11 People Kidnapped by Taliban

On Monday, April 22nd, a helicopter carrying engineers near Kabul, Afghanistan had to land unexpectedly due to poor weather, and the people got kidnapped by the Taliban. The engineers were supposed to go to an American base, but had to land in Logar Province, which is run by the Taliban. An official in Afghanistan says, "It's a lot of people to take hostage...It gives the Taliban bargaining chips." People are worried that the engineers might be taken to Pakistan, which was about 20 minutes from Logar Province. The Taliban sent a message to media saying, "US-NATO Chopper falls into hands of Mujahedeen, all passangers detained." They have taken full responsibility of the kidnapping but there has been no word on what will happen to the engineers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/23/world/asia/helicopter-forced-landing-afghanistan.html?_r=0

Pakistan Explosion

A suicide explosion that was objected towards the Awami National Party in Peshawar, Pakistan killed at least 15 people and injured nearly 50. The person responsible had blown himself up by the leader of the group's car. Haroon Bilaur had left his car to speak to civilians when he and his uncle experienced the bomb. His uncle has minor injuries. Most of the others injured were brought to a hospital in critical condition. The ANP has been targeted before because they criticize the Taliban. Another of Haroon Bilaur's uncles got killed last December by a blast as well in Peshawar.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-04/17/c_132314425.htm

Monkeys Learning to Talk?

Scientists have found a species of monkey in Ethiopia that make noises similar to the vocals of humans. Geladas, a close specias to the baboon, make a noise that sounds something like a yodel and a baby babbling. They supposedly share the same speaking techniques as humans do, and scientists are thinking they are revealing more about human speech origins. Most monkeys don't have the speaking structure as humans, even though they have the same facial movements as we do. Doctor Thore Bergman says "These primates can do the complex mouth movement and vocalise at the same time."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22067192

Paranormal Activity 13: Prank or Real Thing?

After play practice on April 1st, Kelly Leonard was getting ready to leave school when she heard a noise down the hall from her locker. Taking advice from all the scary movies she has seen, she went to the noise, which turned out to be Courtney Demmin shutting her locker. They then heard another noise coming from the lunch room. They went in there because they were hungry and wanted cheese fries, but saw something that made them lose their appetite. Standing in the corner of the lunch room, was a little girl holding a human head. The little girl crawled towards them....
The next morning, no one knows where the two girls went. As usual, the cameras are checked, but strangly, nothing unusual was shown on them. To this day, the girls have not shown up and no one knows where they are....
           

Death Tole Rises

Studies have shown that if you don't have too many friends or you don't keep in touch with your family when you get older, you have a higher risk of dying earlier. A survey was given to about 6,500 men and women above the age of 50 asking about loneliness levels from early 40s to 50s. The researchers established that loneliness has a huge affect on a person's health and wellbeing. Loneliness and social isolation is not the direct cause of death, but it does influence.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/26/social-isolation-early-death-premature-loneliness_n_2956754.html

More Violence in Iraq

For more than a decade, there has been severe violence in Iraq. March 19th, a bomb was placed in the car of a Ministry of Finance officials car, killing him and others. The 10th anniversary of an attack on Iraq led by Americans is coming up. There have been many attacks in Iraq recently, which includes over 50 dead and nearly 200 injured. Officials don't know who is causing the attacks, but they have the same patterns as Al Qaeda: suicide car bombings, bombs attached to cars, and random silent shooting at innocent bystanders. Even a bus full of small children who were going to school.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/world/middleeast/attacks-in-baghdad-before-iraq-war-anniversary.html?_r=0

Proceed with Caution

Chicago is getting hit with a huge snow storm, causing over 1,000 flights and schools to cancel. The storm is expected to distribute almost 10 inches of snow. Flights have gone from 15 minute delays to cancelations, Southwest Airlines and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. From 9:00 a.m. to about midnight, the snow is expected to drop about one and a half inches hourly. Almost 300 plow trucks have been out on the streets since early this morning, sanding and plowing, trying to catch up with the snow. The snow is expected to stop early Wednesday morning, about 1:00 a.m. and then the plows will be doing the side roads as well, tryiing to get everything clear.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-weather-forecast-snow,0,6178175.story