Russia has cut electricity supplies to Belarus due to unpaid back payments. The Russian electricity provider, InterRAO , promises power will be restored within 24 hours of when the payment is made. Russian power imports account for approximately 10 percent of Belarus’ electrical needs. Mounting economic struggles have forced Belarus, a former Soviet state, to […]
Sudan Agrees to Appoint Vice President from Darfur
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 4:30 am (UTC-5)
Sudan has agreed to appoint a vice president from its embattled Darfur region, in what appears to be a concession to the demand of some rebel groups that call for greater governmental representation. Sudanese state media reported Tuesday that the new vice president from Darfur will serve for the remaining four years of the current […]
Report: Philippine President Falling Short in Upholding Human Rights
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 4:10 am (UTC-5)
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch is criticizing Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s human rights record as he concludes his first year in office. The group says killings and enforced disappearances have continued. It faults Mr. Aquino for failing to implement effective measures to investigate and prosecute members of the police and military who commit serious human rights […]
Burma Orders Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party to Halt Political Activity
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 4:10 am (UTC-5)
Burma’s state media say democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies have been ordered to halt all political activities. The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Wednesday the order was issued in a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi’s political movement, the National League for Democracy. The NLD was forced to dissolve […]
Irishman To Be Pardoned 150-Years After Execution
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 3:45 am (UTC-5)
The governor of the U.S. state of Rhode Island is set to pardon John Gordon, an Irish immigran, who was hanged 150 years ago following what is believed to be a tainted murder trial. Gordon was convicted of killing the brother of a U.S. senator and hanged in 1845. Historians and law professors believe the […]
Kim Summit Off Agenda as Medvedev Heads to Vladivostok
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 3:35 am (UTC-5)
Russian officials are denying published reports that President Dmitry Medvedev will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Il during a visit to the Far East city of Vladivostok beginning Wednesday. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quotes senior South Korean officials as saying a meeting had been planned but was canceled for unknown reasons. Japan’s Kyodo […]
Greek Workers Protest Austerity Reforms A Second Day
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 3:20 am (UTC-5)
Greece is enduring the second day of a 48-hour general strike in protest of a new round of national austerity reforms. New clashes Wednesday took place as lawmakers considered Prime Minister George Papandreou’s plan to raise taxes, cut government spending and sell state assets. About 20,000 people had gathered Tuesday in Athens for initially peaceful […]
Burma Orders Aung San Suu Kyi’s Party to Halt Political Activity
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 2:55 am (UTC-5)
Burma’s state media say democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies have been ordered to halt all political activities. The official New Light of Myanmar newspaper said Wednesday the order was issued in a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi’s political movement, the National League for Democracy. The NLD was forced to dissolve […]
Local Reports: 18 Children Dead in Uganda Lightning Strike
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 2:45 am (UTC-5)
Ugandan media reports say that lightning killed 18 children at a primary school in western Uganda on Tuesday, the latest in a series of deadly lightning strikes in the country. State-owned newspaper The New Vision says the students died instantly as they were waiting for a thunderstorm to end at the Runyanya Primary School in […]
Japan’s Nikkei Closes on High Note
Posted June 29th, 2011 at 2:35 am (UTC-5)
Japanese markets closed higher Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar is lower against the Japanese yen. Tokyo’s Nikkei index soared just over one and one-half percent to finish at 9,797. In currency trading, the dollar was selling at 81.03 yen, a loss of a fraction of a yen from Tuesday. The Taipei market closed at 8,573, […]
