Saturday, October 15, 2011

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: OCTOBER 9-15, 2011

Amongst events that have happened around the world this past week...
*United States President Barack Obama's jobs bill has stalled in the Senate, while Congressional Republicans have proposed one of their own.
*The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Agency have announced the prevention of plans to assassinate the Saudi Arabia ambassador, and the bombing of that country's embassy; with the suspects having alleged ties to Iran.
*Dennis Ritchie, the creator of "C" programming computer language, has passed away.
*The Standards and Poor Agency has reduced Spain's credit rating to AA- in light of the current European debt crisis.
*The Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims for their research into cause and effect of the world's macroeconomy.

OCCUPY WALL STREET:
*Protesters concentrated on banks Friday and Saturday as new rules and interest rates for debit cards went into effect.
Meanwhile, as of Saturday, October 15, the grassroots movement is catching on in other parts of the world.
OCCUPY WALL STREET OVERSEAS:
*Various banking and financial institutions across Europe (including Paris, Berlin, Madrid, Hamburg, Frankfurt, and London) were surprised as worldwide events began. The common theme was the European debt crisis and what is being done to resolve the situation.
*Demonstrations were moderate in Asia, where the economy is doing fairly well at the moment.
*South African activists peacefully protested at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in hopes of acquiring more jobs, universal health care, and more support for public/free education.
*Demonstrations also have begun in Auckland, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, amongst 82 countries with citizens upset about the world's economy and how the decisions of so few affect so many.
*Unfortunately, violence broke out in Rome when an Italian version of "Occupy Wall Street" was overtaken by rioters who kept their faces covered by black cloth while smashing windows and ATM machines in hopes of getting the crowd riled up to join them against what the rioters consider a 'corrupt government'. The Roman and Italian governments do not suspect the involvement of any members of the actual "Occupy Wall Street" movement and call the situation an isolated incident.

IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS:
*This month marks the 50th anniversary of the Mad magazine feature "Spy vs. Spy".
*Paul McCartney married Nancy Shevell.
*Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr has been sentenced by an Iranian court to suffer 90 lashes by caning and a year in jail after appearing in "My Tehran For Sale", a film criticizing the Iranian governments policies against the arts.

IN SPORTS:
*As the players, teams, and owners try to work out an agreement, the National Basketball Association has announced the cancellation of the first two weeks of the 2011-2012 season due to the lockout.

For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen or visit any other reputable news source.

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