Targets Data Breach

If you've been doing any of your holiday season shopping at Target  in the past 2 weeks and used your credit/ debit card, your account may be affected. Target has announced that about 40 million debit and credit cards have accounts may have been affected by a data breach Target had. If you have made purchases in U.S. store between November 27th and December 15th you may be exposed to this breach. The data contained customer names, debit and credit card numbers, card expiration dates, and the three-digit security codes. The breach didn't effect online purchases from target.com. Target is unsure about how this breach came to happen  but they are working diligently towards preventing future incidents. If you have shopped at Target in the past few weeks with a credit or debit card Target encourages you to check your statements very often and if you have noticed unauthorized activity report it to your card company and call Target. If your identity has been stolen contact law enforcement or the F.T.C. (Federal Trade Commission).

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/19/target-says-40m-accounts-may-be-affected-by-data-breach/

Xbox 1 Console Over 2 Million Sales

Since the launching of the X-Box One last month Microsoft says that they have sold over t million consoles. Microsoft is saying that they are averaging over 111,000 consoles sold each day, which is helping them keep up with Sony their rival. This announcement came after Sony stated that the global sales of the PS4 have passed 2.1 million sales without even being launched in Japan yet. The PS4 will be launched in Japan in February. Analysts say the both consoles will have over 3 million sales each by the end of the year.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2013/12/11/xbox-one-sales-2-million/3985853/

U.S Teacher Killed In Libya

In Benghazi an American teacher was jogging and was shot to death. It unknown who shot the teacher. People do believe that it is the doings of a group of Islamic militants that is active in the city of Benghazi. A security personnel found the body and said that he was jogging near the U.S Consulate where three Americans and one U.S ambassador were killed by a group of Islamic militants the year before. Today four people were killed in Benghazi by supposedly the Islamic militants. Three were military personnel and the other an American. In Libya the government is almost relying upon some of these militant groups for security because they don't have a functioning police force.

Iranian Embassy Explosian

Int Beirut two explosions went off and hit the Iranian Embassy on Tuesday. The explosion killed 23 people and injured another 147 people. The Iranian and Lebanese officials have declared that the attacks is a direst assault on the embassy. The bombings have broken a three month long period of relative calm in southern Beirut. Southern Beirut is the home of the Shiite group of Hezbollah. This group was the target of a series of rocket and car bombings over the summer. A group of al Qaeda affiliated terrorists called the Abdullah Azzam Brigades have claimed responsibility for the attack.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303985504579207231789127174

Hawaii State Senate Passes Same Sex Marriage Bill

In Honolulu the Hawaii state Senate passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage. The vote in the Hawaii state Senate was 19 to 4 with two lawmakers excused. Over half of the Hawaii state Senates lawmakers spoke out to support this bill. The University of Hawaii says that they have estimated that this will boost tourism by $217 million over the course of three years. They say that Hawaii would have a large increase in weddings and honeymoons. They estimate that the couples would spend over $166 million on ceremonies and honeymoons. I believe that this is a great step towards equality and that other states should and potentially will.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/12/hawaii-gay-marriage/3510441/

Philippine Typhoon Death Toll Potentially 1,000

The Red Cross fears that there are 1,000 deaths from the typhoon that struck the Philippines on Friday. The typhoon went through several of the Philippines central islands completely destroying the seaside city of Tacloban which has led to unconfirmed 1,200 people dead. So far the government has on confirmed 140 people dead so far. The Red Cross group on the ground in the Philippines has reported that they have seen a very large amount of bodies, but they still have to do an official body count. Some meteorologists reported that typhoon Haiyan or Yolanda which they are calling it in the Philippines, sustained winds up to 190 miles an hour.

Six Dead in South Carolina Domestic Dispute

Tuesday six people were found dead in a house in Greenwood County, South Carolina after a man called 911 saying he was thinking about hurting himself. Authorities received a call from a neighbor saying that the neighbor had heard shots fired from the house. SWAT team arrived and after attempting to make contact with the people inside for an hour the SWAT team entered and found six bodies. Four adults and two children. The ages of the deceased ranged from 9 to early 50s. Authorities couldn't immediately tell how they were killed and they refused to call it a murder-suicide.

Bishop Suspeneded

Bishop of Limburg Franz-Peter Tebartz now newly nicknamed "The Bishop of Bling" is accused of spending more than $42 million dollars on re-doing his official place of residence. The Vatican announced that they believe that it is appropriate for him to take a period of leave. A Church commission will be held but they did not say where or what Franz-Peter Tebartz would be doing in that time. Maybe chilling in his new pimped out crib. Apparently Bishop Limburg has become infamous for his spending habits in Germany. The Bishop was called out and accused of lying under oath about his abundance of spending. Another thing people have been criticizing him about is taking a first class flight to India to visit the poor.

