World News Desk – November 14, 2008
Posted/Updated: 2008-12-05 19:02:11
INTERNATIONALThe World in Review
A snapshot of events around the world | Updated each Friday
1. Canada: The loonie continued to fall, closing at 80.81 cents U.S., its lowest since Oct. 28.
Article Tools
Text Size:
A A A
Printer-Friendly
Email Article-
Share
Email Updates
Contact Us
2. United States:
A uniformed Secret Service sergeant in Washington, D.C., was arrested for allegedly soliciting sex from what he believed was a prostitute, but was in reality an undercover police officer.
A study presented at a New Orleans meeting of the American Heart Association stated that many obese children and teenagers have arteries as thick and stiff as those of 45-year-olds—a severe sign that they could develop cardiovascular disease in their 20s and 30s (LA Times).
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates rejected Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s suggestion that if Washington did not scrap its plan to place 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic, then Moscow would be willing to reconsider deploying Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, Russia’s westernmost region (AP).
-
Washington announced a second bailout of American International Group. Valuing approximately $150 billion, it is the largest government support package extended to a private company in U.S. history (MarketWatch).
“The United States may be on course to lose its ‘AAA’ rating due to the large amount of debt it has accumulated, according to Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche. ‘The U.S. might really have to look at a default on the bankruptcy reorganization of the present financial system’ and the bankruptcy of the government is not out of the realm of possibility” (CNBC).
The Wall Street Journal reported that American Express, the country’s fourth largest credit card company, approached the federal government seeking $3.5 billion in government funding.
The 59-year-old electronics retailer chain Circuit City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from its creditors.
-
For the second time in a month, the federal government agreed to insure up to $139 billion in debt for lending arm General Electric Capital Corp. Co. (MarketWatch).
Detroit’s city council called for a $10-billion government bailout for the city, to be used for public service employment, funding mass transit plans and to place a moratorium on home foreclosures for two years.
Corporate chief executives warned the mayor of Chicago to expect massive layoffs around the city.
“Unemployment claims unexpectedly soared past the half-million mark last week for the first time in over seven years. Meanwhile, the U.S. trade gap narrowed sharply in September” (Wall Street Journal).
“The Postal Service ended its fiscal year $2.8 billion in the red, battered by a faltering economy that cut the amount of mail being sent. Postmaster General John Potter said the agency is making sharp cuts in hours and overtime but added there are no plans for layoffs. The mail being sent dropped by 9.5 billion items” (AP).
A Stanford University School of Medicine study found that overweight women miscarry 53% of fetuses compared to 37% for those of a healthy weight. (See related article: “Coping With Miscarriage”)
3. Uruguay: “President Tabare Vazquez’s veto of a bill partially decriminalizing abortion in Uruguay set off a storm of protests Friday by feminist organizations, criticism in the ranks of the ruling coalition and cheers from the Catholic Church…Vazquez vetoed Thursday the Law in Defense of the Right to Sexual and Reproductive Health, approved earlier this week by Congress led by the Broad Front and authorizing abortion during the first trimester in cases where the mother’s health is at risk or the family is too poor to care for a child” (Latin American Herald Tribune).
4. Ireland: In the largest drug bust in the nation’s history, authorities seized €750 million (about $950 million USD) worth of cocaine off the Irish coast.
5. United Kingdom:
A New England Journal of Medicine “study of almost 360,000 people from nine European countries found waist size a ‘powerful indicator’ of risk. Each extra 2ins (5cm) raised the chance of early death by between 13% and 17%” (BBC).
According to the Home Office, up to 13,000 people have incorrectly had offenses on their criminal record checks due to errors by the police and Criminal Records Bureau. The number is four times higher than previous estimates.
6. France: Japanese, European and U.S. economies are in a recession and are projected to continue to shrink by 0.1%, 0.5% and 0.9% respectively, during 2009, according to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
7. Germany: The world’s fourth-largest economy saw its output decline 0.5% during the third quarter and 0.4% in the second, confirming a technical recession.
8. Sweden: Carnegie, the Nordic region’s oldest and largest investment bank, became the first in the current global financial crisis to be taken over by the Swedish government. The bank is likely to be broken up and sold (Financial Times).
9. Poland: With waving flags and booming cannons, the country celebrated its 90th anniversary, marking the moment Poland emerged from the empires shattered by World War I and became a modern nation (USA Today).
10. Latvia: The government took over the nation’s second-largest bank, Parex, after it had collapsed, symbolically purchasing a controlling share of the financial institution for only two lati ($3.61 USD).
11. Syria: Diplomats said soil tests from an Israeli strike earlier this month on a Syrian site suspected of housing nuclear materials revealed traces of uranium combined with other elements necessary for developing nuclear weapons.
12. Israel:
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said it would suspend food distribution in Gaza after Israel blocked humanitarian supplies from entering the strip (The Guardian).
