International News Week of October 20

Burmese Nobel Winner Appeals Arrest

Burma’s opposition leader, Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has submitted an appeal against her house arrest, Intellasia reports.  Suu Kyi has been under house arrest in her country for 12 out of the last 19 years.  Burma has detained her under the 1975 anti-subversion law, maintaining that the opposition leader is a threat to public order and the security of the state, Suu Kyi’s lawyer’s appeal posits that she was never a threat to the security of the state.

Aussie PM Announces US$7B Bailout Package
Two days after the Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd guaranteed all bank deposits for three years, the Australian government announced a US$7.3 billion stimulus package, the International Herald Tribune reports.  Despite the prime minister’s reassurances that the Australian economy remained strong, this influx of cash is an attempt to guard against the worldwide economic slowdown. The stimulus package partly consists of one-time payments to pensioners and low-income earners to help boost consumer activity, as well as a doubling of first time home buyers’ grants.

Princeton President To Join Saudi School Board

Princeton University announced that its president, Shirley Tilghman, has been chosen to serve as a founding trustee at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.  The new international, co-educational, graduate level university is set to open in September 2009, offering programs in a “Western-style education … educating men and women from different religious traditions together.”

 
World Bank Mission To Empower African Girls
The World Bank has this week revealed a private-public initiative aimed at the economic empowerment of adolescent girls.  The Adolescent Girls Initiative is being piloted in Liberia, with the support of Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and is expected to expand to Afghanistan, Nepal, Rwanda, South Sudan, and a sixth country yet to be named, in the coming year. “Investing in adolescent girls is precisely the catalyst poor countries need to overcome poverty. … It is a smart economic move,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick.U.S. Supports Aussie Sanction On Iranian Banks

Australia has imposed financial sanctions against Iran’s state owned banks, Melli and Saderat, which included freezing assets associated with the banks. The United States Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey released a statement in which the United States applauds the Australian government’s actions and encourages other countries to follow to increase pressure on Iran, where unemployment rates are spiraling and inflation nears 30%.

Sao Paulo Police Strike, Riot Over Wages

Police in the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo have been on strike for the last month and this week, as they tried to reach the building used by state Governor Jose Serra. The was an attempt to demand pay increases, meanwhile military riot police were called in to re-establish order, BBC reports. Riot police employed tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets to keep the crowd back. Fifteen to 20 minor injuries were reported.

Iceland, Iran Fail To Gain UNSC Seats
This week, Iceland and Iran were running in the bid to gain non-permanent seats on the United Nations (UN) Security Council, but neither gained the seat they were hoping for, Reuters reports. Iceland lost one of the two European seats to Austria and Turkey, while Japan very clearly won the Asian seat, with 158 votes for Japan, and only 32 for Iran.