What's Happening?

Here in the United States it is very difficult to turn on a news channel and hear anything other than American politics. This has been ongoing since 2009. It can be suffocating and I have had it up to here about the elections. I spend most of time searching for what is happening in the world. I thought I would share my findings with y'all. I have composed of a list of breaking news around the globe. There are some crazy things happening and there is not much focus on them here. Which I find a bit disheartening. Most of my findings( not all) came from Al Jazeera and BBC News.
Africa

• Later on this month Libya is due to hold elections for a national assembly, this will be the first free poll in decades. The current ruling party is the National Transitional Council(NTC) which took power last year after the Libyan revolution. Things have not been easy for the Northern African country. Just earlier this month, the recent tribal clashes in western Libya have left 105 people dead and 500 more injured according to the government. 
• Two northern Nigerian cities Kaduna and Damaturu are in lock-down after days of violence left at least 100 people dead. There have long been religious tensions between the Christian and Muslim population in Northern Nigeria. Boko Haram(Nigerian terrorist organization) has claimed responsibility for the recent suicide attacks on three churches. This sparked violence from Christian mobs that burnt mosques and killed their Muslim neighbors. Yesterday Pope Benedict XVI called for the end of the bloodshed. 
• Police in Kuruman, South Africa are investigating a potential hate crime. A young gay man's body was found mutilated under a blanket. His throat was cut and tongue removed, parts of his genitals had also been removed and placed into his mouth. 
• There is a drought in the Sahel region in Western Africa which has been jeopardizing the lives of millions.

Asia

•  In the western state Rakhine, Myanmar  thousands of been displaced by the ethnic clashes between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims. Outbreak of violence began after a Buddhist woman was raped and killed. Currently three Muslim men accused of the attack are in custody. This was followed by a revenge attack that killed 10 Muslims on a bus. Several villages have been set on fire. Bangladesh has decided to close their borders to Burmese refugees.
• Indonesian court finds Umar Patek, the man accused of assembling explosives for 2002 terrorist attack in Bali, guilty on all six counts and have sentenced him to 20 years in Jail. 

Australia- Oceania

• South Australian senator, Mary Jo Fisher quits Parliament after being reported for shoplifting a second time. 

Europe

• Greece held legislative elections earlier this month and the New Democracy party won. 
• Francois Hollande won the French presidential election. He is the second Socialist President. 
• Spanish Banks need up to 62 billion Euros in order to recapitalize their banks.. 

Middle East

• Kuwait court has reinstated the previous parliament after the recent election was declared "illegal"

North America

• Rodney King passed away earlier this week. He was found at the bottom of a swimming pool. 
• Michigan Rep. Lisa Brown was banned from the House floor for saying the word "vagina".

South America

• Paraguay's parliament votes to impeach President Fernado Lugo after 300 police officers tried to evict 150 farmers from the estate owned by a political opponent to President Lugo. The Senate has to approve of the vote for it to go into effect. 
• There is a bill that will legalize the use of marijuana in Uruguay. This is an attempt to fight the rise in drug-related crime.