Current Events for the Week of 3 October 2011
Current Events for Monday, 3 October 2011
- University of Michigan in Ann Arbor study: one-in-ten American parents uses “alternative” vaccination schedule for children, including refusing vaccines altogether
- American economists whispering for “great haircut”
- At least 15 killed in ethnic fighting between Agarabi, Kamano tribes in Papua New Guinean mountains
- Cancer Research UK study: beta blockers may have side-effect of halting spread of some breast cancers
- Royal Dutch Shell plc declares force majeure on some customers after fire shut-down Singapore refinery
- Afghanistan confirms Burhanuddin Rabbani’s assassin was Pakistani national
- Purported Haqqani Network leader Mawlawi Jalaluddin Haqqani tells BBC Pushto service the terrorist group is not working for or with Pakistan
- Haqqani Network “commander” Sirajuddin (Siraj) Haqqani denies involvement in Rabbani’s assassination
- Several days of heavy rain in Algeria trigger flash-floods, landslides which kill at least 10
- Egyptian de facto ruler, commander-in-chief Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi Soliman testifies ousted President Hosni Mubarak did not issue shoot-to-kill order against protesters
- GOP insiders: tax issue may prove “insurmountable obstacle” to debt deal
- China picks-up U.S. slack in manufacturing, especially in Latin America
- U.S. Republican Party (GOP) presidential “dark horse” Herman Cain chastizes U.S. President Barack Obama (D.) for “insulting” remarks in speech to U.S. Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), calls Texas Governor Rick Perry’s (R.) handling of race matter “very insensitive”
- Anti-Wall Street protesters vow to keep-up fight despite arrests of some 700 people on Saturday for blocking traffic lanes on Brooklyn Bridge
- Libyan medical workers: Sirte’s main hospital out of fuel for generators, people dying on operating tables
- Israel accepts international call to resume peace negotiations with “Quartet&rdquol; (E.U., Russia, U.N., U.S.)
- Xinhua news agency: China calls U.S. currency bill “deflecting”
- Greece confirms it will miss E.U., International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2011, 2012 budget deficit targets
- U.S. Obama administration to send three stalled trade agreements—with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea—to U.S. Congress for approval this week
- U.S. President Obama criticizes GOP presidential candidates for not defending gay American soldier booed at last week’s debate
- GOP presidential front-runner Texas Governor Perry: slowing carbon emissions hurts U.S. economy
- U.S. Department of State issues travel warning to American citizens after mission which killed Anwar al-Awlaki
- Thousands pack Georgia church for Troy Davis’ funeral
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) International Security Assistance Force—Afghanistan (ISAF-A) captures senior Haqqani Network commander Haji Mali Khan in Paktia province operation
- Pakistani court sentences Punjab Governor Salman Taseer ’s assassin, Mumtaz Qadri, to death
- More than three dozen The Boeing Company workers arrested on drug charges at military aircraft plant
- Eastman Kodak Co. shares topple more than 50% on Friday, company denies bankruptcy rumors
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigations find “apparent failures” at all ten credit rating agencies, including the three largest of Fitch Ratings Ltd., Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s), and Standard & Poor’s (S&P)
- Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chief executive officer (CEO), chairman Warren Buffett backs Bank of America Corp., confirms he is still interested in investing
- Bank of America Corp., JPMorgan Chase & Co. sued by investors claiming some $4.5 billion in mortgage losses
- Billionaire George Soros’ solution to world economic problems:
- have Europe create common treasury,
- racapitalize European banks, and
- protect financially vulnerable states.
- McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. in advanced talks to merge its S&P indices business with CME Group Inc.’s Dow Jones Indexes
- Gunmen kill 19 in northwest Nigerian village
- International climate scientists confirm ozone loss over Arctic may rival Antarctic this year, “ozone hole” possible
- British Home Secretary Theresa May: British Human Rights Act should be scrapped
- Syrian opposition groups join to form National Council to challenge President Bashar al-Assad
- Some 30 Yemeni soldiers killed in friendly-fire bombing
- Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s Twitter account hacked
- Indonesian police confirm arrest of suspect in last week’s suicide bomb attack on Solo church
- Denmark becomes first nation to tax foods seen as harmful to health
- Tunisian election campaigning begins
- Texas Governor Perry says he would consider involving U.S. military in Mexican drug war if he wins 2012 presidency
- British Education Secretary Michael Gove: all children at least five-years-old should learn a second language
- British minimum wage rises to £6.08 (~$9.45)
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai turns to Pakistan for peace talks, gives-up on Taliban
- Bank of America Corp. shares fall on debit card fee news
- Florida GOP defies Republican National Committee (RNC), schedules primary for 31 January 2012
- U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) issues command for U.S. military chaplains to perform same-sex marriages on bases located in states with legalized gay marriage
Current Events for Tuesday, 4 October 2011
- Eurozone ministers reviewing size of private sector involvement in second Greek bailout package
- ESPN pulls Hank Williams, Jr. theme song from Monday Night Football due to his remarks concerning U.S. President Obama
- Humantiarian fears grow as Sirte fighting continues
- The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW): talks with Ford Motor Co. “going smoothly”
- Italian appeals court vacates Amanda Knox verdict, orders her freed
- China warns of trade war if currency bill passes U.S. Congress as U.S. Senate votes 79-19 in procedural vote to begin debate on bill
- U.S. President Obama’s American Jobs Act falls to pieces as U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R., VA) vows to only pass parts of it
- Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) declines to hear Maryland case concerning gun rights off one’s own property
- All three major American automakers post better sales figures
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R.) expected to make decision about presidential run “by Wednesday”
- Institute for Supply Management (ISM) report: U.S. manufacturing unexpectedly up in September
- Man convicted of airplane bombing in 1988 over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, said his role in the attack had been “exaggerated,” truth about what really happened would emerge soon
- Nobel Committee confirms despite dying Friday, it will still award Dr. Ralph Steinman the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his human immunity work
- U.S. stocks slump to 13-month-low Monday on increasing fears concerning European debt crisis
- South Korea drops North Korean aid plan after receiving no response to its offer
- Afghan President Hamid Karzai arrives in India for important regional economic talks
- Afghan President Karzai: Pakistan playing “double game” with militants, but talks with Islamabad must continue
- Gunmen attack Shi’a pilgrim bus in southwestern Pakistan, kill 13
- Australian trade surplus surged in August based mainly on coal, other minerals exports
- Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz: austerity is not the way to get-out of current economic problems
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sends crisis team to fire at Magnablend, Inc. chemical facility in Waxahachie, Texas
- OccupyWallStreet movement spreads to a dozen other American cities
- American Airlines, Inc. shares plummet 33% on fears company may have to seek bankruptcy protection
- British passports being updated to include same-sex parents option
- Two Somali pirates sentenced to life-in-prison by U.S. court for involvement in deadly yacht hijacking last year
- Facebook announces new anti-phishing measures
- International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh charges senior leader of that nation’s largest Islamic party Delawar Hossain Sayedee with mass murder, torture
- Mobile maker HTC Corp. investigating allegations it is leaving security flaw open, permitting personal information to be accessible without users’ knowledge
- Northern Israeli mosque torched, sprayed with graffiti by Jewish extremists
- International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Ivorian post-election violence
- Insurgent attack on western Iraqi police compound leaves at least nine dead
- Afghan Minister of Border and Tribal Affairs Assadullah Khalid survives Kandahar assassination attempt
- U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan: Americans should look as much to affordable, long-term rentals as homeownership
- U.S. Representative Ron Paul (R., TX) suggests U.S. President Obama’s ordering of al-Awlaki “impeachable offense”
- U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) draft report: many federal agencies fail to comply with Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (“FISMA,” 44 U.S.C. § 3541) standards
