Current Events for the Week of 28 November 2011
Current Events for Monday, 28 November 2011
- International Monetary Fund (IMF) denies it is in-talks with new Italian government for aid
- Rage grips Pakistan over North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) strike that killed 24 soldiers, as Foreign Ministry denies reports it fired first
- China weighs-in on NATO strike, stands behind ally Pakistan
- Egyptian voters head to the polls in first post-Mubarak election
- Trading begins on Chinese yuan (¥) trading against Australian, Canadian dollars
- Moody’ Investors Service (Moody’s): European debt crisis threatens E.U. sovereignty ratings
- Countries to make last-ditch effort to salvage Kyoto Protocol at global climate talks in Durban, South Africa
- Stanford University team take skin cells from patients with Timothy Syndrome, create brain cells hoping to learn more about autism
- Suicide car bomb kills 11, injures 15 at Taji prison
- British government set to announce massive multi-billion pound (£) infrastructure investment push
- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak calls on nation to turn-down thermostats to conserve energy, claims he is wearing “long underwear”
- Explosion at Zamboanga hotel kills at least two
- #OccupyLA protesters defy eviction deadline
- Early frontrunner for next year’s Mexican presidency, Enrique Peña Nieto, formally registers his candidacy
- University of Toronto study uses deep brain stimulation (DBS) to “reverse” Alzheimer’s Disease
- U.S. National Retail Federation (NRF) survey: American shoppers spent more money this Thanksgiving than last, most ever at $52.4 billion
- Yemeni Vice-President, acting President Abd al-Rab Mansur al-Hadi names opposition leader Mohammed Basindwa as prime minister-elect, sets presidential elections for 21 February 2012
- European sources: France, Germany exploring “radical” methods of securing deeper, more rapid Eurozone fiscal integration
- Influential New Hampshire Union Leader endorses former U.S. House of Representatives (House) Speaker Newt Gingrich (R., GA) in run for Republican Party (GOP) nomination for president
- “Cold comfort” settles-in for Europeans as austerity measures take affect
- At least 21 killed in northern Yemen fighting
- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accepts ruling Yedìnaya Rossìya (United Russia) party’s nomination, criticizes opponents of being backed by foreign cash
- Arab League imposes economic sanctions on Syria
- Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia—Ejército del Pueblo (FARC-EP, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia—People’s Army) rebels execute four captured Colombian soldiers after botched rescue attempt
- U.N. joins chorus of international organizations calling for calm ahead of Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) upcoming elections
- Iraq signs $17 billion deal with Royal Dutch Shell plc, Mitsubishi Group to capture flared gas in southern oil fields
- Xinhua: Burma, China, Laos, Thailand to launch joint policing of Mekong River next month
- Iranian parliament votes to downgrade diplomatic status with U.K.
- Gunmen suspected to be part of Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram attack several targets in Yobe state
Current Events for Tuesday, 29 November 2011
- Chinese relationship with World Trade Organization (WTO) “souring” due to tade protectionism, domestic subsidies
- The New York Times: $200 million of missing MF Global Holdings Ltd. cash might be in British JPMorgan Chase & Co. office
- Pressure mounts on Eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels
- Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners (THL) eyeing buyout of Yahoo! Inc. U.S. business
- Market watchers believe Facebook gearing-up for Spring 2012 initial public offering (IPO)
- U.S. stocks rebound on strong Black Friday retail news, stop seven-day slide
- Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani rules-out “business as usual” with U.S. after NATO strike
- Woman comes forward claiming 13-year extramartial affair with businessman, GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain
- La Tribune: S&P could downgrade French triple-A credit rating “within the next 10 days”
- Fitch Ratings warns of U.S. credit downgrade if no budget deal by 2013, claims outlook “negative”
- IMF Managing-Director Christine Lagarde: Italy, Spain have not asked for financial help
- U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff throws-out proposed Citigroup Inc. $285 million settlement with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over sale of toxic mortgage debt
- U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., MA) announces he will not seek another term
- Riot gear-clad Los Angeles police officers clash with #OccupyLA protesters refusing to leave encampment
- Kenyan court issues arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir wanted by The Hague on genocide, crimes against humanity charges
- British Library digitizes over four million pages of eighteenth, nineteenth century newspapers
- Egyptian voting enters second day
- U.N. report: world may not be able to feed itself by 2050
