Breaking Tweets | World News, Twitter-Style

April 17, 2009

Ashton Kutcher becomes first on Twitter to 1 million followers

American actor Ashton Kutcher (@aplusk) became the first Twitter user to reach 1,000,000 followers, beating out CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) and Britney Spears (@britneyspears) to the mark in a race closely watched by the Twitterverse in recent days.

The race to one million had been monitored by hundreds of blogs and news outlets, including TechCrunch, VentureBeat, CNN, and ABC News.

Kutcher will celebrate the milestone live on the Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday. He has said that Oprah will send out her first ever tweet during the broadcast using the Twitter name @Oprah.

Kutcher passed CNN for the first time Thursday before CNN regained the lead after an on-air shout-out by personality Anderson Cooper. But Kutcher fired back with this tweet and his own broadcast via UStream.TV:

aplusk I'm am live on ustream now if CNN is gonna fight it out on tv I'll fight it out on the web http://ustream.tv/ashton 17 Apr 2009 from web

Here's a screenshot from the UStream broadcast of Kutcher watching with wife Demi Moore when he had reached 995,000 followers.

The Twitterverse celebrated the milestone.

berryanarchy @aplusk This is kinda exciting and it's good to see a celeb be a real person on webcam too 17 Apr 2009 from web

petervizel Hey @aplusk CONGRATULATIONS!! You DID IT!! You ARE the MAN on the MOON!!!! (Ashton Kutcher Live > http://bit.ly/xEu6c) 17 Apr 2009 from web

PaulJGorzkowski @MCHammer @kingsthings @aplusk CNN didnt stand a chance. Congrats Ashton! 17 Apr 2009 from web in reply to MCHammer

justicenathan Hey @aplusk goosebump time! twitter revolutionised! (Ashton Kutcher Live > http://bit.ly/xEu6c) 17 Apr 2009 from web

johnhall702 Hey @aplusk CONGRATS!!! (Ashton Kutcher Live > http://bit.ly/xEu6c) 17 Apr 2009 from web

April 16, 2009

Obama makes visit to Mexico

Per The New York Times, U.S. President Barack Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon in Mexico City on Thursday, with issues such as trade, drug violence, and gun trafficking at the top of the agenda. This is Obama's first trip to Latin America as president, according to the Times.

Twitterers in and around Mexico City provided a feel for Obama's visit.

mexicoreporter (Mexico) Obama' jsut drove past the office - him and about 29 other cars with blacked-out windows. 17 Apr 2009 from TweetDeck

LaChilangabacha (Tenochtitlan, Mexico) @MariRamos It's raining Obama in the Distrito Federal. 17 Apr 2009 from web in reply to MariRamos

plick88 (Mexico City, Mexico) Mexico City is caos today because of president Obama's prescence. There is traffic everywere. 16 Apr 2009 from web

Atiret (Mexico) @UstreamTV Mexico City is right now a bunker, because Obama is here, i believe it´s ok, he is welcome in Mexico. 16 Apr 2009 from web in reply to UstreamTV

lpoblete (Mexico) i´ve heard barak obama is in mexico city right now......we both are very important persons.....jajajajjajajajaja 16 Apr 2009 from web

plick88 (Mexico City, Mexico) People gather to see obama outside the airport in Mexico City. http://yfrog.com/093y6j 16 Apr 2009 from web

inmodeofinertia (Jalisco, Mexico) welcome to Mexico city mr. Obama! 16 Apr 2009 from web

Featured TwitPic: Aurora Borealis in Siberia

"© Akhmetsafin Ruslan. Aurora Borealis. Yakutia, Russia (Siberia)" (Posted by @spiritsurfer, April 16, 2009)

Russia announces pullout from Chechnya

Per BBC, Russia announced Thursday that it is ending its counter-terrorism operations in Chechnya, effectively ending the 10-year regional conflict.

Many on Twitter remained skeptical.

elinakarakulova (Kyrgyzstan) Russia ends Chechnya operation... for good? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8001495.stm 16 Apr 2009 from web

Krista_Baumane (Riga, Latvia) Boris Grizlov of the Russian Duma just announced on camera that Grozny (Chechnya) is on the way to become one of Russia's tourism centres 16 Apr 2009 from web

so_on (Riga, Latvia) RT @bbcnews Russia ends its counter-terrorism operation in the southern republic of Chechnya, reports say. http://tinyurl.com/d7xoub | Nice 16 Apr 2009 from web

d_cahill (Ireland) Chechnya is now supposedly a peaceful territory, nothing to see here, move along. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8001495.stm 16 Apr 2009 from web

MKSpence (U.S.) Russia actually pulling out of Chechnya. I don't believe it. http://tinyurl.com/dk3m3o 16 Apr 2009 from web

Pifiz (London, U.K.) Russia ends 10 year war in Chechnya!!
miracles do happen... 16 Apr 2009 from web

lecombat (Austin, Texas) How long will this last? Russia ends 10 year war in Chechnya http://tinyurl.com/d6a5or 16 Apr 2009 from web

Boat carrying refugees set on fire off Australia coast

Per The Australian, five people died and 51 were injured Thursday when a boat filled with refugees off the coast of Australia caught fire. Western Australia officials believe the blaze may have been started deliberately.

Australian Twitterers immediately joined the discussion upon hearing the news, providing context and offering personal opinions.

KILLcade (Melbourne, Australia) This is an unbelievably chilling sign outside Broome Hospital in anticipation of the Asylum Seeker boat explosion: http://is.gd/sGBG 16 Apr 2009 from Nambu

paulkidd (Drummond North, Australia) If Howard were still PM, this asylum-boat accident would be being spun as a terrorist act. 16 Apr 2009 from twhirl

cannboys (Melbourne, Australia) I'm sure if Peter Reith and John Howard were still in charge, they'd find a way to blame the asylum seekers for the explosion on the boat... 16 Apr 2009 from Ping.fm

seanbedlam (Melbourne, Australia) Sweet! My beautiful Australia is about to get stuck into boat people again! God I love my embarrassing, scared-of-refugees cuntry. 16 Apr 2009 from web

timjeffries (Preston, Australia) WA Premier says that asylum seekers lit their own boat on fire ... Are we in for another Tampa? 16 Apr 2009 from Tweetie

jasonlangenauer (Sydney, Australia) Poured petrol all over their boat? Like fun. Children overboard all over again. 16 Apr 2009 from web

News outlets and journalists in Australia used Twitter to add to the story.

TurnbullMalcolm (Sydney, Australia) just did a doorstop interview in Brisbane on the tragic explosion on the asylum seekers’ vessel of WA http://tinyurl.com/dnhqeo 16 Apr 2009 from web

SBSNews (Australia) Medics are being flown to a makeshift hospital in Western Australia to treat survivors of the asylum seeker boat blast: http://cli.gs/WRdyuB 16 Apr 2009 from web

earleyedition (Brisbane, Australia) editRT @jg_rat 1.boat in custody at time explosion 2.Details on WA Premier claim asylum seekers doused own boat in petrol http://is.gd/sGTA 16 Apr 2009 from TweetGrid