World Watch: Lubanga Behind Bars

* Congo: The International Criminal Court sentenced Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga to fourteen years in prison for recruiting child soldiers in his rebel army a decade ago.

* U.S.: A Reuters/Ipsos poll found that President Barack Obama has a six-point lead over likely Republican candidate Mitt Romney while both candidates are tied according to a separate Washington Post-ABC News poll.

* Syria: United Nations special envoy Kofi Annan is seeking global consensus on a peace plan aimed at ending widespread violence in Syria.

* Spain: The European Union backed a “soft bailout” of Spain that could include pushing for pension reform, cuts in public spending and a sales tax increase.

Video Source– YouTube via International Criminal Court

Online Sources – The Guardian, Voice of America, ABC News, Reuters, Christian Science Monitor

World Watch: Say Hi to the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

* Russia: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may’ve won a landslide victory in presidential elections Sunday but he still faces strong opposition in the form of street protests.

* Congo: According to the local media at least 246 people died as a result of a series of explosions in arms depots at the capital city of Brazzaville.

* Syria: The U.N.’s Human Rights Office claimed to have video showing patients being tortured at a military hospital in the besieged city of Homs.

* U.S.: A Texas court convicted financier Allen Stanford for running a multibillion-dollar pyramid scheme.

Video Source– YouTube via Reuters

Online Sources – Voice of America, Associated Press, Reuters, ABC News

World Watch: Persona Non Grata

* Sudan: Kenya’s ambassador to Sudan was expelled as a possible retaliation for a Kenyan high court decision ordering the arrest of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

* Africa: Thousands of Egyptians peacefully participated in parliamentary elections on Tuesday while opposition presidential candidates in Congo called for the annulment of Monday’s elections.

* Iran: Protestors allegedly “ransacked offices” at the British embassy in Tehran as part of their opposition to additional financial sanctions placed on Iran by the U.K.

* U.S.: The owner of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus agreed to pay a $270,000 fine as part of a settlement in an animal rights case.

Image Source – Flickr user Al Jazeera English (Sudanese president Omar al Bashir, seen here in this January 2011 photo, is wanted by the International Criminal Court in the Hague for alleged war crimes in Darfur). (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- CNN, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, BBC News

World Watch: Women's worth

* Congo: Thousands of women marched against sexual attacks days after a report claimed that 15,000 Congolese women were raped in 2009.

* Germany: Will Chancellor Angela Merkel’s claims that German multiculturalism has "failed utterly" mark a shift in immigration policy?

* Philippines: Villagers in low-lying areas have fled for higher and safer grounds due to worries over Super Typhoon Megi.

* Australia: Mother Mary MacKillop, a nun who in the 19th-century denounced sexual abuse by priests, will become Australia’s first Catholic saint.

Image – BBC News (“Many women carried banners with slogans such as ‘No to sexual terrorism’.”)
Online Sources- Xinhua, CNN, Reuters, The Guardian

World Watch: Recognition

* China: Human rights activists worldwide celebrated the awarding of this year's Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese political dissident Liu Xiaobo.

* Hungary: At least seven people are dead after 184 million gallons of toxic sludge swept through several villages and reached the Danube River.

* Middle East: The Arab League gave its conditional support of stalled peace negotiations between leaders of the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

* Congo: The International Criminal Court will resume its trial against a Congolese militia leader accused of recruiting child soldiers.

Online Sources - The Guardian, MSNBC, BBC News, CNN
Image - BBC News (Protesters have called on the Chinese government to release imprisoned dissident and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo).

World Watch: Building blocks

* World: The 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was given to three scientists in recognition of their groundbreaking work on carbon atom binding.

* Afghanistan: Afghani offices denied reports suggesting that the government has engaged in “high-level talks” with the Taliban.

* Indonesia: At least 64 people died and an estimated 3000 were displaced as a result of flash flooding and hard rainfall.

* Congo: Authorities arrested a rebel commander whose troops raped over 300 Congolese villagers approximately two months ago.

Image – Christian Science Monitor (“The winners of the 2010 Nobel Prize for chemistry are announced Wednesday in Stockholm, Sweden: Richard Heck, Ei-ichi Negishi, and Akira Suzuki.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, CNN, The Guardian, Al Jazeera English

World Watch: Asleep at the switch

* Congo: A preliminary report from the U.N. found that peacekeepers “failed” to protect residents of an eastern Congo town where over 300 people were raped by militia troops.

* India: Organizers of the Commonwealth Games in India have come under scrutiny for a myriad of problems from shoddy construction of venues to the use of child labor.

* Iran: President Barack Obama blasted his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for suggesting that the U.S. government may have been behind the 9/11 attacks.

* Asia: Relations between Japan and China are expected to improve after Japanese authorities released a detained Chinese fisherman.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- The Telegraph, Voice of America, AFP, CNN

World Watch: Fool’s (black) gold

* U.S.: Several Gulf Coast states are preparing for the landfall of a growing oil slick caused by an offshore rig that exploded last week.

* World: Monday’s nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference at the U.N. was marked by harsh words between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

* India: A Pakistani militant accused of collaborating in 2008's deadly attacks in Mumbai was convicted by an Indian tribunal.

* Congo: According to the U.N. the Lord's Resistance Army rebels killed 100 villagers in northern Congo two months ago.

Image – CBS News (“Workers line up orange boom getting it ready to load on boats Sunday, May 2, 2010 on Dauphin Island, Ala.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, BBC News, Voice of America, MSNBC