World News Issue 1

37

Author: Drew Jaffe|Ximena Santiago

Spain. The United States National Basketball Team defeated Serbia 129-92 at the FIBA World Cup Final in Madrid on Sunday. American point guard Kyrie Irving made six shots from the three-point line, while shooting guard James Harden scored an additional 23 points. As the team received their World Cup trophy on stage, they participated in the highly popular “Shmoney Dance” — originally performed by American rapper Bobby Shmurda. France took the bronze medal home after beating Lithuania 95-93 on Saturday. Local favorite Spain was eliminated by France in the quarterfinals. The tournament victory earned the U.S. its fifth World Cup; the team is now tied with Yugoslavia for the most titles in FIBA history.

Los Angeles Times

Hong Kong. Forty pro-democracy advocates, including three of the founders of the Occupy Central movement, shaved their heads in an act of defiance against the Chinese government. This comes shortly after Beijing announced that it will not hold open nominations to determine Hong Kong’s next leader. Dozens of citizens attended the event at a local church hall, disgruntled by China’s latest statement that Hong Kong won’t be able to choose its own leader until 2017. Occupy Central has vowed to host a larger sit-in in Hong Kong’s financial district to continue the protests.

BBC News

Venezuela. Venezuela has a shortage of breast implants. In the past, the South American country was granted access to implants authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, recent changes to currency controls have made it harder for businesses to import foreign goods. Ramon Zapata, President of the Society of Plastic Surgery, discussed the impact that the shortage has had on women across the country: “Women are complaining; are very concerned with their self-esteem.” Surgeon Daniel Slobodianik said that he used to perform the procedure multiple times a week and now only does it around twice a month. China, Venezuela’s newest and fastest-growing trading partner, has agreed to export breast implants to the country at lower prices.

New York Times

Egypt. Activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah is being retried in Cairo after a court sentenced him to 15 years of hard labor for violating public demonstration laws. Prosecutors attempted to use video footage of his wife belly-dancing against him in court last Friday. The images were taken from a personal computer after a search warrant of his home was issued. His defense attorney argued that the private event was irrelevant to the charges against Abdel-Fattah. Abdel-Fattah was a regular blogger and was previously charged with protesting and beating a police officer. Other videos taken from his computer included scenes of protests and police chasing civilians. Such evidence may be used in the on-going case against him.

New York Times

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