World Watch: Liar, Liar

* U.S.: Disgraced cycling champion Lance Armstrong reportedly admitted that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France.

* Mali: Defense chiefs of several western African countries will back the deployment of thousands of troops aimed at defeating Islamist rebels in Mali.

* Syria: An International Rescue Committee report found that Syria’s humanitarian crises is worsening as a result of female refugees escaping from rape and other forms of sexual abuse.

* Pakistan: Ten of thousands of people in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad participated in anti-government protests.

Video Source– YouTube via user jchau (Lance Armstrong featured in this 2001 Nike ad where he tried to downplay rumors of doping).
 
Online Sources – USA TODAY, Reuters, NPR, Christian Science Monitor

Daily Headlines: March 14, 2012

* Mexico: The members of Los Tigres Del Norte were declared persona non grata by officials in the capital of Chihuahua state due to their narcocorrido songs.

* Cuba: Reporters Without Borders named Cuba one of its “Enemies of the Internet” for several reasons including police harassment of bloggers and limited access to online resources.

* Haiti: A Pakistani military court sentenced two U.N. troops to one year in prison for the rape of a Haitian boy.

* Latin America: A Costa Rican man accused of masterminding the 2011 attack that killed Argentine singer Facundo Cabral was deported last night to Guatemala.

Video Source – YouTube via LosTigresNorteVEVO

Online Sources- CBC News, Voice of America, BBC News, NPR

Weekend World Watch: The Long Road Ahead in Yemen

* Yemen: At least twenty-six people were killed in a car bombing that occurred hours after Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi was sworn in as the country’s new president.

* Italy: Judges dismissed the bribery case against former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi though he continues to face charges of corruption and sex with an underage prostitute.

* Pakistan: Authorities began demolishing the residence where U.S. special forces killed ex-Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden last year.

* Afghanistan: NATO withdrew its personnel working in Afghan ministries in Kabul after two U.S. officers were killed amid heavy protests.

Video Source– YouTube via Al Jazeera English

Online Sources – USA TODAY, Reuters, BBC News, Bloomberg

World Watch: The Long Arm of the Law

* Ivory Coast: Ex-president Laurent Gbagbo was arrested and flown to the Netherlands where he awaits trial in front of the International Criminal Court.

* Britain: Hundreds of thousands of public employees took to the streets to protest against government-backed austerity measures.

* Pakistan: The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff “publicly and categorically” rejected accusations that NATO purposely killed 24 Pakistani soldiers over the weekend.

* Palestine: Iceland became the first western European country to recognize Palestine as an independent state.

Image Source – Flickr via Alkan de Beaumont Chaglar (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Online Sources- Reuters, USA TODAY, MSNBC, Herald Sun

Weekend World Watch: Change for India

* India: Anti-corruption activist Anna Hazare said that he will end his thirteen-day hunger strike after the Indian parliament agreed to his main demands.

* World: International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde urged governments to "act now" in order to avoid "seeing the fragile recovery derailed."

* Pakistan: According to an unnamed "senior Obama administration official" Al Qaeda's second-in-command was killed in a raid in Pakistan.

* Japan: Prime Minister Naoto Kan resinged from his post amidst dismal approval ratings and anger over the government's handling of March's earthquake and tsunami.

Online Sources - BBC News, CBS News, Reuters
Image Source - AP via New York Times ("A girl waved an Indian flag and another sang a patriotic song beside Anna Hazare, who was on a hunger strike in New Delhi against corruption.")

World Watch: War$

* U.S.: Spending on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as operations in Pakistan could cost nearly $4 trillion according to a study by Brown University researchers.

* China: A lawyer for recently freed artist Al Weiwei said that he would appeal a $1.85 million tax bill sent by authorities.

* Libya: French officials admitted that they’ve sent weapons to Libyan rebels despite the possibility that such actions would break a U.N. resolution.

* Greece: The parliament approved a staunch austerity plan that could lead to a joint E.U./International Monetary Fund bailout.

Image – Al Jazeera English
Online Sources- Voice of America, MSNBC, Reuters, The Guardian

World Watch: Absent but not forgotten

* China: Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo was awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize in absentia though his recognition may help advance the human rights movement in his native country.

* Spain: The non-profit Qatar Foundation will pay $225 million as part of a sponsorship deal with soccer powerhouse F.C. Barcelona.

