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A truck carrying Takata air bag inflators and a load of volatile ammonium nitrate crashed, caught fire and exploded in southern Texas last week, killing a woman and injuring four others. Takata says Monday that the truck operated by a subcontractor crashed in the small town of Quemado, near the Mexican border about 140 miles from San Antonio. The company says it sent people to the site and is helping authorities investigate the crash. …

Russia has filed its first trade dispute before the World Trade Organization, complaining about the European Union’s anti-dumping duties. […] In a statement Monday, the WTO said Russia is seeking consultations with the EU over its anti-dumping duties on Russian steel products and ammonium nitrate, which is mainly used in fertilizer. The EU is levying duties because it believes Russia is selling those goods below their production cost. …

U.S. NEWSApril 21, 2013, 8:13 p.m. ET Firefighters Recount Blast In First Interviews, Volunteer Responders Give Accounts of Texas Explosion

(snip) What makes ammonium nitrate explosive?Ammonium nitrate, a common fertiliser additive, is a white crystalline solid at room temperature. It is stable except when it is contaminated with organic (carbon-based) material. In practice, it is commonly mixed with fuel oil to form an industrial explosive (called ammonium nitrate/fuel oil, or ANFO) and is widely used in the mining industry. In the case of the explosion in West, something had to heat the ammonium nitrate in the fertiliser factory to a critical temperature of 300C for it to auto-ignite. This would need to be either organic contaminants reacting with the ammonium...

The Bombing of Sterling HallText and photos copyright © 2000 Leemark Communications The doors to the old part of Sterling Hall, as seen from Charter Street. Early on August 24th, 1970, a van loaded with six barrels of explosives blew up just outside the East Wing of Sterling Hall at the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison. The bombing was carried out by four men in protest of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. The bombing was directed against the Mathematics Research Center, a U.S.-Army-funded facility, which was located in the East Wing of Sterling Hall along with the...

NOTE The following text is a quote: www.ice.gov/news/releases/1204/120420detroit.htm APRIL 20, 2012 DETROIT, MI Second Michigan man arrested in explosives investigation Suspected of possessing more than two tons of bomb-making materials SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – A second man suspected to be involved in an explosives investigation was arrested Thursday by special agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and deputies with the Chippewa County Sherriff's Department. Kenneth Kassab, 53, of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., was taken into custody without incident Thursday on charges related to the...

Suspect a Former Marine Corps Reservist ARLINGTON, Va. - UPDATE: FOX News has confirmed that the man taken into custody early Friday after being found near the Pentagon with suspicious materials in his backpack is former Marine Corps reservist Yonathan Melaku. 22-year-old Melaku was arrested in Arlington Cemetery overnight. He was believed to have a backpack containing 5 lbs of a substance that was labeled ammonium nitrate. Tests showed the material to be an "inert" substance. A notebook was also found in his bag with words such as Taliban and Al Qaeda. Melaku was a Lance Corporal Marine corps reservist...

This morning police in Washington D.C. arrested Yonathan Melaku, a Muslim, for suspicious activity near Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon. The twenty-two-year-old Melaku is a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from Ethiopia that also serves in the Marine Corp Reserves. He was found carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer and other materials making reference to Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The first reports I saw came from the Drudge Report and neither made reference to Malaku’s religion. Then I remembered the stories about Asan Akbar who killed two members of his platoon and wounded fifteen more and Hasan Nidal who killed thirteen...

"A Lebanese suspect from the Hezbollah group has been taken into custody by Thai officials and police are investigating further," Chalerm Yoobamrung told Reuters. "Following concern raised by the Israeli embassy about a possible attack by a group of Lebanese terrorists in Bangkok, Thai police officials had been coordinating with Israeli officials since before the New Year."

Sources told ABC News a backpack in Melaku's possession contained a package labeled ammonium nitrate as well as spent firearm ammunition. Ammonium nitrate, a common fertilizer, can be used in explosives. The FBI later said despite the label, the backpack presented no immediate threat. A search of Melaku's nearby car also found no potential devices. Law enforcement sources said Melaku does not appear to have known ties to any terror organization. In addition to his arrest today, Melaku already faces pending charges in Loudoun County, Virginia, for a rash of vehicle break-ins, police said.

