"The revelations, contained in a July 18, 2008, cable obtained by Wikileaks, portray a massive, all-out effort by the Congress Party to win a confidence vote in India’s parliament that could have toppled the wobbly coalition government and doomed the nuclear deal. In the cable, written five days before the critical vote, a political aide to an influential Congress Party lawmaker told a United States Embassy diplomat that one small regional political party had already been paid millions of dollars in bribes for support. The aide also “showed the Embassy employee two chests containing cash and said that around Rupees 50-60 crore (about $25 million) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs,” according to the cable. Another Congress Party member told an American diplomat that Kamal Nath, a government minister, “is also helping to spread the largesse” and was offering jet airplanes as enticements."

"The moves in both states continue the fallout from the January announcement that Hospira Inc., the only American producer of sodium thiopental, had stopped making the anesthetic. The shortages began after the company suspended production in 2009 because of problems obtaining an ingredient. They now have become dire because the drug’s shelf life is typically no more than two years. Tuesday’s seizure by the Drug Enforcement Administration presumably responded to a February complaint lodged by a lawyer for Andrew Grant DeYoung, who faces execution for killing his parents and sister in 1993. The lawyer, John T. Bentivoglio of Washington, wrote Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. on Feb. 24 that Georgia’s Department of Corrections appeared to be importing sodium thiopental from a British distributor. Because the state does not have a federal license to import controlled substances, that would violate the Controlled Substances Act, Mr. Bentivoglio charged."  

"The US-Military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.Centcom spokesman Commander Bill Speaks said: "The technology supports classified blogging activities on foreign-language websites to enable Centcom to counter violent extremist and enemy propaganda outside the US." He said none of the interventions would be in English, as it would be unlawful to "address US audiences" with such technology, and any English-language use of social media by Centcom was always clearly attributed. The languages in which the interventions are conducted include Arabic, Farsi, Urdu and Pashto." "

"Er stellt mir eine so kinderleichte wie schwindelerregende Rechenaufgabe: »Ein Kilo Koks kommt für 10000 bis 12000 Euro nach Secondigliano. Beim Weiterverkauf bringt das Kilo einen Reingewinn von rund 100000 Euro. Es gibt Dealer, die arbeiten rund um die Uhr und verticken bis zu zwei Kilo täglich. Und jetzt sag mir mal, wie viel da an einem Tag reinkommt?« Wenn man bedenkt, dass ein lokaler Dealerring bis zu fünfzehn Plätze bespielt, kommen allein mit Kokain drei Millionen Euro rein, und das alle vierundzwanzig Stunden."

"Felicia "Snoop" Pearson has spent much of the past two decades drawn to the gritty glamour of life on the streets, and nearly as much time and energy struggling to break free. Critics will see the arrest of the 30-year-old Baltimore actress on Thursday on drug charges as evidence that she's a career criminal — an image that only was heightened by her portrayal of a coldblooded assassin on HBO's "The Wire." But Pearson's friends, and there are many, are profoundly saddened by her latest run-in with police."

"Die Propaganda schießt Tore: Wie der tschetschenische Republikchef Kadyrow gemeinsam mit Lothar Matthäus gegen eine brasilianische Weltmeisterelf verlor."

A brief overview of the history of modern PMCs (private military contractors) like Sandline (right now with a contract worth 293 million dollars in Iraq) and EO (Executive Outcomes) and their involvement in the fight over resource concessions. "Even more obvious however, is that these mercenaries are not satisfied with a simple payday from the highest bidder at the end of a dirty little war. That's how the mercenaries of old went broke. These guys are much more savvy. They expect a permanent stake in the country from the side they choose to support providing them with long term income and expanding wealth. For the most part they won't even consider going into a country unless it has substantial resource wealth which they can plunder. In that sense, backers and investors in their adventures, like Mark Thatcher, aren't in for a penny. The idea is to violently create an environment which will produce a massive return on investment."

Schwerwiegende Verständigungsprobleme.

Chelsea defender Ashley Cole is in strife after bringing a .22 air rifle to the club's training ground. Cole was clowning around with the riffle and accidentally shot 21-year-old student intern Tom Cowan.

Dass er sich in eine geborene Bismarck-Schönhausen verliebte, passt zwar ins Adelsklischee – ist aber auch im 9. Ehejahr noch ein Fall von schwerer Liebe.(9) Er ist übrigens sehr athletisch und könnte im Gegensatz zum jetzigen Amtsinhaber bei Wehrübungen mühelos mithalten.(10) Dieser Bonvivant mit hohem Glamour-Faktor, der US-Star Tom Cruise zu seinen Freunden und Oscar-Preisträger Florian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck als Cousin zu seinen Verwandten zählt.(11) Der fränkische Obama.(12)

GBL "ist in Weichspülern auf dem deutschen Markt nicht enthalten", betonte der Industrieverband Waschmittel. "Wenn aber erst einmal so ein Gerücht unter Häftlingen kursiert, dass Weichspüler eine gute Ersatzdroge sei, dann hat das oft frappierende Wirkung", sagt Auwärter. Die Häftlinge glauben dann fest daran, sich am Weichspüler berauschen zu können.

The most audacious burglary gang in recent Hollywood history–accused of stealing more than $3 million in clothing and jewelry from Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and other stars–appears to be a bunch of club-hopping Valley kids, motivated by vanity and celebrity-worship.