The UN Security Council should put the Iran Report on hold for a "30-Day Cooling Period". This should afford us all some "Thinking Time". And political sanity.

Second, we would spend the time to commemorate September 11 and reflect on the just-ended Israel-Lebanon conflict. Plus let the US administration address post-Katrina issues, especially as the new hurricane season is here - with dire predictions for the Gulf of Mexico, The Caribbeans and elsewhere.

Then, Iraq! Things are so bad. Every time we think we've seen the worst, a worster hits us!! We can't just ignore that theatre of daily slaughter, can we? Absolutely not. In the name of the KIDS and the hapless MOTHERS of Iraq, let's do something sensible....FAST. Iraq needs urgent help... TODAY!!!

The international community needs to be together, stay together, on these and other issues for a better, safer world. Iran has no nuclear bomb yet, and won't have one in 12 months. So, we can be more patient and circumspect in our resolve to peacefully resolve its matter. Let tempers cool, please. There is time.

Like many life-changing inventions, and earth-shattering discoveries, the sustainable solution to this knotty issue can (and may indeed) come from anywhere. Let's sink in and speak out during the coooooling peeeriod, and let the Council do some reaching-out and plenty of listening. Track the world media!

By October 2, we should be better disposed.

My take? Say tuned, here, and on: www.onoviranseries.blogspot.com

The recent spate of accidents (rail, road, air, water, structures) must add to our worries about the times. Before investigations are concluded on one, series of others are occurring! We do not envisage a world without accidents or willful damage, but it is time to look again...differently and anew. Is something very amiss, which we are missing?

Now, if reports show technical causes, then, let's reengineer things. If they point to human error, then, we need to get psychological and spiritual. Are we getting more distracted? More upset? Or dangerously more emotional? Are we facing too much, too soon? Are our coping mechanisms intact, in place? Attention, attention, attention....please!

No-one, from world leaders to the world's masses, is a truly happy and settled soul today. Not if you watch TV and follow the news. Where really is safe today? Who is immune?

Then, the weather: Oh my God!

Let us pray....

We thank Italy and France for taking the lead in the UN Force that will enforce the Israel- Lebanon cease-fire. Let other progressive nations do their bits...promptly, and robustly, please.

We join UN Sec-Gen, Kofi Annan, in asking Israel to stop any further violation of the cease-fire henceforth. Hezbollah should also keep its word.

My preliminary congratulations to all involved in these constructive steps, and our heart-felt commiserations to all who lost and/or grieve at this time.

Peace to all.

First anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the signs ain't good at all. From all the reports and what we can see, it is bad bad news! Not safe by the Gulf, not smart for America. We worry.

Poor New Orleans, how I bleed for you!

Oil prices are not relenting in their upsurge. They won't come down any time soon. But that is stating the obvious, isn't it?

Fine. But there is another obvious: The costliness and economic damage the high prices bring and visit on the "poor of the world" - from countries to communities to homes, around the world. As souls freeze in the West, hearts burn in Africa. The poor is POOR everywhere!

Can the G8 plan on ENERGY security kick-start things, please?

No poor anywhere can wait any longer.

With the truce in Israel/Lebanon front, let's have cessation of hostilities on the Isreal/Palestine axis immediately. With a new, robust and agenda-setting UN resolution.

The world's MEDIA should help us refocus the UN Security Council's focus on both Iraq and Afghanistan. Too much was overlooked, even ignored, and neglected while we all focussed on the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

The press should do an in-depth update, and henceforth offer a 4-way daily reportage on these four areas of crises. We must not let one supplant the others. Equal treatment, please.

It is time for new ways, new means, new players and.....new resources..... for World Peace. The UN needs to stand up to these challenges courageously. Time is running out!

Hey folks, was leadership ever called a piece of cake? Why are our world leaders nibbling at this tough cookie instead of cracking the damn thing!? Nibblers be dribblers, period.

The world must crack these knotty nuts.

President Fidel Castro of Cuba is a great phenomenon. His 80th birthday, this week, finds him in post-surgery convalescence. No matter. Happy Birthday, sir!

This man is a legend in his time, a lion of lions. He should be so acknowledged.