* Pakistan: A pair of newspapers confessed to being duped by a fake Wikileaks report critical of the Indian military.

* Nigeria: On a related note, a statement from Pfizer rejected a cable uncovered by Wikileaks claiming that the pharmaceutical giant used "dirty tricks” against a former Nigerian attorney general.

Image – AP via NPR (“Nobel Commitee chairman Thorbjorn Jagland sits next to an empty chair with the Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma during a ceremony honoring Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo at city hall in Oslo, Norway Friday Dec. 10, 2010. Liu, a democracy activist, is serving an 11-year prison sentence in China on subversion charges brought after he co-authored a bold call for sweeping changes to Beijing's one-party communist political system.”)
Online Sources- CNN, The Guardian, BBC News

World Watch: Baby steps?

* Middle East: Some progress was made this week yet plenty of obstacles still remain to be tackled in future discussions between the leaders of Israel and Palestine.

* Portugal: Six men including a former TV presenter were sentenced after being convicted of child sex abuse at an orphanage.

* New Zealand: No major damages have been reported in a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that shook New Zealand.

* Pakistan: At least 53 people were killed when a bomb exploded at a political rally in southwestern Pakistan.

Image – CNN (“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas make a public display before Hillary Clinton.”)
Online Sources- CNN, BBC News, Voice of America, Christian Science Monitor

World Watch: Relief?

* Pakistan: According to emergency officials floodwaters in southern Pakistan have started to recede yet millions of people continue to be affected by the adverse conditions.

* North Korea: The White House broadened sanctions against people and entities that support North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

* Somalia: Four African Union peacekeeping troops were killed by a mortar attack in Mogadishu.

* France: Despite growing international condemnation French authorities will continue with the deportation of illegal Roma residents.

Image – PRESS TV
Online Sources- BBC News, CNN, MSNBC, Xinhua

World Watch: Gridlock

* China: A “mini-economy” of food vendors and “opportunists” has grown amidst a 60-mile traffic jam that has lasted almost two straight weeks.

* Pakistan: Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis continue to be stranded and in dire need of help as floodwaters continue to rise.

* U.S.: The Wikileaks website published a February 2010 C.I.A. report that examined how nations could view the U.S. as an "exporter of terrorism".

* Afghanistan: 55 people including 49 schoolgirls were treated in a Kabul hospital after supposedly being poisoned.

Image – The Guardian (“A cleaner picks up waste beside the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway in north China's Hebei province. Roadworks are blamed for causing the 60-mile jam that has lasted 10 days. Photograph: Alexander F. Yuan/AP”)
Online Sources- Vancouver Sun, The Guardian, BBC News, CBC

World Watch: Wipeout

* World: At least 300,000 people were evacuated due to a series of floods in parts of China while recovery efforts have just begun in flood-ravaged Pakistan.

* Middle East: With key peace talks coming up next week Israeli and Palestinian representatives have been quarreling over issues such as security concerns and settlements.

* Australia: Leaders of the country’s two main political coalitions are forced to seek political alliances after neither group won a majority of parliamentary seats in Saturday’s elections.

* Philippines: Eight people including seven hostages died after a former police officer briefly took control of bus filled with Chinese tourists in Manila.

Image – The Guardian (“A road along the Yalu river which was destroyed by a flash flood. Four people have been killed and more than 100,000 evacuated in the border region between China and North Korea. Photograph: Jacky Chen/ Reuters Photograph: Jacky Chen/Reuters.”)
Online Sources- Reuters, CNN, The Age, BBC News, CBC

World Watch: Pakistan needs help!

* Pakistan: Relief for flood-ravaged Pakistan has been slow to arrive and the humanitarian situation could worsen according to several aid agencies.

* Iraq: At least sixty people were killed when a suicide bomber exploded near a military installation in Baghdad.

* Japan: The government could consider an additional stimulus that “is likely to involve reallocating funds rather than new spending.”

* Russia: A Romanian diplomat detained and charged with spying on Russia has been ordered to leave for his native country.

Image – The Guardian
Online Sources- MSNBC, Reuters, CNN, Bloomberg,

World Watch: The cutting edge

* Ethiopia: Scientists have discovered a set of bones that may have been used to cut meat 3.4 million years ago, nearly 80,000 years earlier than previously believed.

