The Search is On

With the Spanish people still trying to comprehend what happened to their country yesterday, the government is already well on its way in investigating the tragedy as relatives of the bombing victims struggle to find out what happened to their loved ones. Small protests have taken place in Madrid and neighboring towns in solidarity against the bombings, as countries such as Norway and Australia continue to send their condolences. There is still no consensus on who is responsible for the attacks, although if it was the Basque separatist movement ETA, it would represent a large swing in their recent tactics. Most Western leaders are calling for renewed vigour in the war on terror since it illustrates the danger that all nations face from terrorist acts. In response, Germany has announced that it will increase security screening on its own train system in the wake of these attacks.

The California Supreme Court has ordered the city of San Francisco to stop issuing same-sex marriages after over 3700 were given since February 12th. In the same day, the Massachusetts legislature has given preliminary approval to a state amendment banning same sex marriages. The two events together represent a setback for gay activists pushing to legalize the practice.

In other news:
- Researchers at the UC Berkley have studied how bacteria form long polymer filaments that could help in the development of new materials.
- The NASA rover Spirit has moved to the edge of a nearby crater and looked over the edge.
- NASA has also agreed to look into sending a shuttle to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, a project that was cancelled after the Columbia accident.
- Studies in rats have shown that the inclusion of the nutrient choline, a B vitamin found in egg yolks, liver and other meats, in the diet during pregnancy will increase the child's memory and retention potential.
- Do we all see the world in the same way? Recent research points to yes.
- Although I had heard this was false before, a Chinese astronaut has confirmed that you can not see the Great Wall of China from space.
- Can't figure out if you're stressed out or not? MIT has come up with a program that turns your brainwaves into music -- the more complicated the music, the more relaxed you are.
- The job of choice in you lived in Antiquity: Catapult maker.
- The United Nations is beginning to register voters in Afghanistan for upcoming elections, although it will take some time for the political culture to change to what we expect in a democratic nation.
- The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo has confiscated a weapons from the leaders of the rebel forces. Canadian Col. Barry MacLeod has been named the new chief of staff for the mission and will command just over 10 000 troops.
- A French newspaper is claiming that the UN recovered the black box from the airplane crash the carried the former Rwandan and Burundian presidents in 1994 but kept it secret. The plane crash is seen as one of the catalysts triggering the ethnic genocide in Rwanda that killed 800 000 people.
- The UN security council has passed a resolution freezing the assets of the former Liberian president Charles Taylor, who faces war crimes charges in Sierra Leone.
- Two more US soldiers were killed in a bomb blast west of Baghdad, bringing the number of deaths since the official end of major combat to 267.
- Police in Haiti fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of demonstrators backing former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. An initial contingent of 80 Canadian soldiers have been deployed to Haiti to set up a base for other Canadian peacekeepers slated to arrive later on.
- It doesn't just happen in the United States -- the South Korean President was just impeached for what looks like purely political reasons.
- The Christian Science Monitor has a piece on how the the Bush campaign appealing differently to males and females.
- Coming off of a stalemate with Argentina, the IMF is now talking about how India's fiscal deficit is alarmingly high.
- Israel has already claimed that it will not be yielding any concessions in talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.
- The government of China continues its campaign of censorship, this week blocking internet access to Deutsche Welle and the Wall Street Journal.
- China has also been critisized by the United States for breaking WTO trade rules.
- In what is likely to be a controversial case, a woman in Salt Lake City is charged with first-degree criminal homicide after refusing to undergo a caesarian section that could have possibly saved one of the two twins that she later delivered stillborn.
- Paul Martin's government has announced that youth and learning will be the main features of the upcoming budget, including more than $100 million that will help poor families save for their children's education.
- Slate explains why you can rough someone up in hockey, but not get charged.
- The Economist features articles looking at Pakistan and North Korea.
- A friend of mine, Sara, actually gives tours of the Edinburgh Crypts, which are featured in this story.
- Finally an entertaining list of quotes.