What’s happening this week?
May 19, 2010 • Hannah Doksansky
Filed under News
Final Mumbai Shooter Sentenced to Death
Mohammed Ajmal Kasab is a 22-year-old Pakistani who was recently sentenced to 86 counts of murder, conspiracy, and waging war on India. He is the tenth and final shooter from the 2008 Mumbai attack and was sentenced to death by hanging on May 6th. In 2008, Pakistani terrorists attacked the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotels, the city’s historic Victoria Terminus train station and a Jewish cultural center, Chabad House. These coordinated attacks had a death toll of about 166 and lasted over sixty hours. The police stopped the attack after shooting nine of the ten assassins. The execution date has yet to be announced.
Thursday could be last National Day of Prayer
58 years ago President Truman signed a bill proclaiming a National Day of Prayer, but Thursday may be one of the last National Days of Prayer. A federal judge declared the law unconstitutional, claiming it violates the ban on government-backed religion. The Justice Department is challenging the case. According to CNN, the lawsuit against the Obama administration was brought on by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The president issued his proclamation for this year’s observance, but he has not announced any plans to take part in any events. There will be National Day of Prayer events across Washington, though. The Obama administration toned down White House participation in the observance last year. Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush also marked the day with a White House observance.
Terrorist attempts to blow up Times Square with car bomb
On April 17th, Faisal Shahzad was found to have attempted to bomb Times Square. The Pakistani-American parked an SUV carrying a bomb in an attempt to kill the many tourists and New York natives visiting the iconic American plaza. He was identified in videos that showed him walking away from the SUV and was contacted using the information he supplied to customs over four months ago after his recent travels to Pakistan. He is cooperating with investigators and is suspected of working solo; however, he has admitted that he had training in a Pakistani terrorist camp.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua dies at age 58
The Nigerian president has died after prolonged sickness including an inflamed heart and kidney issues. Umaru Yar’Adua brought democracy to Nigeria when he was elected in 2007. He succeeded a long string of military dictatorships and revolts that plagued the country for centuries. According to aolnews.com, the president did little to solve Christian and Muslim religious conflicts or the corruption in Nigeria. His election represents the first peaceful transition from one ruler to another. Another election is scheduled for 2011, with the vice president serving as the interim president until then.
Dome to stop oilrig delivered to the Gulf
A dome built by BP that may be the short term solution to the oil spill was delivered to the site on Thursday. The dome will hopefully be dropped to cap the spout that is releasing over 200,000 gallons of oil into the ocean each day. This large amount of oil is in the process of killing the entire aquatic food chain and damaging national wildlife reserves on the Gulf Coast. The dome is over four stories high and weighs over 100 tons. A dome has never been used to cap an oil spill at the depth of this one — nearly 5,000 feet. The environment poses many problems for the breakthrough solution because of the high pressure, cold temperatures, and unknown chemicals that could cause explosions.
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!