Abortion Doctor Facing Murder Charges

Dr. Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortion doctor, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder by a jury Monday. He was accused of killing babies by taking scissors to their spinal cords. Some of the infants were allegedly born alive and fully functional during the sixth through eighth month of pregnancy. He is not a certified obstetrician or gynecologist, and he could possibly be receive a death sentence. He was also accused of the death of a 41-year-old at his West Philadelphia clinic. She died of an anesthetic overdose during a second-trimester abortion. He was guilty of involuntary manslaughter for this case. Abortions past 24 weeks are illegal, and Gosnell was found guilty for 21 counts of this type of abortion. Eileen O'Neill, Gosnell's co-defendant, is charged with participation in a corrupt organization and theft, but not for performing illegal abortions. A report from 2011 says that there were no doctors involved in this medical practice besides Kermit Gosnell, and there were no nurses.


http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/13/justice/pennsylvania-abortion-doctor-trial/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Referee Dies After a Punch to the Face

Last week, Ricardo Portillo, a referee at a recreational soccer game, received a punch in the face after citing a player with an infraction and issuing the player with a yellow card. A yellow card is issued as a warning to a player and a second card results in an ejection from the game. The game was held in the Salt Lake City suburb of Taylorsville on April 27. Initially, Portillo only suffered minor injuries, but after being sent to the hospital, it was discovered that he had actually suffered severe internal damage. He was in critical condition for a whole week. Portillo died on Saturday. The 17-year-old's name has not been released because he is a minor, however it has been revealed that he is currently in juvenile detention. He was charged with aggravated assault, but the charges are expected to upgrade with Portillo's death. A similar incident occurred in the Netherlands when two 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old beat a linesman during an amateur game. He fell into a coma and later died.


http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/05/us/utah-soccer-death/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Building in Bangladesh Collapses

Last week, a factory building that was part of the Rana Plaza in Savar, Bangladesh, collapsed. While there were 2,773 survivors of the collapse, it killed at least 398 people. Rescuers are still attempting to remove debris at the site of the collapse, and the hunt for survivors is said to be completed by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Editor of the Daily Star newspaper stated that the "stench of rotting human flesh has taken over the scene and it is very hard to stand next to the site." Most of the workers for the factory were between the ages of 18 and 22, but there were some with families. Also, the majority of the workers were living in poverty. The Cabinet of Bangladesh made the decision to inspect the safety of all garment factories, and will soon have a committee led by a state minister visiting factories and submitting reports to the government about safety measures.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/29/world/asia/bangladesh-building-collapse/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

China Earthquake Leaves Devastation

Over the past weekend, there was a major earthquake that hit Sichuan, China, which is a province in southwestern China. This earthquake killed an estimated 188 people. In Sichuan, makeshift shelters have been set up for the tens of thousands of people in desperate need, as many homes sit in piles of remains. Some people have no means of shelter whatsoever. Severe aftershocks (there have been 2,000 reported) are making rescue missions difficult because they constantly threaten landslides. Reservoirs in the area have been damaged, and a main concern is clean drinking water. However, an even bigger problem is finding survivors within the 72-hour time window allotted after natural disasters. Five years ago, Sichuan suffered another earthquake that killed more than 87,000 people.


http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/22/world/asia/china-sichuan-earthquake/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

Drugs Legally Injected in Canada

In Vancouver, British Columbia, there is a safe drug injection center called InSite, which claims to "save lives." This facility is for drug addicts to come in and shoot drugs and not risk arrest. There are a total of 12 injection booths that approximately 800 people use on a daily basis. Some addicts stop by two or three times a day. The atmosphere of the center has been classified as clinical, with fluorescent lighting and mirrors. Medical staff are always on hand and watching. They sometimes assist the addicts in finding the right vein to shoot into, but their main task is to step in when users overdose. Steve, a regular visitor of the center, has overdosed three different times. This center provides clean needles, which can stop the spread of HIV and Hepatitis, and a safe place to inject, but are addicts really getting better by getting told to shoot more drugs?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/washington-avalanches-duplicate-2/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Britain's First Female Prime Minister Dead at 87

Margaret Thatcher, the former British Prime Minister and important figure in postwar Britain and world politics, has passed away at the age of 87. She suffered a stroke on Monday, says a source. The British prime minister's office announced that her funeral will be at St. Paul's Cathedral with full military honors. Following that will be a private cremation. Margaret served as the head of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was referred to as the "Iron Lady" because she was considered personally and politically tough. She retired in 2002 because of a stroke and continued to suffer strokes after that. Thatcher made history by becoming the first, and only, female Prime Minister so far. Six years before becoming Prime Minister, she stated in an interview, "I don't think there will be a woman prime minister in my lifetime." During her reign, she shed light on moral absolutism, nationalism, and the rights of an individual vs. the state.



http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/08/world/europe/uk-margaret-thatcher-dead/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

J.K. Rowling to Release New Book

J.K. Rowling, world-famous author of the renowned 7-part series, Harry Potter, allegedly has an eighth book currently in the process of being published. The book is set to be released during the summer of 2014. Rowling released a statement about the final installment, saying, "I feel that I would have been letting my fans down if I didn't conclude the Harry Potter series properly. I mean, I just left them hanging after the final fight scene and jumped right into them living happily ever after." Rowling has been requested, on many occasions, to fill readers in about the lives of the main characters Ron, Hermione, and Harry, as well as others. It is still unknown what the title will be.