The Whole Delivery

( TWD Note: "The Atlas" is the new replacement name for "The Read International", the international news and opinion blog post from The Whole Delivery. This is day one of that. ) This was a refreshing look at those in Kabul thinking more about work than war : It always strikes me when reading newspapers and watching the news, that what we hear about Afghanistan always comes from the politicians, the military, analysts and experts - everyone seems to have an opinion without ever knowing the answer. But very rarely do we hear the voices of ordinary Afghans. There is no voiceover used in this documentary. Each of the four characters did a master interview and was filmed doing what they do. It is pure and simple. The idea was to create a snapshot of life in Kabul - a human portrait of a city at work. The film is loosely structured around the course of a day, starting with the General as she gets up and goes to work, and finishing with the 95-year-old bonesetter ...

As rich and well off overlords like Peter Orztag continue their absurd assault on Social Security here, over across the Atlantic in Paris-land, the people are not really taken to kindly to their President trying to screw them over once more : Hundreds of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of France to register their anger over the government's austerity measures. The rallies came as a 24-hour national strike disrupted flight and rail services, and closed schools. Officials said 1.1 million people had joined protests, but unions claimed the figure was 2.5 million. The activists are angry at government plans to overhaul pensions and raise the retirement age from 60 to 62. France's retirement age is lower than many countries in Europe, but analysts say the issue is polarising politics in the country. Just like over here with the supposed fears of that evil budget deficit yelled by our elites to the workers, the proletariat in "Les Blues" have ...

Photo from AFP 4 million people will need food assistance in the next 3 months. 4 million : The United Nations has launched an appeal for $459m to help the victims of devastating floods that have affected more than 14 million people across Pakistan. The call from the UN's humanitarian agency on Wednesday came as food prices skyrocketed after huge areas of crops were destroyed by the waters. "We have a huge task in front of us to deliver all that is required as soon as possible," John Holmes, the UN humanitarian chief, said at a meeting at UN headquarters. Speaking of ridiculously under reported major events in America, the violent landslide in Gansu province in China has produced a death troll of over 1,000 . But unlike in Pakistan, the government has responded very quickly in the Far East : China's government appears to have responded quickly after landslides and flooding devastated the isolated county of Zhouqu. Rescuers were immediately despatched to th...

Image from BBC.com Pakistan isn't the only nation enduring a natural disaster of violent flooding. China has been ravaged in its northwest region by a tidal wave of flooding, leading to the perishing of thousands : More than 700 people are now known to have died in a massive landslide in north-west China - making it one of the deadliest incidents so far in the country's worst flooding in a decade. A frantic search is continuing for the more than 1,000 people still missing. Buildings were hit by a wall of mud so mighty that buildings seven storeys high crumpled like paper, says the BBC's Chris Hogg, in Gansu province. China has had shaky infrastructure with its buildings, and this is yet another painful reminder of how that drastically needs to change: The landslides came as China was struggling with its worst flooding in a decade, with more than 2,100 people reported dead or missing and millions more displaced nationwide. President Hu Jintao led a meeting of senior...

Photo from AFP The underreported tension between the United States and Pakistan was helped today by this helping giving of aid : The US government has announced a major new aid package for Pakistan, with hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent on projects in Pakistan's energy and water sectors. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, announced the $500m package at the start of a day-long "strategic dialogue" in Islamabad between American and Pakistani officials. The money - part of a five-year, $7.5bn aid package approved by the US congress last year - will support a total of 26 projects. Though the electricity money is certainly welcome for the electrical need Pakistan wants at any time, there is a still a major problem between the US and their tenuous allies. And that is in regards to the Haqquani, who many consider the main threat to the US and NATO in, guess where..........Afghanistan! Pakistan still has close ties with them, so despite the aid we gi...

