Jane Smiley: 'Superpower?'
Back in the year 2000, I believed almost without thinking about it that the US was a "superpower", the only "superpower" in the world. Maybe it was true and maybe it wasn't, but there was a lot of money around, Americans were pretty prosperous, and most people around the world had a benign view of the US.  The most surprising thing, then, about the last five years is how quickly and absolutely the US has ceased to be a superpower.

Blair 'convinced Bush' not to launch strike at Al-Jazeera
There have been calls for Downing Street to publish the transcript of their conversation.  According to sources it records Mr Bush suggesting that he might order the bombing of Al-Jazeera's studios in Qatar.

Madness of War Memo
A government official suggested that the Bush threat had been "humorous, not serious".  But another source declared: "Bush was deadly serious, as was Blair. That much is absolutely clear from the language used by both men."