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: Advancing

* Libya: While rebels continue to make leeway in Tripoli the U.S. proposed that the U.N. Security Council unfreeze $1.5 billion in Libyan assets for humanitarian purposes.

* Sudan: The Sudanese army was accused of killing anti-government opponents after satellite images revealed freshly dug mass graves near the border with South Sudan.

* U.S.: Apple cofounder Steve Jobs resigned from his post as company CEO after claiming that he “could no longer meet my duties and expectations.”

* World: Researchers concluded that the climate changes such as those caused by El Niño could be a factor in civil conflicts.

Image – Hamza Turkia/XinHua/Xinhua Press/Corbis via The Guardian (“Rebels celebrate in Shuhada Square as they capture Muammar Gaddafi's Bab al-Aziziya compound in Tripoli. Other rebel fighters are advancing to (Gaddafi's hometown of) Sirte.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, The Telegraph, The Independent, BBC News, Voice of America

World Watch: Growing pains?

* Africa: The Republic of South Sudan, which will mark its independence on Saturday, reportedly faces plenty of challenges including internal strife and an uneasy relationship with its soon-to-be northern neighbor.

* U.S.: A federal appeals court ruled that the military’s "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gay soldiers should be lifted immediately.

* New Zealand: The country’s civil defense supposedly cancelled a tsunami warning that was triggered by a 7.6-magnitude earthquake roughly 500 miles away of the North Island.

* Britain: According to police, editors and other execs at the News of the World tabloid masterminded the illegally hacking of cell phones of several figures including a 13-year-old murder victim.

Image – Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian
Online Sources- CSMointor.com, MSNBC, CNN, stuff.co.nz

World Watch: Starving

* World: A study backed by Oxfam concluded that the global population “especially in the world’s poorest countries, are cutting back on the quantity or quality of the food they eat because of rising food prices.”

* U.S.: In a report to Congress, President Barack Obama claimed that the current mission in Libya doesn’t require legislative approval under the War Powers Resolution.

* Greece: Prime Minister George Papandreou brought up the possibility of stepping down in response to mass protests and a national economy in dire straits.

* Sudan: According to the U.N. and several aid workers, “dozens of people” were killed in an internal border area of Sudan.

Image – AFP via The Guardian
Online Sources- AFP, MSNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg

World Watch: Moscow massacre

* Russia: Authorities claimed that a suicide bomber was behind a "terrorist attack" at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport that killed at least 35 people on Monday.

* Tunisia: The country’s interim government could enact major cabinet changes in response to demonstrations against the previous regime under recently ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

* Sudan: Preliminary results showed that most voters in southern Sudan want their region to become an independent country.

* Indonesia: Human rights groups are upset with what they believe is a lenient punishment against three Indonesian soldiers convicted of abusing a group of Papuan villagers.

Image – Ivan Sekretarev/Associated Press via CBC (“A wounded blast victim is moved on a stretcher at Domodedovo airport in Moscow on Jan. 24, 2011.”)
Online Sources- Voice of America, New York Daily News, Xinhua, BBC News

Weekend World Watch: Unholy behavior

* Vatican: According to diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks Vatican officials were "offended” by an Irish investigation into alleged child abuse while the Holy See backed U.S. efforts in 2004 to ban “human cloning.”

* Iran: Did an Iranian women sentenced to death by stoning for the death of her husband really commit the crime as was depicted on a documentary on state-run TV or was the program government propaganda?

* Sudan: Southern Sudan’s ruling party backed independence for the region weeks before a critical referendum vote.

* China: Exports from China jumped by nearly 35% last month compared to November 2009 though the country’s trade surplus continued to grow.

Image – AP via CBS News (“Pope Benedict XVI uses a handkerchief during a canonization ceremony at the Vatican Oct. 11, 2009.”)
Online Sources- Voice of America, Reuters, BBC News, The Guardian, Al Jazeera English

World Watch: Hooligans

* Europe: The Euro 2012 soccer qualifier between Italy and Serbia in Genoa was suspended reportedly due to the disruptive antics of a group of visiting fans.

* Sudan: A 2005 peace agreement that ended Sudan's civil war is in danger of failing after talks over a disputed region ended without a resolution.

* Hungary: Could more vigilant inspectors have prevented the wave of toxic sludge that swept through several towns and killed at least eight people?

* Israel: An Israeli court convicted a Palestinian "protest leader" who organized demontstrations against a wall being erected along the West Bank.

Online Sources - Voice of America, MSNBC, BBC News, Reuters,
Image - The Guardian

World Watch: Playing with fire

* Africa: Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir could be arrested over charges of genocide and crimes against humanity during to his visit to International Criminal Court member state Chad.

* U.S.: The White House apologized for hastily dismissing an Agriculture Department employee over her racial remarks that were lifted out of context by a political website.

* Romania: The body of former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was exhumed today and will be examined by doctors to ensure that the corpse is really his.

