Note to Readers: whileUslept to be relaunched on worldcrunch

As you may know, whileUslept was originally launched in Feb. 2010 as part of a bigger online global news project…and four months ago, we went live with the first version of Worldcrunch.com, an innovative new source for top-rate international journalism that selects and translates into English the best foreign-language news brands. Read coverage about it HERE

Right now, we are flat in the middle of launching the official version of Worldrunch, which is consuming all of our attention. And so this note is to let you know that whileUslept will go, er, dormant for the next couple of weeks. When we wake it back up, we plan to also post it on Worldcrunch — and so we invite you to follow us there with any of the below links/options.

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While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Friday, April 8, 2011

NATO WON’T SAY SORRY Nato has refused to apologize for a “friendly fire” attack on anti-Gaddafi tanks in eastern Libya that killed at least four people Thursday. Rebel forces reacted angrily to the air-strike error, but commanders said it would not damage relations with the allied force, according to the BBC.

GAZA SET TO EXPLODE? AP reports Israeli aircraft and ground forces struck Gaza on Friday, killing two Hamas gunmen and three civilians in a surge of fighting sparked by a Palestinian rocket attack on an Israeli school bus the day before.

MORE IVORY COAST BODIES FOUND
The UN says more than 100 bodies have been found in the West of the Ivory Coast in the last 24 hours, as rivals continue to battle for the presidency.  The standoff continues between the two camps backing rival presidential candidates.

CHINA CRACKS DOWN – Chinese avant-garde artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei fell victim to China’s crackdown on dissent when he was arrested on April 3, says a special report from CNN. The New York Times asks what crime Mr Ai has committed.

BUDGET CLOCK TICKING – White House and Congress negotiators are still scrambling to reach a deal on the budget. Without an agreement on spending for the next six months, money to operate the government runs out at midnight on Friday.

from WORLDCRUNCH

Why The Birthplace Of The Tunisian Revolution Has Turned Against The Family Of The Martyr Who Started It All

 

The Polar Bear Autopsy Of The Century

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Wednesday, April 6, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch

GBAGBO UNDER ASSAULT Opposition forces in the Ivory Coast launched an assault today to dislodge defiant strongman Laurent Gbagbo from his residence he has been holed up in for two days. The goal is “to seize Gbagbo physically,” the New York Times reports.

RADIATION REMEDY? The operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant claims it has “plugged” a leak of highly radioactive water that had been flowing into the Pacific Ocean. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) stopped the flow with sodium silicate, also known as “water glass,” the BBC reports.

MIGRANTS MISSING A ship carrying approximately 200 North African migrants capsized overnight off the coast of Italy’s Lampedusa island. Italian rescue crews were able to save 48 of the passengers. The vessel’s other 150 migrants are still missing, according to the BBC.

CHINESE CRACKDOWN Uprisings in the Arab world have Chinese authorities on red alert. In recent weeks, police have arrested some 20 dissenters. Around 30 others have simply “disappeared” as a result of the secret crackdown, according to a Le Monde article published by Worldcrunch.

QUICKIE START TO BERLUSCONI SEX TRIAL A much anticipated trial over allegations Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi paid for sex with an underage prostitute got off to an anticlimactic start this morning. Proceedings lasted just seven minutes before being adjourned, the AP reports. The trial against the 74-year-old billionaire resumes May 31.

 

more from Worldcrunch

Yemen: In Southern City Of Aden, A Hotbed of Secessionist Revolt

Da Vinci Gravediggers? Looking For The Remains Of Mona Lisa

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Wednesday, March 30, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch

SYRIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES NATION IN MIDST OF POPULAR UPRISING Bashar al-Assad begins his first address to the nation since a two-week-old violent crackdown on anti-government protests. Assad began his speech by referencing what he called a “test” to the Syrian unity. (AlJazeera)

UK EXPELS FIVE LIBYAN DIPLOMATS Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague says U.K. has expelled five Libyan diplomats for intimidating opposition supporters.(AP)

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION MAY ARM LIBYAN REBELS Fierce debate over whether to supply weapons to the rebels, with some fearful that providing arms would deepen American involvement in a civil war and that some fighters may have terror links. (NYT)

JAPAN TO SHUTTER STRICKEN REACTORS Japan will decommission four stricken reactors at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant, with harmful levels of radioactivity detected in the area. (BBC)

