Earth’s twin planet will be found by the end of the year, leading astronomer says By Graham Smith The first Earth-like planet outside the solar system will have been discovered by the end of the year, one of the world’s leading astronomers said yesterday. Professor Michel Mayor, the scientist in charge of the team who detected the first extrasolar planet in 1995, claimed that the chance of finding a planet that is habitable for humans is now imminent. The astronomer, of Geneva University, said that recent technological progress that allows the observation of planets outside the solar system now makes … Continue reading Grand Boffin Mullah Michel Mayor says Earth’s twin planet will be found by the end of the year!

Comment is free Series: Michael White’s political briefing Previous | Index Michael White The Guardian, Western officials hoping to nurture a role in Afghanistan‘s government for the once-denounced Taliban might be wise not to look this week for encouragement from Northern Ireland, where rival fundamentalists of Sinn Fein and the DUP still cling to the wreckage of their power-sharing agreement. There is actually a tenuous link between Kabul and the fast-moving affairs of the province where Gordon Brown and Brian Cowen, the Irish taoiseach, arrived tonight to bang heads together. The link is Robert Cecil, seventh Marquis of Salisbury, an … Continue reading Secret talks with Afghan taliban create alarm and excitement

Although some on the right see Israel as standing up to radical Islam, Jews in Germany remain committed to a tolerant society Alan Posener guardian.co.uk, Grim pilgrimage: pope Benedict XVI prays during his visit to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, 28 May 2006, Poland. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty On 27 January, Germany will commemorate the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by Soviet troops. Though most Germans now face up to their past guilt and their present responsibilities, the road has not been easy. It wasn’t until 40 years after the second world war that a (West) German president … Continue reading Don’t let Auschwitz be forgotten

Our sense of risk is amplified by the dread terrorism generates. But the risks of provoking resentment are real too David Spiegelhalter guardian.co.uk The threat of a terrorist attack is now officially “severe”, and as a professor of risk people expect me to know what the chances are that they will get killed in a terrorist attack. Low, I reply. Let’s say that, to be fairly pessimistic, the events of 7 July 2005 were repeated every year: that’s 50 deaths a year, on average a 1-in-a-million chance for each person, about the same as the chance of flipping a coin … Continue reading What’s the real risk from terror?

Let’s fight the church on equality Terry Sanderson guardian.co.uk, Last night’s parliamentary debate on the equality bill was one of the poorest and most ill-informed I have ever heard in the House of Lords. Despite Lord Lester’s eloquent explanation of the bill, and its duty to conform to the European framework directive from which it sprang, there seemed to be a determination among the Christian peers and bishops (of which there was a surfeit) to ignore our obligations to the EU as a member state. Indeed, Lord Tebbit put it most baldly when he said: “We have a choice tonight … Continue reading Christian conservatives have won a victory for discrimination in the Lords. Secularists should make their voices heard

Karl Eikenberry’s leaked cables raise fundamental questions – and do nothing to bolster confidence in US leadership Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk, It’s just possible that Karl Eikenberry, the US ambassador in Kabul who opposed Barack Obama’s Afghan troop surge, suddenly realised the error of his ways. Perhaps he woke up on 1 December, just as the president was about to unveil his plan for 30,000 US reinforcements, and thought: “Silly me! I’ve been barking up the wrong tree all along! Stan McChrystal is totally right. I take back everything I said.” It’s also possible, and more plausible, that Eikenberry was told … Continue reading The west’s uncertain Afghan steps as solutions to peace stare in face

The ill-founded push to ban the face covering is rooted in a wider crisis of French identity and influence Raphaël Liogier guardian.co.uk, After more than six months straining to convince itself of the immense, nationwide danger of a phenomenon that involves fewer than 0.1% of France’s Muslim population, a parliamentary committee yesterday ­recommended the banning of the full veil in many of France’s public places. There is nothing eccentric about asking why they are getting so bothered. As usual, when France confronts such debates, a panoply of intellectuals, politicians and artists gasp their indignation over an alleged assault on “our … Continue reading France’s attack on the veil and tinted windows is a huge blunder

Dr Maleeha Lodhi The writer is a former envoy to the US and the UK, and a former editor of The News. The meeting earlier this month of the National Command Authority (NCA) was significant for more than one reason. Among the issues it addressed was the strategic asymmetry in South Asia. This has a crucial bearing on Pakistan’s stance in negotiations that have resumed in the United Nations’ 65-member Conference on Disarmament (CD) in Geneva on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT). The proposed treaty aims at banning the future production of nuclear-bomb-making fissile material. The NCA meeting was … Continue reading FMCT and strategic stability