- U.N.: former Libyan rebels holding around 7,000 prisoners without access to legal process because courts, police are “not working”
- Several rockets fired from southern Lebanon land on Israeli soil, no damage or injuries reported
- Kuwaiti Prime Minister Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah resigns amid protests
- Counting underway following DRC voting
- Canada confirms it will not make new emissions cuts under Kyoto Protocol, may formally withdraw from treaty
- U.S. new home sales ticked-up in October, despite prices falling
- Anthropologists find two previously undiscovered pits at Stonehenge site giving credence to sun-worship hypothesis
- Al-Shabab fighters shut-down several aid groups operating in Somalia, including some U.N. offices
- Guyanese head to polls in election likely to continue to reflect nation’s traditional racial divide
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) warns of likely Eurozone recession
- French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé: Syrian government’s “days are numbered”
- U.S. Commandant of the Marine Corps General James Amos is “pleased” with 10 U.S.C. §654 (“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”) repeal progress
Current Events for Wednesday, 30 November 2011
- Pakistani Major General Ishfaq Nadeem: NATO cross-border attack was deliberate, blatant act of aggression
- U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden (D.) makes “surprise visit” to U.S. soldiers in Iraq, announces withdraw signals new phase in American-Iraqi relations
- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warns developing nations to be wary about aid donors, heads to Burma
- U.S. Federal Reserve Board Vice-Chairman Janet Yellen sees room for further monetary easing
- U.K. pulls embassy staff out of Tehran after violent student protesters storm embassy
- Facebook settles privacy case with U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- World Bank warns of “ripple effects” from euro (€) woes
- American Airlines files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy citing fuel and labor costs, dampened travel demand; shares plunge 81%
- GOP hopeful Cain “reassesses” presidential campaign viability, decides to remain
- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announces it will suspend all financial dealings with Syria, freeze Syrian government assets
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov: no more ultimatums should be issued to Syria
- E.U., U.S. mulling free trade talks
- Eurozone ministers agree to bulk-up European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF), may turn to IMF for more help
- Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik ruled insane by court
- Egyptian exit polling shows Muslim Brotherhood set to make large in-roads
- Indian economy grew at slowest pace in two years in Q3
- Amnesty International calls on U.S. to stop jailing minors for life without parole
- North Korea claims “progressing apace” with nuclear reactor construction
- Moroccan King Mohammed VI appoints moderate Islamist Abdelilah Benkirane as prime minister after his Parti de la Justice et du Développement (PJD, Justice and Development Party) wins parliamentary election
- S&P downgrades long-term credit grades for string of banks, including Bank of America Corp. and HSBC Holdings plc
- U.N. Development Programme takes server off-line after being targeted by group of hackers
- Former Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo arrives at The Hague for war crimes charges
- Four Congolese candidates call for recent election to be nullified because of fraud, violence
- U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., NV) announces “Gang of Six”—Senators Saxby Chambliss (R., GA), Tom Coburn (R., OK), Kent Conrad (D., ND), Mike Crapo (R., ID), Dick Durbin (D., IL), Mark Warner (D., VA)—to hold meeting over super committee failure
- MSNBC’s Morning Joe fails in censoring Anne Coulter “douche-bag” comment about U.S. Senator John McCain (R., AZ)
- New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R.): U.S. President Obama just a “bystander,” asks “what the hell are we paying you for?”
Current Events for Thursday, 1 December 2011
- Pakistani Foreign Ministry: NATO strike could hurt “war on terror”
- U.S. denies allegations NATO attack on Pakistani soil “deliberate”
- Greek public workers hold first major strike since new government was formed
- Global stocks extend gains on word central banks agree to provide cheap access to money for international banks
- U.S. Secretary of State Clinton provides Myanmar/Burma with “carrots:” increased American aid, possible return of ambassador
- Two surveys show Chinese factory sector shrank in November for first time in three years
- U.S. President Obama suggests congressional “progress” on extending Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax cut
- Private equity firms Bain Capital, Blackstone Group preparing for Yahoo! Inc. bid in conjunction with Chinese Alibaba Group with an estimated value of around $25 billion
- U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) General Martin Dempsey tells Reuters U.S. “uncertain” Israel would advise before strike against Iran
- LivingSocial Inc. set to announces nationwide deal with McDonald’s Corp.
- Reuters/Ipsos poll: former CEO Cain’s departure from GOP presidential nomination race would benefit both former U.S. House Speaker Gingrich, former Massachuetts Governor Mitt Romney (R.)
- American Airlines looking to shed unwanted leases for 24 planes, engines
- Groupon Inc. Black Friday sales numbers strong, stock gains 6%
- ADP National Employment Report: private sector jobs soared in November, payroll forecasts rose
- People’s Bank of China (PBC) eases reserve requirements in attempt to open credit lines
- German automaker Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. announce plan to work together, develop greener motoring technology
- John Hinckley seeks more freedoms, U.S. fights against
- Khalis market car bomb kills at least ten
- Transparency International report: global corruption fueled 2011 political uprisings
- Six Beligan political parties come to tentative agreement on forming government one-and-one-half years after parliamentary elections
- Action Comics June 1938 “No. 1” comic book sells at auction for $2.16 million
- Iran, not eurozone crisis, expected to dominate E.U. foreign ministers meeting
- Markets analysts revise possible Facebook IPO value to $100 billion
- Amnesty International accuses Saudi Arabia of reacting to Arab Spring by launching new wave of repression
- Living legend Reverend Billy Graham admitted to North Carolina hospital
- North Afghan gang sprays family of five with acid after father refuses to give daughter up for marriage
- Spotify announces third-party add-on platform for streaming music service
- Washington State University researchers create substance which can be printed by a 3D printer, provide scaffold for new bone growth
- Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus sentences two men to death for April 2011 Minsk metro bombing that killed 15
- U.S. judge orders social media sites, internet search engines to delete “fake sites”
- Former Ivorian President Gbagbo faces four charges of crimes against humanity at International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Eurozone unemployment rose to 10.3% in October
- U.N. report: Latin American poverty rates lowest in 20 years
- H.R. 3261 (Stop Online Piracy Act, SOPA) faces uphill battle in U.S. House
- Pew Research Center survey: “Tea Party” support hits new low
Current Events for Friday, 2 December 2011
- Major Tahrir Square protest planned as Egypt awaits poll results
- Honda Motor Co. announces recall of 304,035 vehicles due to air bag issues
- Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi praises U.S. engagement
- U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit chief technology officer John Bumgarner claims he has linked Stuxnet computer virus with Conficker worm
- U.S. Senate defeats competing FICA tax holiday plans
- New European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi signals organization ready to play more aggressive role in eurozone crisis
- Al-Qaeda claims responsibility for kidnapping of American in Pakistan
- American auto sales rise to near two-year high
- AT&T Inc. fires-back at “cherry-picking” U.S. FCC
- Massachusetts Attorney-General Martha Coakley files suit against five large U.S. banks—Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Ally Financial Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co Inc., Wells Fargo & Co.—for deceptive foreclosure practices
- U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay: Syrian situation akin to civil war, deathtoll at least 4,000
- U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) call emergency meeting over Syria
- U.S. President Obama to announce new American goal for fighting global human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infections, praises former U.S. President George W. Bush’s (R.) “bold leadership” in fight against infection
- U.S. factories growing despite global weakness
- Speculation rises E.U. may impose oil sanctions on Iran
- Beijing police announce new focus against “black prisons”
- Herman Cain admits to having platonic friendship with, giving money to Ginger White; sets Monday as date for final decision regarding his White House run
- ICC set to announce Gambian lawyer Fatou Bensouda as new chief prosecutor
- Four Florida A&M students expelled after marching band hazing incident
- South Sudan accuses Sudan of stealing shared oil revenues
- U.S. congressional report claims Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram an “emerging threat”
- Hungary outlaws homelessness
- U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence approves changes to Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 17-1, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D., IL) lone dissenting voice
- U.S. House Sergeant-at-Arms Wilson “Bill” Livingood announces his retirement
- U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) deadlocked over whether members of U.S. Congress can be part of super political action committees (PACs)
- Pew Hispanic Center survey: almost two-thirds of America’s illegal immigrants have been in the country at least ten years
- U.S. House votes 235-190 for bill to end taxpayer funding of presidential elections