World News

First of all, Happy World Penguin Day!

 

Afghanistan

• In shades of the "Great Escape", 478 prisoners escaped from a prison in southern Afghanistan by digging a 320-meter tunnel over the course of 5 months.

Japan

• Toyota Motors is anticipated to slip to number three worldwide in production, behind General Motors and Volkswagen, due to the various disasters in Japan cutting local output.  South Korean manufacturers Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors are expected are expected to benefit the most from the slump, as they will be able to use the slump to take high-end market share from Toyota and to boost volume.
• The Japanese government has deployed some 25,000 troops from the Japanese Self-Defense Force to search for the bodies of people missing since the earthquake and tsunami.

Libya

• Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking on "State of the Union" on Sunday, called for direct military action targeting Muhammar Gaddafi.  "My recommendation to NATO and the administration is to cut the head of the snake off, go to Tripoli, start bombing Gaddafi's inner circle, their compounds, their military headquarters in Tripoli," he said.
• Possibly a coincidence, but NATO airstrikes on Tripoli have badly damaged buildings in Muhammar Gaddafi's  Bab al-Azizia compound.  The strikes are reported to have also hit three residential districts in Tripoli.
• Armed Predator drones will be joining the manned aircraft in airstrikes in Lybia.  Defense Secretary Gates denies that this is any sign of "mission creep", or any indication that the US will be taking a more active role in the UN-mandated, NATO-led mission.

North Korea

• Former President Jimmy Carter, leading a delegation of former state leaders known as The Elders - is visiting North Korea to talk about food aid and North Korea's nuclear program.  "the Elders are not in a position to negotiate, we're not mediators.  We're going to learn what we can and share what we find with the leaders with whom we have contact in the future," he said.  The objective is to find a way to provide humanitarian aid to the nation, where average calorie consumption has fallen from 1400 per day to 700 per day.

Syria

• Syrian troops and tanks stormed Deraa in an effort to break up a large-scale protest (almost a revolt, really) calling for democratic reform in the country.  More than 100 people have been killed by Syrian security forces in the city since the end of the nation's state of emergency on Thursday.

United States

• A US Coast Guard report states that "Deepwater Horizon and its owner, Transocean, had serious safety management system failures and a poor safety culture.  Collectively, this record raises serious questions whether Transocean's safety culture was a factor that contributed to the disaster."  Transocean, which paid large cash bonuses to its entire board of directors on April 5th "in recognition of the Company's achievement of the objectives set at the beginning of 2010 relating to the Company's safety record" disagrees, and goes so far as to claim that "documentary evidence in the Coast Guard's possession refutes" the findings.
• Bill Nye, aka "The Science Guy", was heckled and booed in Waco, Texas for saying that the moon does not emit light on its own .