 

In Bahrain, Pakistani Immigrants Targeted In Shiite-Sunni Clash

 

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Tuesday, March 29, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch

DIPLOMATIC PUSH ON LIBYA AS FIGHTING RAGES ON More than 40 world leaders and foreign ministers gather in London to plan ways to put pressure on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Government and rebel troops continue to battle in key cities east of Tripoli. (CNN)

IVORY COAST: UN-BACKED LEADER’S TROOPS MAKE GAINS AGAINST GBAGBO Forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, who the international community backs as the rightfully elected president, gain ground on two front in a widening war against forces loyal to sitting President Laurent Gbagbo. (BBC)

GUNMEN TAKE POLITICIANS HOSTAGE IN IRAQ The governor of a northern Iraqi province says he has lost contact with three local politicians after gunmen wearing suicide belts and military uniforms stormed their headquarters. (AP)

PLUTONIUM FOUND NEAR FUKUSHIMA Plutonium found in soil at the Fukushima nuclear complex heightens alarm over battle to contain the world’s worst atomic crisis in 25 years. (Reuters)

Welcome To Pripyat, Chernobyl’s Ghost Town

 

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Monday, March 28, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch

LIBYAN REBEL FORCES CLOSE IN ON GADDAFI’S HOMETOWN Conquering Libyan leader’s hometown of Sirte could lead to further gains in the western half of the country, and eventually a showdown in the capital of Tripoli. (AP)

MERKEL’S PARTY DRUBBED IN LOCAL ELECTIONS Preliminary state election results indicate big losses for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Party, CDU, which now seems poised to lose a major stronghold to a Green Party-led coalition in a key state. (CNN)

HUGE BLAST KILLS FIVE IN YEMEN IN AREA CONTROLLED BY REBELS Blast at an ammunition factory in southern Yemen town of Jaar also wounds at least 50. Reports said the plant had recently been seized by militants who, on Sunday, clashed with government forces in the town. (BBC)

OFFICIAL RESIGNS IN RUSSIAN OVER KHODORKOVSKY CASE, CITES INTERFERENCE Aide to judge who sentenced Russia’s Khodorkovsky to more years in prison steps down after saying verdict dictated by higher-ups. Developing. (Reuters)

JAPAN RADIATION ABOUT TO LEAK INTO OCEAN Highly contaminated water is escaping Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, and could soon leak into the ocean, the country’s nuclear regulator warns. (NYT)

from Worldcrunch:

Not Dark Yet In Daraa, Heart Of The Syrian Uprising

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Wednesday, March 23, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch

GADDAFI APPEARS FOR FIRST TIME IN A WEEK, AS HIS TROOPS POUND REBELS Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi rallies his supporters as fighting continues and supplies running low in the rebel-held town of Misrata. (BBC)

YEMEN PARLIAMENT ENACTS EMERGENCY LAWS, PRESIDENT HOLDS ON Embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh asks for new powers of arrest, detention and censorship to quash a popular uprising demanding his ouster. (AP)

GAZA MILITANTS FIRE ROCKETS, ISRAEL LAUNCHES AIRSTRIKES Palestinian militants fire rockets far into southern Israel, which responds with airstrikes in Gaza. Tensions running high after Israeli mortar fire killed three Palestinian youths and a 60-year-old man in response to a rocket attack a day earlier. (NYT)

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE WILL COST MORE THAN $300 BILLION, TOKYO WARNINGS ABOUT TAP WATER Record cost of the damage from earthquake and tsunami, while authorities in Tokyo warned that babies should not be given tap water because of radiation from a crippled nuclear plant.

THREE OTHER JOURNALISTS RELEASED IN LIBYA Three journalists, including two AFP employees held by Libyan leader Gaddafi’s forces since the weekend released in Tripoli. Follows release of four New York Times correspondents. (AFP)

from Worldcrunch

The Vatican Makes Assisted Fertility Treatment A Sin

 

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Monday, March 21, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch

U.S. TARGETS GADDAFI COMPOUND, STRIKES CONTINUE BUT REGIME FIGHTS ON United States and allies continued mission to dilute the Libyan leader’s strength. But Gaddafi’s whereabouts — and his plans after promising a “long-drawn war” — remained unknown. (CNN)