Rescuers find bodies in the Mekong River after plane crashes in Laos

In Pakse, Laos- a plane carrying 49 people crashed into the Mekong River. Rescuers have been in fishing boats pulling out bodies from the muddy Mekong River on Thursday. Officials have ruled that there are no survivors. The plane crashed because of a very violent storm. So far they have only found nine of the forty nine bodies. In fact they haven't even found the rest of the plane. Just some luggage and the props that fell off when it hit the ground and slid into the murky depths of the Mekong River. They are trying to use divers in order to find the submerged aerial vehicle. Some of the nine bodies were discovered by fishermen twelve miles down from the crash site. Thailand has sent thirty scuba divers in an attempt to help search for the plane and bodies. They are still unsure of what made the plane crash. Once they have found the plane they will be able to look at the "black box" a device inside of the plane that says what happened to the plane.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/laos-says-plane-from-state-run-airline-crashed-49-people-from-11-countries-believed-dead/2013/10/16/e21a4b96-36c4-11e3-89db-8002ba99b894_story.html

LIbyan PM Ali Zeidan held by gunmen in Tripoli

Libyan PM Ali Zeidan was captured from the hotel where he resides in Tripoli. He was held captive for hours but was then freed. No shots were fired. They believe that this was retaliation for the US special forces' raid that happend over the weekend to seize a Libyan al Qaeda suspect form the Libyan capital city of Tripoli. Weather the kidnapping was by armed militants or a pseudo-coup attempt with a meaning of reflecting the will of the Libyan people; it showed weakness in the Libyan government. Libyan government spokesman Mohammed Kaabar told the LANA news agency that Zidan was  "set free." Also Zeidan thanked the guards who oversaw the operation, implying that there was a rescue operation by security forces.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57606834/libyan-pm-ali-zeidan-briefly-held-by-gunmen-in-tripoli/

No End to Government Shutdown in Sight

Today (Wednesday) the White House had a meeting only one day after the government shutdown. This was pretty much a waste of time because they did not get any closer to a deal to halt the government's budget predicament. There has been no identification that they have agreed upon anything or have even changed their views. In fact neither side discussed any compromises. But instead were talking about a different crisis; weather or not they will be raising the debt ceiling. So I believe that this meeting was very pointless for the government shutdown.

137 Hostages Buried Missing or Dead in Kenya Mall

Militant group al-Shabab took control of the Nairobi mall on Wednesday. 137 hostages were covered in rubble when the mall collapsed. Some people are saying that the government assault team carried out a demolition but Kenya government spokesman Manoah Esipisu told the press that the terrorists purposely stared a fire. Numerous tweets from an account believed to be a genuine al-Shabab member said that "having failed to defeat the mujahideen inside the mall, the Kenyan government used chemical gases to end the siege." It was not stated what type of chemical gases were smoke grenades or poison. The Kenyan government denies these acquisitions. The civilian death toll is 61 currently as the search goes on.

Turkey Shuts Down Turkey-Syria Border Gate

Turkey has shut down its Oncupinar border gate because of an al Qaeda affiliated group fought units of the Free Syrian Army in Azaz (Syria) near the Turkish border. All humanitarian assistance that has been going through that gate has now ended. Turkey will not be allowing anyone through the gate even though they have been accepting refugees from Syria. The fighting in Azaz has stopped and mediation efforts are under way. Violence has spilled over the border before and they would prefer it not to happen again. Fifty two people were killed when a double car bomb blew through the Turkish border town of Reyhanli  on May 11.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/19/us-syria-crisis-turkey-idUSBRE98I0C120130919

Syria 'welcomes Russian Chemical Weapons Proposal

On Monday the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said the government would welcome the Russian proposal to avert the U.S. air strikes by having them turn over their control of its chemical weapons to international monitors. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem in Moscow made a statement that offered that a diplomatic solution may be possible. While in meeting with Moualem, the Russian Foreign Minister said that Russia will ask Syria to give up their chemical weapons in order to prevent an air strike by the U.S. Lavrov called Syria to sign the Convention on Chemical Weapons. Which states that it is illegal to produce, stockpile, and use chemical weapons. Moualem said Syria "welcomes the Russian initiative," yet did not say weather Syria would agree or disagree with this proposal. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/john-kerry-in-london-campaigns-for-world-to-support-military-strike-against-syria/2013/09/09/e8ad7a72-193d-11e3-80ac-96205cacb45a_story.html

One teen dead, 3 injured in Texas school stabbing

On Wednesday one teen was stabbed to death while three others were injured in a potentially gang related fight at Spring High School in Spring, Texas. Three students whom were described as "persons of interest" were taken into custody, two were taken away in handcuffs. Spring High School was then locked down and all classes were canceled for the rest of the week. Authorites have not released the name of the slain teen to the public. A man claiming to be his father said "He was just trying to come to school today." His aunt then said "It was totally random." The authorities said that two student were taken away to the hospital with minor injuries while the third is undergoing surgery.