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06 Jul 2010 10:24

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World: Shocker of the day: Sumo apparently has a seedy underworld

  • bad Some of the sport’s athletes have been caught smoking marijuana and rigging matches.
  • worse A 17-year-old novice wrestler was fatally beaten, which doesn’t sound very friendly at all.
  • worser At least 19 wrestlers have been caught gambling on baseball with organized criminals. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

05 Jul 2010 20:46

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World: Israel (partly) expands the list of things that can go into Gaza

  • <200 number of things that were allowed on the old list
  • 1,000’s number of things that are banned on the new list source
  • » Notable omissions: While food and household cleaning items made the cut, building supplies did not. Lumber, concrete, steel and other supplies necessary for Gaza to rebuild its infrastructure did not make the list. Why? Because Israel wants to ensure they can’t build bunkers or rockets. Or, you know, buildings, roads and basic infrastructure.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2010 10:19

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World: India basically shut down in fuel price protests

These unlucky people had to wait for a train the middle of this mess, which led to thousands of arrests over a fuel price increase caused by a subsidy cut. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

05 Jul 2010 10:12

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World: Does Israel plan to apologize to Turkey for the flotilla incident?

  • NO even though it might cost them diplomatic ties source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

04 Jul 2010 11:13

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World: The DR Congo oil tanker explosion looks pretty freaking scary

Despite early word that UN peacekeepers died in the incident, the organization says no UN members were involved. The current count: 230 dead, 190 injured. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jul 2010 10:34

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World: Top Lebanese cleric and spiritual leader Fadlallah dies at 75

The Lebanese cleric was said to be one of Hezbollah’s early leaders, but he denied it. His full name: Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussain Fadlallah. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 13:43

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World: Report: Cuban hunger striker Guillermo Farinas could die

  • 129 number of days he’s been on a prolonged hunger strike
  • Why did he protest?Since Feburary 24, Farinas has been hunger striking to protest the imprisonment of numerous political activists, as well as the death of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner who died during his own hunger strike.
  • His current statusFarinas is currently at Arnaldo Milian Castro University Hospital in Santa Clara. His doctor says he’s being fed a little via intravenous feeding and has gained weight, but has a blood clot that could prevent blood from getting to his heart.
  • A surprising facetPerhaps the most interesting thing about the Farinas situation is that the source which reported on the opposition activist was Granma, a communist newspaper – and they played it very big, devoting two of their eight pages to him. source
  • » Programming note: This is based on an AP article, which as you might know, we try to avoid here at the ShortFormHQ. But this article seemed important enough that it was worth bypassing the picket line, at least today.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

03 Jul 2010 11:01

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World: Is Roza Otunbayeva Kyrgyzstan’s big shot at stability?

Otunbayeva, who was part of the coup a couple of months ago, was formally sworn in as president today. She’s the first female leader in the entire region. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

03 Jul 2010 10:23

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World: In the Congo, an awful tragedy involving an oil tanker and a cigarette

  • It started with a tipped-over oil tanker in the democratic republic of congo. As is common in the region, people tried to collect the spilled fuel from the tanker (around the tiny town of Sange, in South Kivu province), which can lead to explosions. And some dude was smoking a cigarette. And, worse, the explosion happened near a bar. During a World Cup game. … *shudder*. The result? Unspeakably awful. We’re talking bodies burned beyond recognition. Some quick numbers:
  • 230+ number of people killed in the blast
  • 190+ number of people injured by the tanker
  • no there aren’t photos of the incident yet source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

02 Jul 2010 11:18

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U.S., World: Anna Chapman’s husband: The spy who loved me ditched me

The former husband of Anna Chapman, left, says that she went from carefree to materialistic and met with a lot of Russian dudes. It was weird. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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