YEMEN MILITARY DEFECTIONS Apparent erosion of military support for Yemen’s embattled president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, as three army commanders gave their backing to protesters on Monday. The move came a day after the president fired his cabinet following the deaths of at least 45 people killed by government-linked forces. (NYT)

ELECTRICITY RESTORED TO 3 JAPANESE REACTORS, BUT SITUATION STILL UNCERTAIN UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, says the situation remains “very serious”. Some workers at the stricken facility are temporarily evacuated after smoke was seen rising from reactor No 3. Food contamination fears rise, as death toll climbs toward 10,000. (BBC)

WARREN BUFFETT SEES BUYING OPPORTUNITIES IN JAPAN Devastating earthquake is the kind of extraordinary event that creates a buying opportunity for shares in Japanese companies, says US uber investor. (Reuters)

GOOGLE ACCUSES CHINA OF INTERFERING WITH GMAIL Google says the Chinese government is making it difficult for users to gain access to its email program, amid an intensified Internet crackdown following widespread unrest in the Middle East. (AP)

from Worldcrunch

Libya’s Secret Weapon? Unleashing Mass Immigration

 

 

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Friday, March 18, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch (video)

MILITARY STRIKES AGAINST LIBYA TO BEGIN “SWIFTLY” French government spokesman says international efforts to turn back Gaddafi advances are set to begin, after the U.N. Security Council voted to impose a no-fly zone. Eyewitness reports said the rebel stronghold of Misrata was under attack by government forces. (CNN)

YEMENI FORCES OPEN FIRE ON PROTESTERS, AT LEAST 30 DEAD Medical sources say death toll was likely to rise, after pro-regime forces also opened fire on pro-democracy protesters from houses close to university square. (AlJazeera)

JAPAN RAISES NUCLEAR ALERT LEVEL Conditions at stricken nuclear plant push alert from four to five on a seven-point international scale for atomic incidents, now two levels below Ukraine’s 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog warned in Tokyo the battle to stabilise the plant was a race against time. (BBC)

JAPAN ADMITS IT WAS OVERWHELMED BY EARTHQUAKE AND AFTERMATH The Japanese government acknowledge that it was not equipped to adequately respond  to last week’s twin natural disasters, slowing the response to the nuclear crisis that was triggered by the earthquake and tsunami that left at least 10,000 people dead. (AP)

AUSTRALIA ASYLUM SEEKERS RIOT, SEEK TO ESCAPE DETENTION CENTER More than 200 rioters set fire to buildings in a bid to escape from a crowded Australian offshore detention centre. Police fire non-lethal so-called bean bag rounds and teargas canisters to regain control over the centre on Christmas Island. (Guardian)

from Worldcrunch:

From Hiroshima To Fukushima

 

While U Slept: Big 5 Stories Breaking Overnight. Thursday, March 17, 2011

produced by Worldcrunch (see video)

IN JAPAN, NEW ATTEMPTS TO COOL DAMAGED REACTORS, AVOID MELTDOWN Latest attempt to stave off a nuclear disaster in Japan includes helicopters, fire trucks and police water cannons aimed at the No. 3 reactor at the quake-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. (CNN)

GROWING U.S. ALARM OVER NUCLEAR DISASTER The United States urges its citizens to stay clear of an earthquake-crippled power plant, going further in its warnings than Japan itself. The State Department said the United States has chartered aircraft to help Americans leave Japan and had authorized the voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama — about 600 people. (Reuters)

CHINA FEARS JAPAN’S RADIATION The Chinese government urged Japan to report any developments in its nuclear crisis quickly and accurately as concern spread over whether officials in Tokyo had downplayed the scope of the radiation risk. Meanwhile, Chinese across the country emptied supermarkets of iodized salt even though government health officials warned that ingesting it would not protect against radiation exposure. (NYT)

LIBYAN REBELS ATTEMPT TO STAVE OFF ADVANCE OF GADDAFI FORCES Libyan rebels have deployed tanks, artillery and a helicopter to repel an attack by pro-Gaddafi forces on the key town of Ajdabiya. If taken, the town would open the way to Benghazi, Libya’s second city, with a population of one million.(BBC)

From Worldcrunch

Gaddafi Interview: “Here, There Is No Opposition”

 

Tunisia To Lampedusa: Reporter Joins Risky Immigrant Journey