World News Desk's Notebook:

Chatter: What we're hearing

To receive the morning chatter by email, let us know at editors@globalpost.com.

Need to know: Sri Lanka's defeated presidential candidate was hauled from his office by military police and will be court-martialed for allegedly planning to overthrow the government while serving as the head of the army.

Want to know: French children are to be given a "citizen's handbook" to teach them to be better republicans, as part of national identity measures. Schools will be ordered to fly the French flag and to have a copy of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in every classroom.

Dull but important: Flush with cash despite the global economic downturn, China’s sovereign wealth fund now owns stock in some of America’s best-known brands, including Apple, Coca-Cola and Motorola.

Just because: Brazil’s direct exports to Iraq have exploded from virtually nothing before the American occupation to $250 million last year. And poultry is leading the charge. Chicken and anything it can be turned into now make up about 80 percent of those exports.

Wacky: An Israeli satellite TV company called Yes has taken Barack Obama's trademark "Yes we can" campaign slogan and turned it into a commercial. Featuring an Obama impersonator from New York City called Jose Williams and based upon an old Israeli rock song, the advertisement has its fake Obamas doing a fairly impressive dance routine.

Chatter: What we're hearing

To receive the morning chatter by email, let us know at editors@globalpost.com.

Need to know: Iran says it will start producing higher-grade nuclear fuel on Tuesday and add 10 uranium enrichment plants over the next year. Iran's nuclear agency chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran would start to raise the enrichment level from 3.5 percent to 20 percent on Tuesday, in the presence of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Analysts say the move may be a negotiating tactic to prod the West into accepting Iranian terms for a nuclear fuel swap.

Want to know: The lookout from the world's tallest tower in Dubai has been unexpectedly shuttered just a month after opening. The Burj Khalifa was intended to be a major tourist draw in the Gulf city, which has recently been fending off negative publicity caused by more than $80 billion in debt it is struggling to repay. The exact reason for the closure is unclear, though it may be due to high traffic or electrical problems.

Dull but important: Costa Rica has elected its first woman president. Ruling party candidate Laura Chinchilla won in a landslide after campaigning to continue free market policies in Central America's most stable nation.

The ladies weren't so lucky in Ukraine. Come Monday morning, Yulia Tymoshenko still refused to concede defeat in Sunday's runoff vote for the presidency, even though all signs point to opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych's victory.

Just because: Prime Minister Boiko M. Borisov of Bulgaria, a thick-necked former karate instructor, bodyguard and onetime fireman, may seem an unlikely feminist. But the former tough guy mayor of Sofia has in recent months promoted a legion of women, heralding what some are calling a sexual revolution in the politics of this abidingly macho Balkan country. “Women are more diligent than men, and they don’t take long lunches or go to the bar,” insisted Borisov.

Dive into Harar, the ancient walled city in Ethiopia that held Rimbaud under its spell during the last 10 years of his life, and continues to bewitch travelers with a riot of sensory experiences. Harar is where Islam meets Christianity, where Arabia and Asia join Africa, and where hyenas roam the streets at night. Flourishing trade between regions and cultures for 1,000 years culminates in this city on narcotics, where the markets are still brisk.

Wacky: And this just in: You really can be bored to death. A University College London study found that those who live tedious lives are twice as likely to die young. Of more than 7,000 civil servants who were monitored over 25 years, those who said they were bored were about 40 percent more likely to have died by the end of the study than those who did not.

Chatter: What we're hearing

To receive the morning chatter by email, let us know at editors@globalpost.com.

Need to know: Exit polls from Ukraine indicate that the pro-Moscow opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych has narrowly won the country's presidential election. If confirmed, it would be a remarkable comeback for Yanukovych, who was swept aside five years ago by the Orange Revolution. Under the 59-year-old former mechanic, Ukraine's foreign policy is expected to become more pro-Russian.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered Iran's nuclear agency to begin enriching uranium for use in a medical-research reactor, ratcheting up Tehran's defiance over Western demands that it curb its nuclear ambitions. The statement was carried Sunday on state TV as Iran celebrates the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution. U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believed there was still time for sanctions to work despite the Iranian president's decision.

