32 Killed in Damascus Blast

Thirty-two people were killed when an explosion tore apart a checkpoint in Damascus, on Saturday.

Fifteen rebels and sixteen Syrian soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up.

The soldiers were defending the checkpoint from rebel forces when the suicide bomber made his presence known.

Al Qaeda's Nusra Front claimed the bomber as theirs.

Police Cancel Elections in The Maldives

Police in the Maldives cancelled Saturday's scheduled presidential elections.

They stated that they could not allow an election which was "in contravention of the Supreme Court verdict and guidelines", after not all of the candidates had registered.

On October 7, the Supreme Court annulled September's election after allegations of fraud.

Supporters of former president Mohamed Nasheed, who was ousted in a February 2012 coup, took to the streets, blocking off sections of the capital.

The police responded by blocking off the sections containing government buildings.

Nasheed accuses the police of leading a second coup and trying to remove democracy.

At this point, no new date has been set for the elections to take place.

BART Unions Strike in San Francisco

Bay Area residents expressed their dismay and frustrations with BART employees as a strike began Friday morning.

The leaders of Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1555 called for the strike after refusing to agree with deals that BART management offered workers.

This is the second strike in four months, for the train system.

According to sources, management and the unions made several concessions for major issues, but failed to agree on what kind of pay stub to use.

The public is not being shy about sharing their anger with the unions for causing them issues in getting to and from work.

Around four hundred thousand people use the system, each week day.

2 Die in Kansas Plane Crash

Two people were killed when their plane crashed near Derby, Kansas, Friday morning.

The dual engine Cessna 500 had just taken off minutes before the crash.

Witnesses say that there was an in air explosion and then pieces of the plane began falling down.

Forty-nine year old Mitchell Morgan, the pilot, and his passenger, seventy-two year old Edward Dufresne, did not survive the crash.

Both the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the accident.

Man With Knife Hijacks School Bus in Arkansas

A man with a knife jumped aboard a school bus in Jacksonville, Arkansas, on Thursday.

He forced the driver to drive several miles before police blocked off the bus.

Eventually the police talked the man into letting go the driver and eleven children aboard.

A short time later he agreed to surrender to them.

None of the children nor the driver were harmed in the incident.

Twenty-two year old Nicholas Miller is being charged with one count of vehicle piracy, twelve counts of kidnapping, and two counts of aggravated assault.

It is not yet known what his motive was.

40 Arrested After Attacking Police in New Brunswick

Forty people were arrested after protesters turned violent and attacked police in Rexton, New Brunswick.

The protest began on September 30 and had been blocking SWN Resources from reaching their equipment to begin exploring for shale gas.

On Thursday, the company won a court battle to have the protesters removed and police moved in to clear the road.

As the police approached, at least one shot was fired at them and protesters hurled Molotov cocktails at the police vehicles.

Five Royal Canadian Mounted Police vehicles were destroyed and several others damaged.

Police responded with pepper spray and arrested forty people.

Despite Thursday's violence, the arrests, and the court order, protesters say they will be back on Friday.

Man Attacks Soldiers With Construction Tractor in Israel

A man was shot and killed by Israeli troops after he attempted to kill one of the, on Thursday.

The man drove a construction tractor through the gate of a military base and repeatedly tried to run over a soldier.

Israeli troops kept ordering him to stop, but opened fire after he repeatedly refused to do so.

He was later identified as thirty year old Yunis Radeideh.

His brother was killed in March 2009, when he attacked Israeli police with an earth mover.

61 Killed in Iraq Bombings

In the deadliest day in nearly two weeks, sixty-one people were killed in Iraq.

Fifteen people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up his vehicle, in al-Mouafaqiyah.

Another three people were killed when a suTuz Khurmatu, when a suicide bomber blew himself up, in a cafe.

Most of the violence occurred in Baghdad, where a mixture of suicide and car bombings targeted popular restaurants, cafes, and parks.

Police checkpoints were also targeted, as the terrorists killed forty-three across the capital.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Australia's Fires Turn Deadly

Hundreds of fires are burning across Australia, with ninety-four in New South Wales, alone.

On Thursday, they turned deadly as a man was killed in the town of Lake Munmorah.

Two firefighters have been seriously injured, fighting the fires.

Dozens of homes have been lost, with firefighters battling to keep the flames from spreading closer to Sydney.

The city is already swamped with the smoke.

US Senate Passes Shutdown Ending Bill

With a vote of eighty-one to eighteen, the US Senate passed a bill which would bring an end to the government shutdown.

Under the bill, government spending is funded until January 15 and federal borrowing is raised until February 7.

The bill comes just in time to keep the US from defaulting on it's loans, which would happen Thursday, if funding isn't restored.

By passing the bill, the Senate returns the country to the status quo which existed before the shutdown.

It's passage sends it off to the House of Representatives.