Beyond Borders: Thirteen dead at N.Y. immigration center

Details continue to be a little sketchy but the latest reports say that at least thirteen people have been killed in a shooting today at a Binghamton, N.Y. immigration center.

The gunman entered the front door, blocked the back door, and firing upon occupants at the American Civic Association (ACA). The attacker held over forty hostages and may've possibly died of a self-inflected gunshot wound. At least 26 people have been reported as wounded including five taken to local hospitals.

As part of their preliminary investigation police are examining if the attacker had a possible accomplice. Furthermore, police said that suspect was a 42-year-old man who lived in upstate New York and some sources claimed that he was of Asian background.

Nothing has yet been reported in terms of possible motives for today’s action. Thus, it’s unknown if there’s a connection to the activities at the ACA. (People had been studying for their citizenship exam before today’s tragic shooting).

Image- AP (”In this photo rendered from video and released by WBNG-TV in Binghamton, N.Y., authorities remove a person on a stretcher, Friday, April 3, 2009, in Binghamton, N.Y.”)
Online Sources- New York Times, Bloomberg, ABC News, Los Angeles Times, UPI, MSNBC

Beyond Borders: Bomb explodes in Madrid

Spanish authorities have blamed Basque separatist group ETA for detonating a car bomb in Madrid.

The explosive was placed in an auto in Madrid's business district and may have targeted a transportation firm working on a high-speed rail line. The bomb has not claimed any fatalities yet has caused some extensive material damage. The Red Cross organized a rapid evacuation before the explosion and after receiving a telephone warning ahead of the blast.

If ETA was behind the bombing then that would signal the group’s first attack on the Spanish capital in about two years.

Today’s bombing comes hours after two Basque political parties supposedly tied to ETA were banned from local elections:

Spain's supreme court backed Sunday a government request to bar two Basque pro-independence parties from regional elections next month, judicial sources said…

The government and prosecutors charged that Democracy Three Million (D3M) and Askatasuna have links to the armed Basque separatist group ETA and its political arm Batasuna, which the court outlawed in 2003.

Anti-terrorist Judge Baltasar Garzon is to hand down a separate decision Tuesday on whether to suspend the parties' political activities.

Image- AFP
Online Sources- AFP, Guardian UK, CNN, UPI, Times Online