7.7 BC Quake Evacuates Hawaiian Beaches

A 7.7 earthquake was recorded just after midnight PST in the Queen Charlotte Islands, off British Columbia.

Aftershocks up to 6.3 have followed the quake.

Tsunami warnings were issued for the BC, Washington, and Hawaiian coasts.

Entire communities were evacuated from some British Columbian islands, but they have since been allowed to return.

Over 100,000 people were evacuated from Hawaiian coastal areas, but no big wave came.

Officials in Hawaii are keeping beaches closed, for now, as a precaution.

No major damage or injuries have been reported, anywhere, due to the quake.

Hurricane Sandy Kills 43

Sandy seen from the International Space Station

As Hurricane Sandy sets it's sights on the US east coast, the Caribbean is cleaning up after the mess left.

A total of forty-three people have been killed by the storm.

Haiti alone has seen twenty-nine people die, as rains have come down non stop since Tuesday.

Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas have each taken direct hits from Sandy.

For part of Friday, Sandy lost part of it's strength, losing hurricane status for a few hours.

Several US states have preemptively declared emergencies, as they brace for impact.

The huge storm could drench a third of the US in rains and winds, and eliminate electricity for sixty million.

Worries are that it will turn into a "super storm" when it collides with the Arctic jet stream, which could cause the worst storm the US has seen in decades.

Indonesia Arrests 11 Plotting Attack on US Embassy

Indonesia announced that it had arrested eleven people who were plotting a terrorist attack upon the US embassy in Jakarta.

Other planned targets included the Australian embassy, the US consulate in Surabaya, offices of foreign groups, and popular tourist locations.

When their crack counter terrorism group raided the group they found bomb making materials, and at least one bomb that was ready to go.

The terrorists belonged to Harakah Sunni for the Indonesian Society, a recently developed militant group.

Police have been working hard to crackdown on terrorist groups, in the country, killing seven and arresting hundreds, in the process.

Thirty Killed in Baghdad Bombings

At least thirty people were killed in two separate explosions in Baghdad, early Saturday.

Twenty-three people were killed when a car bomb went off at a popular restaurant, in Sadr City.

Six Iranian pilgrims were killed when a bomb attached to their bus exploded.

In a third explosion, three children when a car bomb exploded near a playground.

The violence is marring the Islamic holiday of Eid al Adha, and has targeted Shi'ites.

It is likely that Al Qaeda, which is a Sunni terrorist group, is behind the attacks.

337 Now Ill With Meningitis

The meningitis outbreak has added more cases, on Saturday, now with 337 people ill from it and seven joint infections.

Twenty-five people have died from the contaminated steroid shots.

Meningitis can take forty-two days to surface, leading to the still growing epidemic. 
 
All of the illnesses and deaths were caused by a contamination in anti inflammatory steroid shots, most of which were given via the spine.

Seventy-six locations, in twenty-three states, were sent the shots, which were given to as many as fourteen thousand people.

New England Compounding Center made the shots, and has complied completely with government officials who are conducting the investigation.

Officials are investigating at least two other drugs, made by NECC, for possibilities that they too may have been contaminated.

Things are only getting worse for the company, and now the government, as evidence comes out that they had been under investigation, for issues in their processing, since 2002. 

Syrian Ceasefire Fails

The ceasefire in Syria failed before it could start as both sides continued fighting right up to and past the set time.

In an emphasis of it's failure, a car bomb went off in Damascus, killing five and wounding thirty-two.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN's envoy to Syria, had promised that he had delivered a four day cease fire, over the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Once again a UN promise to end the conflict was shown to be useless, as neither side actually will stop til they win.


At least thirty-five thousand people have been killed during the nineteen month conflict.

Canadian Embassy in DC Evacuated

Canada's embassy in Washington DC has been evacuated.

Officials evacuated the building after a "suspicious substance" was found in an envelope.

Part of Pennsylvania Avenue has been shut down, between 4th and 6th streets.

Metropolitan Police Department says that they have sent their Domestic Security Operations team, a Homeland Security unit that specializes in chemicals and hazardous materials.

NYPD Officer Arrested in Cannibalism Plot

Thursday, New York police arrested one of their own.

Officer Gilberto Valle III, twenty-eight, was charged with conspiracy to commit cannibalism, conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to commit rape, misuse of police resources, and others.

According to police, Valle and three others discussed, over the internet, plans for him to kidnap women, rape, torture, and cook them, and then distribute the meat to the other three.

He had apparently been planning this to the level of beginning to follow one of his targets through her daily schedule.

In one online discussion, he supposedly offered to kidnap a woman and sell her as a sex slave, for five thousand dollars.

His wife discovered his plans, fled to her family, and then contacted the FBI, turning over proof of his plans to them.

Manhattan federal court Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman stated, "I have never seen allegations similar to these in 16 years on the bench and five years as a prosecutor" as he denied bail.

Valle had been with the NYPD for six years, and was considered just an average cop.

Myanmar Violence Kills 112

The death toll in Myanmar has doubled since Thursday, coming up to one hundred and twelve, as of Friday morning.

Several thousand homes have been burned down, since Sunday, when violence between the Buddhist ethnic Rakhine and Rohingya Muslims reignited.

Violence has become so bad, that some Buddhist monks are threatening to leave monasteries and go to war, if the government doesn't step in.

It is unclear what started this round of fighting, but the two groups have a history of animosity.

Clashes between the two groups, in June, led to ninety deaths and more than three thousand homes being destroyed.

22 Killed by Hurricane Sandy

Santo Domingo

Hurricane Sandy tore through the Caribbean, over the last couple days, killing at least twenty-two people.

Eleven people were killed in Cuba as the storm went over them, on Thursday.

Ten were killed in Haiti and one in Jamaica, over Wednesday.

After striking Cuba, Sandy dropped back down to a Cateogry 1 storm.

Currently the storm is hitting the Bahamas, and the northern Caribbean.

Sandy is expected to make landfall in the US, either Monday or Tuesday, somewhere in the northern half of the east coast, causing storm warnings to be issued.

The southern half of the US has issued a tropical storm warning through Monday.