*NEW!* International Update

File Under: NewsWire

TDI has decided to try something new. Now, as much as TDI would love to be the one-stop shop for all your news, we can't do that. And we've stated before that we're a news suppliment. Well, in the interest of being an even better suppliment, we're launching a new NewsWire, tenativly called Inerational Update. We'll take one story from the different regions across the globe. You'll have The U.S.A., Canada, Africa, Australia (sometimes), Antartica, Asia, Europe, Mexico, and the Middle-East.

The stories picked for International Update may not *necessarily* be THE big item in the news, though there will certianly be plenty of that. But we'll also look for stories that TDI thinks you might be interested in. So let me know what you liked and didn't like in the inagural edition of this NewsWire. Well, enough said... Time for the news!

A Boeing 737 crashed in Nigeria shortly after takeoff late Saturday night. Officials expect no survivors among the 117 people onboard. The plane has taken off from Lagos, and reportedly crashed about 120 miles north of the city. There is no immediate word on what caused the crash, though officials don't think that it's terrorism. There was lightning in the vicinity at that time. Most onboard were thought to be Nigerians. One American was onboard. This was Nigeria's worst air disaster since May 2002, when 154 died in the city of Kano after a plane plowed into a neighborhood just after takeoff.

Nepal's government has banned all FM radio stations operating from Kathmandu from airing news-oriented programs and backed the order with the threat of punishment. Any news that causes "hate or disrespect" towards Nepal's royal family is prohibited. King Gyanedra has recently imposed very strict controls over the country's media. There are several groups filing against the new laws, saying it contradicts the spirit of the 1990 constitution. A hearing on this case is expected to begin on Monday.

The province of Ontario will extend daylight savings time by four weeks in 2007, thus synchronizing clocks with the United States. Starting in 2007, Daylight Savings Time will start on the second Sunday in March, and end on the first Sunday in November. Currently, it runs from the beginning of April 'till the end of October. Ontario is the first province to finalize the time change, but Canadian officials hope other provinces will soon embrace the time change.

Pope Benedict XVI named five new saints on Sunday at a Mass, thus closing a 3-week meeting of the world's bishops. The Pope also announced that the church had reaffirmed it's position that preists bust remain celibant. Two of those canonized Sunday were from the Ukraine, two others were Poles, and one Chilean. Benedict also sent out a greeting to the Roman Catholics under persecution in China. He is seeking to re-establish diplomatic ties with China, to bring the estimated 12 million Chinese Catholics under the wing of the Vatican.

Cancun is left in rubble after Hurricane Wilma battered the popular vacation resort over the weekend. 3 people died in Mexico because of the Hurricane; 1 died from being hit by a falling tree, the other two from injuries they got when a gas tank exploded. This brings Wilma's death toll up to 16. Downtown Cancun was littered with glass, tree trunks and curs up to their roofs in floodwaters. Some coastal highways are blocked, due to three feet of floodwater. There is destruction everywhere. Wilma, now a category 2, will take a quick swipe at Cuba before hitting Florida early Monday morning.

Israel has dropped its campaign to ban Hamas from Palestinian parliamentary elections, a senior Israeli official is telling the AP. They still strongly oppose it, but won't take steps to stop it. This is the first time Hamas is running candadites for parliament. Hamas has done very well in other local elections, and is becoming a key opponet of the Fatah party. Also, the Palestinian Prime Minister says that a program is underway to disarm the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, and to bring its gunment into the security services.

Sen. Chuck Schumer says that Harriet Miers does not currently have the votes in the senate to be confirmed for the U.S. Supreme Court. "I think, if you were to hold the vote today, she would not get a majority, either in the Judiciary Committee or on the floor. . . I think there is maybe one or two on the Judicary Committee who have said they'd support her as of right now." However, Sen. Arlen Specter said that most senators are waiting for the hearings before making up their minds. And Sen. John Cornyn said that "to prejudge the nominee before she's even had a chance to participate in the hearing just strikes me as unfair." Republican senators say that they are not seeing any signs that Miers nomination will be pulled by the White House.

That's the world news in brief for Sunday, October 23rd, 2005. Stay tuned for even more daily news and features.