Welcome to CNN STUDENT NEWS.
Ten minutes of current events, zero minutes of commercials.
I`m Carl Azuz at the CNN Center.
First up, the leader of the U.S. Secret Service has quit.
Director Julia Pierson`s resignation yesterday followed the calls of some lawmakers, Republicans
and Democrats that she step down.
The Secret Service has the job of protecting the president and his family.
We reported yesterday on some of the agency`s recent problems.
One of the biggest involved an intruder who jumped the fence outside the White House,
ran across the lawn and made it well inside the building before officers tackled him.
He`d been carrying a knife, but the president wasn`t there at the time.
At a congressional hearing yesterday, Director Pierson took full responsibility and said
it would never happen again, but Republican Representative Lindsey Graham called the intrusion
"a failure of command on Director Pierson`s part.
He said yesterday it was time for new leadership at the U.S. Secret Service.
The White House said President Obama reached the same conclusion.
Despite its name, the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea, is the most
heavily militarized border in earth.
An armistice in 1953 might have stopped fighting in the Korean War, it didn`t eased tensions
between the two countries divided by the DMZ.
South Korea, a U.S. ally, is a republic with the world`s 12 largest economy.
North Korea, a communist state has a giant military, but a chronically struggling economy.
Many South Koreans fear that aging underground tunnels could give North Korea`s military
a secret path south.
Seen as a tourist attraction rather than a military threat these days, an infiltration
tunnel dug from North Korea to South Korea, passing under the most heavily fortified border
on earth.
Three tunnels were found in the 1970s, one in 1990, nothing since.
But the Defense Ministry admits there maybe be 20 in all.
Major General Han Sun-chu (ph) believes he`s discovered a new one under sole apartment
block.
A former two-star general, now a tunnel hunter, he says residents complained of underground
vibrations back in March, (INAUDIBLE) then detected three tunnels up to 12 meters under
the basement.
His team drilled down to lower a camera.
But before they could, Han says the recorder picked up two underground explosions.
Their drill holes were then blocked.
The work he is certain of North Korean soldiers protecting the tunnel.
This North Korean defector was a senior intelligence official within the military.
He hides his identity, as he still has family in the north.
He says Pyongyang`s tunnel-digging lasted decades, before scaling down in the late `90s.
But he believes, existing tunnels would still be protected.
South Korea`s Defense Ministry says a tunnel would not reach sole 40 kilometers or 25 miles
from the border, North Korea has said in the past the tunnels are not for invasion, but
part of their mining industry.
Time for the CNN STUDENT NEWS "Roll Call" from yesterday`s transcript page at cnnstudentnews.com,
we heard from Mexico City, Mexico, the American school foundation, the middle school is on
today`s roll.
Also, Plentywood Middle School.
It`s in Plentywood, Montana.
It`s good to have the wild cats watching.
And one state east, in New Town, North Dakota, we`ve got the Eagles of New Town High School.
In order, the three largest religions in the world are Christianity, Islam and Hinduism.
For the second largest, the CIA estimates, there are more than 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide.
That`s more than 22 percent of the world`s population, and a major Islamic event is happening
right now in Saudi Arabia.
The Hajj.
It`s one of the five pillars of Islam, a requirement of every able-bodied Muslim at least once
in his or her lifetime.
Allahu Akbar!
Its name means to set out for a place and for Muslims around the world, that place is
the holy city of Mecca.
The Hajj has begun for millions of Muslims with pilgrims making their way toward Islam`s
most sacred site.
A cube-shaped building called the Kaaba, located in the Grand Mosque.
For daily prayers, Muslims face this structure from any given point in the world.
They are also required if able to make this pilgrimage at least once in their lives, and
then walk seven times around the Kaaba counterclockwise in the ritual called the Talaf (ph).
The Grand Mosque`s gleaming minarets soar skyward, pilgrims hear criers perform the
daily prayers from these towers calling the faithful five times a day.
All right, you probably don`t worry about clean drinking water, especially if you are
in the U.S. Developed countries have the best access to it.
But in Africa, in some parts of Asia and Oceania, hundreds of millions of people can`t regularly
get water that`s safe to drink.
There`s an international search for solutions.
It`s essentials for humans to survive, and yet a tenth of the world`s population doesn`t
have access to clean water.
Instead, water sources are contaminated with harmful bacteria, viruses and toxins like
lead and arsenic claiming millions of lives every year.
Thalappil Pradeep, a chemistry professor at the Indian Institute of Technology and his
team of bioengineers may have found a solution.
A $16 nanoparticle filtration system that the team says can both remove chemical contaminants
and kill microbes.
Dr. Pradeep`s filter uses silver nanoparticles that have antimicrobial properties.
They house an especially crafted filter made of aluminum and chitosan, which comes from
the shell of crustaceans.
As water flows to the filter, the nanoparticles become oxidized, and then release silver ions
into the water killing contaminants and the production of the filters requires no electricity.
Dr. Pradeep and team say one filter can provide a family of five with clean water for entire
year.
Some members of the scientific community have expressed concern over the efficacy of the
technology in places like Africa and India where keeping the filter clean could prove
to be a challenge.
But Dr. Pradeep is pushing forward with the technology using larger filters in communities
throughout India, and he hopes to reach 300,000 people by the end of the year.
And now that we are in October, cue (ph) this scary fact about Halloween.
Last year, Americans were expected to spend a $330 million on costumes for their pets.
That`s more than $1 spent for every person in the country.
Now, that`s random.
A long-anticipated sequel to the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is coming soon to a
theater or television near you.
Netflix is set to release it on the same day it`s set to appear in certain IMAX theaters.
The video streaming site is hoping it will bring in new customers and change the movie
business, but theater owners are not excited.
Some are saying, they won`t even show the movie on their IMAX screens.
This could change the game.
Because number one, what do we know about the movies right now?
It`s expensive.
20 bucks to pop to go to the movies, that`s not counting your snacks and everything.
So, you get this movie on Netflix in the comfort of your own home.
It definitely doesn`t cost you what it would cause to go to the movies.
Second of all, though, it`s about the experience.
Here is the big gamble, I believe, for Netflix and the Weinstein Company.
You take a movie like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", it`s larger than life.
Martial arts, beautifully shot, it is one of those movies I believe is prime to see
in the theater on the big screen.
So, will it suffice in your home theater?
Will you get the same experience that you get at the theater?
I don`t think so, but I`m not sure if that matters that much.
Now, listen, the movie industry, it had some issues this summer.
It`s been a down year.
Summer blockbuster season wasn`t very good.
So, what did we learn from that as consumers?
It doesn`t matter to us much how we consumer our movies.
We just want to see what we want to see, but we want to see it for a good price.
It can be a game changer.
I`m excited.
If you are kind of jumpy by nature, you`d either have a really fun or a really terrible
time at a haunted house.
Florida news reporter
Anthony Alred (ph) isn`t jumpy by nature.
Au!
OK, they got me there.
They got me there.
That was about the only time they got him.
Anthony was cool, calm and collected on his stroll through a fear factory.
One ghoul screams
Anthony as he walks by.
His response .
That would be me.
Another jumps out and asks if he wants to hang, his response .
Not really.
So, why was Alred able to stay so nonchalant?
I`ve got stories to write, scripts to do.
So, while he was able to scare up sometime for a spooky stroll, where most people`s nerves
would be afraid, where they just want a scary back home, Anthony just wasn`t fearing.
He was peerless in being so fearless.
We are going to go hide out till tomorrow, but CNN STUDENT NEWS will keep things happening
with more news and puns this Friday.
I`m Carl Azuz.