There's a lot of news today and there's some people to bid farewell to. But, first the News.Iran has missed its deadline. One can't help but wonder if Iran would really have kept it. UN Resolution 1696 called for Iran to end its Uranium enrichment program or else face economic sanctions. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said "cannot dissuade Iranians from their decision to make progress". It appears that Iran never listened to begin with. The country remains unpopular throughout the globe. However, currently Iran's "stock" is high in the Middle East. It backs Hezbollah, who, though a terrorist group, also run social programs. Its program is supposedly to start a nuclear energy program which will help the expanding economy. According to the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), it gets most of its nuclear materials through the black market and runs secret, or, clandestine, experiments.
The United Nations has passed a resolution to create a peacekeeping force to head to Sudan. Sudan has been reluctant to accept such aid except from the African Union. Resolution 1706 was sponsored by the United States and the United Kingdom. It passed with a vote of 12-0. Russia, China and Qater abstained (courteously). Sudan rejected the resolution citing a violation of their sovereignty. Had Sudan accepted it, it calls for 17,300 military personnel to be deployed but supervised by some civilian organization and an additional 3,300 police personnel. This is an effort to strengthen the United Nations Mission in Sudan. The press release and full text of the resolution can be read here. Many of the atrocities that have become synonymous with Darfur continue despite African Union presence.
Ten bombs exploded simultaneously in Yala, Thailand, 600 miles south of Bangkok. The bombs detonated at eight banks. One person was killed and 18 injured as part of ongoing violence from Islamic seperatists. Southern Thailand has three provinces, Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat, that have a Muslim majority. The rest of the country is largely Buddhist. 1,300 people have died due to sectarian violence since January 2004.
Though this item is old, ever so old, its pertinent. Five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor are being held in Libya. They have been tried once for intentionally infected 426 children with the HIV virus in the late '90's. They were convicted in December 2005 and sentenced to death only for the Supreme Court to overturn the convictions and demand a retrial. The accused claim they were tortured to confess. Libya has said the nurses could go free if Bulgaria compensated Libya in the amount of €4.4 Billion, or, $5.5 Billion. Bulgaria (understandibly) has rejected this idea. It has been joined by other nations such as the United States in offering an aid fund. Fifty of the affected children have since died. The outbreak that the nurses were there for was underway before they arrived in Libya. Is the Palestinian going to have a country back him?
Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, has stated that he supports Syrian President in opposition to "imperialist aggresion", namely, US intervention. Chavez was in Syria signing energy deals and has also visited Malaysian and Iran in recent weeks. At the beginning of the Israeli-Lebanese conflict, Chavez withdrew Venezuela's ambassador from Israel.
Nadim Injaz, a Palestinian, was arrested by Israeli commandos after they stormed into the UK embassy in Tel Aviv. The man was there seeking asylum and claiming that he would be killed by other Palestinians. Israelis refused to help him. The man threatened to kill himself on TV if he was not granted asylum.
In Norway, Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' and 'Madonna' have been recovered after nearly two years since they were stolen. Three men were convicted and sentenced to eight years' prison time in May. The paintings were stolen on August 22, 2004, at gunpoint. How the police recovered the paintings has not been made public. A police spokesman said "out of consideration of police working methods, it will be hard to give details about how the operation was carried out". How very European.
A Muslim leader in Tanzania has said that the beach party to be held September 2nd in honor of the late Freddie Mercury's birthday should be banned. Mercury, lead singer of British rock band Queen and gay, was born in Zanzibar. Azan Khalid of Zanzibar's Association for Islamic Mobilization and Propagation said that his homosexuality violates Islamic principles. He even went so far as to say "that's why he was branded a Queen". (I can't help but chuckle a little over this. Ok, I'm chuckling a lot.) Mercury, whose real name was Farrokh Bulsara, was of Indian Parsi descent and not a Muslim. Though he was not religious, he was by heritege, a Zoroastrianism.
