The World- Sept. 23, 2010

THURSDAY

The U.S. poverty rate rose to 14.3 percent in 2009 from 13.2 percent the year before, bringing the percentage of the population living in poverty to the highest level since 1994. The Census Bureau said 43.6 million people live under the poverty line, which for a family of four was $21,954.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon shouted “Viva Mexico!” as tens of thousands kicked off the country’s celebration of the bicentenary of “El Giton” – the country’s fight for independence from Spain. The fight lasted until 1821, when Mexico became a sovereign nation.

The Seattle Storm won the city’s second Women’s National Basketball Association title with an 87-84 win to sweep the Atlanta Beat. League MVP Lauren Jackson was also named MVP of the finals.

FRIDAY

John Chelminiak, 58, a Bellevue city council member who was walking his dogs near his vacation home at Lake Wenatchee, was mauled by a black bear. State Fish and Wildlife agents killed the bear about three hours after the attack. Chelminiak suffered puncture wounds to his face and head.

Prince William graduated training work as a search and rescue helicopter pilot for Britain’s Royal Air Force. William, second in line to the throne of England, will soon begin work with a unit based on the northwest coast of Wales.

Europe’s particle research center CERN will temporarily close its accelerators for a year in 2012 because of budget cuts that cost the center $133.4 million in research dollars. A particle accelerator is a machine that propels a beam of sub-atomic particles at high speed. The flagship “Big Bang” machine will mainly be unaffected.

WEEKEND

With a final shot of cement, BP permanently “killed” its deep-sea well in the Gulf of Mexico that ruptured in April and unleashed the worst oil spill in U.S. history.

Afghanistan kicked off a parliamentary election on Saturday amidst attacks that killed 14 people and widespread fraud that could undermine the result and test the government’s credibility.

Five U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province have been charged with murdering three Afghan civilians. The Washington Post report cited military court documents and interviews with people familiar with the case to allege the killings “were committed essentially for sport by soldiers who had a fondness for hashish and alcohol.”

Mayor Christian Ude kicked off Munich’s 200th Oktoberfest by tapping the first beer barrel at midday Sunday. More than seven million visitors from around the world are expected to down a glass or two of the city’s famed brew.

MONDAY

The National Bureau of Economic Research announced the recession officially ended in June 2009, though millions of Americans remain out of work. It was the longest downturn since the Great Depression.

Corn and soybean harvest in the midwest is expected to be even later than it already is, as strong rain storms are expected to sweep through the region this week.

U.N. chief prosecutor Serge Brammertz advised European Union members to hold Serbia’s application to join the bloc because the country failed again to arrest fugitive Serbian general Ratko Mladic on charges he committed war crimes during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

Mohammad Akram, a jobless father of five who lost his house in Pakistan’s floods, committed suicide by setting himself on fire in front of prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani’s family home in the eastern city of Multan Sunday.

TUESDAY

The Vatican bank’s top two officials are under investigation for suspected money laundering and Italian police have frozen $30.21 million of its funds.

A Seattle school employee is expected to be charged this week for allegedly selling crack cocaine to an undercover informant on school property.

Walter Bruening, a Great Falls, Mont., man believed to be the world’s oldest, celebrated his 114th birthday at his retirement home. Guinness World Record officials have verified Breuning as the world’s oldest man and the fourth-oldest person. Three women were born earlier in the same year as Breuning.

WEDNESDAY

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao threatened retaliation against Japan unless it releases a trawler captain whom Tokyo accuses of deliberately colliding with two Japanese coastguard ships near disputed islands.

Italian authorities seized seven tons of powerful RDX explosive being shipped from Iran to Syria and believe that at least part of the cargo may have been intended for Italy. The cargo was found by anti-Mafia police in a shipping container in the southern port of Gioia Tauro.

Compiled by the Gazette from a variety of sources.