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CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Welcome to November! And to a new week of CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. First up today, a story that spans multiple continents.
First Up: Security Concerns
U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We will continue to pursue additional protective measures for as long as it takes to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. I have also directed that we spare no effort in investigating the origins of these suspicious packages and their connection to any additional terrorist plotting.
AZUZ: The president's talking about a suspected terrorist plan that spread from the Middle East to Europe and almost to the U.S. Officials got a tip and stopped it this past Friday. The president mentioned suspicious packages. There were two of those. One was found on a plane in the United Kingdom. The other, on a plane in Dubai. Each of the packages had an explosive device hidden inside a computer printer. Officials say those explosives were designed to be set off remotely; they could be triggered with a cell phone.
Saudi Arabia warned the United States about the packages. The U.S. told Britain. And then U.S. and British officials told the Middle Eastern nation of Yemen. Authorities think these bombs came from an al Qaeda terrorist group inside Yemen. The packages were found on cargo planes, but officials think the bombs might also have flown on passenger planes. Both of them were inside packages that were headed to Chicago, Illinois; never made it there. Brian Todd looks at why someone might have wanted to send these explosives on a cargo plane.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was an intelligence tip, not a random check, that led to the discovery of the suspicious package at the airport in Britain. That's according to British police sources. One of the world's top air security experts says the contents, a manipulated toner cartridge, and the origin of the package had to have set off alarms.
Some things about this particular shipment just didn't seem right to you?
RAFI RON, CEO, NEW AGE SECURITY SOLUTIONS: Yes. It doesn't make a lot of sense. Yemen is not known to be an exporting country for the printers' ink, certainly not to the United States. So, I think there is already something in the nature of the shipment that I would say supposed to draw our attention.
TODD: Rafi Ron, former top Israeli air security chief who now advises the Boston and San Francisco airports, says packages in cargo planes are not screened as tightly as those in passenger aircraft. Not every package on a cargo plane is X-rayed. Ron says that's because terrorists typically don't want to bring down cargo planes. But if the intended targets are elsewhere, those procedures could change, at least temporarily.
Homeland Security officials say, because of this incident, we'll see heightened screening of cargo at most major airports, more explosive trace detection, more use of imaging technology. Rafi Ron says areas like this in the U.S. and elsewhere also need more security -- the perimeters around the cargo loading areas and where the planes are -- because even though they have security, they are much more out in the open.
But a crucial screening system is in place. It's called the Known Shipper program. Officials at the TSA and UPS tell us it's basically an intelligence-sharing network for cargo. Government security agencies around the world work with private companies, businesses and the transporters like UPS to track everything about a given package.
(END VIDEO)
Turkey Bombing
AZUZ: Police investigators are trying to find out who's responsible for a bomb that did go off in a Middle Eastern country this weekend. It happened in Istanbul, largest city in Turkey, a nation a little bit bigger than the U.S. state of Texas. At least 32 people were wounded in the attack, some of them seriously. But according to police, the suspected suicide bomber was the only person killed.
Shoutout
APRIL WILLIAMS, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Today's first Shoutout goes out to Mr. Berg's 6th grade humanities block at Beaver Lake Middle School in Issaquah, Washington! How many U.S. Senate seats are up for election this Tuesday? Is it: A) 33, B) 37, C) 100 or D) 435? You've got three seconds -- GO! This year's midterm elections will determine 37 U.S. Senate seats. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout!
Midterm Elections
AZUZ: You've been hearing about it for awhile; now, this week, you are going to hear results. The midterm election is tomorrow! Voters will be heading out to polls all across the country, casting their ballots for national, state and local candidates. There's a lot at stake in these elections. Right now, Democrats have a majority in both the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Republicans are expected to make some gains on Tuesday. The big question is whether they'll win enough seats to take over the majority in either of those chambers of Congress. Meanwhile, the candidates are still out there trying to rally up support.
DINO ROSSI, (R) SENATE CANDIDATE, WASHINGTON: I think the country needs to go in a very different direction. And this is really just a lot bigger than just me and one race. This is really about the future of this country.
