Every Wednesday, the Sifter posts top-line summaries to current events around the globe. All news articles are from Reuters, The New York Times and BBC News.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov sacked by President Medvedev [BBC News]
- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has fired Moscow’s powerful mayor, Yuri Luzhkov. Mr Luzhkov, 74, was being removed because he had lost “the trust of the president of the Russian Federation”, a presidential decree said. In recent weeks Mr Luzhkov – who has been in office since 1992 – had faced harsh criticism from the Kremlin
- Mr Luzhkov is one of Russia’s most powerful politicians and is a senior member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party – but he complained of being abandoned by the party. During this summer’s forest fire crisis, when Moscow was choked by smoke and baked in record high temperatures, he was attacked for remaining on holiday. Mr Luzhkov and his billionaire wife, Yelena Baturina, have been also accused of corruption
- Commentators believe this battle at the highest level of Russian politics was sparked by a newspaper article written by the mayor in which he appeared to criticise the president and call for a return to stronger national leadership, says the BBC’s Richard Galpin in Moscow
Austin Gunman Is Dead, Police Say [New York Times]
- As bleary-eyed University of Texas students made their way to early classes and campus workers walked toward their jobs, one person strode through campus wearing a dark suit and a ski mask — and carrying an assault rifle. Authorities say the gunman who later killed himself was 19-year-old Colton Tooley, a sophomore math major. No one else was injured
- As the gunman trekked along a campus street with an AK-47, he fired three shots toward a church, then fired three more times in the air, Cordoba said. Police said that with help from students they were able to track the shooter’s movements and chase him off the street. He went into the Perry-Castaneda Library, where he shot himself to death, said campus police Chief Robert Dahlstrom
- The armed walk went through the heart of the UT-Austin campus, where one of the nation’s worst mass shootings took place from atop the clock tower in 1966, when Charles Whitman shot and killed 16 people and wounded nearly three dozen
Chavez throws down gauntlet to Venezuela opposition [Reuters]
- Having boycotted parliamentary elections in 2005, opposition parties in the recently-united Democratic Unity bloc won 65 seats, or more than a third, of the National Assembly in the South American nation’s weekend election, against 98 seats for the ruling Socialist Party. Given they also obtained half the popular vote, Democratic Unity hailed the result as a triumph and set their sights on defeating Chavez at the next presidential election in 2012
- But the 56-year-old Chavez — who has been in power since 1999 and remains Venezuela’s most popular politician — ridiculed their celebrations and threw down a gauntlet. “I challenge them. As they say they are the majority … call a referendum. Why wait another two years to get rid of Chavez?” he told a news conference late on Monday
- The opposition want to exploit their new profile in parliament and increased acceptance among Venezuela’s nearly 29 million people to mount a serious challenge in two years. For that, they need to maintain unity among the more than 30 parties and groups that make up Democratic Unity, and present a program that goes beyond just opposition to Chavez.
AOL to Acquire TechCrunch to Bolster Its News Coverage [New York Times]
- AOL said on Tuesday that it was buying the influential technology news blog TechCrunch to bolster its growing online editorial business. The deal, signed on stage at a TechCrunch conference here, will add to AOL’s technology coverage, which also includes the gadget blog Engadget
- The companies did not disclose terms, but the price tag was more than $25 million, according to a person with direct knowledge of the deal who was not authorized to speak publicly. The acquisition is another step in AOL’s quest to revive its reputation as a hub for online news. Under Tim Armstrong, AOL’s chief executive, the company has hired hundreds of reporters to cover local news for the company’s Patch property, in a bid to strengthen online advertising revenue
- TechCrunch, founded in 2005 by Michael Arrington, a lawyer, is widely read by technology industry insiders for its mix of breaking news and commentary — some of it bombastic. The company generates $10 million in annual revenue and $3.5 million in profits, he has said. It gets about 3.8 million unique visitors a month, ranking it as one of the more popular technology news sites. AOL’s Engadget gets about 7.3 million visitors a month
J&J CEO to address recalls; Tylenol brand dips [Reuters]
- Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ.N) massive recall of popular medicines, including a stealthy recall of some Motrin packages, has eroded the company’s reputation and put pressure on chief executive Bill Weldon who appears before a congressional committee on Thursday. J&J recalled 40 widely used nonprescription products for children and infants, such as Tylenol, in late April after FDA inspectors found filthy equipment and contaminated ingredients at a Pennsylvania factory
- Combined with several other recalls since January, the company has pulled nearly 200 million bottles of various medicines. No injuries from recalled products have been reported but industry analysts say consumers have turned to cheaper, store brand alternatives
- It will be Weldon’s first major appearance on the recalls. He did not appear at a congressional hearing in May; the company said he was recovering from back surgery. Investors have so far been forgiving. Since the April recall, its shares have roughly matched the overall market, falling 3.5 percent compared with the 3.8 decline in the S&P 500 index
Boeing finalizes $5.3 billion F/A-18 multiyear deal [Reuters]
- Boeing Co (BA.N) has finalized a $5.3 billion four-year agreement with the U.S. Navy to build 124 F/A-18 fighter jets and electronic attack planes, a deal that will generate savings of over $600 million. The deal, announced on Tuesday by Boeing and the Pentagon, calls for the company to deliver 66 F/A-18 “Super Hornet” fighters and 58 EA-18G airframes designed for electronic attack to the Navy from 2012 through 2015
- Boeing also won a $249 million contract for logistics support for the F/A-18 fighters, which operate worldwide from the decks of 11 Navy aircraft carriers — including ongoing missions in Afghanistan. Boeing said the agreement would generate more than $600 million in savings by allowing Boeing and its suppliers to plan further ahead and buy materials in bulks
- The contract is based on a price of about $42.7 million per airplane, excluding their engines and other government-furnished equipment. This is the third multiyear agreement Boeing has signed with the Navy for the F/A-18 fighter program. The company said the first two agreements, which each spanned five years, saved about $1.7 billion in total
Egypt tycoon jailed in Suzanne Tamim murder retrial [BBC News]
- An Egyptian tycoon has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for ordering the murder of popular Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim, after a retrial. Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a senior member of Egypt’s ruling party, was sentenced to death after his initial trial – but judges quashed his conviction on a technicality and ordered a new trial.
- His co-defendant Mohsen al-Sukkari was given life in jail for killing Tamim. She was found with her throat slit in a Dubai hotel in July 2008. The court heard how Moustafa, an MP for the ruling National Democratic Party, ordered the killing after Tamim had spurned his marriage proposal
- He is believed to have paid Sukkari $2m (£1.3m) to kill Tamim at one of the hotels owned by his property firm. She became a celebrity as the winner of an Arabic TV talent show in the late 1990s. Analysts say the lighter sentence for Moustafa is likely to fuel public perceptions that the elite are above the law in Egypt
- By the Numbers: Apple, Microsoft, Dell, H.P. [New York Times]
- Obama Signs $30 Billion Small Business Bill Into Law [Reuters]
- Soldier Describes Murder of Afghan for Sport in Leaked Tape [New York Times]
- Brazilian clown’s election bid challenged [BBC News]
Photograph by REUTERS/Sheng Li
A man walks past a monument marking the September 18th Incident in Shenyang, Liaoning province on September 17, 2010. This year marked the 79th anniversary of the September 18th, 1931 Mukden Incident – a railroad bombing that led to Japan laying siege to Mukden (now Shenyang) and beginning the military occupation of northeast China, then known as Manchuria – the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
via The Big Picture: Scenes from China
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