Welcome to the Global Current, your window to the world. Today we have reports on cap and trade legislation with Chris Sprague and a report on the suicide of Germany’s star goalkeeper with Frank Valente.
Headline Anchors:
Renee Callendar & Quemars Ahmed
The Americas
Alleged 9/11 suspects to be tried in New York
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four others will be tried in a court near Ground Zero. They are being accused of helping finance and plan the 9/11 attacks. The US Attorney-General is trying to push prosecutors to seek the death penalty. T This decision means that civilian prosecutors will handle the detainees, marking further progress in the Obama administrations’ desire to close down the Guantanamo prison. There has been no specific date given for the trial, but it has been stipulated that Congress needs at least 45 days’ notice before the accused can be brought into the United States. This notification stems from opposition from some critics about the trial. They worry that the suspects may be an unnecessary risk to the citizens of New York.Obama administration meets border protection milestones; paves way for immigration reform in 2010
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Friday that the Obama administration has successfully met deadlines set by Congress in 2007 to improve border security. Napolitano announced an improved Border Patrol force of more than 20,000 agents, and over 600 miles of border fence construction. The improvements were seen as necessary prerequisites for Obama to push immigration reform in 2010.
Power restored in Brazil after blackouts
On Tuesday, electricity from Brazil’s Itaipu dam was interrupted, resulting in 18 of Brazil's 26 states being left without power. This blackout left entire cities such as Sao Paulo and Rio di Janeiro in chaos, as hundreds were trapped in elevators and subways, trains, and buses all stopped running. The only light that could be seen was from headlights of cars that were stuck in standstill traffic throughout the cities. Medical emergencies, robberies, and looting also resulted from the blackout, according to police. Direct general Jorge Samek, whose agency runs the Itaipu dam, said the power failure was not due to the hydroelectric plant at the dam, but rather blamed it on the Brazilian power delivery system. Power was restored to much of central and Southern Brazil early Wednesday morning. The Middle East
First female football game in the West Bank
On Friday, a historic match took place at the Faisal al Husseini football stadium in the West Bank, were Palestinians gathered to watch the women's national team play Jordan in their first ever home international. In honor of this rare occasion, both teams ran laps before the start of the football game, which has been widely criticized by social conservatives as a man’s sport. Attempts to bring a women’s national team to Kuwait have outraged the country, with the Hardline Kuwaiti Islamist Military Police known as Waleed al Tabtabae determining that a women’s football team was “un-Islamic. Tabtabae told the Kuwait Times quote "Committee members expressed their indignation...and total rejection of the idea of the women's football team on the grounds that football is not suitable for women," Tabtabae told the Kuwait Times.” End quote. It is estimated that more than 10,000 women flocked to the stadium to watch the historic game.
While the Obama administration continues to debate the fate of troops in Afghanistan and Germany announced a decrease in its troop commitment, British PM Gordon Brown calls for 5000 more soldiers from the involved powers. Brown told BBC that he is attempting to pressure allies into sharing the load as a response to growing criticism from British public opinion. Within the 43 country alliance, Britain is the second highest contributor with 9,000 troops in Afghanistan.
Palestinian officials working to delay elections
Palestinian officials announced that presidential and parliamentary elections will not be held on the scheduled date in January. Officials claim that voting cannot be held because Hamas, a militant group in Gaza, will not let them begin making preparations for the race. This comes as no surprise, as Hamas has previously asserted that it will bar voting because of dissidence between the group and current president Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction. The likely postponement reflects most accurately the prevailing discord between Palestinian factions since Hamas routed Fatah via deadly conflict in 2007.
German man given life sentence for stabbing pregnant Egyptian woman
In Asia
Obama begins first trip to Asia
President Obama left for Japan this Friday for an eight day trip through Asia. The trip, which will be the president’s first official visit to the region, is intended to bolster economic expansion in the region and will include a visit to the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit in China. The president’s visit to Tokyo comes only months after pivotal Japanese elections saw the long standing liberal democratic party fall to the less American friendly Democratic party , and will serve as a test of Japanese-American relations.
China has been accused of running an extensive network illegal detention centers designed to combat internal dissent, according to the NGO Human rights watch. The report, which the group released this Thursday, claims that prisoners in these ‘black jails’ suffered numerous abuses including intimidation and torture. Chinese officials deny the allegation.
Cambodia and Indonesia expel diplomats in row
Cambodia and Indonesia each expelled their top diplomats from the other nation after Cambodia accepted ousted Indonesian Prime Minister as an economic advisor. Dr. Thanksin Shinawatra was ousted from power in 2006 after a military coup. The de facto government in Indonesia has sentenced Dr Shinawatra in Abstentia to two years in prison and has demanded Cambodia hand him over to Indonesian authorities.
In Africa
Food aid falls short for the Somalis
U.S. citizen sues over alleged violations in his constitutional rights
A man filed a suit on Tuesday claiming that while he was held captive in Kenya in 2007 at the request of the United States, FBI agents used interrogation and rendition tactics that violated his basic rights. Amir Meshal was visiting Somalia in 2006 to “enrich his study of Islam” when fighting broke out. While fleeing the fighting, he was picked up and held in crowded cells and threatened and coerced into signing documents. He was released with aid from a Kenyan human rights group. Given the controversy surrounding Guantanamo Bay and the United States use of interrogation tactics, Meshal’s case comes at a significant time.
Scientists declare in a new report published November 3rd that there has been a 26 percent decline in the horizontal and depth measurements of the ice caps located on top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. The scientists discovered through observation that 85 percent of the ice that was present in 1912 has vanished. Although inquiries of global warming have been brought up, most believe that a decline in moisture levels has caused the decrease.
Surveillance boats aid in the capture of 12 Somali Pirates by the French Navy
The French Navy seized three boats and captured 12 alleged pirates Friday, November 13th. The Floreal surveillance boat backed by the Luxemburg maritime surveillance plan, intercepted a pirate ship and two skiffs off the coast of Somalia. Through Thursday’s operations backed by the EU’s anti-piracy mission, French soldiers were able to seize rifles, rocket launchers, and other weaponry.
In Europe
Irish Priest freed in Southern Philippines
Russia plans to reform economy
President Dmitry Mededev called for significant reform of the Russian economy in his annual state of the nation address. He said that Russia’s survival is dependent upon a rapid modernization based on democratic institutions, since the Soviet model no longer works. Mededev stressed that the economy should be reworked with hi-tech investments and that issues of accountability and transparency need to be addressed. He also promised to strengthen democratic institutions and work to rid the government of corruption.
U.S. officials have issued a travel alert in Germany this Thursday in response to threatening messages from al Qaeda posted in recent months. The videos posted by al Qaeda threatened terrorist attacks on Germany, specifically on the German federal elections. The travel alert urges Americans in Germany to stay aware of news reports and to consider extra security measures when travelling.
Eleven on trial over alleged Barcelona terror plot
Eleven suspected Islamic militants are now on trial in Madrid, charged with plotting suicide attacks on Barcelona’s metro in 2008. Police arrested the suspects in January of 2008 before the attacks could take place. Defense attorneys in Madrid have a weak case since there was no bomb found in Barcelona or elsewhere throughout Europe, where later attacks were suspected as well.
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