Church - the same guy was found to have paid money to a family in Melbourne to shut them up about child abuse by a priest. The Pope in the meantime has spoken out for the first time in public against priests who are child abusers - he has asked the Catholic faithful not to lose faith in their church because of the conduct of some of the priests. Too little, too late, IMHO.