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World News

Terrorist Who Brought Nail Bombs to Irish Parliament Claims It Was 'Performance Art'

Fox News

Belfast, Ireland - The lifelong terrorist, now awaiting judgment in Ireland for his November 2006 raid on the Stormont Parliamentary Building in Belfast, is trying a novel defense against the attempted murder charges he's facing: His bombs were part of an innocent performance art installation and nothing more.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440443,00.html

Fox News

Washington, DC - Al Qaeda's leadership is suffering from a communication breakdown and struggling to issue directives after its computer network was hobbled in September, the Washington Post reports.

Four of the five main online forums that the terrorist group uses to communicate with followers were disabled on Sept. 10, monitors of the Web sites told the newspaper.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440442,00.html

Associated Press

Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan said Saturday that China will help it build two more nuclear power plants, offsetting Pakistani frustration over a recent nuclear deal between archrival India and the United States.

The revelation in 2004 that the architect of Islamabad's nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, had passed nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and North Korea set back Pakistan's hopes of becoming a trusted member of the world's exclusive nuclear club.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440403,00.html

VOA News

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - A deadly gunfight between Cambodian and Thai soldiers erupted Wednesday along the disputed area near a centuries-old temple. Two Cambodian soldiers were killed in the shootout, and soldiers from each side were wounded. Cambodia claimed to have captured some Thai troops.
http://voanews.com/english/2008-10-18-voa8.cfm

Reuters

Washington, DC - has stuck to its promise and has begun taking steps once again to dismantle its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon under an agreement it reached with the United States last weekend, the State Department said Friday.

“The North Koreans have in their efforts reversed all their reversals in the reactor,” said Sean McCormack, a State Department spokesman. “All the seals are back on, the surveillance equipment is back, reinstalled, and the equipment that had been removed is back where it had been.”

The North Koreans have also removed more nuclear fuel rods from the reactor, Mr. McCormack said. “On the reactor, they have actually gone beyond where they were prior to their reversing the disablement steps,” he told reporters, adding that 60 percent of the fuel rods had been taken out of the reactor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/world/asia/18korea.html?ref=world

National Post

Vancouver, British Columbia - An earlier blast, targeting a nearby gas pipeline owned by EnCana Corp., was discovered by a hunter on Sunday.

A second explosion had shredded the earth around a nearby pipeline, sending small amounts of deadly sour gas into the air

The explosions -- which both occurred in isolated forested spots where the buried pipeline emerged from the earth -- have raised fears of domestic terrorism.

ABC News

Chin, Myanmar - A rat infestation so severe that an estimated 100,000 people are on the brink of starvation is devastating the Chin State in Western Myanmar, and the nation's government is doing nothing to help its people, according to activists fighting for aid.

In Myanmar, the phenomenon causing the famine is known as "maudam"- a happening that occurs about once every 50 years, in which flowering bamboo trees produce a fruit on which the rat population gorges. The last time it struck was in 1958, with other occurrences in 1911 and 1862.

Instead of cannibalizing their young for food, as these rats normally do, the bamboo fruit provides the rats with the means to multiply by the millions. And when there is no fruit left, the plague of hungry rats decimate rice and corn crops in Western Myanmar so much so that an estimated 200 villages of an estimated 100,000 Chin people are now without food.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6039724&page=1

The Nation

Nairobi, Kenya - The warning comes after the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned of widespread hunger in the region due to climate change and the pressure on food due to bio-fuels.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200810170060.html

AFP

Iran said on Saturday that OPEC should cut oil output at its emergency meeting next week amid prospects of reduced demand in the face of the global economic slowdown, the state broadcaster reported.

"Iran's clear proposal for the OPEC emergency meeting is that crude supply should be reduced in proportion with demand," Iran's ambassador to the oil cartel, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, told the state broadcaster.

"Global demand for crude oil has fallen, so crude supply should be reduced in order to preserve balance and stability in the market," Khatibi said, describing falling oil prices as "worrying".

Iran is OPEC's second largest exporter and its economy is heavily dependent on oil and gas income.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081018151015.wzgeyon4&show_article=1

Reuters

Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela's economy minister expects OPEC to agree to cut oil supply at an emergency meeting next week to stem crashing world prices by bringing supply and demand into better balance.

http://in.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idINIndia-36035120081018

AFP

Caracas, Venezuela - Venezuela is buying more Russian weapons, including armored personnel carriers and tanks, to replace aging ordnance and to improve the country's security and defense capabilities, a top military commander said Thursday.

"We could be talking about 100 to 500 tanks. Right now it's impossible to know ... because strategic research studies are still underway (and) we're still negotiating," Strategic Operations Command chief General Jesus Gonzalez told reporters.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jW2c736E3N3tRnKg3I6N5e3NZMjQ

US News

Army Rolls Out Unusually Effective New Bandages

Associated Press
Washington, DC - The Army announced this week it will be shipping to Iraq new gauze bandages that are billed as having an 80 percent greater survival rate in treating life-threatening wounds than the material being used now.

