South African children push for better schools
Thousands of children protested to the city hall of Cape Town, Africa. President of the African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, admits that the push to better public schools in the last 15 years has failed. A new group has formed called Equal Education, which is headed by its founder, Zackie Achmat. The group is said to be the new South African answer to its failing education system, having practical goals and youthful organizers.
Ga. floods lead to state of emergency
Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency Monday, Sept. 21 in the 17 Georgia counties that were hit the hardest by severe flooding that the state has experienced recently. So far five people have died due to the weather. The hard rains have flooded highways and forced some to evacuate from their homes in many parts of the metropolitan Atlanta area. This area had experienced a drought throughout the summer.
French director is taken into U.S. custody
Polish-French film director, producer, writer and actor, Roman Polanski, was arrested in a Zurich airport. He was attending a film festival in Switzerland that was honoring his life’s work. It was then that he was apprehended by U.S. officials. Polanski had been a fugitive of the United States for 31 years due to his guilty plea of engaging in sexual acts with a 13 year old girl.
Driver charged with Al Qaeda bomb plot
Najibullah Zazi has been ordered by a federal judge in Colorado to be held without bail due to his involvement with the Al Qaeda Bomb plot. He was arrested because he had made false statements while under terrorism investigation. Zazi had also purchased chemicals that would be enough to make a lethal bomb. The attack would have taken place on the eve of the anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11.
Blind Americans to take part in experiment
Thirty-seven blind Americans will participate in a project to help them see. Scientists are calling the project the ‘artificial retina’ and say that this technology can allow people to eventually read and write. So far, scientists have had success with one blind American who can now see light, her computer screen and mirror. The patients will have electrodes surgically implanted in their eyes and a camera implanted on the bridge of their noses. This experimental project will take place in America, Europe and Mexico.
Pulitzer Prize winner dies
William Safire, a Pulitzer Prize winning political New York Times columnist, died at age 79. Safire was also a speech writer for Richard Nixon. Safire was notoriously known for speaking his mind. He once referred to Hillary Clinton as a ‘congenital liar in print.’ He received the Pulitzer Prize for his columns that accused President Jimmy Carter’s budget director, Bert Lance, of questionable financial moves.
