Global Pulse

(Global Pulse: July 28, 2010) Here is a small summer confection for you. No, it's not as eyebrow-raising as last summer's "Naked Presidents" episode -- but still, we aim to please. The message is that Global Pulse will be back in the fall with all new episodes. And even better, our generous supporters have ordered up a bigger and better Global Pulse when we return, and we're planning that right now. As we said, we aim to please.

(Global Pulse: July 9, 2010) If you must experience a devastating industrial accident, pray you live in a rich and powerful country. Americans are justifiably angry, but they have 24-hour tar ball removal, a hotline for oiled birds, and a 20 billion dollar compensation fund. In Bhopal, India, tens of thousands were killed 25 years ago when toxic gas escaped from a factory run by the U.S. company Union Carbide. The compensation was meager, the plant is still oozing toxic waste, and the first trials, which took place this year, found executives guilty and handed out 2-year sentences. The American CEO skipped bail and lives comfortably in the U.S. Is suffering, justice and executive accountability different in a rich country than a poor one?

SOURCES: BBC, U.K.; Al Jazeera English, Qatar; TV5 Monde, France; ABC, U.S.; Fox News, U.S.; TimesNow, India

(Global Pulse: June 25, 2010) The recent announcement of vast mineral wealth in Afghanistan sent salesman-in-chief Hamid Karzai to Japan to pitch the allies, while the mastermind of the minerals survey at the Department of Defense arranged publicity here in the U.S. A controversial New York Times article quoted General David Petraeus calling the assessment "stunning," which sent conspiracy theorists spinning. Now, with Petraeus running the war in Afghanistan, are more fabulous discoveries to come?

SOURCES: CCTV, China; NHK, Japan; Press TV, Iran; KBS, South Korea; PBS, U.S.; ABC News, U.S.; Department of Defense, U.S.; RT, Russia; Al Jazeera English, Qatar; New York Times, U.S.

(Global Pulse: June 11, 2010) The U.S. could use a nice distraction, why not the World Cup? The fans worldwide are ready, and so are South Africa's new stadiums. Someone built a fake shanty-town for housing tourists, and a real one for formerly homeless South Africans. But if you can't make it to Johannesburg, you can watch the games on ESPN and even get your own 3D version of the new Soccer City "Calabash" Stadium.

SOURCES: SBS, South Korea; DW, Germany; BBC, U.K.; TVN, Chile; TV5MONDE, France; Al Jazeera, Qatar; Global Post, U.S.

(Global Pulse: May 28, 2010) After the South Korean warship Cheonan sank -- allegedly due to a North Korean torpedo -- the West was unanimous in its judgment of North Korea's guilt, and quick to spin different theories on the motive for the attack. But, some South Koreans aren't so sure, thinking the attack too neat a coincidence with the looming elections, and finding the evidence murky... The plot thickens.

SOURCES: KBS, South Korea; KCTV, North Korea; Fox News, U.S; MBC, South Korea; Al Jazeera English, Qatar; BBC, U.K.; CCTV, China.