WORLD & NATION
NEWS IN
FEBRUARY 17, 2012
Stories by Becca Heller
Graphic by DanielVasiles
On Feb. 15, Iran's President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad touted
SIGNIFICANT ADVANCEMENT IN THE
country's nuclear technology
PROGRAM, CLAIMING TO HAVE DEVELOPED
FASTER URANIUM ENRICHMENT
CENTRIFUGES AND DOMESTIC FUEL RODS.
The announcement has been viewed as
a defiant move in response to Western
sanctions, which were initially put into
place in hopes of curbing the threat
of Iran's rapidly growing nuclear
program. "The era of bullying nations
has passed. The arrogant powers cannot
monopolize nuclear technology. They
tried to prevent us by issuing sanctions
and resolutions but failed," President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in
a live television broadcast.
"Our nuclear path will
continue."
Late on Tuesday night, a roaring fire broke out in
A PRISON IN COMAYAGUA, HONDURAS, KILLING OVER 300
PRISONERS. Taking over an hour to bring under control, the
fire spread throughout the cells, burning many prisoners
beyond recognition and suffocating others by smoke.
Amid the confusion, many inmates fled for their lives,
breaking out of their cells any way they could. "The only
thing that we were able to do was start breaking the roof
apart so we could go out from above," one prisoner later
told reporters. "We started ripping apart the ceiling above
us." Despite reports that there had been a riot in the prison
prior to the outbreak of the fire, prison service head Daniel
Orellana denied that this was the cause of the fire. "We
have two hypotheses. One is that a prisoner set fire to a
mattress and the other one is that there was a short-circuit
in the electrical system," said Orellana to Reuters.
Mobile phones are expected to outnumber human
BEINGS THIS YEAR, according to the latest analysis of
mobile data traffic by Californian networking firm
Cisco. At the end of 2011, 7 billion mobile phones were
connected across the world, accounting for 0.9 devices
per capita, and by the end of this year, that figure is
expected to rise to 1.4. With the rise of smartphone usage,
data consumption is rapidly increasing and, while the
average smartphone currently uses about 150MB, this is
expected to jump exponentially by 2016, to 2.6 GB, BBC
reports. "By 2016, 60% of mobile users — three billion
people worldwide — will belong to the Gigabyte Club,
each generating more than one gigabyte of mobile data
traffic per month," said Cisco Vice-President of Products
and Solutions Suraj Shetty to BBC.
After a tumultuous month of heated arguments amidst the
EUROZONE NATIONS, GREECE —THE REGION'S ECONOMIC BLACK
SHEEP — HOPES TO CLINCH A BAILOUT DEAL ON MONDAY. The
second bailout of in two years, the deal would provide Greece
with 130 billion euros, money which they desperately need in
order to avoid a default when debt repayments fall in March,
Reuters reports. Greece enters the meeting on Monday with
confidence after having met demands of the EU arid IMF which
included further austerity measures. However' many finance
ministers have not yet forgotten Greece's failure to pull its
economy together with the aid of the first bailout and remain
skeptical..
Yemen looks to future as Saleh seeks safety in U.S.
SALEH'S ARRIVAL IN U.S.
COINCIDES WITH ELEQION IN
YEMEN. LAST YEAR, SALEH
AGREED TO END HIS REGIME
By Haejin Song
Staff Writer
Three years ago. President Bush's
surprisingly quick reflexes were revealed
to the world.
During a news conference in Baghdad,
Bush successfully dodged a shoe thrown
by an angry Iraqi journalist who called
him a dog.
Recently, in February, a similar situation
occurred in New York City.
Wearing a black beret. President Ali
Abdullah Saleh of Yemen stepped out of
the Ritz-Carlton hotel in New York City
where he waved to irate protestors and
even motioned blowing kisses to them.
The group of protestors angrily glared
at Saleh, the notorious, authoritarian ruler
of their homeland.
They chanted, "N.Y.C. cries fear, Saleh
is here" and "Saleh, oh thug, we will come
for you, we will get you," reported the
Wall Street Journal. During the hubbub.
President Saleh was the target of a shoe
attack by one protestor, which narrowly
missed Saleh as he headed for his car.
According to Human Rights Watch,
while he was in power, the Yemeni
president ordered an end to Arab Spring
protests killing at least 270 people just of
last year.
In the city of Taiz, at least 120 protestors
and bystanders in an anti-government
demonstration were killed, reported
Associated Press.
"They had tanks and bulldozers," said
protestor Arif Abd al-Salam to Human
Rights Watch. "I saw with my own eyes,
a man with a loudspeaker calling on
the security forces to stop attacking and
killing their brothers. He was shot dead
with a bullet."
On Jan. 28, Saleh arrived in the U.S.
to receive medical treatment for injuries
suffered during an assassination attempt in
his presidential palace last June, reported
Associated Press. However, some are
skeptical that the Yemeni president came
to the U.S. solely for medical reasons.
"He's just buying time, and doing a
song and a dance to avoid having to go
back and face the music," said Robert
Duncan, visiting assistant professor of
political science. "He's looted the country
enough that he has enough to retire on.
What better place to retire than in the U.S.
of A?"
According to The New York Times,
American officials believe that Saleh's
visit to the U.S. was a shrewd decision.
His absence from Yemen would result in a
smooth transition into the Feb. 21 election,
in which Saleh officially announced
he would not be running, ending his
authoritarian regime in Yemen.
On Nov. 23 of last year. President Saleh
reluctantly agreed to hand power to
his current vice president Abdel Rabbo
Mansour Hadi, after the Yemeni parliament
granted him immunity from prosecution
for any criminal actions during his rule.
Even though the future election will
be a single-candidate election, Hadi and
other Yemeni officials seem to believe it
will be the "start of a new age in the life of
Yemen," reported CBS News.
Some are satisfied with Saleh's promise
of resignation, which was greatly
influenced by mass street demonstrations
against his rule last year. However, many
are pessimistic about any dramatic reform
due to Saleh's family members' continuing
command of military units and Yemen's
air force.
"What difference does it make?" said
activist Hamyir Ali to USA Today. "His
family still has the military in their hands.
Ali Abdullah Saleh will still be able to
control everything."
"It won't change anything," said
Duncan. "The controlling oligarchy, either
Saleh or the vice president, are all part of
the same regime. It's the same card. They
are just painting it in a different color."
While the future of Yemen and its
new political control may be unclear, an
infamous spotlight continues to shine
on President Saleh wherever he goes —
whether in Yemen or in the U.S.