* North Korea: World soccer governing body FIFA will investigate alleged abuses against players and the coach of North Korea’s World Cup squad.

* Pakistan: U.N. officials are seeking $460 million in international aid for thousands of victims in flood-ravaged areas of Pakistan.

* Iraq: Eleven people including eight Iraqi soldiers were killed in an attacked by presumed insurgents.

Image – The Guardian
Online Sources- Voice of America, Globe and Mail, BBC News, Bloomberg

World Watch: Wild weather

* Pakistan: According to U.N. estimates the number of people affected by major flooding in Pakistan could exceed victims of recent natural disasters including January’s earthquake in Haiti.

* China: Over 1100 people are said to be missing after a massive mudslide in northwestern China killed over 300 residents.

* Russia: A reported 30% of Russia’s grain crops have been wiped out as a result of a heat wave affecting several areas including Moscow.

* Europe: Lastly in our weather themed World Watch at least nine people have died in central Europe as a result of flash flooding.

Image – The Telegraph (“A family takes refuge on top of a mosque while awaiting rescue from flood waters in Sanawa, a town located in the Muzaffar Ghar district of Pakistan's Punjab province”).
Online Sources- Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Xinhua

Weekend World Watch: Floating away

* Greenland: A massive ice sheet measuring around 100 square miles has broken off Greenland’s Petermann Glacier according to researchers.

* U.S.: A spokesman for the WikiLeaks website said that they will publish more classified U.S. military documents on top of files leaked last month.

* Pakistan: More rain is expected to hit flood-ravaged areas that have left roughly 1500 people dead and millions of victims affected.

* China: At least 61 miners have died in accidents so far this month including 16 in the latest incident on Friday.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- Bloomberg, New York Daily News, MSNBC, UPI

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: Drowning

* Pakistan: The death toll from major flooding in Pakistan has reached 1200 while aid organizations scramble to provide help.

* Sudan: The U.N. Security Council renewed the mandate of the mission in Darfur for an additional twelve months.

* France: Police have been accused of using “excessive force” during the removal of 150 immigrant squatters.

* Ukraine: According to a team of international scientists contamination around the Chernobyl exclusion area has led has led to a sharp decline in biodiversity.

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

World Watch: No bull? No bull!

* Spain: Catalonia became the first mainland Spanish region to ban bullfighting in a decision seen by some as a “political statement” of local independence.

* Russia: President Dmitry Medvedev signed a new law permitting Russia’s intelligence agency to detain “people suspected of preparing acts of extremism.”

* Pakistan: At least 100 people died and thousands were left homeless as a result of monsoons and heavy flooding.

* Afghanistan: Pentagon officials were none too pleased over the publishing of secret files on the Afghanistan conflict by the Wikileaks website.

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

World Watch: Tensions on the seas

* Middle East: Harsh condemnation worldwide has focused against Israel after nine people died in a military raid on ships carrying humanitarian aid to the blockaded Gaza Strip.

* Pakistan: A court removed the government ban on Facebook yet it’s reported that authorities monitor content via a “central exchange”.

* Ireland: Pope Benedict XVI appointed a panel to investigate child abuse in the Irish archdiocese.

* Africa: Economic growth and political stability are expected to be two of the main topics at the 25th Africa-France summit that opened on Monday.

Image – Newsweek (“An image from video of Israeli forces storming an aid ship bound for Gaza.”)
Online Sources- Voice of America, BBC News, AP, MSNBC

Daily Headlines: May 19, 2010

* Puerto Rico: On Tuesday the island entered a second day of a general strike against Gov. Luis Fortuño’s budget cuts including firing public workers and raising university tuition.

* Haiti: Days after about 2000 people in Port-au-Prince protested against President Rene Preval’s supposed abuse of power the leader vowed that he would step down at the end of his term in February 2011.

* Chile: A Pakistani man who was detained for five days after traces amounts of explosives were found on him claimed that his case results from "a big misunderstanding stemming from a mistaken identity."

* Latin America: Auto manufacturer General Motors posted its first profit in three years partly due to strong sales from Latin America.

Image – EPA (“Labor unions activists and students are united in an anti-government strike”.)
Online Sources- The Telegraph, AFP, The Latin Americanist, MSNBC, Global Voices Online