Al-Qaeda affiliated group Boko Haram is targeting the mobile telephone system in Nigeria claiming that the system is being used by the government to track their members.
Assaults on all 24 destroyed towers were accompanied with armed assaults on villagers and local police. Attacks happened throughout the country from the port city of Lagos in the south, Potiskum in the north and the capital city of Abuja. The damage is estimated in the millions of dollars. Continue reading
After reports this Summer of three people contracting the potentially deadly hantavirus while camping in Colorado, now a seven-year-old girl has been infected with bubonic plague after a Colorado camping trip.
Sierra Jane Downing thought she had the flu until her parents discovered she had a 107-degree fever after suffering a seizure at home. Doctors were unable at first to discover the cause before testing for the extremely rare bubonic plague. This is the first confirmed case in Colorado in 2006. Continue reading
Activists are reporting that the Syrian army has attacked a town that has been a major crossing into Jordan for civilians that are fleeing the country’s civil war. At least 20 government tanks have rolled into Tal Shehab, a Free Syrian Army held town.
The move by the government comes amid reports from Jordan that over 183,000 civilians have entered the country since the start of the war. The Jordanian government reports that as many as 1,000 refugees are daily crossing the border. Continue reading
A magnitude 7.6 earthquake rattled Coast Rica Wednesday cutting power to cities and sending residents rushing into the streets.
Costa Rican authorities reported no casualties from the strong quake but the Red Cross reported two people died during the quake, one from a heart attack. The second reportedly died when they were crushed by a collapsing wall. Continue reading
The US death toll from West Nile virus has jumped almost one third in a one-week period. The Centers for Disease Control reports that 87 people have now been confirmed to have died from the disease.
The number of cases confirmed by the CDC has also jumped in the past week from 1,590 to 1,993. It is now officially the largest outbreak of West Nile virus in the United States since 1999. Continue reading
Syrian troops have killed at least 19 people in shelling around Syria’s largest city of Aleppo according to activists. Most the people killed in the government assault were women and children.
One opposition activist reported the death toll from the Aleppo attack is 54.
In a surprising statement against a fellow Islamic leader, Egypt’s new President Mohammed Mursi is calling for Syrian President Bashir al-Assad to step down. Continue reading
Four Christians from Great Britain who lost their jobs as a result of discrimination against their Christian faith are taking their cases to the European Court of Human Rights in an attempt to stop infringement on the right to exercise their faith.
Secular critics of the four Christians are saying that if their right to practice their faith is upheld, it could “seriously undermine” UK equality laws. All four cases were submitted separately to the Court but are going to be heard together. Continue reading
The European Union’s Aaa credit rating became endangered on Tuesday when credit ratings agency Moody’s changed the EU’s outlook to “negative.” Moody’s attributed the move to the negative outlook on ratings connected to the EU’s most key contributors to income.
Earlier this year, Moody’s placed Germany, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom into a negative economic outlook meaning those individual countries could soon face a downgrade in their credit status. All four countries currently have a Aaa rating. Continue reading
A homicide bomber attacked a funeral in eastern Afghanistan killing at least 25 civilians and the son of a district governor.
The mourners were attending a funeral for an influential tribal elder in the border district of Dur Baba. The homicide bomber infiltrated the parade of mourners before detonating his device.
District Governor Hamesha Gul was injured along with 30 civilians. Continue reading
The UN has reported that over 100,000 Syrians have fled the country in the wake of the increased fighting between government forces and the Free Syrian Army. The total almost doubled the overall number of civilians fleeing the country’s civil war.
The International Committee of the Red Cross is attempting to negotiate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to allow humanitarian aid in the country. Al-Assad has previously resisted outside humanitarian assistance into the country claiming that the relief is just a “foreign plot”. Continue reading