Across Globe, Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger: In Cairo, the military is being put to work baking bread as rising food prices threaten to become the spark that ignites wider anger at a repressive government. In Burkina Faso and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, food riots are breaking out as never before. In reasonably prosperous Malaysia, the ruling coalition was nearly ousted by voters who cited food and fuel price increases as their main concerns. “It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, the economist and special adviser to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. “It’s a big deal and it’s obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes, and I think there’s more political fallout to come.” [NYT]
Whatzat! Cheerleaders for Indian cricket?: The thud you can hear is the sound of jaws dropping at MCC: India’s first cheerleading squad is about to high-kick its way into the venerable sport of cricket. On Friday the Washington Redskins cheerleaders, usually found urging on the American football side of the same name, will make their subcontinental debut when they take to the field for the Bangalore Royal Challengers, the newly created cricket team. The Challengers will be playing the Kolkata Night Riders, a side backed by Shah Ruck Khan, a Bollywood megastar. [Telegraph]
When the Ex Blogs, the Dirtiest Laundry Is Aired: But in an era when more than one in 10 adult Internet users in the United States have blogs, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, many people are using the Web to tell their side of a marital saga. Despite the legal end of a marriage, the confessions can stretch toward eternity in a steady stream of enraged or despondent postings. In separation, of course, one person’s truth can be another’s lie. [NYT]
Leave a Comment