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07 Feb 2011 11:13

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World: Rio de Janeiro’s famous carnival props lost in massive fire

  • It looks really funny until you realize the context: Rio de Janeiro’s carnival-building section of town, Samba City, just had a huge fire where lots of stuff got destroyed. Costumes, giant props: They were almost all destroyed. (Nobody was hurt, though.) “We are heartbroken,” said League of Samba Schools president Jorge Castanheria. “Everything was practically ready for the carnival.” It happened so close to the event, which draws hundreds of thousands of people each year, that they may not be able to get everything ready in time. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 10:52

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World: Egypt opposition organizers: “We are betting on the people”

  • The government played all the dirty games that they had, and the people persisted. We are betting on the people.
  • Shady el-Ghazaly Harb • Revealing himself in a public setting as one of the main organizers of the Facebook page that originally influenced the protests in Egypt. He and his group vow to escalate the movement, despite attempts by leadership to portray yesterday’s meeting with opposition as both sides coming together. At least three organizers had been held in extra-legal detention the night before and finally released.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 10:36

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World: Julian Assange’s extradition trial starts back up in the UK

The defense in the extradition trial suggested that there was real risk Assange could be sent to Guantanamo Bay. The prosecution pooh-poohed that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 10:19

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World: Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir: We’re OK with the secession vote

  • We will announce today in front of the world our acceptance and respect for the choice of the people of the south.
  • Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir • Revealing that his country would accept the results of a country-splitting referendum between the north and south. The south chose, by a wide margin, to secede, a result that cuts back Bashir’s clout but could help stabilize the entire region. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Feb 2011 00:03

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World: Random North Korean boat crosses volatile South Korean border

  • 31 North Koreans on a mother*#&ing boat (they’re on a boat) source
  • » Why this is a big deal (kinda): The boat crossed the border at the point where North Korea shelled a contested South Korean island a few months ago. The people on the boat, 11 men and 20 women, are being questioned, but there’s no sign that they’re defecting from their country.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2011 23:27

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World: Egypt: Google’s Wael Ghonim likely to see release tomorrow

  • They told us they’ll probably bring him to us, and that he will likely be escorted by security.
  • Egyptian Hazem Ghonim • Discussing the fate of his brother, Wael Ghonim, who will reportedly be released from Egyptian custody tomorrow. Wael, a Google executive, quickly became a lightning rod for the pro-democracy movement after his unexplained disappearance over a week ago. Turns out that Egypt targeted and arrested him. They had good reason – he was one of the catalysts for the Egyptian protests. “I said one year ago that the Internet will change the political scene in Egypt and some Friends made fun of me :),” he wrote on Facebook not long before his disappearance. Wael was one of the administrators for a key fan page used to organize the movement. But he’s one of many who have been arrested so far – the count is around 1,275, although most have been released. Hopefully, Wael will join them tomorrow – and be able to tell his story. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2011 12:04

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World: This should be on your radar: Trial for Americans begins in Iran


Two of the three shown – Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd and Joshua Fattal – will be in court today on spying charges. Shourd returned to the U.S. for medical reasons. She’ll be tried in absentia. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

06 Feb 2011 11:50

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World: Quickly-dividing Sudanese military turns on itself

  • 50+ died in a military mutiny in the oil-rich Upper Nile region source
  • » Is the separation behind it? The Northern and Southern armies are set to split from one another as part of a larger breaking up of the country. It appears that the violence was rooted in a conflict over redeployment that would’ve sent soliders from the southern part of the country north, along with other soldiers in the unit.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Feb 2011 11:25

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World: Muslim Brotherhood: We’re OK with Mubarak staying for now

  • We wanted the president to step down but, for now, we accept this arrangement as long as we feel there is a serious implementation.
  • Muslim Brotherhood senior leader Mohamed Saad El-Katatni • Revealing comfort with allowing Hosni Mubarak to stay in power of Egypt during a transition period. He said this after sitting down at a giant table with Vice President Omar Suleiman and other opposition leaders. The Muslim Brotherhood, currently barred from running in elections, joined the opposition late, eventually saying it shared their goals.  source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

05 Feb 2011 21:47

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World: Is this Google’s Wael Ghonim getting arrested in Egypt?

  • As you might remember, we expressed serious concern for Wael Ghonim, the head of Google’s Middle East marketing, in a post last week. He hasn’t been heard from since the end of January. This video, however, might provide a clue. It shows someone getting arrested by the Egyptian police who looks A LOT like Ghonim. Hopes and prayers, people. In other news, he’s been named the spokesperson of the April 6 opposition movement in absentia, in an attempt to get Egyptian authorities to release him to them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink
 
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