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Heartwrenching stuff. Just heartwrenching. President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior Polish figures have been killed in a plane crash in Russia. Polish and Russian officials said no-one survived after the plane apparently hit trees as it approached Smolensk airport in thick fog. Russian media reports said the pilots ignored advice from air traffic control to divert to another airport. Poland's army chief, central bank governor, MPs and leading historians were among more than 80 passengers. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the crash was the most tragic event of the country's post-World War II history. The Polish delegation was flying in from Warsaw to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre of thousands of Poles by Soviet forces during WWII. To the nation of Poland, and all os those across Eastern Europe, our condolences are with you, no question about that. And especially to the Kaczynski family. Even more devastating is that the whole cabinet ...

Photo from the EPA As the US experiences its ups and downs with its current Census 2010 campaign, India is taking the steps necessary to avoid any problems with their own historic version of public allotment for next year . The process, that will see every resident fingerprinted and photographed, is expected to cost about $1.25bn and employ 2.5 million staff over an 11-month period. "It is the first time in human history that we will identify, enumerate, record and eventually issue an identity card to 1.2 billion people," said Palaniappan Chidambaram, India's home minister. Undertaken every decade since 1872, the census this year will collect biometric data on every person aged over 15 for a new national population register. And already, the counting has begun: The first person counted on Thursday was Pratibha Patil, the Indian president, at his official residence, in the first leg of a process called "houselisting". Houselisting entails recording infor...

Photo from Al Jazeera The explosions continue everyday in Iraq. And it would have been a shock if there wasn't another one in the eve of election day in the country . Separate explosions in southern Iraq have left at least three people dead and more than 50 others wounded a day before the country's parliamentary elections. Iraqi officials have assured voters that the country is ready for Sunday's poll, but security remained a concern for many Iraqis on Saturday. The final push is being made. And for some Iraqis, the elections have already started Iraqi politicians are making their final appeal to voters as their country heads for the 325-seat legislature poll on Sunday. Religious leaders have also encouraged Iraqis to vote, and on Saturday, Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged his followers to turn out and vote in the election, The Associated Press news agency reported. In a televised address from Tehran, the capital of neighbouring Iran, al-Sadr urged Iraqis to tur...

Your international news for the day: The heavily under reported continued Holy Crusade in Nigeria is truly chilling stuff .In fact, it hasn't been reported about over here. Let's hope the G7 countries fulfill their promise to let Haiti debt go. Speaking of which, a "miracle" is the only thing that can describe the man found after spending 27 days underneath the rumble . Little talked about story here, as Kim Jong II met with the Chinese delegation . And with the arrest of Sarath Fonseka , the questions on why the government is being asked. Your international news for the day.

What a mess : If you read the article, there is more disturbing suspicion about this verdict. The main accusation on Siddiqui is that she fired bullets form the gun that did not injured the targets she is alleged of shooting at. However During the trial, Linda Moreno, Siddiqui's defence lawyer, argued that there was no evidence the rifle Siddiqui was accused of taking had ever been fired, since no bullets, shell casings or bullet debris were recovered and no bullet holes detected. Moreno also said the testimony of the government's six eyewitnesses contradicted one another. Not only that, but Siddiqui was said to be a possible terrorist, but sadl enough, she was not accused of being one in the charges. And rights groups aren't happy with this decision: Cageprisoners, a UK-based rights group, rejected the verdict, citing the fact that evidence about Siddiqui's whereabouts prior to her arrest had been disallowed from the trial. "The case of Aafia Siddiqui c...

The snow really did hit even more in Europe(Photo from AFP) The mid to north East Coast of the United States wasn't the only region of the planet that got hit with heavy snowstorms. Parts of Europe. And it was brutal . More than 80 people have died across Europe as days of snow storms and sub-zero temperatures swept the continent, causing traffic chaos for millions. At least 42 people have frozen to death in Poland over the last three days and another 27 in Ukraine. Another 13 people died in car accidents in Austria, Finland and Germany, where temperatures fell to -33C (-27F). Air, rail and road transport links were disrupted across northern Europe where more snow was expected in coming days. Mostly on the northeast, it was still in the 20 degree rage at least. We surly have nothing to complain about in comparison to those Arctic temperatures seen over there. Another thing also getting news over there is the problem with these Eurostar trains : France is to investigate the breakdow...

