Moscow – The celebration of Halloween has been banned from schools in Moscow, Russia to preserve students’ moral health. Symbols of the holiday, like witches and pumpkins, are still decorating the city for parties and bars even though the Kremlin and Russian Orthodox Church have attempted to sway eagerness from adopted holidays.
Madrid – During a recent trial in a Spanish court, 21 people were convicted of a crime that occurred in March 2004. Three of them were given the maximum sentence allowed by Spanish law: 40 years in jail.
The attack was part of the Al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden.
China – Last summer, an algae bloom in Lake Tai, a valuable water source and tourist attraction in a heavily populated area near Shanghai, caused a halt in water supply to millions of Chinese citizens. A $14.5 billion plan to clean up this lake will take as long as five years to complete. To begin the plan, chemical plants have been ordered to cease dumping mass waste into the lake.
An environmentalist who warned the people the lake was in danger is now in jail on charges of blackmailing the polluters.
Sources: msnbc.com, cnbc.com, abcnews.com