PITTSBURGH, Pa. — “Don’t tell anyone how wonderful Pittsburgh is,” said a woman I was introduced to only as “Cousin Susie.” “It is Pennsylvania’s best-kept secret. We don’t want hordes of tourists coming in.” Looking around the city, I don’t think Cousin Susie has to worry just yet. Not that there’s anything wrong with Pittsburgh, really. Joe Biden seems to like the place. Last week the vice president stopped by a popular local BBQ joint called, appealingly, Hog father’s, and delivered an impassioned but folksy attack on the 1 percent designed to raise Pittsburghers’ blue-collar hackles against the wealthy Republican challenger, Mitt Romney. But Pittsburgh is a bastion of liberalism in a state whose interior — the large area between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — has ... Continue reading →
ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria is in a battle to get better cell phone coverage, which is pitting government regulators against the mobile phone operators. Last week, Nigerian telecommunications regulators fined four major companies a total of $7.38 million for providing sub-standard cell phone service. Now the companies are pushing back, saying if the government wants top-notch service, they'll need electricity, security and consistent rules. “Fines or penalties will not solve the problems with service,” Gbenga Adebayo, chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria, told GlobalPost. “It will not address the fundamentals. The fundamental problems are issues of power and issues of protection and the telecom infrastructure.” Adebayo said operators have to provide electricity from generators because the electric power supply is so ... Continue reading →
Editor’s note: The writer, Mansour Salsabili, is on leave from Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A senior political expert, he is a research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. He participated in a number of efforts ranging from UN reforms to the Non-Aligned Movement. The views expressed are entirely his own. CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts — Continuing to insist on sanctions against Iran will produce a bad deal for America. Why? Because this week Iran is putting on the table in Baghdad a number of concrete and tension-reducing offers in response to the earlier requests of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. These offers will have the strong support of Russia and China, and may attract positive votes from other European ... Continue reading →
PREY VENG, Cambodia, and SAMUT SAKHON, Thailand — In the sun-baked flatlands of Cambodia, where dust stings the eyes and chokes the pores, there is a tiny clapboard house on cement stilts. It is home to three generations of runaway slaves. The man of the house, Sokha, recently returned after nearly two years in captivity. His home is just as he left it: barren with a few dirty pillows passing for furniture. Slivers of daylight glow through cracks in the walls. The family’s most valuable possession, a sow, waddles and snorts beneath the elevated floorboards. Before his December escape, Sokha (a pseudonym) was the property of a deep-sea trawler captain. The 39-year-old Cambodian, his teenage son and two young nephews were purchased for roughly $650, ... Continue reading →
BERLIN, Germany — Europe is plunging to new depths of instability. Over the past 24 hours, the euro has sunk to a two-year low. European markets on Wednesday suffered their worst one day slump in a month. The fear appears justified this time. It emerged that on Monday, euro zone finance ministries participated in a conference call to discuss contingency planning for a Greek departure — an event that, according to UBS, could cost taxpayers 225 billion euros. Meanwhile, leaders set low expectations for an EU summit, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel confirming that "nothing would happen." Back in Germany, some are questioning whether it's all worth the effort. In particular, Thilo Sarrazin, a maverick former politician and central banker, has penned a tome titled ... Continue reading →
CAIRO — In many respects, the popular revolt against Hosni Mubarak began on April 6, 2008 in Mahalla, Egypt.“Workers are not aware that this law is the reason of their suffering.”~Magda Fathy, Popular Alliance Socialist Party Security forces unleashed a torrent of violence against 30,000 striking textile workers and thousands of their supporters, killing several demonstrators and injuring hundreds. The April 6 Youth Movement emerged from that mass action when engineer Ahmed Maher co-founded the group that would slowly galvanize millions of workers and ultimately help touch off the revolution. Three years after Mahalla, worker Shaaban Hegaz stood in front of the cameras during a rally on International Labor Day — May 1 — holding a banner and appealing to journalists: "Would you take a ... Continue reading →
Opening the iTunes Store.If iTunes doesn't open, click the iTunes application icon in your Dock or on your Windows desktop.Progress Indicator iTunes iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection. We are unable to find iTunes on your computer. To download the free app GlobalPost News by GlobalPost, get iTunes now. iTunes for Mac + PC GlobalPost News By GlobalPost Open iTunes to buy and download apps. Description GlobalPost’s interesting, provocative and intelligent stories from around the world are now one touch away. Noted by The New York Times as “offering a mix of news and features that only a handful of other news organizations can rival,” GlobalPost offers original reporting from journalists in 50 countries. By combining ... Continue reading →
Japan's Tokyo Skytree, a structure twice as tall as the Eiffel Tower, was opened to the public on Tuesday. Tens of thousands of people lined up in the rain to be among the first people to get a view of the Japanese capital from the 2,080-foot (634-meter) structure, now officially recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest tower, according to CNN. However, in an unforseen glitch, strong winds forced tower operators to shut down lifts, leaving visitors stuck on a 1,476-foot high observation deck, Agence France-Presse reported. Events didn't dampen the enthusiasm of one woman, Ayumi Nakazawa, quoted by AFP as saying: "I have long been looking forward to coming here. I can't see the view [because of the rain], but it was ... Continue reading →
CAIRO — It was the middle of the night in Cairo when Ragia Omran, one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers, rushed to C-28, Egypt’s notorious military court, where almost 300 civilian detainees were being held without lawyers. Omran, a self-described feminist and human rights activist was there attempting to legally represent the protesters which included 26 female detainees — one as young as 14-years old — all accused by the military prosecution of attacking military personnel. But she was barred from entry, an insult added to injury by the military, a powerful and patriarchal institution that has been accused of many violations including the sexual assault of its own female prisoners and aggressive indifference to the rights of women on a wide ... Continue reading →
