Current events 7

Source - BBC news (bbc.co.uk) news>Americas

Date - 5/2/2010

Who is involved
New York City Police Department, New York and other US citizens, Taliban, President Barrack Obama, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Duane Jackson (spotted smoke)

Summary
A bomb was planted in Times Square today, hidden inside of a black SUV. The bomb was described amateurish, consisting of propane tanks, gas and a clock. The bomb failed to detonate, and was spotted by Duane Jackson, a Vietnam War veteran, who saw smoke emanating from the parked vehicle while he sold handbags nearby. After this the fireworks inside the car began detonating, and people began fleeing the area.
Evidence as to the identify of the suspect has emerged, as were many security cameras (82) running at the time of the incident, one one which shows a while male guessed to be around 40 nearby the vehicle.

Significance
While several people have been charged with an attempt to bomb or otherwise attack New York City fairly recently, none have gotten as far as this recent individual. This article could effect security regulation going forward, and there could be a huge amount of backlash if the culprit is found against any sort of group he is a part of.


Opinion

While it's too early to do anything but guess, i doubt the attacks have a connection to the Taliban just based on how the bomb didn't go off, and seems to have had little chance of doing so. Also, the use of a analog clock to set the thing off just seems a little cartoon-ey.
article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8657161.stm