What Caught My Eye Today

Russia - Russia said it will expel four British diplomats and suspend counterterrorism cooperation with London, the latest move in a mounting confrontation over the radiation poisoning death of former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. Britain had announced earlier this week the expulsion of four Russian diplomats and restrictions on visas issued to Russian government officials after Moscow refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, accused of killing Litvinenko in London last November. The dispute marks a new low in relations between Moscow and London, which had already been troubled by Russia's opposition to the war in Iraq, Britain's refusal to extradite exiled tycoon Boris Berezovsky to face embezzlement charges, and by Kremlin allegations last year of spying by British diplomats. Here's my quandry. Is it Russia that wants to alienate itself from the West (remember that little flap with the U.S. last month?) or are the British following suit behind the U.S. to isolate Russia? Either way, I don't see much good coming out of this. I'd like to quote my man, Rodney King, when I say, "can't we all just get along?"

Kosovo - I haven't heard much from these folks in recent months. The United States is increasingly frustrated with Moscow's refusal to agree on a U.N. resolution that would lead to Kosovo's independence from Russian ally Serbia, leading to suggestions it will explore taking action outside of the 15-member Security Council. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush had made it very clear that Kosovo should have its independence from Serbia. Asked whether the United States was prepared to move on Kosovo's path to independence outside of the United Nations, Rice said: "We are committed to an independent Kosovo and we will get there one way or another." Serb Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic disagreed. "Imposing independence of Kosovo to Serbia outside the Security council is a guarantee to destabilize the Western Balkans," he told reporters. Moscow rejects any move that would lead to Kosovo's independence and has said a draft European/U.S. text has "zero" chance of being adopted. Tell me if you've heard this one before..."Can't we all just get along?" I have to admit I'm not well-versed in the strategic value of this portion of the world, but I'm at a loss as to why Russia is so opposed to this move.

Wild Fires - The nation's wildfire preparedness was raised to its highest level as dozens of new fires started in the bone-dry West, including one on the sprawling grounds of the Idaho National Laboratory. The West had been at level four for only a few weeks when officials decided to raise it to level five. The change allows fire managers to request help from additional crews, including from Canada and Australia, and soldiers with National Guard units could be mobilized. About 15,000 U.S. firefighters already were battling nearly 70 fires bigger than 100 acres in 12 states. The level was raised as dry lightning blasted and sparked dozens of new blazes in Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Utah. In the past 4 days, there have been more than 1,000 new fires reported across the West. I always say, don't mess with Mother Nature. No matter how much you try to mitigate the risks, you cannot predict how man-made influences (logging, construction, wildlife conservation efforts) are going to affect the environment. The only sure bet is that when good old Mother Earth has had enough, she'll strike back. And when she does, she usually hits rather hard.

Harry Potter - The New York Times published a review of the final Harry Potter book on Thursday before its official release, drawing a stinging response from its British publishers. The review appeared in the newspaper's online version overnight, ahead of the official release of the eagerly awaited "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" at midnight (GMT) this Saturday. The New York Times review said its copy was purchased from a New York City store on Wednesday. Bloomsbury, which publishes Harry Potter in Britain, called the review "very sad," adding that there was only one more day to wait until the official release in book stores around the world. Twelve million copies of the book have been printed for the U.S. market alone. In a generally positive review, the writer gives away some plot details, including how many characters die and what "deathly hallows" means, but refrains from answering the biggest questions of all. "Ms. Rowling has fitted together the jigsaw-puzzle pieces of this long undertaking with Dickensian ingenuity and ardor," the review said. This overblown and excessive hype almost has me hoping that Paris Hilton, Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan do somthing stupid just for a change of pace. I have to believe, most folks have turned off the noise at this point and are just waiting for Saturday to read the book for themselves...at least that's my plan.

Golf - Still trying to remove that unwanted title of best player never to win a major, sergio Garcia took advantage of charitable conditions at Carnoustie to shoot a 6-under-par 65 Thursday in the opening roundTiger Woods has another improbable shot for his majors collection. Woods sank a 90-foot birdie putt Thursday at damp, chilly Carnoustie on his way to a 2-under-par 69, putting himself solidly in contention for his third straight British Open championship. Woods already has three Open titles and is trying to become the first player since Peter Thomson (1954-56) to win three in a row. He's also trying to shake off the memory of coming up just short in the first two majors of the year, finishing second at both the Masters (two shots behind Zach Johnson) and U.S. Open (one stroke off Angel Cabrera). So if you had to place a bet on either Tiger or the field, where would you put your money?

Cycling - South African Robert Hunter won a crash-hit bunch sprint to take the 182.5-km 11th stage of the Tour de France. Barloworld, who were invited to compete in the race by Tour organisers, clinched their second stage win following Colombia's Juan Mauricio Soler's in Briancon on Tuesday. Belgian Tom Boonen did not compete in the final sprint after being delayed by a massive crash some 800 metres from the line. France's Christophe Moreau, who was sixth overall and aiming for a podium in Paris, finished 3:20 behind the winner after being caught by a sudden burst of acceleration from the Astana team at the front of the peloton, 70 km from the finish. The French champion dropped to 14th in the overall standings, six minutes 38 seconds adrift of Dane Michael Rasmussen of the Rabobank team, who retained the yellow jersey. Seriously, folks, if you are looking for some pretty entertaining drama (and a fair bit of carnage, as it turns out), you should try to catch a couple stages. And as an adde bonus you can catch Versus's promos for extreme caging fighting. How cool is that?