In Jerusalem, police stopped a mass brawl that broke out between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where traditional Christianity believes Jesus Christ was crucified.
13. Egypt: The nation’s antiquities chief announced the discovery of a 4,300-year-old pyramid belonging to Queen Sesheshet, mother of King Teti (CNN).
14. Sudan: President Omar al-Bashir announced an “immediate and unconditional” cease-fire in the war-torn western region of Darfur (VOA News).
15. Yemen: The Indian Navy successfully thwarted a pirate attack on a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden, 60 miles off the coast of Yemen. Since the beginning of the year, the region has experienced a five-fold increase in the number of pirate hijackings.
16. Russia:
“Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plans to travel this month to Cuba and Venezuela, which have increasing military and trade ties with Moscow” (AP).
Twenty people were killed and more than 21 injured when a nuclear-powered Russian Navy submarine’s fire-extinguishing system malfunctioned in the Sea of Japan, spreading poisonous gas throughout the submarine.
Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported that the Kremlin “rejected U.S. proposals aimed at easing concerns over a missile defense system in Europe and said it would try again to resolve the row once Barack Obama is in the White House.”
Regulators suspended share trading on one of the country’s main stock indexes, the MICEX, after it experienced a 6.5% drop. “Trade in Russian shares has been shifting to London traded Global Depositary Receipts during frequent suspensions in Moscow, dictated by rules imposed by the regulator to reduce volatility on Moscow increasingly illiquid stock market (Forbes).
Oil, one of Russia’s largest exports, fell to its lowest level in a year. The drop comes amidst a weakening in the ruble’s exchange rate, which has affected the nation’s stocks.
“Amid growing signs of panic in the Kremlin, the State Duma said it would meet on Friday to pass legislation that could allow Mr Putin to return to the Kremlin for 12 years…The proposal to extend the length of time a president can serve from two consecutive terms of four years to two consecutive terms of six was made by Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian leader” (Telegraph). (See related article: “Profile: Dmitry Medvedev—Russia’s New President”)
17. India:The nation strengthened its military capabilities after it successfully test fired a surface-to-surface submarine-launched ballistic missile from underneath the ground. Given that India has a “no first-use” policy, Indian officials hope the test will strengthen India’s defense abilities. (See related article: “India—A Superpower in the Making?”)
18. China:
Four hundred people in the city of Shenzhen violently protested after a policeman threw a walkie-talkie at a motorcyclist, resulting in a fatal crash.
A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake rocked the Qinghai province. No injuries were reported.
The government announced it will invest $586 billion USD into 10 major areas of the country during the next two years. The announcement caused a jump in markets and oil prices worldwide.
To enforce its one-child-per-family rule and contain China’s population of 1.3 billion citizens, authorities are set to force an abortion on a mother of two who is more than six months pregnant. (See related article: “Abortion: Woman’s Choice or Modern Holocaust?”)
19. North Korea: Officials announced that the country will close its land border with South Korea beginning in December. Since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in February, tensions between the two nations have continued to escalate, with Seoul promising to “get tough” with North Korea and Pyongyang “threatening to “reduce the South to rubble unless it stopped activists sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets” (BBC News).
20. Taiwan:
Police arrested former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian on money-laundering and corruption charges.
Amid protests, current Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou met with Chinese envoy, Chen Yunlin to sign an agreement that expands air, shipping and postal links between China and Taiwan. Following the talks, Mr. Ying-jeou said he was optimistic that a pact with China could front the way to peace between the two nations.
21. Indonesia: Three Islamic militants accused of masterminding the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, were executed by firing squad on Kambangan Island.
22. Australia:
“In a sign that financial hardship has overwhelmed many struggling families, a record 277 repossession orders were served in October, compared with an average of about 250 for the year…It is about three times the number served on home owners five years ago” (Herald Sun).
A resort near Canberra has planned a month-long hedonistic “anything goes” party to boost tourism and economic profits for the area. When asked about the risqué event, local regional mayor Val Schier said, “People in tropical north Queensland are extraordinarily creative…It is tough economic times and as long as it is with consenting adults, then there is no problem” (Reuters). (See related article: “The Immorality Explosion!”)
Scientists from the University of New South Wales and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation discovered that the tipping point for ocean acidification caused by human-induced CO2 emissions is much closer than first thought (Science Online/ABC News).
23. New Zealand: John Key, leader of the center-right National Party and son of a Holocaust refugee, was elected Prime Minister, replacing Helen Clarke.
Europe: A Pew Global Attitudes report found that a rising number of people in Spain, Poland, Russia, Germany and France admit to having unfavorable views of Jews. Meanwhile, negative opinions toward Muslims have risen in Spain, Poland, Germany, France and the United States.
International: “King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia told world leaders at a UN interfaith meeting…that terrorism is the enemy of all religions, calling for a united front to combat it and promote tolerance” (Reuters).