Want to know: One wrong move in the karaoke parlor can spell death in the Philippines. Correction: One wrong note in Frank Sinatra's "My Way" can spell death in the Philippines. Authorities don't know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.” The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song? The New York Times explores the issue.

Dull but important: Japan may grant voting rights to foreigners as early as next year, reports Al Jazeera. Some fear that granting suffrage in elections to ethnic Koreans and Chinese will have a negative impact on Japanese culture and compromise the country's autonomy. Watch here:

Just because: With the death of an 85-year-old woman from the Andaman Islands, an ancient Indian dialect has officially disappeared. 'Boa Sr' was the last speaker of the Bo language thought to have been spoken by the Bo tribe for up to 65,000 years. Listen here:

Wacky: A Russian company has bought an entire Latvian town, which once formed part of the Soviet Union's air defenses against NATO, complete with nightclubs, schools and apartment blocks. Alekseevskoye-Serviss snapped up the now deserted Skrunda-1 for the bargain price of £1.9m. It's unclear what the company has planned for the town, though the Latvian state has placed no restrictions on what developers can do. Latvia is reportedly happy to the see the run-down town taken of its hands. Read more in the Telegraph.

Chatter: What we're hearing

Need to know: Western powers have responded with scepticism to Iran's claim that a deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel could now be close. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a security conference in Germany that an agreement could be reached soon. But the U.S. and European Union said they were unconvinced and Iran must make a meaningful offer or face new sanctions. The U.S. and its allies fear Iran is attempting to develop nuclear weapons. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

Want to know: Who is going to win in Ukraine's tight presidential election? The blond braided Yulia Tymoshenko? Or the old-style Viktor Yanukovych? It is a tight race.

And in Costa Rica — will a woman win the presidency for the first time? Laura Chinchilla is an impressive candidate, but it is not certain that she will win outright.

Dull but important: A crisis in Europe over budget belt-tightening has upended global markets and seized the attention of financial leaders meeting in the Canadian Arctic. Finance ministers and central bankers from the G7 major industrial countries also planned to try on Saturday to settle differences on banking industry reforms. There are fears that go-it-alone moves such as U.S. President Barack Obama's plan to break up big banks will further hamper the fledging economic recovery.

Just because: We like dogs and sailing and bodybuilding and great photographs, we've included GlobalPost's Fantastic Five — our editors' picks of the best photos of the week. Take a look.

Wacky: An Australian banker who became an internet sensation after he was caught on live television viewing images of a scantily clad supermodel on his computer will keep his job, Macquarie Bank announced. Macquarie is known in banking circles as the "millionaire's club" because of the high bonuses earned by some of its staff.  Here's the funny video that became a YouTube sensation.

Chatter: What we're hearing

To receive the morning chatter by email, let us know at editors@globalpost.com.

Need to know: What began with worries about the solvency of Greece in the face of high deficits, fake budget figures and low growth has quickly become the most severe test of the 16-nation euro zone in its 11-year history.

Want to know: The world came to know them as the "miracle babies" of Mexico City, more than a dozen infants pulled from rubble after the devastating 1985 earthquake. Twenty five years later, a look at the fate of the newborns who gave hope to a shocked nation.

She is the Shirley Temple of samba, a 7-year-old named to a coveted Carnival role normally reserved for barely clad models. Naming the girl drum corps queen for the Viradouro samba group is raising eyebrows even in a city that has seen everything during the annual mega-party that begins next week.

Dull but important: A recently-erected statue of President Obama as a 10-year-old boy will be removed from a public park in Jakarta, city officials said, bowing to vociferous criticism on Facebook just a month before Mr. Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia.

Just because: Similar to the American 7-Eleven store concept, convenience stores cater to every kind of Japanese person. Businessmen grab a pint of beer on their way home from work, kids browse through comic books and college students pick up a cheap lunch in a to-go box.
But Japan’s convenience stores are in trouble — and that means Japan could be, too.

Wacky: Fast food chain McDonald's has teamed up with the Italian government to cook up a hamburger with a national twist, but the unusual initiative is giving some food lovers cultural indigestion.

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