The Town Herald

The netpaper about Elftowners, by Elftowners, for Elftowners.

Around the World!

for April, May and June '09

Reported by [Imperator]



Michael Jackson
The “King of Pop” Michael Jackson died on June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest in Los Angeles. After being transported to the hospital, attempts to revive him failed. An autopsy has proved inconclusive as to the cause of death.

Government Takeover of General Motors
American car manufacturer General Motors filed for bankruptcy after receiving around $60 billion in government loans over the last several months to prop up the company as its profits go into the red. The federal government is expected to purchase 60% of GM’s stock with taxpayer money causing heavy criticism from Republican congress members who view the deal as wasteful and unnecessary spending. President Barack Obama maintains that the deal is needed to keep GM afloat and help it restructure to become profitable again.

North Korea Tensions
Tensions between North Korea and the United States have increased rapidly in recent months due to many provocative actions being taken by the North Korean government. Pyongyang carried out a second test of a nuclear bomb underground on May 25 and it was reported to be as powerful as the one that was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. North Korean authorities also arrested two American journalists and have refused to release them on charges that they are spies. In addition, U.S. officials believe the North is planning a long-range missile test aimed at Hawaii raising fears that American territory could potentially be threatened. Adding to the tensions, the U.S. Navy is tracking a North Korean vessel suspected of carrying contraband weapons bound to Myanmar which is ruled by a military dictatorship. If the ship is indeed carrying weapons it would be in violation of recently implemented U.N. sanctions cutting of North Korean arms exports.

Iranian Election Protests
Mass demonstrations in the streets of the Iranian capital, Tehran, erupted following the mid-June presidential election in which the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was declared victorious over challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi. Supporters of Mousavi called the election “rigged” and took to the streets in mass protests against the Islamic Republic’s government which has been in place since the 1979 revolution. The protests quickly spread across the country and became increasingly vocal with hundreds of thousands turning out. In an effort to stifle the widespread disenfranchisement with the government, the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened the opposition with force if they did not end their demonstrations and unleashed the police and government militia units to stamp out the opposition with brute force. Many were undeterred and continued protesting while chanted slogans such as “Death to the dictator.” Dozens of people have died with hundreds of injuries and arrests in clashes between police and protestors.
In an attempt by Khamenei to suppress the demonstrations, all reporters and journalists have been banned from reporting in Iran and cell phone and internet service is being targeted to stop the dissemination of information by the opposition. Due to the media black out, most information being aired by foreign media sources is amateur video from the streets frequently taken by Iranians on their cell phones. Due to the brutal suppression of the opposition, protests are becoming less frequent yet more are called for by opposition web sites.



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