Health: Reuters reports a Czech study has found “A nasal spray made from Atlantic Ocean seawater eased wintertime cold symptoms faster and slowed cough and cold symptoms from returning among children ages 6 to 10.”
World: Hours before the U.S. stock market opened Tuesday, global exchanges were plummeting as the bear market roared back to life. In Australia, according to news.com.au, $150 billion has been lost in the market this year alone, with $32.8 billion lost on Monday.
Sports: According to The Kimery Report two weeks away from the Super Bowl, terrorism-wary authorities in Phoenix have been warned by the Department of Homeland Security that more than 300 “thefts of government and law enforcement property that could be used to facilitate unauthorized entry have been reported in Arizona.” According to the DHS report, “the list of stolen equipment includes access cards; ammunition; body armor; firearms; Kevlar helmets; marked and unmarked emergency services, fire, and police vehicles; official badges and credentials; radios; raid shirts and jackets; rifles; uniforms; and weapons.”
World: Xinhua reports that France’s al-Qaida “black widow” — Fatiha Mejjati (whose husband was suspected of planning the terror attack in Spain on March 11, 2004), is saying France will be “punished soon” for “its fidelity to the United States.”
World: Dutch politician Geert Wilders plans to release a film portraying the Koran as a book promoting intolerance and violence this Friday on the Internet if no theater will show it, Der Spiegel reports. The “10-minute film, ‘Submission,’ was written by Ayaan Hirsi-Ali,” the magazine says, and it has spurred protests “that called Wilders an extremist and ‘harmful to Dutch society.’”
O P I N I O N
So here’s an example of my concern about the dearth of nation/world news in local papers. Yesterday the wires and other media were abuzz about huge losses on Japan’s, Australia’s and several European markets in response to recession fears in the United States. Several markets were at levels unseen since the Sept. 11 attacks.
There was no mention of any of this in the local paper this morning, however. Nada. Zip. This despite the fact that the news was so upsetting the Federal Reserve made a rare move and started the day by cutting the interest rate ¾ of a percentage point. Some experts fear we’re on the verge of a “financial 9/11″. You wouldn’t know that by reading some local newspapers.
What a huge disservice to readers!
♣ Nation/world news tally in my local paper today: 1¼ pages
Feed me 5 Under the Radar
