Last Tuesday, India’s Mars Orbiter Mission (coined MOM) took off with no foreseen complications. The primary goal of this mission is to prove to the international community that India has the capability to reach space and perform experiments, as told by representatives of India’s space agency. If the 300 day mission is successful, India will become the 4th country to have successfully sent a probe to the Red Planet.
Shortly after releasing 26 Palestinian convicts, Israeli officials declared plans to build a new settlement in the East Jerusalem sector. Plans include building over 1500 housing units, fully furnished with public works and relaxing garden areas. This expansion could house thousands of displaced people in the region. Palestinian authorities responded with outrage at the news.
Ten cars rigged with explosives blew up in areas around Baghdad on Sunday, and a suicide bomber attacked soldiers queuing up to receive their pay. The attacks killed a total of 49 people and injured many more. The deadliest attack took place in Mosul when a man driving a car blew himself up outside a government bank where soldiers were waiting to collect their salaries. Twelve people were killed in that attack. 37 more people were killed in what seems to have been coordinated blasts around Baghdad. In the worst of those, two car bombs exploded near a market in Nahrawan, killing seven.
The United States government has officially shut down. The recent failure to pass a national budget has forced a closure of many government services including national parks and monuments. Federal loan, passport, and permit services are frozen until further notice. Many government workers and military service men and women will retain their salaries, but approximately 800,000 nonessential were let go.
This week, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to enact a plan to eliminate all of the chemical weapons in Syria by mid 2014. The plan includes inspections of Syria’s weapon stockpiles by experts and complete destruction of chemical weapon potential. World leaders support the decision and see it as a big step towards peace in Syria.
On Monday, a lone gunman, Navy contractor Aaron Alexis, fatally wounded twelve people and injured three others before being killed by police at the Washington Navy Yard. According to FBI Director James Comey, the shooter moved without any “discernable pattern” and that “It appears to [Comey] that he was wandering the halls and hunting people to shoot”. The ongoing investigation has yet to determine a motive.
Two researchers and their pilot were rescued from an Alaskan volcano after their helicopter’s blades were covered in ice, stranding them near the volcano for more than two days. Asked about how they spent the two days pilot Sam Egli said, “We just yakked.” The researchers were working on recovering some short-term volcano monitoring equipment. Due to the freezing ice storm they were unable to produce lift and the weather didn’t clear up after that. Luckily a rescue helicopter airlifted them to safety on Friday leaving the iced chopped on Mount Mageik.
With the uneasy situation between the United States and Syria, president Barack Obama is seeking congressional support to impose military force on Syria. Already waiting in the Mediterranean sea are five United States naval destroyers who are armed and waiting for the order to attack. The President believes that military action is a positive step as he said, “To deter, disrupt, prevent and degrade the potential for future uses of chemical weapons or other weapons of mass destruction.”
On Sunday April 21, the London Marathon went off without a hitch. The story of the marathon was the touching tribute paid to those who were killed by two bombs at the Boston Marathon. A moment of silence preceded the race and the organizers of the race donated two British pounds to the One Boston fund for each runner who crossed the finish line. In all the total was around $100,000.
Greek police were searching for three farmers on Thursday. They are suspects in the shooting and wounding of more than 20 migrant workers at a strawberry farm. The three farmers opened fire on Wednesday at a crowd of about 200 Bangladeshi immigrants who were demanding their overdue wages. Luckily, there were no deaths, but numerous injuries were reported. This shooting could have occurred due to anti-foreigner sentiment in Greece where one worker in four is unemployed after five years of recession. Police arrested the owner of the farm but were still searching for the foremen.