www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/0813/breaking28.htm

Last Updated: 13/08/2007 10:04

White House aide Rove to resign

Senior White House aide Karl Rove has announced he will step down at the end of August.

Mr Rove (56), a political adviser to President George W. Bush and White House deputy chief of staff, revealed during an interview with the Wall Street Journal today that he will leave Washington at the end of this month.

He has held a senior post in the White House since President George W. Bush took office in January 2001.

"I just think it's time," Rove said. "There's always something that can keep you here, and as much as I'd like to be here, I've got to do this for the sake of my family."

Man arrested for having big muscles

Published: 13th August 2007 08:30 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/8168/

A well-built man was forced to take a drugs test in Stockholm recently after a police officer assumed that muscles like his could only have been developed with the help of illegal substances.

The female assistant police officer got into a conversation with Tomislav Boduljak and his friend late at night in central Stockholm.
Related Articles

According to Boduljak, 27, the police officer was pleasant at first, but changed her attitude when he said he worked out. Saying his muscles were 'abnormal', she said he must have used drugs.

"I asked if she didn't think it possible that I work out a lot and eat well. She said that if someone looks like me, she assumes they have taken drugs," he told Metro.

Despite Boduljak's assurances that he didn't use steroids, she forced him to go to the police station and give a urine test. In her report, the officer said he had "unusually large muscles, particularly large arm muscles, which are a sign of steroid use."

The test was negative, and Boduljak made an official complaint against the police officer. Prosecutors looked into the case, but decided not to pursue it.

Janne Magnusson, an officer at Stockholm Police's drugs unit, told Metro that he thought that the officer had been "a bit too ambitious".

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/14/nclown114.xml

Tesco bans clown from using balloons

Last Updated: 2:39am BST 14/08/2007


A children's entertainer has been banned by Tesco from using balloons during his act in one of their stores.

Barney Baloney, the clown, usually twists them into animal shapes and hands them to children. But Tesco has told the 47-year-old, also known as Tony Turner, to keep the balloons in his pocket and entertain children with what is left of his act.

Mr Turner, who was booked for a five-hour show at Tesco's Crossgates Centre store in Leeds, had to rely on magic, puppets, juggling and an emu costume to keep the children amused.

He has already been forced to stop using a bubble-making machine after being refused public liability insurance because insurers said the bubbles might cause the children to slip and hurt themselves. "At this rate I will have no act left," Mr Turner, from Sheffield, said. A Tesco spokesman said: "This is a health and safety issue.

"We have banned balloons because latex is used in the manufacture of them and this can trigger an allergic reaction in some children. We always have the welfare of children at heart."

Hugo Chavez to Unveil Proposal Tonight
Aug 15 01:39 PM US/Eastern
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER
breitbart.com/print.php?id=D8R1JLBO0&show_article=1&catnum=0
Associated Press Writer
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez will present his blueprint for constitutional reform Wednesday, proposing sweeping changes expected to allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.

Chavez, who is seeking to transform Venezuelan society along socialist lines, unexpectedly announced late Tuesday that he would unveil his project before crowds of supporters at the National Assembly. He predicted it would bring renewed political upheaval to Venezuela.

Chavez's political allies firmly control the National Assembly responsible for reviewing his proposal as well as the Supreme Court. His critics accuse him of becoming obsessed with power and seeking to become a lifelong leader just like his close friend Fidel Castro.

Chavez rejects allegations that he poses a threat to democracy.

The Venezuelan leader predicted that most people would support his proposal to reform the constitution, but he also forecast the beginning of a tenacious political battle with the nation's opposition.

"I have faith that we are going to convince the immense majority of Venezuelans of the necessity and the immediate benefits that this is going to bring the country," Chavez said during a televised interview.

"Tomorrow our great battle begins," Chavez said. "They are going to launch a campaign tomorrow to try to distort the text and the spirit of the proposal."

Dozens of government supporters wearing red—the color of Chavez's ruling party—started gathering early Tuesday outside the National Assembly, where sound trucks and giant video screens were set up in preparation for the president's public address. A recently- nationalized telecommunications company sent text messages to mobile phone clients inviting them to the event.

Chavez has revealed few details of his reform proposal but has stressed the need to do away with presidential term limits that currently prevent him from seeking re-election in 2012.

All but a handful of the National Assembly's 167 members are Chavez loyalists, and critics expect lawmakers to approve most—if not all—of the president's reform proposals.

Many lawmakers say they support the idea of eliminating presidential term limits, but they argue the same rules should not apply to state governors and mayors.

National Assembly President Celia Flores said lawmakers could finish the reform debate within two months. Under the constitution, the final draft of the proposal must be approved by voters in a referendum.

Roman Catholic leaders have been among the most outspoken critics of Chavez's plans to rewrite the constitution, and the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference has complained that his reform proposals were drafted without public involvement. Others argue Chavez has dangerously divided Venezuela along class lines.

Since his re-election to a fresh six-year term in December, Chavez stoked fears that he his headed toward Cuba-style communism by creating a single ruling party and nationalizing Venezuela's several of key industries including the oil, telecommunications and electricity sectors.

"The majority of Venezuelans don't want socialism. He wants our country to be like Cuba, and we aren't going to accept that," said Linda Dos Santos, a 30-year-old shoe store owner who fears the government could move to seize second homes and distribute them among the poor under the pending reform.

Angel Angulo, a former horse racing jockey who currently works for the foreign ministry, denied the wealthy would be targeted by the government as Chavez moves to bridge the gap between the rich and poor.

"Socialism will bring benefits to those who need it the most, but all of us can live together," said Angulo, adding that Venezuela's opposition leaders oppose indefinite re-election "because they don't have any chance of being elected in forthcoming elections."

Chavez, a former paratroop commander who was first elected in 1998, denies copying Cuba and insists that basic freedoms will be respected under his government. He says that democracy has flourished, rather than diminished, under his administration.

Chavez pushed through a new constitution in 1999, shortly after he was first elected. He says the charter must be redrafted in order to steer Venezuela away from capitalism.