Daily Headlines: January 24, 2013

* Venezuela: Spanish newspaper El Pais issued an apology after publishing a fake photo on the cover page of its Thursday first edition depicting an ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

* Colombia: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised U.S. collaboration with Colombia during Congressional hearings focused on last year’s deadly attack on a consulate in Benghazi.

* Bolivia: Women’s rights groups called for authorities to investigate an alleged sexual assault in a legislative chamber that was recorded by security camera footage.

* Chile: President Sebastian Piñera visited a new Antarctic base that will be operated by the Chilean military.

Video Source – YouTube via user cablenoticiastv (The image published in El Pais on Thursday that also briefly appeared on the daily’s website was taken from a 2008 YouTube video).

Online Sources- UPI, CNN, Reuters, Fox News

World Watch: Melting Away

* Antarctica: A new scientific study found that methane gas trapped beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet could impact the global climate if the ice were to thaw.

* Iran: During his visit to the Nonaligned Movement conference in Tehran, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon expressed “serious concerns on the human rights abuses and violations” in Iran.

* Asia: Envoys from Japan and North Korea will hold talks for the first time since 2008 and that could improve diplomatic relations between both Asian states.

* India: A court upheld the death sentence of Pakistani national who was convicted for a series of attacks in Mumbai nearly four years ago.

Video Source– YouTube via user 7NEWS

Online Sources – Christian Science Monitor, BBC News, CBS News, The Guardian

World Watch: Iced Cooly

* Antarctica: The sub-glacial Lake Vostok was reached for the first time after a team of Russian scientists drilled over two miles below the Antarctic surface.


* Egypt: The Egyptian government’s crackdown on nongovernment organizations could hurt relations between that country and the U.S.


* Maldives: Mohamed Nasheed claimed that he was ousted from the presidency in a coup while some of his supporters have clashed with police.


* Somalia: A “suicide car bomber” in the capital city of Mogadishu killed at least eleven people.

Video Source – YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources – National Geographic, Voice of America, CNN, Reuters

World Watch: Split decision

* Israel: A poll taken of nearly 500 Israelis found an almost even split over whether Israel should attack Iran or not.

* Greece: Prime Minister George Papandreou scrapped plans for a referendum over a European bailout plan though pressure is mounting for him to resign.

* Antarctica: NASA researchers believe that a massive iceberg measuring roughly 340 square miles will break away from Antarctica later this year or in early 2012.

* Egypt: Popular discontent is growing against Egypt’s ruling generals who have submitted a proposal that would grant them greater political power.

Video Source – YouTube via Al Jazeera English (“On Thursday the Israeli army practiced evacuations near Tel Aviv. On Wednesday, it test-fired a long-range ballistic missile, its first in three years. And earlier in the week, the military was involved in joint exercises with the Italian air force near Sardinia.”)

Online Sources – The Guardian, NPR, ABC News, BBC News

Chile, Argentina to strengthen Antarctic claims

Legislators from Chile and Argentina met on Thursday in order to prepare a common front against Britain over Antarctica.

Until this year, no country can have a claim to the continent yet offshore parts of the continent contain valuable and untapped oil and gas reserves. Therefore, eleven countries including Britain, Chile, and Argentina have made claims to portions of Antarctica. Making things more difficult to sort out is that parts of the claims of those three nations overlap.

The U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will give its decisions over the claims this May. In the meantime, Chile and Argentine legislators hope to strengthen their claims of sovereignty on Antarctica:

“This a historic milestone since it will be the first time members of Congress from both countries meet ahead of the bi-centenary celebration of 2010”, said Chilean deputy Carlos Abel Jarpa…

“We want to clearly signal the rights of Argentina and Chile over those vast frozen territories and adjoining platform”, said Argentine deputy Ruperto Godoy.

Image- Daily Mail
Online Sources- AP, MercoPress, WAND, the Latin Americanist, Reuters

Daily Headlines: February 18, 2009

* U.S.: Time magazine’s top blogs of 2009 list praised Cuban-based Generación Y and deemed PerezHilton.com as overrated.

