World Report: Al-Qaida Plot, NC Marriage, Food Crisis in W. Africa, The Voice Winner
The United States used an informant as a double agent to infiltrate a bombing plot orchestrated by al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. The discovery of the plan to take down a U.S.-bound airliner has shown the Obama administration that the organization remains a threat a year after Osama bin Laden's killing. Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, says the U.S. enemy has a new level of expertise.
"You raise the issue about whether or not our current level of detection is enough to be able to find this type of device. This seems to be a new level of sophistication by al-Qaida, probably al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. It's an indication that the war unlike the president said is not going to end in Afghanistan. The war will go on for many years."
Meanwhile, at the FBI's explosives lab in Virginia, experts are picking apart the sophisticated new bomb to figure out whether it could have slipped past airport security and taken down a commercial airplane.
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North Carolina voters have cast ballots in favour of a controversial referendum that would ban same-sex marriages in the state. Amendment One will change North Carolina's constitution to say "marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State."
In the meantime, a petition in the United Kingdom in defense of traditional marriage has passed the half million mark. The petition was launched by the Coalition for Marriage which called upon the British Conservative Party to retain the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. Back in the U.S., fifty percent of Americans believe same-sex marriages should be recognized by law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages -- down slightly from 53% last year.
A Vatican newspaper has suggested that abortion providers who terminate ill fetuses and proponents of euthanasia are using the same arguments in their defense as did Nazi Germany in its eugenics program of mass extermination. The article, which appeared on the front page of the L'Osservatore Romano said eugenics is a theory that suggests those terminally ill or disabled should be left to die while the strong survive.
The United Nations has appealed to the international community to provide the resources needed to help millions in crisis in the Sa-hell region of West Africa, warning that the situation is critical and there is no time to lose. There are over nine million people that could be impacted by the lack of access to food as the lean season arrives. The area stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, and includes countries such as Neejair and Mali.
Turning 40 can mean different things to different people. To ophthalmologists, it's the age when people start complaining of changes in their vision. But, it's also the age when early signs of eye disease can be detected. Here's Ninette Sosa with today's Health Minute.
AND IN ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
This season of the television hit "The Voice" finished up with what some say was a surprise win by R&B Singer Jermaine Paul. A former back-up singer for Alicia Keys, Paul won the hearts of the audience with his clear love for his wife and kids and his desire to support them through his talent. Upon winning, Paul made bold statements about his faith, thanking God, his wife, children and parents and saying "Nobody but Jesus, man, nobody."
