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Twelve new “bicycle superhighways” and hefty fines for polluting vehicles are the backbone of a new London plan to increase the number of bicycle riders in town (at right) by 400 percent. The city is taking a cue from Paris, too, by creating a free downtown bike-rental service.
Photo: Maz Hewett
Important but overlooked news from around the world. QUOTED:
“This is the first time we have caught a human trafficking syndicate in a case where the baby was still in the womb.” — A Vietnamese police officer on recent arrests in a adults baby-smuggling ring (see “Adoption,” below). CONTENTS:
*Top Stories*
A ‘complicated truth’ about Obama donations
London shifts gears to favor bicycles
Beijing Olympics: It’s the water
*Environment & Health*
Radiation on the reservation
*Adoption*
Infants and international incidents
TOP STORIES
* A “Complicated Truth” About Obama Donations
Although Barack Obama has publicly disavowed campaign donations from lobbyists, the candidate, along with his rival Hillary Clinton, has received millions of dollars in donations from special-interest groups linked to the legal, pharmaceutical and health-care industries. The Columbia Journalism Review notes that the Obama campaign did indeed take far less money from registered lobbyists — just $86,000 — through the end of December 2007 than either Clinton ($800,000) or Republican candidate John McCain ($400,000).
Venezuela’s firebrand President Hugo Chavez (at right) has been making headlines by negotiating the release of hostages held by Colombia’s long-running leftist insurgency. But critics say he’s doing more harm than good, and one former hostage said Venezuela’s armed forces shelter the rebels.
Photo: Handout
Venezuela’s firebrand President Hugo Chavez (at right) has been making headlines by negotiating the release of hostages held by Colombia’s long-running leftist insurgency. But critics say he’s doing more harm than good, and one former hostage said Venezuelan armed forces provide safe haven to the rebels.
Photo: quecomunismo
Newspapers in the United States may be losing subscribers and laying off employees at an alarming rate, but times have never been better for the press in Asia, home of seven of the 10 best-selling daily newspapers worldwide. But what about censorship?
Photo: Indonesian reader (c) Fabio Sabatini
Important but overlooked news from around the world. QUOTED:
“For the moment, we see a tougher position … motivated by the political space which President Hugo Chavez has tried to open for them.” — Colombia’s peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo, on the Venezuelan leader’s hostage negotiations with leftist rebels in Colombia (see “Chavez,” below). CONTENTS:
*Top Stories*
“Dodgy collateral” fuels new bank borrowing
Wealth gap widens in Silicon Valley
Wikileaks shutdown thwarted
*Transportation*
Much puffery about air-powered car
*Chavez*
Friend of hostages, or friend of hostage-takers?
That’s a darn good question for nine million people living near the Great Lakes, where industrial pollution (at right) may pose a health risk. But the release of a new U.S. government study on that risk has been blocked, and the lead scientist has been demoted.
Photo: Lake Huron factory/Environment Canada
Happy Birthday, NYMHM! Today marks the SIXTH anniversary of News You Might Have Missed, which debuted on Wednesday, February 13, 2002. We want to thank YOU for your support of this unique service, which has grown into one of the leading sources of “important but overlooked news” today. Every dollar you contribute and every email newsletter you forward to your friends helps keep NYMHM alive and thriving. Here’s to the future, and thanks again for making it all possible!
A federal judge found that a planned U.S. military installation in Okinawa threatens the habitat of the endangered dugong — a “sea cow” similar to Florida’s manatee — throwing the project’s future into jeopardy. More: Okinawans comment on sovereignty.
Photo: Frank Gloystein
Important but overlooked news from around the world. QUOTED:
“I’ve never seen such a lackluster campaign. It’s really clear that people don’t trust the elections.” — Journalist Zahid Hussain on Pakistan’s upcoming February 18 vote (see “Top Stories,” below). CONTENTS:
*Top Stories*
Death after pepper spray raises questions
Sea cow stymies Navy’s Okinawa plan
Specter of fraud haunts Pakistan election
*Environment*
The melting mountains
*Democracy*
Russia sends opposition to psych wards
TOP STORIES
* Death After Pepper Spray Raises Questions
A mentally ill man died not long after being pepper sprayed, the New Zealand Herald reported, prompting criticism of a “cavalier approach to using incapacitating weapons.”