* Cuba: Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom apologized to Cuba for his country permitting the CIA to train exiles who participated in the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

* Mexico: Nearly 500,000 bus and truck operators went on a 24-hour strike in protest of rising fuel costs.

* Antarctica: Almost three months after 122 people were rescued from a sinking ship near Antarctica another cruise ship ran aground with 65 passengers.

Image- Global Voices Online
Online Sources- Time, MSNBC, LAHT, The Latin Americanist, USA TODAY

Chile rescues 100+ on Antarctic cruise

Chilean Naval officials confirmed that they rescued all 122 people on a sinking Antarctic cruise ship. The Panamanian-flagged ship ran aground yesterday on a portion of the Antarctic Peninsula off the Chilean coast.

Argentine authorities claimed that none of the 89 passengers and 33 Argentine crew members was hurt.


The incident with the Ushuaia was the second accident of a cruise ship in the Antarctic over the past thirteen months. A November 2007 accident led to calls for restricting tourism near the Antarctic:

Argentinean Environment Secretary Romina Picolotti…told Argentinean news agency Telam, "The purpose of the Antarctic is not tourism. Nations must make a greater effort to impose stricter controls." She pushed for reducing the number of ice tourists which had doubled over the recent years…

In 1990, less than 5,000 tourists came to the region. By 2003, their number have risen to more than 24,000 and this summer it is expected to climb further to 30,000. The visitors are not just gawkers or regular tourists who merely want souvenir shots with the penguins. Activities there include parachuting, skiing, motorbiking and flying a helicopter across the continent.

Image- BBC News
Sources- The Latin Americanist, Canada.com, AP, Al Jazeera English, AHN

Daily Headlines: February 17, 2008

* Follow-up: Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez seemed to have backed down on his earlier threat to halt all oil exports to the U.S.

* Next stop for the One Laptop Per Child project – Haiti.

* Could “organized crime” be behind a bombing last Friday in Mexico City?

* Over 200 British and Canadian couples may have been duped in a Dominican marriage scam.

* Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva visited Antarctica as part of a possible expansion of operations there.

Sources- Xinhua, The Latin Americanist, Washington Post, MSNBC, International Herald Tribune

Image- earthtimes.org

Arctic cruise crash concerns Argentines

Argentina’s Environment Secretary has called for placing limits on tourism in the Antarctic after a cruise ship sunk off the continent’s coast last Friday. After flying over the site of the wreckage Romina Picolotti remarked her concerns to the local press:

She told Argentinean news agency Telam, "The purpose of the Antarctic is not tourism. Nations must make a greater effort to impose stricter controls." She pushed for reducing the number of ice tourists which had doubled over the recent years.

The recent boom in tourism to the Antarctic has been seen by some critics as increasingly dangerous and harmful to the environment. For instance, the sinking of the M/S Explorer over the weekend created an oil slick nearly 5 miles wide.

Sources- Associated Press, Mercopress, earthimes.org, AHN, Bloomberg

Image- New York Times

Argies, Chile vs. Brits over Antarctic claim

Southern Cone neighbors Argentina and Chile have each strongly criticized the U.K. due to the British government’s plans to extend their sovereignty over Antarctic seabeds. The territory is very valuable because of its vast oil and gas reserves, yet all three countries have issued previous claims over the land.

Argentine foreign minister Jorge Taiana warned that his country will try to thwart Britain by applying for sovereignty over the ocean floor around Antarctica as well as the Falkland Islands.

Meanwhile, Chile's Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Britain should honor the 1959 Antarctic Treaty that prohibits extracting fuels in the Antarctic:

Chile "reiterates its full adherence to the purposes of the Antarctic Treaty and is confident that they will continue to rule the actions of all member countries," the communique said. Extracting fuels in Antarctica is currently prohibited by the treaty.

Despite the opposition (including from environmentalists), a spokesperson from Britain’s Foreign Office defended the claim as a “safeguard (to) our interests”.

Image- Telegraph.co.uk

Sources- Reuters, International Herald Tribune, The Latin Americanist, Guardian UK