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It was just about week ago that we highlighted a mysterious trend that was sweeping the U.S.: citizens were receiving unsolicited packages of seeds, with return addresses from China, for apparently no reason at all. Now, the U.S. has started to identify "14 types of plants" that the seeds belonged to, revealing a “mix of ornamental, fruit and vegetable, herb and weed species,” according to the NY Times. Cabbage, hibiscus, lavender, mint, morning glory, mustard, rose, rosemary and sage have all been identified. Osama El-Lissy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said: “This...

THE WHITE House is in lockdown after a man attempted to set himself on fire, a New York Times reporter has claimed. Photos taken at the scene show security personnel tackling a person on the ground. Police and amublance crews are in attendance. Nicholas Kristof, a columnist with the New York Times, said: “Someone apparently set himself on fire in front of the White House just now. I was coming out of the West Wing, and the Sevret Service isn’t letting anyone out onto Pennsylvania Ave. They say there are also suspicious packages. “The whole area in front of the...

"A Conservative Party staffer made a horrifying discovery late Tuesday morning, partially opening a package that contained what police say appeared to be a human foot. The overwhelming stench from the package sent a staffer running to call police. "Upon arrival, officers noted that the package possibly had blood stains on it," police said in a statement." --- Update: A seoond package addressed the federal Conservative party H.Q. was intercepted at Canada Post. It has been confirmed that the second package contained a human hand. http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2012/05/20120529-154734.html

SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON — A US man has been charged after he compiled a hit list of 15 people he believed had harmed Muslim civilians and deserved to die, court documents showed Wednesday. Paul Rockwood and his wife Nadia were charged with lying to federal investigators about the compilation and content of the list, which Nadia Rockwood delivered to an unnamed individual in April at her husband's request." SNIPPET: "According to plea agreement documents obtained by AFP Wednesday, Paul Rockwood converted to Islam around late 2001 and soon "became a strict adherent to the violent jihad-promoting ideology of cleric Anwar al-Awlaki."...

"Are Chicago Bomb Scares Related? Authorities Investigate Mysterious Packages Discovered At Multiple Locations Across City" Reporting Suzanne Le Mignot CHICAGO (CBS) SNIPPET: "Also, overnight, officers found a suspicious cylinder at a bus shelter at Columbus and North Water. A bomb and arson robot was used to check it out, and the cylinder was blown up."

Suspicious packages turned up at four foreign missions and at Parliament House in Canberra today. The packages were received by the British high commission and the United States, Japanese and South Korean embassies. Each of the embassies that received the packages represents a country with troops in Iraq. "We can confirm the commission received a suspicious package earlier this morning," a British high commission spokesman said. "We are following AFP [Australian Federal Police] guidelines at present." The US embassy in Canberra has been closed. "I can confirm that the US embassy did receive a suspicious package," a US embassy spokeswoman...

Police fear five empty suitcases left at Penn Station, New York FBI headquarters and other security hot spots in early April were a test by terrorists bent on a Madrid-type attack on commuter rails, The Post has learned. A confidential Metropolitan Transit Authority police bulletin, titled "Possible Surveillance Testing Tactics," reveals K-9 cops are on edge over a "suspicious packages pattern" they encountered between the last week of March and the first week of April. "During the past week and a half, the K-9 Unit has responded to approximately five calls for unattended/suspicious packages which they cleared," the confidential bulletin...