* China: Over 700 people are dead and hundreds are still missing as a result of massive flooding throughout China.

Image – The Guardian
Online Sources- Al Jazeera English, Houston Chronicle, CBC, CNN

World Watch: Don’t copy that floppy!

* World: The end of the floppy disk seems to be forthcoming after Sony said that it would stop sales of the 3.5-inch version of those devices in Japan by 2011.

* Sudan: President Omar Hassan al-Bashir may’ve won reelection yet Human Rights Watch claimed that the elections were “marred by widespread irregularities and gross human rights violations.”

* Poland: The twin brother of recently deceased president Lech Kaczynski said that he would run for the presidency.

* Japan: Protestors in Okinawa rallied on Sunday against the massive Kadena air base that is run by the U.S. military.

Image – BBC News
Online Sources- CBC, Voice of America, ABC Online, Al Jazeera English

Weekend World Watch: Pożegnanie

* Poland: Approximately 100,000 people filled Warsaw's Pilsudski Square in remembrance of President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others killed in a plane crash one week ago.

* Sudan: International electoral observers severely criticized the lack of “standards” in Sudan’s first multi-party elections since 1986.

* U.S.: It’s never too early to speculate on who will be selected to succeed John Paul Stevens on the Supreme Court.

* Pakistan: At least 41 people died after a pair of suicide bombers detonated explosives near a Pakistani food distribution area.

Image – MSNBC (“People wait for the start of a commemoration service for late Polish President Lech Kaczynski and the other plane crash victims at the Pilsudski square in Warsaw on Saturday.”)
Online Sources- MSNBC, ABC Online, Reuters, BBC News

World Watch: Justice for Darfur

* Sudan: President Omar al-Bashir is one step closer to being put on trial for the roughly 200,000 victims of the Darfur genocide.

* U.S.: Former secretary of state Colin Powell publicly backed the repealing of the U.S. military’s "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

* Malawi: On a more discouraging note, police arrested a Malawian who put up gay rights posters while the government keeps unjustly cracking down against homosexual activity.

* Sri Lanka: Approximately 5000 protestors took to the streets of Colombo claiming that last week’s presidential elections were rigged.

Image – Huffington Post (“Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir attends a graduation ceremony at an air force academy near Khartoum, Sudan, Wednesday, March 4, 2009.”)
Online Sources- Worldfocus, CNN, Guardian UK, BBC News

World Watch: Nap Time

* World: According to a study carried out by U.S. researchers chronic sleep deprivation cannot be resolved by a night or two of very good sleeping.

* Iraq: A court sentenced eleven suspects to death over their role in a series of 2008 bombings that killed over 100 people.

* Sudan: Tensions have escalated ahead of national elections after the military and rebels clashed in the region of Darfur.

* Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has blamed the U.S. and Israel in the recent death of a prominent Iranian scientist and professor.

Image – CBC
Online Sources- UPI, BBC News, Voice of America, Reuters

US Contractor Held In Cuba

Charging development workers with espionage is a common enough practice in authoritarian states. Aside from the classic suspicion of Peace Corps Volunteers as spies, Iran, Sudan, and Nigeria have made waves for recent accusations of espionage against development workers. Generally the arrest causes a diplomatic spat and then, after receiving some concessions, the arresting country releases the "spy" to relieved family members.

With dialogue between the US and Cuba at its most active in years, Cuba may be looking for some additional leverage. The New York Times reported Saturday on the arrest of a subcontractor to a USAID-funded civil society project who was supposedly handing out computers and communications equipment "on behalf of the Obama administration." It added that it was "unclear exactly what the [man] was doing at the time he was detained."

Generally speaking, it's not a great idea to go around handing out computers and phones in a country that keeps a fairly tight lid on information going in and coming out. Still, it remains to be seen if the contractor is an innocent victim who was working within the guidelines of the program or if he was involved in illegal activity. It is interesting that this arrest comes a month after two Americans admitted to having spied for Cuba over the course of three decades.

Of course, there are no small coincidences and big coincidences; only coincidences...


Online Sources: NY Times, Miami Herald, AP, US News, BBC, Washington Post, Seinfeldscripts.com

World Watch: Gimme Shelter…revisited

* France: Several hundred illegal immigrants could be deported back to their home countries after French police bulldozed a makeshift refugee camp nicknamed “the jungle.”

* World: The United Nations General Assembly session opened on Tuesday with Chinese President Hu Jintao claiming that his country would lower carbon emissions over the next decade.

* Middle East: U.S. President Barack Obama dropped a demand to stop Israeli settlements as a concession for possible peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

* Sudan: Over eighty people were murdered in a southern Sudanese village by militia in attack blamed on the country’s federal government.

Image- AP (“Bulldozers clear the makeshift camp known as the "Jungle" after migrants were evacuated in Calais, northern France, Tuesday Sept. 22, 2009.”)
Online Sources- BBC News, CNN, Guardian UK, MSNBC, Reuters