Of interest in the financial world:

Why Soros Is Getting Ready To Break the Bank of England... Again Part I
...Part II

City investors vent anger after regulator clamps down on short sellers

From Indonesia to the US governments stand powerless in face of markets

BP adds fuel to the oil price debate

Fuel strike: Protests reduce speed on major motorways to a crawl

Saudi oil output to rise in July

Morgan Stanley warns of 'catastrophic event' as ECB fights Federal Reserve

Central bank body warns of Great Depression

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Across the Middle East:

Bush, Sarkozy slam Iran, scold Syria

Bush said an Iran with a nuclear weapon would threaten world peace. Sarkozy chimed in, saying Iran with such a weapon would be "totally unacceptable." The French leader said the only solution was a "faultless, seamless" regime of sanctions against Iran.

Assessments vary widely, but it is presumed Tehran will have enough fissile material for a weapon within a few years. A US intelligence report in December said Iran once had an active warhead program, but shelved it in 2003. But the administration argues that the continuing enrichment means the military program could be restarted at any time, and without the knowledge of the outside world.

Bush also issued a warning to Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying the Syrians should stop working with Iran to destabilize the Mideast. "My message would be `Stop fooling around with the Iranians and stop harboring terrorists,"' Bush said.

Sanctions. Ooo, scary. I know president/lawn gnome Ahm-inna-jihad is quaking in his tiny boots.

Meanwhile, the Brits continue to leave anti-terror documents lying about any old place.

The documents apparently include briefing notes for a meeting of the international Financial Action Task Force to be held in 11 Downing Street next week.

They contained details of how trade and banking systems could be manipulated to finance illicit weapons of mass destruction in Iran.

They also discussed methods of terrorist funding and the potential fraud of commercial websites and international internet payment systems.

And in a shocking development, Iran Withdraws $75 Billion From Europe.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran has withdrawn around $75 billion from Europe to prevent the assets from being blocked under threatened new sanctions over Tehran's disputed nuclear ambitions, an Iranian weekly said.

Western powers are warning the Islamic Republic of more punitive measures if it rejects an incentives offer and presses on with sensitive nuclear work, but the world's fourth-largest oil exporter is showing no sign of backing down.

Syria: Peace isn't the only way to get Golan

Several weeks after Jerusalem announced the renewal of indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria, one senior member of the foreign ministry suggested that if Israel did not willingly give up the Golan, then Syria would take it by force.

During a press conference to Jordanian reporters on Saturday, Syrian deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad said that Syria has "other options" to "liberate" the Golan, adding that should hostilities erupt, his country would be able to "protect its land within minutes."

Taliban Militants Take Over Afghan Villages

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Hundreds of Taliban fighters took over several villages in southern Afghanistan on Monday just outside the region's largest city, and NATO and Afghan forces were redeploying to meet the threat, officials said.

Mohammad Farooq, the government leader in the Arghandab district of Kandahar province, said around 500 Taliban fighters moved into his district and took over several villages.

Arghandab lies just north of Kandahar city — the Taliban's former stronghold — and a tribal leader from the region warned that the militants could use the cover from Arghandab's grape and pomegranate orchards to mount an attack on Kandahar itself.

"All of Arghandab is made of orchards. The militants can easily hide and easily fight," said Haji Ikramullah Khan. "It's quite close to Kandahar. During the Russian war, the Russians didn't even occupy Arghandab, because when they fought here they suffered big casualties."

Rice: W. Bank building may harm talks

Ongoing Israeli construction in areas the Palestinians want for their future state "has the potential to harm the negotiations," said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"I am very concerned that at a time when we need to build confidence between the parties the continued building and settlement activity has the potential to harm the negotiations going forward," Rice said.

"It's important to have an atmosphere of trust and confidence," she told reporters. "Unfortunately I do believe, and the United States believes, that the ... announcements taking place are having a negative effect" on talks.

Yes, because rockets launched from Palestinian territories onto Israel has no effect whatsoever on the talks. Which, by the way, why are they still talking? Seems to me only one side wants peace. The other side wants the first side dead.

Britain has a serious problem with Muslim immigrants bringing their nasty little habits such as 'honor' killings and sharia and jihad along with them. So what to do? Why, complain about the Jews, of course!

The Haredim are bucking the trend. They number between 20,000 and 45,000 today, but are prolific. Families of eight or more children are not unusual. Is there a numerical point at which their cultural distinctness offends the secular liberal principle of 'integration'? Is it 100,000? A million? Is there a threshold beyond which the state will turn around and say, as it does of Muslims, 'the Jews must be integrated'?

Ugh. And it will snowball from here, folks. Prepare as Nehemiah did.