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25 Feb 2011 11:32

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World: Iraq’s “Day of Rage”: Economic strife leads to massive protests

  • Now it’s Iraq’s turn to be angry. Today’s “Day of Rage” in the nation perhaps most changed by American intervention comes with great sacrifice for many of the protesters. Already, 13 have been killed during the protests, which many people took part in despite an official curfew. In Baghdad alone, many protesters had to walk for miles to get to the city’s Tahrir Square, after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki imposed a curfew so stringent that it forced bikes off the road. Yeah. Bikes. Let alone cars. Bikes. The protests have had some effect – a handful of local governments have stepped down in the wake of protester demands. Many of the protesters are upset about bad living conditions, including few jobs, low wages, no electricity, lacking water quality, and underwhelming medical benefits. All things that, honestly, we can get behind. (Photo by Karim Kadim/AP) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

25 Feb 2011 00:33

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World: Shoe-throwing journalist arrested in Iraq

Muntazer Alzaidi
Remember the guy who threw his shoe at G.W. Bush? He was arrested today in for encouraging protestors in Baghdad. Frankly, we’re surprised he’s not in a detainment cell somewhere. source
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 20:59

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World: Algeria finally concedes to protesters that there’s no emergency

  • 19 years of emergency rule in Algeria … well, until today source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 13:02

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World: A bad time (or rather, several generations) to be North Korean

  • YES Kim Jong-Il parties while his people toil in starvation source
  • » Maybe not the biggest surprise. But still, guy’s an jerk, huh? An especially harsh winter season (most North Korean winters being merely normally harsh) has killed somewhere from 50% to 80% of the wheat and barley crop for the spring season, and high food prices have hamstrung the regime as far as import goes. While this might sound like a humanitarian crisis for most governments, Kim Jong-Il’s regime has always been pretty cozy with the idea of starvation and/or malnutrition – a 2009 Washington Post article mentions a U.S. intelligence study that found brain damage by malnutrition derails nearly 1/4th of prospective North Korean soldiers, to say nothing of the estimated 200,000 North Koreans who are wasting away in concentration camps. But, to be fair, you couldn’t ask the Dear Leader to stop spending on things like this.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 12:36

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World: Media reports from Libya still scarce, but here’s a little footage

  • “Gaddafi Get Out”: The crackdown in Libya has made it part perilous, part impossible to get proper media coverage of the event. That being so, any time there’s a chance to see footage, shouldn’t we take it? These images are, after all, the only visually evocative way to inform our international consciences, which in matters of decades-long strongman rulers likely should be more burdened. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 11:17

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World: Julian Assange loses extradition case: What happened?

  • today Assange lost his extradition case, which says that he must return to Sweden to deal with that whole sex-by-surprise thingy thang that has long been dogging him. He denounced the decision as “a rubber-stamping process.”
  • next steps Assange has seven days to appeal the case, which his lawyers said he would. For now, he’ll likely have another month in the country. “We have to remember that at this point Julian remains uncharged,” said his lawyer, Mark Stephens. source
  • » In case you were wondering, like us: Assange’s people brought up this witness, Brita Sundberg-Weitman, who had some harsh words about Swedish prosecutor Marianne Ny. Those words apparently weren’t enough to sway the judge, who noted that she had no direct knowledge of the case – just commentary on Ny as a person.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Feb 2011 10:32

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World: Christchurch earthquake: Dozens could be inside single building

  • 120 bodies could be in one Christchurch building source
  • » The building in question: The Canterbury Television building, which beyond a television station, also housed an English-language school with many foreign students. The station says that many of its top executives could be in the rubble. None of this count, by the way, is included in the official death toll of 76. So that death toll could go up significantly; shudder.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

24 Feb 2011 10:15

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World: Gaddafi blames Libyan unrest on al-Qaeda, youths, drugs

  • It is obvious now that this issue is run by al-Qaeda. … No one above the age of 20 would actually take part in these events. They are taking advantage of the young age of these people [to commit violent acts] because they are not legally liable.
  • Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi • Making the argument that a bunch of kids, goaded by al-Qaeda, are behind the attacks on his country. He also said that many were under the influence of drugs. Like Gaddafi has anywhere to speak about the drugs thing. No totally sober guy would be as weird as Gaddafi is. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Feb 2011 20:51

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World: Italy: Mass exodus from Libya could be “Biblical” in proportion

  • 6.5 million the number of people who live in Libya; about a third are immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa who could migrate easily
  • 300,000 the number of refugees Italy thinks may hit their shores after the Gaddafi regime is toppled – and that’s on the low end, by the way source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Feb 2011 14:05

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World: Malta says “no thanks” to Ayse Gaddafi

  • NO Malta won’t accept a jet with Gaddafi’s daughter inside source
  • » Are the Gaddafis fleeing Libya? That’s the question buzzing about following an attempted jet landing in Malta. The jet’s pilots claimed they had 14 people on board, and were running low on fuel, but when it became apparent through discussions that one passenger was Ayse Gaddafi, daughter of Muammar, they were told they couldn’t land. Which, if there really were 13 other people on board, must have been truly soul-crushing for them. Malta has recently become a refugee point for Libyans looking to escape the violence that has embroiled their homeland.
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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