Worldbeat

There's a lot going on out in the World, not all of it able to sustain the well-thought out drivel that I usually type in these blogposts, so here's a general round-up:

Tunisian Turmoil: protests are gathering momentum and protestors have made it clear they want President Ben Ali to stand down now and not in 2014 as he promised last night. The President has governed Tunisia since 1987 in what appears to be one of those 'oh, I'll stand down after two terms, but hey, let's change the rules so I can run for three and then four and maybe even a fifth term- you know what? I'll just keep an eye on things until I die, does that sound good?' type of situations. Protests started four weeks ago when an unemployed college graduate was prevented from making some money by selling vegetable by police because he didn't have a permit and set himself on fire in response. (UPDATED: Protestors have succeed. President is stepping down.)

The Deuce Advances: John Paul II is to be beatified in May by Pope Benedict XVI, making him officially 'Blessed' and moving him one step closer to Sainthood.

Collapse: The Lebanese Government did, as parties struggle to figure out how to respond to the International tribunal investigating the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri....

Soggy Down Under: Not a good year for the Aussies thus far- England keeps the Ashes (yeah, still don't understand cricket by the way, but reportedly a big deal) and Queensland is swamped by insanely massive and devastating floods. Brisbane is just starting the clean-up effort now. (And check this astonishing YouTube footage from the town of Toowoomba- a couple of days back, they had about six inches of rain in half an hour and it created like a mini-tsunami that ran through the town.)