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By Hamish Macdonald in Europe on November 18th, 2009
Photos by AFP

We've spent the day wading through the murky waters of European politics. Leaders from across Europe arrive here in Brussels on Thursday to choose the first ever President of the European Council.

But we really have no idea who they are going to choose. The process has already been described as "secretive" - so much so, the former Latvian President Vaire Vike-Freiberga (herself a candidate) told the Times newspaper that the EU should:

"stop working like the former Soviet Union"

There is much debate about whether to choose a tough, high profile leader in order to affirm Europe's role on the world stage, or alternatively appoint a low key consensus politician from one of the smaller EU states. Both options have their critics. 

By Rob Reynolds in Americas on July 17th, 2009

The grainy footage still makes me gasp with astonishment.

The famous black-and-white images of a spindly lunar module setting down on the Moon on July 20th, 1969, represent the improbable trajectory from dream to the reality that was Apollo 11.

It leaves one wondering, even today: How did humans travel so far, in so frail a ship, through such a still, stark void?

An estimated 600 million people watched the live television broadcast of astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walking on the Moon that day.

They huddled around flickering TV sets in living rooms and public squares, in offices and schoolrooms. 

I was 12 in 1969, but the memory is vivid.

I remember being allowed to stay up late for the occasion, and the cheering and excitement.

For a kid, it was a marvel to think that “we” - humanity, not just America - had achieved the seemingly impossible.

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