While the bulk of our mainstream media were infatuated over the presence of fake news taking up valuable time, this week there was real news to be had. Critical news, hopeful news, important news. But it's doubtful you heard about it - or you did and it was shoved into a corner overshadowed by noise. Here's what you might have missed.

(Octavia Nasr - the fatal tweet)

Starting off with a report from Al Jazeera's English news service on July 18th over CNN's firing of Middle East correspondent Octavia Nasr and her tweet over the death of a Muslim cleric.

(Julia Gillard - back on the campaign trail)

Did you know that Monday the 25th is Election day in Australia? You would if you lived there or spent much time listening to ABC Radio National. And if you did, you probably heard this broadcast of AM on July 19th. It's election time again and the issues are flying, and true to form, AM has an interview with the primary candidates.

(Tomorrow never knows)

There was the Kabul Conference this past week with Hamid Karzai reaching out and the U.S. organizing the exit strategy. BBC's Newshour program from July 21st explores the conference on the ground with Lyse Doucet and a number of interesting interviews looking at the scenario of a Post-Occupied Afghanistan.

(A cautious fear that we've entered a new era)

From the CBC program The Current, a piece on the car bombing in Juarez Mexico on July 22nd. Noteworthy in that it's the first of its kind under those (drugs) circumstances. Evidence the war on drugs may have taken a new and more lethal turn. The CBC takes a look at the state of the Drug War in Mexico, drawing parallels between what is happening right now in Juarez and what had happened during an earlier drug war in Colombia. Uncomfortable similarities. The story is far from over.

(In case you didn't notice, spiraling out of control)

The current state of unrest and violence in Somalia is worsening by the day. As reported on this installment of Africa Today on July 22nd, the BBC Africa Service explores the increasing tensions and how this can fan out into a full-blown civil war in a matter of days. You know we're going to be getting involved sooner or later, so it's best you know what the story is now so it doesn't come as a shock when troops start showing up in Mogadishu again. Just saying.

(reports keep changing - the numbers keep growing)

And finally . . . I was originally going to run a piece on the current state of potential bank failures in Spain, owing to failures of recent stress tests. But news broke of the tragedy at the Love Parade Festival in Germany where, at the time of the initial reports (where this collection of news via Radio Berlin comes from) the number of dead were listed as 12. Since that time the number has risen to 18 (as of 5:30 pm in Los Angeles on Saturday). The number of injured is very high and the cause of the tragedy makes no sense. I'm sure more will be revealed in the coming hours, but for the moment I am running initial reports, as heard from Radio Berlin (they're in German so . . . ).

And it's not even Monday yet.

It was a week of spin, shock and spy charges with not a dull moment in sight. The week began with England's loss to Germany at the World Cup and continued with the G20 Summit and resulting protests. The Congo celebrated 50 years of independence. The BP catastrophe continued with new accusations, spin and political ramifications all doing nothing to stop the oil gushing but keeping the MSM busy. And shades of the "good old days" of the Cold War with allegations of sleeper spies unearthed in court and more than casual embarrassment from the State Department and The Kremlin. A fun week all around.

(Meanwhile . . . )

It was Al Jazeera's turn this week to comment on the political ramifications of the BP/Gulf Of Mexico debacle, laying their own set of accusations down and their speculations of how this is all going to pan out.

(Nothing says G-20 quite like a nice riot)

From the CBC Program The Current, reports on the 28th of the outcome of the G-20 summit and the resulting protests which dealt a goodly amount of mayhem throughout downtown Toronto. Since the rest of the world is teetering on the edge of continued disaster, the frustration has been multiplied over recent months. How this particular stinking bag of circumstances is going to pan out is anybody's guess at this point.

(Anna Chapman - no longer your dad's idea of a spy)

When news broke of an alleged sleeper spy ring uncovered by the FBI with the most unlikely group of defendants appearing in Federal Court, shades of the "good old days" of the Cold War began springing up in newsrooms and editorial departments around the world. Particularly when photos of one of the defendants, Anna Chapman began to circulate. The embarrassment portion of the program came since the U.S. and Russia were enjoying warmer relations than they had in years. As this installment of the BBC World Service's Newshour program from June 29th brought to light.