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta: Israel becoming increasingly isolated due to its policies in Middle East
Current Events for Wednesday, 5 October 2011
- Pew Research Center poll: 33% of post-9/11 American veterans feel the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq “not worth it”
- U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Ben Bernanke: U.S. Fed “ready to act” in economy “close to faltering”
- Country music singer Hank Williams, Jr. formally apologizes for remarks contrued to comparing U.S. President Obama, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler
- U.S. House of Representatives (House) Speaker John Boehner (R., OH): Chinese currency bill “dangerous”
- New Jersey Governor Christies formally not running for president, again
- Apple Inc.’s new iPhone5 falls flat, not impressive enough for Wall Street investors
- Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) downgrades Italian credit rating by three notches due to “material increase” in Eurozone funding risks
- U.S. House passes 352-66 continuing resolution to keep American running for six more weeks
- Harrison Group poll: tax the wealthy, not the “semi-wealthy”
- U.S. Department of Commerce: new orders for manufactured goods fell in August, but capital investment by business rose
- Nigerian “diaper bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab calls U.S. global “cancer” in court statement
- Ford Motor Co. announces deal with UAW
- American astronomers Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt, Adam Riess awarded Nobel Prize in Physics for work on measuring the speed of the expansion of the universe
- Somali al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab rebels strike heart of Mogadishu with deadly truck bomb, at least 65 killed
- After months of delay, Haitian Sénat approves President Michel Martelly’s third choice for prime minister, Dr. Garry Conille
- Thai officials: flood deaths exceed 200
- Greece hit by fresh 24-hour general strike
- China, Russian Federation veto U.N. Security Council (UNSECO) resolution condemning Syrian crackdown on anti-government protesters
- One dead, two seriously injured after private helicopter crashes into East River
- Senior Pakistani Taliban leader Maulvi Fakir Mohammed tells BBC talks with Islamabad cannot succeed until after planned U.S. withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014
- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calls for “Eurasian Union,” plays-down connections being drawn to Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
- International Energy Agency (IEA) makes fresh appeal for governments to cut fossil fuel subsidies
- Special Bahraini security court sentences 27 for up to 15 years for their roles in anti-government protests
- In apparent escalation of tension between China, Tibet fifth Buddhist monk sets himself afire
- Theogene Rudasingwa, former ally of Rwandan President Paul Kagame accuses him of complicity in assassination of President Juvenal Habyarimana in 1994, sparking genocide
- Japan confirms it will go-ahead with its annual Antarctic whale hunt, add extra security
- British government revises second-quarter economic growth down from 0.2% to 0.1%
- U.S. Department of Energy report: allow states to control hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”)
- CBS News, Quinnipiac University polls show former CEO Herman Cain (R.) now in “top-tier” of candidates
- SCOTUS likely to rule in-favor of Alabama death-row inmate Cory Maple
- Gallup poll: SCOTUS approval drops to second-lowest approval rating of 43%
- U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) report: Fannie Mae knew of improper foreclosure practices in 2003
Current Events for Thursday, 6 October 2011
- Australia seeks global support for soon-to-be-passed anti-tobacco laws, “Big Tobacco” lobbying World Trade Organization (WTO) for interference
- Nevada Republican Party (GOP) bumps primary to 15 January 2011
- Anonymous U.S. officials: there is a secret sub-set of the National Security Council (NSC) who meet, discuss American enemy “kill list”
- Microsoft Corp. considering bid for Yahoo! Inc., Yahoo! shares surge
- Apple Inc. founder, technology visionary Steve Jobs dies, 56
- U.S. Senate Democrats: a 5% increase in millionaires’ tax rate would completely pay for American Jobs Act
- Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuno proposes two-step election next year to determine territorial status
- Italian energy firm Eni S.p.A.: Libyan oil fields may be ruined
- Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) “foils plot” to assassinate President Hamid Karzai, arrest bodyguard and six with connections to Haqqani Network
- ISM: U.S. service sector growth steady in September, but service sector hiring was down as private sector hiring picked-up
- U.S. Secretary of Defense Panetta warns NATO allies military spending cuts on both sides of Atlantic risk weakening organization’s capability
- Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman wins Nobel Prize for Chemistry for discovery of quasicrystals
- NATO ISAF-A kills top Haqqani Network operative in Afghanistan named Dilawar
- High Court of Australia rules two transgender people can be legally recognized as men, despite not having completed their sex changes
- Australian airline Qantas Airways Ltd. inks $9.5 billion deal to buy 110 aircraft from Airbus SAS
- Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R.) announces she will not run for GOP nomination for president
- Eurozone worries turning focus on Dexia N.V./S.A.
