World News Desk
GlobalPost's editors keep track of what's important in the international news cycle so that you don't have to.
Chatter: What we're hearing
Need to know: Pakistan troops have taken back the militant stronghold town of Kotkai in South Waziristan — a victory that is important both strategically and symbolically, as the NY Times points out. Kotkai, which has changed hands three times since the military began their offensive a week ago, is the home of the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, as well as to one of the most feared Taliban commanders, Qari Hussain, who is called by some the "mentor of the suicide bombers."
Want to know: Armed with carbon dioxide-sucking algae and soil from Inner Mongolia, China is finally taking it upon itself to figure out how to make their energy use less damaging to the environment. China, which has been all over the news this week in more ways than one, has begun to see energy efficiency and renewable energy as ingredients for the type of modern economy it wants to build, in part because it would make the nation's energy sources more secure. The Washington Post has the story.
Dull but important: Honduras is back to square one, as talks fail between ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and post-coup de facto leaders. Zelaya pulled out of talks with de facto leader Roberto Micheletti. "It's an insult to keep wasting time. There is not even the slightest will to fix the problem," Zelaya said of Micheletti.
Just because: Creole is such a complex language that it takes a whole month just to wrap your mind around its diverse origins. Thankfully, we have been given October, dubbed International Creole Month. Among the celebratory measures planned is World Creole Music Festival to be held Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Dominica. Read more on Global Voices.
Wacky: GlobalPost is high on the European wacky today. We've got a Gordon Brown drowning in a sea of cookie crumbs. The British PM couldn't answer the question, "What's your favorite biscuit?" and as a result, the masses have really let him have it. "Let's be blunt. Not having a favorite biscuit is unnatural — freakishly so," wrote Daily Telegraph columnist Judith Woods.
There's also a discount supermarket in Vienna that is taking bookings on an as-yet-imaginary spacecraft, with promises to take people to a "spaceport" in Oklahoma where they will board the "Rocketplane XP" and fly to height 12,000 meters before being "catapulted in the air by booster rockets. And in return? A measly $314,000.
Reporter's Dispatches
BOSTON — Like all great dramas, an investigation of complex and murky supply chains across Asia offers no clear rights or wrongs. Yes, some...Read more >
In the month since protests in China's west turned deadly, the Chinese government has pointed a finger at one woman as an instigator of racial...Read more >
It has been an extraordinary few days in Iran. A disputed election. Rival claims of victory. Mass rallies. Mass protests. A crackdown. Violence and...Read more >
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World News's Links:
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