7 stories you missed this week - Sarkozy's son, Mussolini the spy, Bribing the Taliban and more
Despite how closely you followed the balloon boy, all those attacks in Pakistan and the boobs of Meghan McCain - there was plenty of news you missed this week. Here's seven of those stories:
The French twitter-sphere has been going nuts this week over the promotion of Nicolas Sarkozy's son, Jean Sarkozy to a top job, heading up the organization that oversees the Parisian business district La Defense. Jean is 23 and hasn't yet finished his college degree. Nonetheless, his papa the President says he's qualified. Critics on Twitter have accused the government of becoming a #bananarepublique. From the NYTimes: Sarkozy defends son's nomination for plum job
A story out of history - documents released this week show that Benito Mussolini, best remembered for allying Italy with the Nazis in World War II, was actually a spy for the British during World War I. Il Duce was a journalist and was paid 100 pounds a week to persuade his countrymen not to abandon the British in their fight against Germany. From the Guardian: Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito Mussolini
Did Italy pay off the Taliban? The Times in Britain alleges that while Italian troops were stationed in Afghanistan they were paying bribes to the local Taliban to keep the peace. Last year the Italians were replaced by the French, who knew nothing of the hush money and thought they'd gotten a quiet posting. Then came a deadly ambush that killed ten troops and shocked the French public. Berlusconi's government has denied the bribes allegation. From The Times: French troops were killed after Italy hushed up 'bribes' to the Taleban
No surprise - The Bush administration didn't want the EPA to talk about climate change. But this week, the agency quietly released an actual 2007 document in which they recommended that the government take action on greenhouse gases. From the LA Times: Bush-era EPA document on climate change released
China began sentencing Xinjiang protestors this week for their involvement in the July ethnic riots. A few of those convicted were Han Chinese, but mostly they were Uighurs, the ethnic minority dominant in the province. The convictions were condemned by Uighurs living in exile abroad. From the NYTimes: Six More Sentenced to Death Over Riots in China - NYTimes.com
Background: Laura Ling on the Uighurs in Xinjiang Province: China's Wild West (Video)
It might end up being a setback for the government's efforts to punish former leaders of energy company Enron - the Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from former CEO Jeff Skilling. His defense maintains that he didn't lie to shareholders and that he couldn't have had a fair trial in Houston (where people were understandably a little pissed at Enron). From the WSJ: Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Enron's Skilling
The International Criminal Court announced this week that it would investigate recent military violence in Guinea. Meanwhile though, China signed a massive energy and mining deal with Guinea's military junta. As Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller reported in Chinatown, Africa (Video), China has been quietly making in-roads into Africa for years, not shying away from signing deals with dictators or military regimes. From the BBC: Guinea and China agree big deal
Background: Chinatown, Africa (Video)
Lastly, a suggestion from Twitter. User @aerogare wondered why a French nuclear plant had several kilograms has extra plutonium they weren't reporting. As the fight against nuclear proliferation tends to focus on former Soviet states, it's unnerving to see these sorts of problems in a developed country like France. From Deutsche Welle: French nuclear plant reveals plutonium level discrepancies
Was there a story out there this week we missed? Let us know.
This week on the Current News Blog:
- What does Karzai’s fraud mean for Afghanistan?
- Is Cuba ready for a revolution?
- Is the Large Hadron Collider being sabotaged from the future?
- Sarkozy to Gordon Brown: No Homo
- Health care reform: Is it over yet? (No, it’s not)
- Sri Lankan government to try to ride civil war victory to re-election
- California to release about 20K prisoners
The French twitter-sphere has been going nuts this week over the promotion of Nicolas Sarkozy's son, Jean Sarkozy to a top job, heading up the organization that oversees the Parisian business district La Defense. Jean is 23 and hasn't yet finished his college degree. Nonetheless, his papa the President says he's qualified. Critics on Twitter have accused the government of becoming a #bananarepublique. From the NYTimes: Sarkozy defends son's nomination for plum job
A story out of history - documents released this week show that Benito Mussolini, best remembered for allying Italy with the Nazis in World War II, was actually a spy for the British during World War I. Il Duce was a journalist and was paid 100 pounds a week to persuade his countrymen not to abandon the British in their fight against Germany. From the Guardian: Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito Mussolini
Did Italy pay off the Taliban? The Times in Britain alleges that while Italian troops were stationed in Afghanistan they were paying bribes to the local Taliban to keep the peace. Last year the Italians were replaced by the French, who knew nothing of the hush money and thought they'd gotten a quiet posting. Then came a deadly ambush that killed ten troops and shocked the French public. Berlusconi's government has denied the bribes allegation. From The Times: French troops were killed after Italy hushed up 'bribes' to the Taleban
No surprise - The Bush administration didn't want the EPA to talk about climate change. But this week, the agency quietly released an actual 2007 document in which they recommended that the government take action on greenhouse gases. From the LA Times: Bush-era EPA document on climate change released
China began sentencing Xinjiang protestors this week for their involvement in the July ethnic riots. A few of those convicted were Han Chinese, but mostly they were Uighurs, the ethnic minority dominant in the province. The convictions were condemned by Uighurs living in exile abroad. From the NYTimes: Six More Sentenced to Death Over Riots in China - NYTimes.com
Background: Laura Ling on the Uighurs in Xinjiang Province: China's Wild West (Video)
It might end up being a setback for the government's efforts to punish former leaders of energy company Enron - the Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal from former CEO Jeff Skilling. His defense maintains that he didn't lie to shareholders and that he couldn't have had a fair trial in Houston (where people were understandably a little pissed at Enron). From the WSJ: Supreme Court to Hear Appeal of Enron's Skilling
The International Criminal Court announced this week that it would investigate recent military violence in Guinea. Meanwhile though, China signed a massive energy and mining deal with Guinea's military junta. As Vanguard's Mariana van Zeller reported in Chinatown, Africa (Video), China has been quietly making in-roads into Africa for years, not shying away from signing deals with dictators or military regimes. From the BBC: Guinea and China agree big deal
Background: Chinatown, Africa (Video)
Lastly, a suggestion from Twitter. User @aerogare wondered why a French nuclear plant had several kilograms has extra plutonium they weren't reporting. As the fight against nuclear proliferation tends to focus on former Soviet states, it's unnerving to see these sorts of problems in a developed country like France. From Deutsche Welle: French nuclear plant reveals plutonium level discrepancies
Was there a story out there this week we missed? Let us know.
This week on the Current News Blog:
- What does Karzai’s fraud mean for Afghanistan?
- Is Cuba ready for a revolution?
- Is the Large Hadron Collider being sabotaged from the future?
- Sarkozy to Gordon Brown: No Homo
- Health care reform: Is it over yet? (No, it’s not)
- Sri Lankan government to try to ride civil war victory to re-election
- California to release about 20K prisoners
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- Afghanistan News, news blog
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- Climate Change, China, Global Warming, Afghanistan, 33 more