Obama amputates our nuclear arms By: Charles Krauthammer ...snippet...Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.” Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker...

Times Square Is Evacuated in Bomb Scare The scene at Times Square on Saturday night after police found a suspicious package inside a Pathfinder on West 45th Street. RAY RIVERA and KARIN HENRY May 1, 2010 A bomb in Times Square led to the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers from the area on a warm and busy Saturday evening, the police said. There was no explosion. “It appears to be a car bomb left in a Pathfinder between Seventh and Eighth,” said Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. The device, he said, contained “explosive...

Nine people including one foreigner were killed and 45 injured in a suspected bomb blast in the German Bakery at Koregaon Park which also houses a Jewish prayer house and the Osho Ashram here this evening. Pune Police Commissioner Satya Pal Singh said there were five women among the victims. The blast took place at the German Bakery, an old business establishment, at around 7:15pm. Initial reports have suggested that the Indian Mujahideen is being suspected to be behind the blast. "There was a bomb blast. There have been eight deaths and 33 people were injured", said Pune joint commissioner...

Portuguese police have seized half a tonne of explosives at a house that they say was being used as a base by Basque separatist group Eta. The discovery, which also included bomb-making equipment, was made in the central Portugal town of Obidos. Fake licence plates, detonators and maps were also found, officials said. A militant group fighting for an independent Basque homeland, Eta has been blamed for more than 820 deaths during its campaign in Spain. "The material was stored in secure conditions which indicates the work of professionals," local police chief Helder Barros said. Several of the explosives were...

KABUL – International troops and Afghan police seized 250 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer — enough to make up to a couple hundred roadside bombs, the Taliban's most lethal weapon in what has been the deadliest year of the war, NATO announced Tuesday. Separately, video footage emerged of insurgents brandishing what appears to be limited stocks of U.S. ammunition in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan where eight Americans died in a battle last month. NATO officials hoped Sunday's raid in the southern city of Kandahar would hurt Taliban militants, whose homemade bombs have become the biggest killer of U.S....

Bryan, Texas SNIPPET: "As the situation eased, officials scaled back the number of mandatory evacuations. As of 8:50 p.m., only about 1,000 people were affected by the evacuations." SNIPPET: "John Carver with El Dorado Chemicals reports the plant on Highway 21 is a "typical dry blend fertilizer" facility. He reports a crew was welding in an empty ammonia nitrate storage bin when a spark started a small, smoldering fire. Two workers were in the building at the time of the fire; both escaped uninjured. Firefighters quickly responded to the scene only to discover they could not use water to battle...

BRYAN, Texas -- Officials are evacuating much of Brazos County to the north and west of Bryan because of a fire at a chemical plant believed to contain explosive ammonium nitrate. KBTX The fire broke out about noon Thursday at the El Dorado Chemical Co. plant on Highway 21.

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested Wan Min Wan Mat, a key leader of Kumpulan Militant Malaysia (KMM) during an operation in Kota Baru Friday morning. Inspector-general of police Tan Sri Norian Mai said the 42-year-old former Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) lecturer was arrested at about 9.30am. Police are looking for eight suspects who are key KMM members and are offering a RM50,000 reward for information on each leader.

Truck carrying 600 pounds of nitrate stolen in Dania Beach

Report: Cafe bomber confesses to bus bombing Yesterday ~ Chris ~ Link ~ Comments (13) According to Chinese media reports, Kunming police have stated that the man involved in yesterday's bombing at Salvador's Coffee House confessed to involvement in the unsolved July bus bombings shortly before dying. Kunming police told the Yunnan Info Daily that yesterday's blast was not due to a natural gas canister explosion - as had been reported earlier by some Chinese media - but rather ammonium nitrate, the same compound which was reportedly used in the bus bombings this summer. Police said the ammonium nitrate had...