News Nuggets 689

Children looking out on a train in Edinburgh, Scotland.  From National Geographic.

When the Neighbour's House Catches Fire (M.K. Bhadrakumar) from The Hindu [of India in English]
"Two things that happened in the subcontinent last Wednesday promise to be a game changer in regional politics."

Tensions Rise Along Afghan-Pakistan Border from the Washington Post
"Weeks of deadly cross-border shelling from Pakistan and militant attacks from Afghanistan are threatening a fragile thaw between the long-wary nations, raising alarm on both sides about the potential for expanded regional conflict as the U.S. presence in Afghanistan shrinks."

Les Hinton, Top Murdoch Deputy, Faces New Scrutiny In Hacking Scandal from Reuters via the Huffington Post
"...attention is now turning to Hinton, 67, who headed up News International during Brooks's and Coulson's editorships and now runs the New York-based Dow Jones & Co., another arm of Murdoch's sprawling News Corp. Murdoch's long-time lieutenant, some News Corp watchers say, could end up being a high-profile casualty in the scandal."
Very important development!  This shift in focus represents a substantial move UP the food chain beyond NoW, into News International, ... and across the Atlantic!

In US, 9/11 victims 'may have had mobiles tapped by News of the World reporters' from the Daily Mirror [of the UK]
"Rupert Murdoch yesterday flew to London to try to save his crumbling empire. He arrived in a cowboy-style hat to be hit by claims News of the World reporters hacked the phones of 9/11 victims."
OK -- NOW we're getting somewhere!  These last two stories leap the Atlantic.  Were Fox News people doing the same thing or something similar?!

Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB Bid: Government Lawyers Reportedly Moving To Block Buyout from Reuters via Huffington Post
"British government lawyers are drawing up plans to block Rupert Murdoch's bid to buy out the broadcaster BSkyB, the Independent newspaper said on Monday, a move that could spare Prime Minister David Cameron a potentially damaging parliamentary vote."

Spell Broken for a Media Empire (Charles Moore) from the Sydney Morning Herald [of Australia]
"UNTIL last week, it seemed the rule of Rupert Murdoch would end only with his death. But now, I think, the end is in sight. He may live to a great age (Murdoch is 80), but his power will never recover."

Another take:
In UK, Power has Shifted Back to the People (Mary Ann Sieghart) from the Independent [of the UK]
"Politicians will be more worried about incurring the wrath of voters than the wrath of a proprietor of a discredited company."
I think this whole NoW scandal provides a CAUTIONARY TALE for Americans concerning how US news corporations could become independent partisan sources of power.  It has long occurred to me that Fox News was drifting in this direction -- but I had no idea how the NoW was at a whole different level! 

How Angry Moms Toppled the 'World' (Bill Coles) from the Daily Beast
"Influential British parenting website Mumsnet was instrumental in bringing down scandal-ridden News of the World. Bill Coles reports from London on the remarkable grassroots campaign."

Somehow, the Unemployed Became Invisible (Catherine Rampell) from the New York Times
"The United States is in the grips of its gravest jobs crisis since Franklin D. Roosevelt was in the White House. Lose your job, and it will take roughly nine months to find a new one. That is off the charts. Many Americans have simply given up.  But unless you’re one of those unhappy 14 million, you might not even notice the problem."

How Seawater Can Power the World (Stewart Prager) from the New York Times
"...an abundant, safe and clean energy source once thought to be the stuff of science fiction is closer than many realize: nuclear fusion. Making it a reality, however, will take significant investment from the government at a time when spending on scientific research is under threat."

For Boehner, Lofty Budget Goals Checked by Reality from the New York Times
"It was a transformative proposal, with the potential to improve the ugly deficit picture by shrinking the size of government, overhauling the tax code and instituting consensus changes to shore up Medicare and even Social Security. It was a once-in-a-decade opening. But the speaker’s lofty ambitions quickly crashed into the political reality of a divided, highly partisan Congress."
No -- it was not a "highly partisan Congress'!  It was his own party that torpedoed the deal!

The GOP’s False Fiscal Narrative (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"The often-used storyline that Republicans are desperate to balance America’s books is false, and so is the one about the GOP and the Democrats both being prisoners of their ideological extremes, says Peter Beinart."

Michele Bachmann: While You Weren't Looking, She's Taken Over the GOP Lead in Iowa (Andrew Malcolm) from the Los Angeles Times
"While much of the nation's political community focuses on the deficit stalemate in Washington and President Obama's scheduled news conference to control the news cycle this morning, a new poll reveals Rep. Michele Bachmann has surged to the lead among likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa."

'PAYBACK'S-A-BITCH' NUGGET!!
Rebekah Brooks Savaged In Final News Of The World Crossword Clues (PHOTOS) from the Huffington Post
"Even as Rebekah Brooks, the embattled head of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper division, arrived at his London residence on Sunday afternoon, signs were everywhere that her former employees want to see her forced out of power. One big sign? The final crossword puzzle in the News of the World, which was shut down thanks to the pho"
I LOVE IT!!  This is so ... British!