This is the first of what I’m hoping to make a weekly regular post here. It’s essentially a summary of the news I’ve been reading. It’s meant to be a collection of links with little extended commentary.

• In case you were wondering about Iran, the Economist summarizes the current state of diplomacy.
• The Economist has a couple of good articles on Russia and Putin’s latest grab for power. These are subscription required articles, so let me know and I’ll email them to you. The end of the affair? - covers Russia’s relationship with the west. Kremlin’s Control Freak - from last week’s print edition, a good summary of the changes Putin made in the name of combatting terrorism. The moves don’t make sense in that context.
• From the Economist’s Technology Quarterly from last week, two interesting technology articles: Pictures as passwords and Gadgets with a sporting chance. The second article is about some nifty microprocessors used to improve sporting equipment, for example vibration dampening on a tennis racquet.
• The New Republic has an article by the editors called Fool Me Once which carries this sub-headline: Bush’s portrayal of the situation in Iraq isn’t just spin. It’s lies. Again, this might be subscription only, so bug me and I’ll email you the article. They also have an interesting article about why this election could end up in the courts.
• Good summary of the dissonance on Ackerman’s TNR blog between Bush and Allawi and, well, anyone else reporting on the situation in Iraq. Many good links here.

That’s it for now. More next weekend.