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29 Aug 2011 17:06

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World: Islamic sect Boko Haram claims responsibility for Nigerian bombing

  • nigeria A bombing against the U.N. headquarters in the Nigerian city of Abuja took place last Friday, which left 23 people dead and many more injured. Reuters reports this may be the first case of suicide bombing in Nigeria, as the driver of the bomber  vehicle blew himself up as well.
  • boko haram A fundamentalist Islamic sect which claimed responsibility for the bombing. Worryingly, the Nigerian government doesn’t seem to have the ability to fight back, which has hurt the standing of President Goodluck Jonathan and weakened faith in basic safety. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

29 Aug 2011 11:10

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World: Meet Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s likely new Prime Minister

Now here’s a guy that shouldn’t get too comfortable. Noda will likely be Japan’s sixth Prime Minister in five years, and the track record for keeping this job isn’t great. Plus, Fukushima’s still an issue. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Aug 2011 11:34

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World: Indian anti-corruption campaigner Anna Hazare’s starvation plan succeeds

It took twelve days of starvation, but he won his demands for an independent anti-corruption agency. His first post-strike nourishment? A cup of juice from a five-year-old girl. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

28 Aug 2011 11:12

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World: Border between Tunisia, Libya opens up, ensuring supply chain

  • Tripoli needs lots of food. There is nothing there … we’re bringing this to them and then we’ll do more runs as needed.
  • Libyan man Lassad Trabelsi • Regarding the decision to open up the main border between Tunisia and Libya. Trabelsi was one of many people driving trucks through through the crossing in order to get supplies, which has been tough considering, you know, the deadly civil war in the country. And Tunisians are ready to help. “We’re ready to supply whatever our brothers need,” said one supplier who set up near the border. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Aug 2011 13:23

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World: As expected, Naoto Kan quits as Japanese Prime Minister

  • The earthquake sealed his political fate. A mere 14 months after he began, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has just ensured that Japan will see its sixth prime minister in five years — and he outlasted most of them. However, his weak leadership during the earthquake — which should’ve proved an opportunity for him prove how his work as a self-made man ensured he was the right man for the job, after years of weak choices. Instead, he turned out to be a weak leader, too. “Mr. Kan is the outsider-turned-prime minister, who should have provided leadership,” noted close friend and adviser Takayoshi Igarashi. “The move to escape from nuclear power should have been his great chance to shine.” Not so much. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Aug 2011 23:23

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World: Gaddafi as a wizard

  • He looked like a wizard recovering from an evening of drinking who had wandered into the picture by mistake.
  • The Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri • In a comedic psuedo-obituary to Muammar Gaddafi’s career. Petri also notes that Gaddafi often “looked like he’d shot a couch and was wearing it on his back as a trophy, after an intense struggle in which the couch nearly prevailed.” There’s more to the article than just ribbing the dictator’s physical appearance, of course, but those descriptors are just too rich to pass up. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Aug 2011 10:16

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World: From the scene: Trapped journalists at the Hotel Rixos in Tripoli

  • What a sad little sign: It may say the word “TV” on it, but the hand-scrawled sign that the journalists put up in this video really says so much more — for example, “we’re desperate,” “let us out,” “we didn’t sign up for this,” “I want to see my family,” “this is unfair treatment,” and “we hope to get out of this alive.” Never have two letters said so much. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Aug 2011 09:55

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World: Rixos hotel crisis: Trapped journalists fear for safety in luxury Tripoli hotel

  • We are not being allowed to leave. We want to leave. We are obviously in a very fragile position.
  • CNN reporter Matthew Chance • On the situation in the Rixos hotel in Tripoli, where roughly 30 journalists have been stuck for a number of days — unable to leave the luxury hotel due to Gaddafi loyalists blocking their departure. The journalists, who have been wearing bulletproof vests and helmets during the day (and sleeping in hallways, so as not to get hit by shards of glass from fighting), have been relegated to finding random foods inside cabinets. They have enough to last a few more days; but after that … These guys need your thoughts. These are the people that make this coverage possible. Let’s get them home safe. Somehow. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2011 16:32

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World: Video shows rebels storming Gaddafi compound

  • Breaching the walls: Scenes from Tripoli earlier today, as rebel forces successfully breached the compound of Muammar Gaddafi. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Aug 2011 15:26

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World: As New York DSK charges fall apart, Tristane Banon presses on

  • over The rape charges against former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn were dismissed in New York today, when the prosecution admitted their case couldn’t hold up due to “credibility issues” surrounding his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo.
  • not over Strauss-Kahn is not without legal concerns, however. French writer Tristane Banon has said she’ll continue pressing her charges (in French courts) that Strauss-Kahn attempted to rape her during an interview in 2003. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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