ISIS Video Claims Beheading of Russian Spy

This past Wednesday, December 2, 2015, ISIS released a video of a beheading which they claimed to be of a Russian spy who had joined their terrorist organization. The beheading was accompanied by a message chastising Russian President Vladimir Putin and threatening Russia’s constituents.

As usual per ISIS beheading style, the captive, in an orange jumpsuit, kneels before the killer. The killer says – in Russian – that the airstrikes ordered by Putin against the Islamist extremist group “has made us understand that we are doing the right thing” by continuing their terrorizing fight.

The killer then addresses Russian citizens, saying their group will take revenge on them and their families by promising, “You will not find peace in your homes. We will kill your sons … for each son you killed here. And we will destroy your homes for each home you destroyed here.”

The authenticity of the video has not been studied and it has not been proved that the beheaded man was a Russian spy. If all is at it is claimed to be, Russia will surely respond to ISIL’s actions.

Cecil the Lion’s Killer Gets Away Scot-Free

Minnesota dentist Walter Palmer has recently become known for killing renowned Cecil the Lion. Cecil was beloved and his death was felt deeply in the international community. Cecil, who died at 13 years old, was beloved because over time he had become to accustomed to humans that he would allow vehicles to come up to 30 feet short of him, which made photographing and research an easier task.

Visitors to Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park acknowledge that this lion stood out from the rest.

“Cecil was the ultimate lion,” said Brent Stapelkamp, a field researcher with Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) to National Geographic. He knew Cecil perhaps better than anyone else. “He was everything that a lion represents to us as humans,” Stapelkamp said. “He was large, powerful, but regal at the same time.”

And now Palmer, who claims to not have noticed the collar under his mane, will not be charged. The Zimbabwe conservation task force reported Cecil was lured out of the park and shot with a compound bow. 40 hours later the hunters shot, skinned, and beheaded him

The hunters also tried to destroy the GPS collar that Cecil was wearing as part of a research project backed by Oxford University.

Two Zimbabweans have been charged in the case but Palmer has yet to be contacted by anyone in the investigation.

Death in Mecca

There was a stampede last Thursday during the annual pilgrimage to Islam’s holiest site, Mecca. More than 700 were trampled and killed in a stampede where two giant groups met and the momentum was too much to instantly stop; the cause was one crowd heading towards an overpass where another crowd was passing and when the two met chaos broke out.

Saudi officials say it was the effect of overcrowding (over 2 million Muslims converged for this year’s hajj) and the pilgrims’ failure to follow the tight schedule set to manage the crowd.

Just last month there was also a crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, which killed more than 100 people.

Fan dies after falling from upper deck at Braves-Yankees game

Emergency medical staff rushed to help Braves fan who fell from the upper deck during the game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees  on Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015, in the Turner Field, Atlanta. (Credit: Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)

Last night, at a Braves-Yankees baseball game in the Braves home field, a 60 year old fan fell to his death. The fan, Gregory ‘Ace’ Murrey, was a season ticket holder with the same seats for 23 years. The man was a diehard fan of baseball and so his family states that at least he died in his favorite place, during his favorite activity.

The police have started investigating his death but they do not suspect any foul play. Murrey tumbled out of the stands during the 7th inning of the game; he tumbled head over feet and hit some of the lines attached to the backstop before hitting a concrete walkway in front of a row of fans. The autopsy has yet to declare the cause of death.

Boko Haram Still Haunts

On Friday, May 22^nd, Boko Haram’s militants stormed a village previously declared as free from the militant group and hacked ten residents to death.

They came in at about dawn, when everyone was still asleep and attacked with machetes. Some residents stated the attackers didn’t hold many weapons and some were even unarmed.

“They only fired a few shots when they were leaving after the attack,” said Maina Ularamu, Magdali government Chairman.

These militants are believed to be the same ones raiding other villages in nearby mountains.

For now the government is mobilizing local hunters and vigilantes to go and hunt down the militants.

Obama to restrict use of military equipment by police

The Obama Administration has finally taken action on all the requests ever since the riots in Ferguson, Missouri. On Monday, May 18, 2015 the administration moved to prohibit federal agencies from providing local police officers with military equipment such as grenades, bayonets and other high-caliber weapons.

Obama acknowledged at a speech in New Jersey that lately the community might feel like the police are an opposing force instead of one that is part of the community and designed to help its constituents. He also referenced Camden, N.J saying the whole country should follow their example and help lower crime rate.

This is all part of an executive order on President Obama’s part that tightened requirements for when security agencies provide the local and state police with military weapons and requires police to give more detailed reports to keep track of the equipment.

It seems as if Obama’s executive order may be useless because the local police may still bypass these requirements and bans by buying the same type of equipment from private sellers.

Kim Jong Un Poisoned Aunt According to Defector

An anonymous person has come forward stating that Kim did not only have his uncle killed, but his aunt too. So far this year Kim Jong Un has killed up to 15 enemy officials, says the South Korea Intelligence Agency.

Kim Kyong Hui went missing from the public eye a few months before her husband’s disappearance. Various reports suggest she had a fatal stroke, heart attack, committed suicide or was in a vegetative state after undergoing surgery for a brain tumor.

Earlier this year a report from the South Korea intelligence agency emerged saying she may have still been alive.

The defector accuses Kim Jong of having poisoned his aunt almost a year ago. He says only his bodyguard unit, Unit 974 knew about it but now senior officials have found out the apparent truth.

The purpose of her “murder” was seemingly to silence her after complaining angrily after her husband was killed in December of 2013.

As far as accusations go, Kim Jong Un goes to any extremes to take out his competition; whether they are blood relatives or not, an obstacle is a simple obstacle for Jong Un.

Mass Graves Found in Tikrit

After what seemed like an era of ISIS control in Tikrit, the reign was over when a group of Iraqi soldiers battled their way through it and regained control of the city.

Shortly after their victory, Iraqi soldiers found a mass grave that may hold up to 1,700 Iraqi soldiers (the number ISIS claims to have killed). Excavation sites have opened up all around the presidential palace complex where ISIS sustained their headquarters.

When the first three bodies were found and exhumed, ten Iraqi soldiers saluted the dead by firing seven shots into the air and playing the national anthem. Apparently unrelated Iraqis gathered to support the bodies in spirit by praying.

All bodies found (which are decomposed, for the most part) will be sent to Baghdad for DNA tests to be identified.

Discrimination of LGBT Community in Bexley, Ohio (among others)

Jenn Moffitt and her partner Jerra Kincely were recently discriminated in an Ohio community when they were denied wedding services because of their sexual orientation.

The couple was looking for a wedding videographer specifically and was astonished when they were denied the services because of their same- sex wedding.

“Unfortunately at this time I do not offer services for same-sex weddings” the owner of the business wrote in an email as a form of denying them the services. The owner of the business failed to comment on the issue when approached by CNN.

This small town community doesn’t seem to be the only one to be having these confrontations with the LGBT community. A bakery in Oregon was ordered to pay fines for violating a same-sex couple’s civil rights by refusing to cater their wedding.

Laws modeled after the “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” have been imposed in some states but a proposed “Ohio Religious Freedom Restoration Act” was killed by its sponsors last year over concerns that it opened doors to discrimination of the LGBT community.

Ohio is one of the 13 states that have yet to allow same-sex marriage. The U.S Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether the state’s same sex marriage ban in unconstitutional this 2015 spring.

Read the full story on: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/16/living/same-sex-wedding-videographer-feat-irpt/index.html