And Now the News with Kandy Korrespondent!The Group of Eight (G8) summit is taking place this week on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. The meeting originally was to center around the issue of climate, but was changed due to surging food and oil prices.

The intensity of the global situation has turned this island paradise into a police state. Japan has spent $280 million on security, surrounding the summit venue with a human blockade of 21,000 riot police. Despite the wide security perimeters, protesters began to gather on Saturday with many more expected to arrive during the week.

Meanwhile in Malaysia, leaders of the world’s largest Islamic nations gathered for their annual “D8” summit to discuss global inflation. The D8 is a reaction against the exclusive nature of the G8 summit. Read More »

It’s time for a quick dose of news with Kandy Korrespondent!

On Wednesday the Colombian military successfully rescued 15 hostages from the FARC rebels. Most notable among the hostages was Ingrid Betancourt, a French-Colombian Senator and presidential candidate, who was kidnapped in 2002. Her family alongside the French government has been working tirelessly to secure her release for the past 6 years. A recent photo showing her incredibly frail caused all parties to ramp up their efforts. French Prime Minister Sarkozy made her rescue a foreign policy priority.

Also among the rescued were three DOD contractors, Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell who were captured in 2003 after their plane crash-landed in the Colombian jungle. The three arrived in San Antonio, Texas Wednesday night.

The Colombian rescue team posed as a civilian NGO organization that supposedly had offered to fly the rebels and the hostages to meet with rebel commander Alfonso Cano. Once they were in the air, however, the soldiers quickly overpowered the two rebels and freed the hostages. Read More »

According to the World Bank, global food prices have increased by 75% since 2005 and 45% in the last nine months. In the past two months, the cost of rice, a staple food for over half of the world’s population, rose by 75%. The price of wheat has risen 120% during the past year.

Deadly protests and rioting over these increasing costs are occurring throughout Africa and Asia.

In Haiti, where 80% of the population survives on less than $2 a day, mass demonstrations turned deadly. Rioting in Les Cayes killed 4 and wounded at least 20. A few days later Haitians attempted to storm the presidential palace in Port-au- Prince shouting “We are hungry!”

In Egypt, where over 33% of the population live on around $2 a day, police took over a textiles plant to prevent a widespread strike over rising food costs. The military has been enlisted to bake bread to curb the growing anger. Read More »