Kenyan Terror Attack
Somalia’s al-Shabab militants have claimed responsibility for the terror attack on the Westgate mall that took place last week. On Saturday 21st September, ten to fifteen gunmen entered the mall via three different entrances and began to attack fleeing shoppers with grenades and guns. It took until the early hours of Tuesday morning for security officers and militants to regain control of the six-level shopping mall, with the reported death toll being 61 civilians. It is feared that more bodies may be found in the rubble of the mall, as a fire started by the attackers on Tuesday morning caused the roof and several more levels to collapse in on anyone left in the building at that point.
The radical Islamists have claimed that this attack was in retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia. Al-Shabab, meaning ‘the youth’ in Arabic, has been associated with the Al-Qaeda network since 2012. The attackers reportedly tried to separate Muslims from non-Muslims in the attack, letting the latter leave the chaos unharmed. The Kenyan government are currently investigating how this terrorist group’s plans came to fruition.
Girls in Peru Admit to Drug Charge Guilt
Michaella McCollum from Ireland and Melissa Reid from Scotland admitted on Tuesday to being guilty of trying to smuggle £1.5 million worth of cocaine into Spain, after having previous claimed that they were forced into the act by an armed gang. They claimed that they had never met each other before, and that they were kidnapped and forced to travel to Majorca and smuggle the drugs in food packets. They are currently facing up to fifteen years in prison and they hope that by pleading guilty they will reduce their sentence to six years and eight months.
22 year old Xiaolian suffered severe nasal damage after a car accident. Complicated infections of the nose cartilage following the accident left it impossible for surgeons to fix. So instead, surgeons in at a hospital in Fuzhou in Fujian province, China, decided to grow him a new nose on his forehead using cartilage from his ribs. The forehead skin is an exact match of the skin on the nose, and the advantage of transplanting the nose from this area is that the nose gets to keep its blood supply, so that the tissue does not die. Surgeons say that Xiaolian’s nose will be ready to transplant very soon.
USA Comeback in 34th America’s Cup
After drafting in four-time Olympic champion and sailing legend Sir Ben Ainslie as their tactician, the USA team ‘Oracle’ managed to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in this famous sailing regatta final. The USA’s team Oracle were 8-1 down to the New Zealand Team in the final in San Fransico, however they managed to win eight successive races to win 9-8, much to everyone’s surprise. Ainslie was quoted saying, “The designers did a great job and we had to start sailing better. We got the momentum going and we started believing in ourselves. When you do that, you can become quite strong.” Described as one of the most phenomenal comebacks in the history of competitive sailing, Ainslie is now hoping to get a British boat to enter the 35th America’s Cup.
Fire Brigade Strike Over Pension Row
On Wednesday 25th of September, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) went on strike for four hours following a dispute over pension reforms with the government. There were 46 fire services in England and three in Wales that ensured that the public remained safe and that all 999 call received a response. The FBU said that 32,000 of its 41,000 members went on strike, and that the sheer magnitude of the strike showed how upset people were over the pension reforms in question. The government’s proposal is that firefighters should work until the age of 60, at which point they can retire and receive their full pension. However, many firefighters worry that they would not be fit enough to fulfill their duties at this age, and if they retire before this age they will lose thousands of pounds every year. The FBU have said that they hope they will not have to take industrial action again, however they will do whatever it takes to gain a fair pension plan for their union members.
Picture Credits: www.telegraph.co.uk, www.bbcnews.co.uk, www.london24.com , www.stuff.co.nz