Global News

Toronto, Canada’s city council voted to ask crack smoking, binge drinking Mayor Rob Ford to step down temporarily.  He refused.  Shortly after that, a court released documents painting a picture of a combative, drunken mayor who assaulted staff members and entertained suspected prostitutes.

After more than 10 years of efforts to wean farmers off the crop, opium cultivation in Afghanistan has hit a record high.  It’s raising fears that the profits will be funneled to the Taliban insurgency, regional warlords jockeying for power before foreign troops leave, and corrupt officials in the government lining their pockets.

A giant iceberg has broken off the Pine Island Glacier and is threatening to disrupt shipping in the Southern Ocean.  This iceberg is 70,000 hectares large – comparable in size to Singapore, America’s “Second City” Chicago, or NSW’s Goulburn River National Park.

America moves to choke funding to murderous terrorists – India’s top cop needed to choose his words more wisely – Another Latin American figure is exhumed to get at the truth of his death – Hundreds are killed in the Cyclone you may not have heard about.

Climate scientists say the intensity of super typhoon that caused so much death and devastation the Philippines is part of a pattern of more intense storms caused by global warming, in turn blamed on man-made global warming.

Eight people died when the wall of a government rice warehouse collapsed on them in the central Philippines.  It happened as thousands of desperate survivors of the super typhoon stormed the warehouse to make off with more than 100,000 sacks of rice.

The General Assembly elected 14 new members to the Human Rights Council, the Geneva-based body that “can” shine a spotlight on rights abuses around the world by adopting resolutions.  But activists are upset that China, Cuba, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and others with serious human rights concerns were among those winning three-year seats.

China's Communist Party wrapped up a four-day meeting that could herald big changes for the nation's economy.  But the self-contradicting statement from “The Third Plenary of the 18th Central Committee” leaves more questions than answers.

Britain is stepping up pressure against the newspaper publishing the embarrassing leaks regarding the massive telephone and internet surveillance being conducted by US and UK spy agencies:  Scotland Yard says it is pursuing a criminal investigation of the Guardian newspaper.

Pope Francis delivered a fiery sermon against corruption, one of his strongest homilies since becoming Pontiff.  Francis quoted the New Testament Gospel of Luke to put the smack down on Christians who lead “a double life” by giving money to the church while stealing from the state:

Israel’s PM fears his internal problem takes the focus off his foreign policy goals with Iran – Moscow demands restitution after Polish nationalists attack the Russian embassy – We finally know what happened to the leader of Pussy Riot after she disappeared in Putin’s prisons – Tens of thousands of kids are at risk of Polio because of an African rebellion.

When British police decide to stop and search a person, they are six times more likely to target Black people than they are likely to stop and search Whites.  The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) says the disproportion between different ethnic groups remained “stubbornly high.”

Desperate survivors of the Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan outside the Philippines) are begging the international community to send help, as scavenged food, water, and medical supplies are running out in the central Philippines. President Benigno Aquino declared a state of national calamity.

Riot police in Warsaw used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up violent gangs of right-wing nationalists who for the third year in a row, rampaged through the commemoration of Poland’s National Independence Day. 

The International Court of Justice in the Hague says Thailand must withdraw its troops from the area around a disputed, ancient Hindu temple on the border with Cambodia.  The ruling gives Cambodia sovereignty over most of the disputed land around the Preah Vihear temple.

Accusing electronics retailers of 1,200 percent price mark ups that amount to “usury”, Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro ordered troops to occupy stores and order them to sell goods at prices as much as 75 percent lower than advertised just a couple of weeks ago.  He’s asking lawmakers for emergency powers to enact sweeping price controls.

North Korea reported holds a public mass execution – The US says Iran caused nuclear talks to collapse – A knife attack interrupts a war memorial – And members of a rock band are murdered in a bloody revenge attack.

The Syrian National Coalition says it is ready to go to Geneva to take part in peace talks organized by the US and Russia, with the aim of ending the Syrian Civil War.  It’s the first time that the group as a whole agreed to participate in peace talks.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is coming under increasing pressure to boycott the Commonwealth summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka this week over concerns about the island nation's dismal human rights record.

The Archbishop of Naples, Italy is adding another transgression to the list of sinful activities:  environmental destruction.  Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe says that polluters could not receive communion.