Photo from the AP Today, 8 more US Soldiers died in Afghanistan today via bomb attacks , making it the deadliest month for US forces in the entire 8 year period in that country. This certainly will continue to raise the obvious question of "Why are we still over there?" Brave troops continuing to being put in harms way, and the growing chorus of President Obama needing to make the right decision here of withdrawing will continue to get louder and louder. When will that rational and necessary decision be made? The war trials continue for Radovan Karadzic at the Hague . The former Bosnian Serb leader is, for those who don't know, facing charges of 11 counts of genocide, war crimes, and crimes in general to humanity. He was certainly a sick piece of work and then some. In Morocco, protest against the Ramandan fast has led to some serious tension in that nation. Interesting stuff in Chile about their military courts possibly getting limited . And in Malawi, a bishop is rati...

The Read International, returns: Photo From Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images Because all rational people would . The UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution calling for nuclear disarmament, in a session chaired by US President Barack Obama. The resolution calls for further efforts to stop the spread of nuclear arms, to boost disarmament and to lower the risk of "nuclear terrorism". It was the first time a US president had chaired a Security Council summit. The resolution comes amid growing concerns among Western powers over Iran's nuclear ambitions. "The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to the goal of a world without nuclear weapons," Mr Obama told the Security Council after the resolution was adopted. He said the next year would be "absolutely critical in determining whether this resolution and our overall efforts to stop the spread and use of nuclear weapons are successful". UN Secretary General Ban Ki-m...

David Blaine has company

For not only American troops, but British ones as well. More to come today.

Providing those who still believe the American health care system is the best in the world a needed reality check. Here is the BBC epic documentary Panorama, highlighting how atrocious our health care system is. It is indeed a fascinating program to watch:

Photo from AFP as people in Lebanon celebrate the results The Gordon Brown-Labour Party battle continues Big news today out of Lebanon today, as a US supported bloc lead by Saad Hariri won more seats than Hezbollah today . Gabon's president died today in Barcelona . Omar Ondimba was 73, and he was the longest state ruler in Africa for 43 years. For analysis on European elections, please go to the European Tribune , part of The Rational Online News Newtork, or, of course, TRONN. The shift was made to the right, but according to tyronen over at European Tribune , it is not as big as some have made it out to be. Shell and Nigeria had it out apparently .

Photo from Al Jazeera The Air France plane that disappeared yesterday morning has been found, and sadly, no survivors with it. The Brazilian military located Fight AF447 as it crashed into the Atlantic . And of course, tearful relatives have come out of this tragedy Photo from EPA The pressure is on the U.S. over Cuba being allowed back into the Organization of American States, an invitation that Cuba said it won't accept. Al-Zawahari mouths off again on the eve of Obama traveling to the Middle East. And the latest depressing reason with why Gitmo needs to be closed (you probably won't see this all over the air tomorrow): A Yemeni detainee at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp has died in an "apparent suicide," US military officials say. Guards found 31-year-old Muhammad Ahmad Abdallah Saleh unresponsive and not breathing in his cell Monday night, the military said The Yemeni prisoner, known as al-Hanashi, had been held without charge at the camp since February 2002....

Photo from Al Jazeera Because of South Korea joining the United States in anti-proliferation tactics, North Korea has pulled an even more controversial move than their missile testing on Monday: They claim that they are not apart of the 1953 armistice they struck with their Southern counterparts. This story has of course exploded throughout the net, and will continue to explode as the morning becomes whole on the television news networks. North Korea has threaten military action to sum it up. Though they have been known for talking the talk but coming nowhere near walking the walk, this is still very serious news that can't be dismissed. And now, the news is breaking that a deadly blast has gone down in Pakistan , killing 30 so far. The details, are of course, brutal to bare: Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Islamabad, said the blast took place on Mall road, a busy commercial district in the centre of Lahore. "We are hearing up to 40 cars have been destroyed in ...