- OpposeWallStreet movement looks ready for long-haul
- Afghan appeals to U.N.’s World Food Programme (WFP) for assistance as drought looms
- Hawai’i becomes first U.S. state to recognize surfing as “varsity sport”
- U.S. House Ways and Means Committee votes to advance free-trade agreement with South Korea
- New York Stem Cell Foundation Laboratory researchers use “human cloning” to create stem cells
- Iranian student at Oxford University wears weightvest during workout run, causes terror alert
- U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R., FL) rules-out vice-presidential possibilities, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie becomes automatic favorite
- Indian government unveils world’s cheapest tablet, just $35, to help bridge global digital divide
- UBS AG expected to take “disciplinary action” over rogue trading incident, UBS Global Equities co-heads Yassine Bouhara and Francois Gouws resign
- Bahrain orders retrial of 20 medical staff convicted of aiding anti-government protesters
- IMF warns stronger economies over imposing drastic budget cuts at the expense of growth
- Hundreds of Kabul Afghans hold anti-U.S. rally as ten-year invasion anniversary approaches
- U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner blasts banks over new fees
Current Events for Friday, 7 October 2011
- Anonymous source: “Arab Spring,” African dissidents short-list Nobel Peace Prize
- U.S. President Obama echoes U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner’s criticism of many new banks’ fees, tries to politically tap into anger against Wall Street
- Pakistani Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Salim Saifullah: U.S. President Obama’s criticism of Pakistan, allegations of connections with Haqqani Network has hurt nation’s ability to stabilize Afghanistan, fuels anti-Americanism
- Job reports due today expected to show little, if any, employment growth in September
- U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: Obama administration top energy loans official Jonathan Silver has resigned over Solyndra embarassment
- U.S. President Obama hits China on trade threat, expresses caution over currency bill
- U.S. Senate votes 62-38, barely clears procedural hurdle and moves to final action on China currency bill, then postpones debate
- Snipers loyal to ousted Libyan leader Muamar al-Gaddafi hold-back government forces in Sirte
- Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman: Deputy Ambassador to the U.S. Dan Arbell has been removed from position due to “serious security breach”
- European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet leaves body under massive criticism of its handling of current economic crises
- Capitol Police temporarily block-off Capitol building after discovery of metal cylinder
- U.S. National Retail Federation: fall consumer spending solid, gives hope for holiday shopping
- Nobel Prize for Literature awarded to Sweden’s “greatest living poet” Tomas Transtromer
- Nobel awards remind world Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo is still being held in Chinese prison
- Ten years on, many Afghans wondering if they weren’t better with the Taliban
- Right-wing, conservative criticism of the OccupyWallStreet movement intensifies
- Libyan man accusing U.K. of extraordinary rendition begins lawsuit against U.K.
- Suspected landmine attack by Maoist rebels kill four Indian paramilitary soldiers in Chhattisgarh state
- Australia, New Zealand begin airlift aid to Tuvalu
- Mongolia comes to agreement with Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., Rio Tinto Group over what is likely the largest copper mine in the world
- Living legend Archbishop Desmond Tutu celebrates 80th birthday without Dalai Lama
- Samsung Electronics posts better-than-expected profits
- Poland heads into close-fought election
- Polish police seize one million counterfeit euros (€)
- Chilean court backs Patagonian dam project
- Convicted killer, plane hijacker American George Wright fights extradition from Portugal
- U.S. Senate changes rules with “nuclear option”
- Syrian forces cross into Lebanon, kill Syrian living in border town
- Pakistani Supreme Court rules ruling opposition parties, especially the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), involved in Karachi murders
- Purported Gaddafi audio urges Libyan protests
- Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika vows to investigate July political violence
- Dexia requests share trading be suspended
- Container ship runs aground on reef of New Zealand coast, now spilling oil
- Médecins Sans Frontiàres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) pulls-out of Thailand over immigrant treatment row
- In the last decade, American homeownership fell at fastest rate since the Great Depression
- Google Inc. announces launch of YouTube Politics