My birthday wish for him is to get him and President George Bush to a Talk-Table for an historic peace deal.....unprecedented, and unheralded.

In old age, you cease fighting. In your last term, you stop all wars. So may it be with Castro...So may it be with Bush! Time be short, dear leaders, time is critically short. Act now.

As for the hawks, on both sides, time will tease them no end. Relent.

Ceasefire. The end of hostilities. And the return. Soldiers, civilians and aid workers. Now the real talk begins, for the real work to truly begin.

We speak of the Israel-Lebanon conflict, the unforgettable war that has just ended.

Better late than never, we thank the United Nations for finally ending the war. As Secretary General Kofi Annan solemnly stated, it is lamentable...even disgraceful...that this day didn't come much much earlier. We must, and do, lament.

Soul-searching must follow, on all sides, and by every side, of the divides. We have all lost in this war. All of us.

May the "wasted" souls find repose.

Humanitarian services, activities and operations are getting more needed, more cumbersome and more dangerous around the world. Now, the world must review, reconsider and redesign them. International laws must be revamped for this purpose. Best Practices must established and benchmarked. Compliance must be strict and total. No contempt, no excuses, no delays.

I think the United States, the European Union and the African Union need to lead the United Nations in this matter. It is now dire.

Let's have a Clinton Commission on this, drawing as members Gorbachev, Schroeder, Jiang, Bono, Soyinka, Barak, Amanpour, Simpson, Boutrous-Ghali, Powell, Thatcher, Gandhi, Fox....... among others, including some legal, military, media and aid-agencies' veterans....totalling 17. They should be fully serviced by the UNHCR.

The UN Clinton Commission should sit for 12 Months. Its report must be approved by the UN General Assembly, latest, by December 2008.

Shouldn't we be alarmed, and intrigued, and baffled by the turn of events in the volatile Middle East? Should we be surprised that things are heading haywire? Not by any shot. No!

We should be asking ourselves whether we really have "world leaders", and if there really is an "international community". Each soul lost, whether soldier or civilian, is "slain" in vain! Together and apart, the leaders and the community owe us...and hold us.

The final question should be....."of what QUALITY be both".... pillars and platforms?

Soon, positions will deepen and harden on all sides. Sooner than our political leaders will ever know, times and tides will change. And all of them will be at the mercy of "history".

For them, like for the harassed and hapless peoples of the states of Israel and Lebanon, and the Palestinian Territories, there shall be "no hiding place". But, unlike these peoples, who are at the mercy of these leaders plus platforms, history will own its say.

Now, we bleed. Then, they will.

Lebanon, Israel, Palestine...I vote for peace. Lasting peace. All parties may ache and pain, but no one will win alone. It has to be JOINT. Working together.

I join the peace-seeking world in calling on Israel to stop its military bombardments of civilians and civilian infrastructure, and to allow humanitarian activities/operations as demanded by international laws. Israel should cease fire, now.

I call on the militias in Lebanon and Palestine to cease their attacks on Israel right away.

All sides should allow for the immediate kick-in of political/diplomatic negotiations towards an international-law resolution of all the causes and effects of this long-running problem.

There is no other alternative.

I hope to God that the news report about alleged graft in Ekiti State of Nigeria is not true. I, like many others who believe in the new generation, will be disappointed and depressed. Not for the first time, alright, but for the high premium we place on the young, dynamic and populist Ayo Fayose - Their ACTION Governor.

Not even the worst critic can deny the transformation he has brought to the sleepy state in such a short time - from May 2003, to be precise.

I had grown to like him and to add him to the small team of performers in the land of looters, heartless leaders and visionless administrators. If this report ever gets proven in court, it will be sad. Very sad.

Dear Ayo, I pray not.

Maybe we can't avoid crisis, but we can avoid carnage...especially the kind now going on in the Middle East. Why is it cheaper or more approriate to "rebuild" than to "avoid" this time? How do we redeem the world from needless hate? Query.

International politics is harming itself....and us all.

May our leaders repent.

Make no mistake about it, South Africa is core host of FIFA World Cup 2010. Africa is continental host. South Africa will give the football family a great rainbow time. Africa will boost the mundial like never before.