Quik-Clot has added a chemical agent to its 270,000 new bandages that speeds up the process of blood clotting, thus preventing the risk of fatal blood loss.

Some doctors say this new agent can cause too much clotting and could cause complications that lead to loss of limbs, but Army responds that it’s a question of just that — life over limb.

Associated Press

Yakima, Washington - A 27-year-old climber who survived five days on with a broken ankle on a U.S. mountain told rescuers he ate centipedes and drank water from creeks as he tried to crawl to safety.

A dog from a search and rescue team located Derek Mamoyac of Philomath, Oregon, just below the 6,000-foot level on the west side of Mount Adams in southern Washington Friday afternoon.

He was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Portland, Oregon, where he was listed in fair condition. In addition to his ankle injury, he was dehydrated and had swollen legs.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440421,00.html

Associated Press

Charleson, West Virginia - The drought that has plagued the Deep South for more than a year is creeping northward, and officials in multiple states are restricting outdoor burning in the face of water shortages and forest fire risks from falling leaves and tinder-dry conditions.

Extreme drought conditions, the second-worst possible, have now spread into Kentucky, and severe conditions have returned to West Virginia and southwest Virginia, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

"The last three months have sucked every bit of moisture we've had," said Ben Webster, a fire staff assistant for the West Virginia Division of Forestry.

In eastern Kentucky, retailers are sending bottled water to drought-stricken Magoffin County after its primary water source, the Licking River, fell to low levels and residents were told to conserve tap water.

The county's school system is serving meals on disposable plates with plastic utensils. Lunch trays have been temporarily shelved to save on dishwashing.

Kentucky also suffered through a severe drought a year ago, but "this is probably the worst that I've had to deal with," said Joe Hunley, Magoffin County's schools superintendent.

Tens of thousands of gallons of bottled water have been distributed through a fire department and a water company alone.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,440426,00.html

Environmental News Service

Washington, DC - Chinese cookies found in Alabama stores have tested positive for high levels of the plastic melamine, triggering a demand from consumer organizations for a federal government ban on all food products from China containing milk proteins.

On Wednesday, the Alabama Department of Agriculture announced that Koala's March brand cookies found in Alabama stores have tested positive for melamine with levels that exceed the FDA's stated safe levels of exposure.

Alabama Agriculture and Industries Commissioner Ron Sparks said the department's Pesticide Residue Laboratory confirmed the presence of melamine in the strawberry and chocolate flavors of the cookies and advised consumers to discard the products.

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2008/2008-10-17-091.asp

Frequently, participants in a civil disorder are not in agreement about appropriate behavior. As was the case in the WTO Meeting of 1999, most protesters were peaceful, and a small, highly visible minority were responsible for most of the damage. Any civil disorder is a delicate balance of power, and indeed, a political power struggle of some sort is typically the root cause of any such conflict. Often, public demonstrations are viewed as the last resort of political organizations. If the power equation in a civil disorder becomes unbalanced, the result is either oppression or riot.

Citizens not directly involved in a civil disorder may have their lives significantly disrupted. Their ability to work, enjoy recreation and in some cases, obtain necessities may be jeopardized.

Disruption of intrastructure may occur during very severe events. Public utilities such as water, fuel and electricity may be temporarily unavailable, as well as public infrastructure for communication.

Occasionally, the disruption of such services may be the original cause of the disorder.

More frequently, the cause of such issues is related to economic stagnation, severe inflation, devaluation of currency, disasters man made or natural, severe unemployment, oppression, political scandal, or, in some countries, sporting events.

A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend certain normal functions of government, alert citizens to alter their normal behaviors, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale for suspending civil liberties. Such declarations usually come during a time of natural disaster, during periods of civil disorder, or following a declaration of war (in democratic countries, many call this martial law, most with non-critical intent). Justitium is its equivalent in Roman law.

In some countries, the state of emergency and its effects on civil liberties and governmental procedure are regulated by the constitution, or a law that limits the powers that may be invoked or rights that may be suspended during an emergency. In many countries, it is illegal to modify the emergency law or constitution during the emergency.

In some areas of the world, civil unrest or violence directed against Americans and other foreigners is common. Travelers should be alert to indicators of civil unrest and take the following precautions in the event of such situations:

If in your hotel, stay there. Contact the U.S. Embassy, consulate or other friendly embassy. Hire someone to take a note to them if phones are out of order.

Contact your local office representative.

Do not watch activity from your window, and try to sleep in an inside room which provides greater protection from gunfire, rocks, grenades, etc.

If you are caught outside in the middle of a riot or unrest, do not take sides or attempt to gather information. Play the tourist who just wants to get home to his/her family.

This is all under your own control.