Here in the US, Tropical Storm Ernesto has restrengthened in the Atlantic Ocean. Though it has not regained hurricane status it is very close. Currently, its packing winds of 70mph. There have been reports of half a foot of rain falling in North Carolina. Landfall is expected to occur somewhere near Sunset Beach, North Carolina. However, this is very southern North Carolina and so it could therefore, be right at the border between the two Carolinas. After coming ashore, it is expected to track north along the Eastern seaboard.
Mexico deals with Hurricane John as well. After beating up mainlaind Mexico as a category 4 hurricane, it now heads toward Baja California and Los Cabos as a category 3 storm (it has winds of at least 125 mph). The government ordered 10,00 local residents into shelters. Mexicans have been less than accomodating and seem to slowly concede the hurricane will hit them.
Politically, there has been a shake up. On August 8th of this year, Joe Lieberman, Democratic Senator from Connecticut, conceded defeat in that state's Democratic primary ot challenger Ned Lamont. Some have said the reason for his defeat was the "kiss of death" he received from President Bush during the president's entrance for the 2005 State of the Union address. Regardless, Lieberman, an observant Jew and former Vice Presidential candidate, has decided to continue his campaign as a Independant. This has led to chilly receptions from other Senators. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to say he has been abandoned. In addition to this congressional matter, there are questions about what this means to any future Presidential campaigns.
Lockheed Martin was awarded a contract from NASA to build the Orion vehicle. This new fleet would replace the aging and ailing shuttle fleet in 2010. The vehicles won't fly until 2014, however. Lockheed beat Northrop Grumman and Boeing for the multi-million dollar contract.
In Local News (for me), Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was convicted after three and 1/2 hours of deliberation in the 2003 kidnapping and death of college student Dru Sjodin. She went to school at the University of North Dakota.
Salman Khan (सलमान ख़ान), Bollywood superstar (and very VERY goodlooking man) has said that the Media is responsible for his negative image of late. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in prison for illegally hunting a chinkara (black buck), an endangered species. He also is awaiting trial for another case of killing the same species in a trip to Rajasthan in 1998. He also is to be tried for a 2002 reckless driving incident where one person died and three people were injured when he drove onto a sidewalk in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) where people were sleeping. He's even been accused of beating his ex-girlfriend and 1994 Miss World, Aishwarya Rai (ऐश्वर्या राय).
Today on CBS, Bob Schieffer stepped down from his interim position as the anchor of CBS Evening News. He has filled the post for 18 months since Dan Rather's early retirement amid the National Guard records scandal. He has served his post well and helped turn around the flagging network's credibilty. He retains to his Washington post and hosting of CBS' Face the Nation. His tenure anchoring the evening news has been one of the best in recent years especially after the acsenses of the Big Three: Peter Jennings, Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw.
Glenn Ford, born Gwyllyn Samuel Newton Ford, legendary actor and Naval Reservist died yesturday at the age of 90. He'd been in such films as "The Blackboard Jungle", "Cimmaron", "Midway", "The Courtship of Eddie's Father", "Superman" and "Fate is the Funter". "Gilda", with Rita Heyworth, helped reintroduce him to American audiances after his lengthy time away serving in World War II. He remained in the service in reserve capacity and rose to the rank of Captain during all those years. He never won an Oscar but he should've. The above quote is attributed to him.
Nine years ago today, Princess Diana died in a car addident in Paris. Her death still affects many around the globe and has become a touchstone in many lives. (I, myself, tear up a little as I write this.) She forever changed the way we view royalty. She will always be missed.
On this day in 1994, the Provisional Irish Republican Army declared a cease-fire. This did not last and hostilities resumed in 1996. In July 2005, PIRA announced it would no longer pursue an armed campaign.
Just last year, 1,199 people were killed in a stampede on the Al-Aaimmah bridge in Baghdad. Shiite pilgrims were on the bridge when a rumor spread of suicide bombers. During the stampede, the iron railings fell off and many fell into the Tigris river. The Bridge links the staunchly Sunni area of Adhamiya on the east bank of the Tigris and the Shia area of Kadhimiya on the west bank.
On this day back in 1897, Thomas Edison patents his kinetoscope, the first movie projecter.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment