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World News Once a Week |
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| Published Friday, September 22, 2006 |
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| Reuters/Jeff Zelevansky: General Assembly at the United Nations in New York. |
Issue 14
It was an unfortunate week for prime ministers.
Thailand, which was still making adjustments to democratic rule beneath a veneer of tourism, saw a powerful military junta
seize power in a bloodless coup d'état while the prime minister was away on UN business. As of press time, the new rulers, who seem to
be acting with the silent blessing of the king, have clamped down on all political activities. Tanks line the streets in Bangkok
and other major cities. So far, no deaths have been reported.
In Hungary, meanwhile, the streets of Budapest became flooded with angry citizens after their prime minister was caught on tape admitting to having lied for years about the treasury’s health. The protesters, who demand
the resignation of socialist premier Ferenc Gyurcsány, show no signs of backing down. Mr. Gyurcsány has vowed to quell the
unrest. Pope Benedict XVI has had better weeks, as well: He has now apologized four times for quoting a medieval Christian emperor who denounced Islam, as part of a larger lecture. Many Muslim faithful are still
rankled, however. Meanwhile, the first female space tourist, an Iranian-American, looked down upon it all.
- Christian Moerk |
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 A Note on Our Sources |
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Meet the world, one person at a time. Discovery Channel presents a new series that shows you the world as you've never seen it — through the fascinating stories of its people. Experience
30 countries over the next five years. "China Revealed" premieres Sunday, October 1st at 9pm E/P.
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| Top Stories |
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Thai military seizes power without firing a shot
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Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was relaxing in his New York hotel room on Monday night. Back home in Bangkok, however,
long-simmering frustration with the tycoon politician was just reaching boiling point, leading to a bloodless military coup that unseated him only hours before he was due to deliver
a speech at the UN.
Many observers say that the coup leader, the commander in chief of the Thai Army, would never have dared such a risky move without the tacit approval of revered
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who has weathered 20 successive PMs over more than 60 years. The junta has suspended all political activity. (CM)
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Hungary's PM caught lying, uproar ensues
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Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány was, until recently, a sort of Central European populist politician in the Tony Blair mold, imposing tough economic measures on his citizens while promising a better future. That changed when a recording of him admitting to having lied about the
nation's true economic woes was leaked this week. "Plainly, we lied throughout the last year and a half, two years," he reportedly
said.
After several days of violent clashes between protesters — who numbered up to 10,000 outside parliament — and police, public
fury seems unabated at press time. Gyurcsány, for his part, intends to crack down hard on the unrest and plans to stay in
power. (CM)
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Papal apologies slowly quell Muslim anger
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On September 12, Pope Benedict XVI gave a lecture at Germany's University of Regensburg, intending to meditate on "Faith, Reason, and the University." His text argued, among other points, that faith can never come at the point of a sword — and quoted 14th century Christian Byzantine
emperor Manuel II Paleologus, whose views on Islam were, perhaps predictably, not charitable.
A week later, the Pope has apologized an unprecedented four times, as many Muslims became enraged at the reported quote, protesting
in the streets worldwide and even threatening the Pontiff's life. Before succeeding Pope John Paul II, the erstwhile Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had a reputation for conservatism. (CM)
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| Newswire |
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| Politics |
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Sweden turns conservative in general election
Sweden's newly elected Prime Minister has formed a center-right coalition government, wresting power from the Social Democrats.
The victory is startling, as the incumbent party had held almost uninterrupted control since 1932. (ED)
| International Herald Tribune | Independent |
Mass. voters to decide historic local election
Massachusetts voters will cast a historic vote this November: barring a last-minute rally by an outsider, the state will soon
have either its first African-American or female governor. (CM)
| Fox News | Boston Globe |
Compromise seems near on rules governing detainees
There are signs that the White House may be willing to leave the language in the Geneva Convention as is, provided dissident
Republicans and Democrats preserve the CIA's terrorist-interrogation program instead. (CM)
| San Francisco Chronicle | San Jose Mercury News |
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| Business |
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DaimlerChrysler cuts production
DaimlerChrysler is the latest automaker to catch the "Detroit Flu." (Read: plummeting profits.) With its fleet not moving from showrooms
fast enough, the company expects to lose $1.26 billion this year. (CM)
| International Herald Tribune | Globe and Mail |
Oil prices drop to six-month low
With plenty of oil in reserve, and signs that energy demand in the US may be on the wane, crude oil futures continue to fall
— and gas prices at the pump are dropping, too. (CM)
| Sydney Morning Herald | RTE |
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| Science & Technology |
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Spinach causes E. coli epidemic
A nationwide E. coli outbreak has afflicted 146 people as of Thursday, causing dozens of cases of kidney failure and one fatality.
FDA officials have traced the source to bagged fresh spinach from California. (AB)
| BBC | CNN |
Fatty fish, healthy kidneys
New research has suggested a link between the consumption of fatty fish and decreased incidence of kidney cancer. The study
found that oily fish rich in omega-3 acids, such as salmon or herring, lowered this risk by 74%. (ED)
| ABC News | The Local |
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| The Week in Pictures |
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Click to see the full-size image and caption.
 POOL
 Jerry Lampen
 Fatih Saribas
 Kevin Lamarque
 Laszlo Balogh
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*Unless otherwise noted, all photos are courtesy of Reuters.
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| Local Stories |
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First female space tourist blasts off
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Anousheh Ansari made history to the tune of $20 million this week, when she became the first paying female space traveler.
Ansari arrived aboard a Russian spacecraft on Wednesday for a nine-day sojourn on the International Space Station. (AB)
| MSNBC | Xinhuanet |
Suicide on the rise for impoverished Indian farmers
A government report tallies 17,000 Indian agricultural workers who took their own lives in 2003, and indicators suggest those
numbers might increase. Experts cite insurmountable debts incurred by costly biotechnologies, and exacerbated by failed crops,
as a likely cause. (AB)
| New York Times | The Progressive |
UK soldier admits to Iraq war crimes
A British infantryman has admitted to the inhumane treatment of detainees in Iraq. He's the first UK soldier to be tried under
the so-called International Criminal Court Act 2001, and faces 30 years in prison. (CM)
| Guardian | Herald, UK |
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| Masthead |
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Managing Editor
Christian Moerk
Contributing Editors
Anna Balkrishna
Eli Dvorkin
Jocelyn K. Glei
Doug Levy
Mark Mangan
Jonathan Schultz
Production
Anjuli Ayer
Morgan Croney
Jules Gaffney
Andrew Steinmetz
Design
Nicholas Feldman
Jessica Bauer-Greene
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