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Global News Briefs: Around The World, Issue 25


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CANADA – Al-Quanada

On the evening of Friday, June 2nd, 2006, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)—with the help of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS)—rounded up 17 Muslim men and boys in a suspected terrorist plot. The RCMP and CSIS had been monitoring the accused for approximately two years—from online chat rooms all the way to cottage country, where “terrorist training camps” were held. But when an order was placed for three tons of ammonium nitrate, which can be used to create explosives (for example, one ton of it was used in the Oklahoma City bombing), police were quick to intercept the delivery and set up a sting to thwart the apparent plot.

While it has not been officially stated, it is thought that the Parliament Buildings and Peace Tower in Ottawa, along with the Toronto Stock Exchange and CSIS headquarters in Toronto were targets. And one of the accused is believed to have stated that he was going to decapitate Canada’s new prime minister, Stephen Harper. (And no, it was Michael Ignatieff.)

SOUTH AMERICA – New Leaders in South America

New Bolivian president, Evo Morales, has become a symbol of leftists around the world. The country is even starting to be in the “Che Guevara” business. Morales, a former coca farmer (coca is the substance that cocaine is derived from), has been outspoken against the policies of the United States, following in the traditions of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. The United States was worried that one of Chavez’s allies was going to win the presidency in Peru. But balancing political thought in South America, Alan Garcia prevailed, saying, “We defeated the efforts by Mr. Hugo Chavez to incorporate us in his strategy of expansion of the militarist and retrograde model he wants to implant in South America.”

WALES – Did You Hear Something?

Compound Security, out of Wales, created a device that was meant to repel loitering teenagers. The Mosquito—aptly named for its incessant buzzing noise— emits a 17-kilohertz, high-pitched noise that can apparently only be heard by people under 20ish years of age (the highest key on a piano is four kilohertz). Sounds far-fetched, but adults usually lose the ability to hear extremely high-pitched sound in their early 20s (although in the next generation, this could change to the teen years, due to hearing damage caused by increased used of earphones). But it seems today’s youth are one step ahead. The Mosquito has spread virally across the internet, and it is now a popular ring tone—one that can’t be heard by teachers in a classroom or parents at the dining room table!

IRAQ – Bombs Finally Catch Up to al-Zarqawi

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the militant leader who incited a rash of suicide bombings in Iraq, was killed when the United States apparently targeted him with their jets and dropped two 225-kilogram bombs onto a rural safe house located 50 kilometres northeast of Baghdad. He was killed after U.S. Intelligence had tracked his spiritual aide going into the house. Seven of Zarqawi’s aides were also killed in the attack. There has been no word yet as to whom, if anyone, the $25 million reward for al-Zarqawi’s capture will go to.

INDONESIA – Nearly 6,000 Lost

On May 27, 2006, a 6.2-magnitude earthquake devastated Java Island in Indonesia, killing nearly 6,000 people. Adding to the misery already inflicted, conditions are said to be so unsanitary that a wave of illnesses are expected to hit the region—including the possibility of an avian flu outbreak. 200,000 homes were destroyed, while another 200,000 were severely damaged. Total damages are said to be over $3 billion and counting. The area, often referred to as the Ring of Fire, is at high risk of seismic upheaval because the Pacific Basin is surrounded by volcanoes and fault lines.

GREECE – The Great Escape

Thinking it was a surprise inspection, guards at Greece’s Athens Korydallos prison didn’t react when a helicopter landed smack in the middle of the prison population. Vassilis Paleokostas, 40, and another criminal were picked up from the prison and deposited in a nearby cemetery by the pilot. Realizing shortly after that this was a prison break, the guards immediately dispatched a manhunt. The helicopter pilot said he was forced at gunpoint to take on the breakout mission. Apparently, Paleokostas’s fugitive brother was behind the plot. If only it were that easy for Michael Schofield and his lot on Prison Break.

MONTENEGRO/SERBIA (former Yugoslavia) – Yu Go montenegro!

Officially ending any semblance to the former six member Yugoslavian Federation, Montenegro decided to split from its union with Serbia, the only other remaining member. Serbia’s lawmakers then voted and proclaimed Serbia a sovereign state, becoming the union’s legal successor and inheriting all international alliances, including a seat in the United Nations. The European Union, Russia, and the United States have already accepted Montenegro as an independent state, paving the way for it to begin a brand new history.

 

Curated and written by Faze contributor JP Fozo



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