(the Russians were perplexed)

The Voice of Russia, in their newscast of June 29th offered little in the way of detailed explanation over the spy ring charges. That was something for the Kremlin to deal with. The newsreader was suitably non-plussed and quickly went on to other news items.

(President Joseph Kabila during the Congo's 50th birthday - Even the Belgians showed up)

Fifty years ago this week, The Congo declared independence from their colonial influence from Belgium. Not fifty of the most tranquil years, The Congo (or Republic of Congo as they are now known) weathered through civil wars, political upheavals, name changes (it was Zaire for a while), insurgencies and overthrows to achieve at least tenuous stability under President Joseph Kabila. How long their stability will stay is uncertain. But at least they've come this far. This report came from the BBC Africa Service program Africa Today from June 30.

(Raymond Domenech -portrait of a man in deep merde)

Not satisfied with public scorn and ridicule over the French team's dismal show at the World Cup, lawmakers took up the cause and took time out to grill coach Raymond Domenech over why the football team did so poorly during the games in South Africa. Despite the closed door inquiry, the French Press went into warpdrive, looking for leaks, rumors and speculations as to how their team did so badly. Radio France International's Focus On France program offered some insights.

(with disturbing regularity)

Suicide bombings have become a regular, almost daily occurrence of late in Pakistan. The latest bombing in Lahore casts doubt on just how strong the current government is and where this is all heading and just how stable the government is. This episode of Global News from July 2nd via the BBC covers the bombings as well as UK views on the current Immigration Reform issues in the U.S.

(The "oh shit" moment seen 'round the world)

And finally, with the stunning upset of England by Germany in this week's round of World Cup finals, BBC 5 Live offered on June 28th an in-depth look at what happened, how it happened, why it happened and what's next.

The mind can only wonder what next week will bring. But it will bring it soon enough.

I'm trying something new this week, a roundup of News as presented by media outside the U.S. - I've been complaining a lot lately about how our current state of Mainstream Media gives virtually no useful information on what's happening in the rest of the world, let alone our own country. So I thought I would give this a try. If it works, I'll make this a regular Friday feature.

First off - jumping up to the north of us, a program from the CBC called The Current and an interview with fellow Canadian David Frum on April 1st, regarding his "Waterloo" editorial and the resulting fallout.

(David Frum - Well . .I had no idea he was Canadian, did you?)

Q:"Were you pushed, or did you jump?"

Frum: "I was jumped. . . I mean pushed."

Next up - via BBC's Africa Service, Africa Today covering the recent developments in Niger after their coup and demonstrations in Somalia.

(First the coup and then the crackdowns)

From the Al Jazeera Listening Post, a report on the rift in U.S.-Israeli relations this week with the recent construction going on in Gaza and the various reactions from our State Department and the Israeli cabinet.

(File under: Awkward Photo ops)

ABC Radio National in Australia and their Correspondents Report, featuring a segment on Thai protests and the threatened arrest of an American journalist covering Human Rights violations in Indonesia.

(The continuing protests in Thailand - almost a daily occurrence)

This week, being The Pope wasn't all it was cracked up to be as BBC Radio 4's morning program Today reported on Monday the ongoing calls for his resignation. Also, first reports on the Moscow Subway bombing and China's purchase of Volvo.

(Pope Benedict and the old "what did he know and when did he know it")

Again from the BBC, reports and eyewitness accounts of the Moscow Metro bombing and the upcoming British elections.

(Moscow Metro - ugly and getting uglier by the minute)

And finally, for our Russian friends (or those of you who are brushing up on your language skills), a special report from Moscow Radio on Monday morning of the Moscow Subway bombing as it was unfolding. It's all in Russian but the seriousness and the devastation crosses all language barriers.

So that's a taste of what the rest of the world was listening to this week. Actually, you can too. It's all on your computer, either via Podcasts from iTunes or casual browsing to whatever streaming audio sources you can look up via Google. It's all there and you can check it out. Getting information about what's happening in the world around you is essential. If you can't find it where you live you have to find it where you can. There's too much going on not to know about it.