SEN. PATTY MURRAY, (D) WASHINGTON: The most important thing in this election is that people have a voice and that the powerful interests that can buy ads and not tell us who they are because of the Supreme Court decision should be a concern to all of us.
Shoutout Extra Credit
TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for a Shoutout Extra Credit! We asked about the Senate, now we want to know how many seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election on Tuesday? Is it: A) 37, B) 100, C) 217 or D) 435? Another three seconds -- GO! The midterms will determine all 435 seats in the House. That's your answer and that's your Shoutout Extra Credit!
Web Promo
AZUZ: House, Senate and governors' race results: CNN Student News will have election outcomes later on in the week. Meantime, the CNN Election Center has all your midterm info. You'll find a link to that in the Spotlight section of your favorite Web site: CNNStudentNews.com!
Stadium Goes Green
AZUZ: Football, baseball, basketball: A lot of sports fans go all out when they cheer for their teams, especially when they're at the stadium. In Japan, there's one soccer stadium that's looking at ways to turn all that fan energy into... energy. Kyung Lah shows us how some fans can root for their team and the environment at the same time.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, TOKYO: In the game of football, there are few certainties, except for this: fans on their feet, pounding, jumping, never stopping for two hours; energy for the players on the field. But Mie Kiyota, who works for the Vissel Kobe team, saw something else.
MIE KIYOTA, VISSEL KOBE [TRANSLATED]: "There's got to be some way to harness their energy in some sort of eco-friendly way," she thought.
LAH: It turns out, there is. In Japan, the J.R. train began capturing the energy commuters made while walking through the turnstiles. And at Kokwio Station's main Tokyo headquarters, the company is developing its own floor panels which capture the energy of human foot traffic. So, Kiyota convinced the team to join in the emerging kinetic energy panel field. Vissel Kobe bought 24 panels, which landed under the feet of the fan section, where Kazuya Yamashiro is glad his girth is helping the environment.
KAZUYA YAMASHIRO, KOBE VISSEL FAN [TRANSLATED]: "I'm bigger than the other fans," he says...
LAH: ...pointing out that he's able to produce more energy with each heavy jump. The power cord, says Kiyota, carries the fans' energy to a power box, to batteries. The amount of real energy produced in this testing phase is actually quite small. Because the last game was a tie, these three AA batteries were charged. But the stadium is using the energy produced for a real purpose: to power flashlights for the night games. Just the beginning, pledges Kiyota.
Do you envision a day when this entire stadium will have this type of energy flooring?
KIYOTA [TRANSLATED]: I think so. I hope one day this system will be in every seat, producing more clean energy.
LAH: The team hopes football stadiums around the world will see Kobe's small experiment and want to jump in. The biggest stumbling blocks right now, practicality and price tag.
(END VIDEO)
Facebook Chat
AZUZ: Your questions. My answers. Our very first Facebook conversation of the school year is tonight. The time is 6:30 p.m. Eastern. The address: Facebook.com/cnnstudentnews. I am looking forward to typing with you!
Before We Go
AZUZ: ...though there won't be a photo booth like you saw in that video. It'll just be us, text and our computers. A student recently asked me why so many of our Before We Go segments involve cats. I said it's 'cause cats are crazy. This one's just cute! It's an 8-week-old lion cub, a new addition to the National Zoo. The swimming lesson's for his own good. Before he's allowed in the habitat for lions, he's gotta prove he can keep his little head above water, in case he falls in the moat and no one's around to fish him out.
Goodbye
AZUZ: Needless to say, he passed the test swimmingly, though he had to work to stay afloat; he couldn't just be lion around. And we're sure when he makes his debut at the zoo, he will be lionized. All right, I know some of you are waiting to roar at me about those puns. You can on Facebook tonight. I am looking forward to talking to you. I'm Carl Azuz for CNN Student News! And we will see you either tonight on Facebook or tomorrow, when our show returns.