What Caught My Eye Today

Middle East - Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to immediately resume long-stalled peace talks toward creating an independent Palestinian state by the end of next year, using the U.S.-arranged Mideast peace conference to launch the first serious and substantive negotiations in seven years. The Bush administration has been buffeted by skepticism over prospects that the Annapolis Conference can set the stage for the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of Bush's second term in early 2009. Because of this, administration officials from the president on down have sought to minimize expectations for any major breakthrough here. Regardless of the skeptics--and I certainly fall into that category--the fact that these peace talks have resumed has to be viewed as a positive development. Frankly, I don't care if Bush is trying to secure his legacy or not. If that's what was needed to get this dialogue started, so be it. Plus, let's be honest. Even if he manages to pull this off, does anyone think that this will make up for all of Bush's other missteps?

Russia - With the Kremlin determined to see a high turnout in the upcoming election, many Russians say they are being pressured to vote at work under the watchful eyes of their bosses or risk losing their jobs. They say they also are being told to provide lists of relatives and friends who will vote for United Russia, the party of President Vladimir Putin. United Russia is expected to win handily. But Putin has turned the parliamentary elections into a plebiscite on his rule, and the Kremlin appears to be pushing for nothing short of a landslide. The constitution requires Putin to step down as president in May, but with the support of the majority of Russians he could claim a popular mandate to retain power. Its always nice to see democracy in action, though there are a couple of things that have me scratching my head on this one. First off, I recall that United Russia is the only major party appearing on the ballot. Secondly, isn't the whole point of free elections is allowing people to decide whether or not they choose to vote? And even if they do show up to the polls, its not like voters have an awful lot to choose from. This whole deal seems like a sham. I don't see what Putin doesn't just change the rules in order to stay in power? Seems like he's going to get his way one way or the other. With this election shaping up the way it is, I'm not sure the international community is going to put much credence in the results anyway.

Pakistan - President Gen. Pervez Musharraf bade farewell to the military today, a day before he steps down as army chief and restores Pakistan to civilian rule in an effort to ease the country's political crisis. Relinquishing the post of army chief has been a key demand of an increasingly adamant opposition to Musharraf both at home and abroad. Musharraf, who has dominated Pakistan for nearly eight years, has faced growing opposition since March, when he tried unsuccessfully to fire the country's top judge. The turmoil intensified when he declared emergency rule earlier this month and launched a crackdown on critics in the opposition and the media. The general has purged the courts and quickly obtained a Supreme Court ruling validating his victory in a disputed presidential election last month. The United States and its allies are backing opposition calls for Musharraf to restore the constitution and ensure a fair election, which they hope will produce a moderate government willing to keep fighting Islamic extremism. This doesn't solve all the problems in Pakistan, but it certainly appears to be a step in the right direction. President Bush, must be pinching himself to remind him that all this positive momentum both here and with the Middle East peace talks is actually happening. Whether or not it lasts beyond today, is another story. But so far, it has been a pretty good week for the President.

Kosovo - The future of Kosovo cannot be decided unilaterally by its Albanian majority and their Western backers but rests with the United Nations alone, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said. There has been no glimmer of compromise between Serbia and the Kosovo Albanians since international mediation began in earnest in 2006. Kosovo is getting ready to declare independence and has the promise of Western recognition. The United States and European Union say the mediation ends with a report to the United Nations by December 10. But Serbia's ally Russia has already blocked independence in the Security Council and says it will "insist" on further negotiation. Serbia says its resistance to Kosovo independence is also intended to preserve peace in the fragile Balkans. I'm telling you with all the activity going on with the Middle East, you tend to forget that there are a lot of other regions of the world, like Kosovo, that deserve the attention of the international community. So much has been invested and so many lives lost, that it would be a crime not to see this thing through.

Iceland - Y'all must know that this next item had to be good for me to bring up Iceland.

Iceland has overtaken Norway as the world's most desirable country to live in, according to U.N. Human Development Index that again puts AIDS-afflicted sub-Saharan African states at the bottom. Rich free-market countries dominate the top places, with Iceland, Norway, Australia, Canada and Ireland the first five but the United States slipping to 12th place from eighth last year. The index ranks 175 U.N. member countries plus Hong Kong and the Palestinian territories. It does not include 17 countries, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, because of inadequate data. Norway had held top spot for six years but was edged into second place by Iceland this year because of new life expectancy estimates and updated figures for gross domestic product, or GDP. The United States scores high on real per capita GDP, which at $41,890 is second only to that of Luxembourg ($60,228), but less well on life expectancy -- joint last in the top 26 countries, along with Denmark and South Korea, at 77.9 years. Maybe I need to break out the old tour book again and see what it is that I'm missing about Iceland. No disrespect intended, but this is Iceland we're talking about, right?

Television - Celebrity chef, Emeril Lagasse's Emeril Live, which has been on the air for 10 years, will cease production Dec. 11, Food Network announced. Asked why the show was canceled, a Food Netwook spokesperson said, "The only reason would be that it hit a ton of television milestones and, you know, all good things come to an end." Another television institution coming to an end--what is the world coming to? While I will admit that I was drawn to Food Network by the original Iron Chef series (another culinary classic), it was Emeril's BAM that made me a fan. All I can say is this--Giada, please stay. With Emeril gone, you are all I have left to look forward to. If you've ever seen Everyday Italian or Giada's Weekend Getaways, then you know what I'm talking about...otherwise, nevermind.