Peruvian Doctor Killed in Kenya Massacre

Sixty-three-year-old Peruvian doctor Juan Ortiz-Iruri was one of the dozens of people killed at a massacre that took place over the weekend at a Kenyan shopping mall.

The former tropical disease specialist for UNICEF and the World Bank resided in Africa and had been living in Kenya for the past two years.  Prior to Ortiz-Iruri’s retirement, he had been working in maternal and childcare and development in Kenya with the aim of helping the country reach its Millennium Development Goals.

Ortiz-Iruri was days away from travelling to the England in order to take a full-time post as senior technical advisor at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine’s Centre for Maternal Health (CMNH).

“All at CMNH have been affected by Juan’s death under such shocking circumstances. He had dedicated his professional life to improving health systems in Africa and Asia, particularly in the area of maternal, child and newborn health,” said CMNH head Professor Nynke van den Broek.

“Juan had worked with us on a range of maternal and new-born health programs for some time from his base in Nairobi and we were all looking forward to welcoming him as a full time member of staff in Liverpool later this week,” van den Broek added in remarks to the Liverpool Echo.

Two of Ortiz-Iruri’s sons have travelled to Nairobi in order to collect the body of their father and the family hopes to bury the corpse in his native Cusco.  This may be a challenge, however, since Peru does not have an embassy or consulate in Kenya.

World Watch: Court-ing Kenyatta

* Kenya: African leaders called on the International Criminal Court to transfer charges of human rights abuses against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to that country’s legal system.

* Australia: Cardinal George Pell, Australia’s top Catholic Church official, publicly apologized for the cover up decades of sexual abuse by priests against children.

* Syria: European Union nations are reportedly undecided over whether or not to sell weapons to Syrian rebels.

* Iraq: At least fifty people were killed when a series of bombs exploded in several areas of the capital city of Baghdad.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English 

Online Sources – ABC News; BBC News; The Guardian; Al Jazeera English

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* U.S.: A private service is planned on Friday for Neil Armstrong, the pioneering astronaut who was the first man to walk on the moon, after he died on Saturday at the age of 82.

* Syria: Opposition activists claimed that at least sixty-two people were killed near Damascus as part of a military jet offensive.

* Russia: Lawyers appealed the recent conviction of three members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot who face two years in prison for performing an anti-government song at a Moscow Orthodox church.

* Kenya: Violent protests have taken place in Mombasa after “radical Islamist preacher” Sheikh Aboud Rogo died in an apparent extrajudicial killing.

Video Source– YouTube via Associated Press

Online Sources – CBS News, Christian Science Monitor, Reuters, Huffington Post

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: Money, money, money

* World: Stock markets around the world surged on Thursday reportedly due to investor optimism over a deal aimed at halting Europe's sovereign debt crisis.

* Kenya: Are representatives of “extremist group Al-Shabaab” seeking negotiations with the Kenyan government?

* Middle East: Twenty-six people including an alleged spy were involved in a prisoner swap between Israel and Egypt.

* Asia: Japanese insurance companies could pay as much as $2.5 billion to clients in flood-ravaged Thailand.

Image – Via Flickr user Stefan (“Tokyo Stock Exchange.”) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- The Telegraph, CNN, Reuters, Bloomberg

World Watch: Smoke screen

* World: A recently released study found that tobacco companies knew for decades that cigarette smoke contains radioactive and possible carcinogenic particles.

* Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah reportedly overturned a sentence against a woman who was convicted of breaking the country’s law banning female drivers.

* U.S.: According to new government data unemployment claims hit its lowest point in five months and second quarter growth was larger than initially anticipated.

* Kenya: Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta rejected charges of crimes against humanity at a preliminary hearing at the International Criminal Court.

Image – Flickr via user eschipul (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- USA TODAY, CBS News, CBC News, BBC News

World Watch: Good night Wangari

* Kenya: Rest in peace Wangari Maathai; the environmental activist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient died at the age of 71 on Monday.

* Middle East: The U.N. Security Council will start holding meetings on Wednesday to decide on the recognition of Palestinian statehood to the global body.

