The world - Oct. 29, 2009

THURSDAY

The Family PAC, a political action committee opposed to Washington’s expanded partnerships for gay couples, filed suit in federal court to be exempt from the state’s public disclosure laws regarding the reporting of names of donors to its anti Referendum 71 campaign.

Interior Department officials propose designating 200,541 square miles on the coast of Alaska as critical habitat for polar bears. The preserve would be the largest habitat zone ever established in the U.S. to protect a species from extinction.

Malstrom Air Force Base, northwest of Great Falls Mont., completed deactivation of 50 intercontinental ballistic missile launch facilities for the 564th Missile Squadron after two years of work.

FRIDAY

The FDIC shutters seven banks with assets totaling under $350 million. The closures bring the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 106, the highest annual number since 181 institutions failed in the 1992 savings and loan crisis.

Two German students discovered pre-historic tools and remains of hominids in Malawi’s remote northern district of Karonga, providing evidence that the area could be the cradle of humankind.

Two Northwest Airlines pilots were fired after they allegedly fell asleep and overshot the Minneapolis airport by 149 miles.

South African government officials announce plans to perform traditional ritual animal slaughters to bless stadiums for the 2010 World Cup tournament next June.

WEEKEND

President Barack Obama declared 2009 H1N1 swine flu a national emergency on Saturday. The declaration makes it easier for U.S. medical facilities to handle a surge in flu patients by allowing the waiver of some requirements of Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health insurance programs.

Speculators picked over and mostly discarded the remains of a once-vibrant Detroit property market in a crowded ballroom next to a bankrupt casino Saturday. All tolled, the properties seized by tax collectors for arrears and put up for sale represented an area the size of New York’s Central Park.

A team of U.N.

nuclear agents inspected Iran’s newly disclosed uranium enrichment site on Sunday. The plant is Iran’s second, and its construction fanned Western suspicions over its nuclear ambitions.

A Saudi court sentenced a female journalist to 60 lashes after a Lebanese television channel she worked for aired the sex confession of a Saudi man.

MONDAY

Researchers found evidence that a massive body of partially-molten rock lies as a pool beneath Cascade peaks Mount St. Helens, Mount Adams and Mount Rainier.

Philip Morris USA raised prices on its top selling cigarette brands. The company will charge wholesalers an additional 6 to 8 cents per pack to pay for a tighter regulatory structure from the Food and Drug Administration.

Bill Morrisette, a state senator in Oregon and chairman of a committee that oversees the state’s medical marijuana law, told the New York Times the legislature is considering growing a marijuana crop on the grounds of the State Penitentiary in Salem.

TUESDAY

Eight U.S. troops were killed in bomb attacks in southern Afghanistan, making October the deadliest month for U.S. forces since the Afghan War began eight years ago. The month’s death toll rose to 53 after the attack.

An al Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for the twin suicide bombings that killed 155 people in Baghdad on Sunday.

Australia began drafting a national policy to combat rising sea levels. Government officials estimate $137 billion worth of property is at risk from global warming. Nearly 80 percent of Australia’s 21 million people live on the island nation’s coast.

U.S. regulators revoked the licenses of the two Northwest Air pilots who overflew their destination last week.

WEDNESDAY

A molecule found in a curry ingredient was found to kill esophageal cancer cells in as little as 24 hours in laboratory trials at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland.

Wildlife experts announce conservation efforts targeted to prevent tigers from becoming extinct. Barely 3,500 tigers are estimated to be in the wild, down from about 100,000 a century ago. They are being illegally killed for body parts in what Interpol estimates is a $20 billion black market industry.

A European Union counter-piracy force arrested seven suspected pirates after a French fishing boat was attacked in the Indian Ocean, 350 nautical miles east of Somalia.