Chatter: What we're hearing

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Need to know: Sri Lanka's defeated presidential candidate was hauled from his office by military police and will be court-martialed for allegedly planning to overthrow the government while serving as the head of the army.

Want to know: French children are to be given a "citizen's handbook" to teach them to be better republicans, as part of national identity measures. Schools will be ordered to fly the French flag and to have a copy of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in every classroom.

Dull but important: Flush with cash despite the global economic downturn, China’s sovereign wealth fund now owns stock in some of America’s best-known brands, including Apple, Coca-Cola and Motorola.

Just because: Brazil’s direct exports to Iraq have exploded from virtually nothing before the American occupation to $250 million last year. And poultry is leading the charge. Chicken and anything it can be turned into now make up about 80 percent of those exports.

Wacky: An Israeli satellite TV company called Yes has taken Barack Obama's trademark "Yes we can" campaign slogan and turned it into a commercial. Featuring an Obama impersonator from New York City called Jose Williams and based upon an old Israeli rock song, the advertisement has its fake Obamas doing a fairly impressive dance routine.

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/general/100208/chatter-what-were-hearing-0