• Israeli first responders hold mass missile attack drills

    On Wednesday Israeli government officials, the military, emergency responders, local governments, and millions of civilians across the nation took part in a simulation of a simultaneous mass missile strike; the exercise has been held every year for the past five years but is unique in that it was the first time the entire population was asked to participate by seeking cover; in the simulation 7,000 missiles have rained down across the country and hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded; emergency responders practiced treating large numbers of casualties while school children practiced entering bomb shelters

  • China secures nukes ahead of major storms

    Nuclear power plants along China’s coast are hardening their facilities in advance of the major typhoon storm systems that are expected to hit the country this year; the storms will create massive waves that could cause casualties and property damage; experts expect the Jiangsu and Fujian provinces to be hit the hardest in the east and the Guangdong and Hainan provinces in the south

  • Teenage hacker brings down British law enforcement agency's website

    A nineteen year old has been arrested by British authorities for attacking the website of the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA); the teenager has also been charged with bringing down the websites of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and the British Phonographic Industry; the FBI worked in conjunction with British investigators; authorities believe the hacking group LulzSec is behind the attacks

  • EU lawyers say U.S. – EU plans air passenger database illegal

    A British newspaper has obtained a confidential government document that reveals a legal opinion stating that the U.S.-EU air passenger database plan is “not compatible with fundamental rights” ; DHS and European officials had reached an agreement to share the personal information of passengers including credit card numbers, travel plans, birth dates, and addresses

  • Majority of water in Mumbai unsafe to drink

    In May 2011 researchers found that one in ten water samples collected in locations across Mumbai, India were unsafe to drink; in some areas 40 percent of the samples collected were contaminated; most alarming was the fact that thirty-six of the water samples tested positive for E.coli bacteria; the local water utility has refused to acknowledge the problem

  • China deploys drought relief team to country's north

    China’s northernmost provinces are still suffering from a prolonged drought that has been the country’s worst in fifty years; in the northern provinces and the autonomous regions of inner Mongolia more than 11.67 million people and 3.62 million livestock have been affected by the drought; nearly six million acres of the region’s crops have also been hit hard by the drought; the government has declared it a level-four emergency, the highest level, and is launching a full out emergency response plan to aid the beleaguered region

  • China pushes for food security at G20 agriculture meeting

    At a G20 meeting of agricultural ministers, Chinese officials urged their counterparts to address food security; China said addressing market volatility and food security is a top priority and that leaders should come to an agreement on how to handle soaring food prices; in recent years natural disasters, increases in demand, international speculation, and the increased use of biofuels have all caused food prices to spike