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A tornado ripped through the Little Sioux boyscout camp in Iowa, on Wednesday afternoon, killing four and injuring at least 40. Most of the injured were on a hike when the tornado struck. The 93 boys ages 13 to 18 along with 25 staff members had been attended a week-long leadership training camp.

In Other News:

On Thursday, for the first time in nearly a decade, China and Taiwan sat down at the negotiating table. Only two issues are up for discussion: the reinstatement of direct flights (banned since 1949) and the opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourism. The two countries have been in a stony “cold war” ever since the defeated Chinese Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949. Tensions have been aggravated by Taiwan’s insistence that it is the real Republic of China and China’s continuing claim to Taiwan as one of its provinces.

Pakistan-US relations remain tense following Tuesday night’s American air-strike on the Pakistani-Afghan border which killed 11 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistani Military has condemned the attack as “unprovoked and cowardly”. The Pentagon maintains that it was a mission carried out in self-defense during a clash with pro-Taliban militias. US strikes on Pakistani territory have resulted in 50 deaths so far this year.

On Wednesday, Glast (Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope), NASA’s space telescope successfully blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida to begin it’s exploration of the universe. Armed with “gamma-ray glasses”, it is hoped that the Glast mission will increase our understanding of some of the universe’s most violent events, such as massive cosmic explosions, giant black holes, and neutron stars—all of which release energy in the form of gamma-rays. Read More »