Word: phenomenon
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...shocking and it is not surprising," says Shehu Sani, a human-rights activist and expert on the rise of Islamic fundamentalism. "There exists a socioeconomic and political atmosphere in the north [of Nigeria] that has created such kinds of conditions for these kinds of things." Sani says the phenomenon can be traced back five years to the country's northeast, when a group of young Muslims from a wealthy background launched what became known as Nigeria's Taliban movement, also known as Boko Haram. "These young men were not children of the poor," he says. "They came from privileged homes...
...phenomenon of disaffected offspring of the rich may have inspired the younger Mutallab, but a source close to the Mutallab family says the Detroit terror suspect was not a member of Boko Haram. He told TIME: "We knew Farouk's extreme views and we were always very worried about what may happen to him or what trouble he could get himself into. Even during the last Boko Haram crisis we were all very worried that he may have been involved, but thank God he was not. He is a bit reserved and we thought we should give him some space...
...mass worldwide exposure and the close contact between the Roman Pontiff and his faithful is actually a modern phenomenon, largely put into motion by Paul VI, and multiplied by John Paul II. Both those popes were lucky to survive brazen assassination attempts: a mentally unstable man lunged at Paul with a knife just after his 1970 arrival at the Manila airport; while John Paul was shot and seriously wounded in 1981 by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca...
...billion total theatrical take. That made it the all-time top-grossing movie (sixth in real dollars, after Gone With the Wind, Star Wars, The Sound of Music, E.T. and the 1956 The Ten Commandments). But Cameron's last blockbuster was a once-every-20-years phenomenon; the gross of his new picture may be titanic, but it won't be Titanic. (See the top 10 James Cameron moments...
...Force officially shuttered Project Blue Book, the agency's third and final attempt to investigate extraterrestrial sightings and the country's longest official inquiry into UFOs. From 1952 until 1969, more than 12,000 reports were compiled and either classified as "identified" - explained by astronomical, atmospheric or artificial phenomenon - or "unidentified," which made up just 6% of the accounts. Because of such a meager percentage and an overall drop in sightings, officials axed the program and ended the research. So much for the truth being out there...