* Italy: A senior member of the Catholic Church blasted the Italian political class for numerous scandals that have implicated top officials.

* China: A pair of Tibetan monks set themselves on fire in protest against the Chinese government's policies.

Image – The Guardian

Online Sources- CNN, BBC News, New York Times, CBC News

World Watch: Good luck Goodluck

* Nigeria: Incumbent Goodluck Jonathan was declared the winner of the country’s presidential election amid riots in several northern cities.

* Burkina Faso: A jailed student who died under mysterious circumstances in February has served as the catalyst for unrest including a mutiny of disgruntled soldiers.

* Syria: State Department officials denied allegations that the U.S. is trying to undermine the Syrian government by working closely with opposition groups.

* U.S.: Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai may’ve run the fastest recorded marathon in Boston but athletics officials will not certify his run as a new world record.

Image – AP via ABC News (“Nigerian incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan cast his ballot in Otuoke, Nigeria, Saturday, April 16, 2011. Nigerians chose their president in an election Saturday many hoped would show how Africa's most populous nation could hold a credible vote without the violence and rigging that marred previous ones, though children cast ballots and party officials helped others press their inked fingers to paper.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, Voice of America, Al Jazeera English, CNN

World Watch: File not found

* World: While plenty of attention has been paid to the thousands of documents revealed by WikiLeaks, the Internet site was briefly knocked out for a second straight day from a DDOS attack.

* Africa: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi blasted the WTO, World Bank, and the U.N. at the opening of the third African Union-European Union Summit in Tripoli.

* Kenya: Gay rights activists are none too pleased with allegedly homophobic remarks by Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

* Europe: The wild winter weather hit Spain and Portugal where numerous roads and schools were closed and flights were delayed.

Image – The Hindu (“Screenshot of WikiLeaks' twitter page.”)
Online Sources- CSMonitor.com, Voice of America, CNN, MSNBC

World Watch: Flash

* Japan: 74 countries including first-timers Britain, France, and the U.S. sent representatives to the official ceremonies observing the 65th anniversary of the atomic bomb drop on Hiroshima.

* France: The government’s crackdown on immigration when Saint-Etienne police started dismantling illegal Roma camps on Friday.

* Kenya: Approximately two out of three voters backed creating a new constitution that supporters argue will make Kenya more democratic.

* U.S.: Elena Kagen will reportedly be sworn in on Saturday as the latest Supreme Court justice though she is not expected to alter the tribunal’s conservative-leaning majority.

Image – Christian Science Monitor (“Girls pray after releasing a paper lantern on the Motoyasu River in remembrance of atomic bomb victims on the 65th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima Friday.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, MSNBC, Al Jazeera English, Voice of America

World Watch: Kenya’s critical vote

* Kenya: Kenyans will go to the polls on Wednesday to vote in a constitutional referendum that could bring major changes to the nation’s political landscape.

* Pakistan: President Asif Ali Zardari claimed in an interview “the international community…is in the process of losing the war against the Taliban.”

* Russia: The country’s emergency chief warned that wildfires that have already killed 34 people are “out of control” in some areas.

* Iran: The U.S. Treasury Department will impose additional sanctions on over twenty companies believed to be owned by the Iranian government.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- Xinhua, MSNBC, CNN, The Guardian

World Watch: The end before the beginning

* Georgia: Roughly twelve hours before the 2010 Winter Games opening ceremonies Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili died after crashing during a practice run.

* North Korea: Discussions over North Korea’s nuclear ambitions may resume soon implied a U.N. envoy on Friday.

* Kenya: An inquiry by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that the Kenyan government misspent over $26 million originally designated to feed the country’s poor.

* Australia: An annual government report on Australia's natives concluded that indigenous children under five were twice as likely to die compared to non-indigenous infants.

Image – Guardian UK (“Nodar Kumaritashvili, of Georgia, died during practice for the luge at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Photograph: Elise Amendola/AP.”)
Online Sources- USA Today, Reuters, BBC News, MSNBC