Globe Trot: Arctic spies hunt for underground oil

ARCTIC: The Arctic may hold a staggering 13 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil, and that’s why a heady race of soldiers, spies, and scientists is turning up there. Canada says Arctic spies on its territory are comparable to the number at the height of the Cold War era.

PAKISTAN: Gunmen on motorbikes opened fire today on a bus of Ismailis in Karachi, leaving at least 43 dead and 24 injured.

Police in Karachi two weeks ago said they had identified the terrorists who shot Debra Lobo, a long-time American doctor working in the city, but there’s no word of actual arrests yet. Lobo, according to local church leaders, continues to recover from her injuries.

BURUNDI: A coup appears to be underway, with a Burundi army general saying President Pierre Nkurunziza has been “overthrown.” Here’s background on the central African nation’s crisis.

ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was joined by world leaders in denouncing “resurgent” anti-Semitism at a conference in Jerusalem. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told the gathering in the wake of Charlie Hebdo and related shootings, “For the first time in our history, soldiers are guarding every Jewish site.”

BRITAIN: Health officials have identified an alarming spike in female genital mutilation (FGM), or female circumcision, identifying 578 new cases of the dangerous procedure in March, 60 performed on women under age 18. The government is pressuring churches to take action, when in fact the procedure is mostly performed in Muslim communities.

NORTH KOREA: Satellite imagery suggests North Korea used anti-aircraft machine guns—with ranges up to 4.5 miles—in public executions.

“The most plausible explanation of the scene captured in the Oct. 7 satellite image is a gruesome public execution,” said the report, which said 24 heavy machine guns would leave the bodies of those shot “nearly pulverized.”

“The gut-wrenching viciousness of such an act would make ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ sound like a gross understatement,” the authors wrote.

CANADA: Canadian Ambassador Kevin Vickers, a near victim in last year’s terrorist shooting on Parliament Hill in Ottowa, gives an emotional account of the shooting, citing the importance of praying for our enemies and listening to our mothers.

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