Remember the old saying, "Something new is always coming out of Africa"? Bet...This time, you will spin in utter wonderment because here is The Cradle of Humankind. Here is home to all. It will be fun, football and Afrifest!

Oh yes, this is AFRICA!

Fast-forward to four years' time....Welcome to 2010!!!

Israel, Lebanon Palestine.....The world bleeds.

Who can possibly benefit from this open-ended mayhem? None, I believe.

Immediate cease-fire, please. Then, no matter the odds, an international buffer-enforcement force must be deployed and empowered by the UN Security Council. And that must be for both the UN-recognised borders and in furtherance of lasting peace engagements between Israel and the two other states, simultaneously.

The UN must ACT promptly; otherwise, lasting damage will set in, and the future will be set in insurmountable HATE. World leaders are on trial here...not Israel, not Lebanon, not Palestine!

World leaders cannot sleep well while the Middle East boils. Israel is virtually at war on two fronts now: Palestine and Lebanon. Just how these altercations will end or be resolved is unclear. And we must worry.

Let's get the hostages released promptly. Let's prevail on Israel to stop its military actions. Let's not wait a day. The world has the capacity and the necessity to do both...NOW.

Not acting in good faith, and in good time, will escalate things and create a horrifying chasm in the region. Plus it will worsen the oil & gas spiralling prices, as well as the attendant energy costs. Poor countries are already reeling from these developments....how long can they hold out?
Then the waste of human lives on all sides, and the extensive destructions worth billions of Dollars. Finally, trust may never return between the parties. Dear Lord, where is this leading?

Without an enduring and peaceful resolution soon, the highly parroted "war on terror" will be a pipe-dream! The G8 Meeting in Russia this weekend is surely the place to kick-start a timely intervention.

Congratulations to the Last Four the World Cup Finals...Germany 2006! You are all winners. My plea is that you guys will play Saturday and Sunday in the highest traditions of the Mundial. Please, give us a family sport. And make the world proud of The Beautiful Game. Hurray!

Goodluck, folks....And may the Pecking Order be right.

Chancellor Angela Merkel should please bring her motherly instincts and touch to help organise, and sanitise, the G8...Men's Club. What a pleasure to see a Breaking Face to the boredom of all these years!

Hahaha!!!

No matter what their officials wish or say, I like the fact that Presidents Bush and Putin are friends. No matter how it is read and misread, I like the way they get along. It is good for them, and better for the world. I want to see China in that loop, fast!

So, as they huddle in Russia from this weekend, let George tell his buddy to sort out the issues of racism that make the news too often these days, and may Vladimir coach his pal on coming to the BBC for "Have Your Say".

These guys should look into their both eyes and say, "heck, let's settle Iraq, Iran, North Korea and the Israel/Palestine issues, NOW!". May the future applaud.

Iraq and Afghanistan on my mind, this day. Should they be not on your mind, too? Pray, they should be. Let them be on all minds, today.

Global TV is horror to watch these days, despite the beauty and fun of the World Cup. Listening to the complaints of the Afghan president, hearing of Japan pulling out its troops from Iraq, and the Italians set to do same, plus the indictments of some multinational personnel (especially the US) by military tribunals, not to mention the daily carnage of bombs, mines, blasts, beheadings, betrayals, smears, kidnappings, executions and extortions, we must worry.

The poll numbers are getting worse for political leaders in Europe and America, and civil society is restless about the unprecedented levels of "governance disconnect" in many countries around the globe. World Media today is an ugly and depressing fare. Yes, we must worry.

As for the two countries of my thought this day, I will do more than pray. I call on President Putin to host a Summit of the G8, Arab Leaders and China immediately after the upcoming G8 Meeting. India and Turkey and President Nelson Mandela should be invited. The purpose? To get an "Arab" UN Peace-Building Force for both countries. Let's do it. We must do it. Hey, let's dump politics, let's dismantle pride. Things are drifting ultra-dangerous right now. Add this to the Israeli-Palestinian disaster, and you'll get my drift!

I am concerned because we may end up with an unbridgeable gulf between America and the Arab World in the future - a prospect we cannot afford, must not allow, in our emerging Global Village! Yet, we can stop it!

So may I caution.