This Week in the World: September 25th, 2013

Protests in Greece after murder

Greek left-wing activist and rapper Pavlos Fissas was fatally stabbed in a brawl in Athens. The forty-five-year-old man accused of the murder is a member of the far-right Golden Dawn party, notorious for their attacks on immigrants and left-wing activists. Thousands rallied at the murder site, causing violence to break out the next evening; twenty-three people were arrested. Golden Dawn is often described as a neo-Nazi organization, although the party officially denies this characterization. Their symbol resembles a swastika, their leaders have publicly praised Adolf Hitler, and the party has held many violent anti-immigration rallies. Their support has grown as Greece’s economy continues to suffer.


Decade-old bodies found in Oklahoma

Two cars were discovered in the bottom of a lake in Oklahoma on September 17, along with six decayed bodies. Police are investigating the scene and the bodies now, investigating for foul play. The cars match two separate disappearances, one in 1969 and one in 1970. The first disappearance involved a sixty-nine-year-old man, a fifty-eight-year-old woman, and another unknown victim. The second disappearance involved three teenagers, two males and one female, who were on their way to a high school football game when they disappeared. The cars were found submerged in twelve feet of water, about fifty feet from the end of a boat ramp.


Sixteen killed in Venezuela prison violence

Sixteen prisoners in a Venezuelan prison have been reported dead since September 16. Fifteen of these inmates died due to rival gang clashes, while the other prisoner died in a separate incident. Reports say that some of those who were killed were beheaded or dismembered. The Prison’s minister Iris Varela has stated that the many deaths are caused by an internal war going on inside the prison. The prison in question has seen sixty-nine people killed this year while in custody, and many believe that this is due to not only the internal war, but also to overcrowding. The prison, built to house 700 inmates, houses over 3,700 today. The UN has raised concerns about the level of violence and lack of government control in prisons across Venezuela.


Thirteen injured in Chicago shooting

On the evening of September 19, thirteen people were shot and injured at a basketball game in Chicago. Among the injured is a three-year-old boy who is recovering from surgery after receiving a bullet wound near his ear. Two other victims are in critical condition, and two of the thirteen injured were minors, aged fifteen and seventeen. The shooting was believed to be gang related, and witnesses say that some of the victims are a part of a gang in the area. Many people have also said that gangs have been very present in the area lately, looking for ways to cause trouble, including shooting at people in the neighbourhood.


Many dead after gunmen attack Nairobi mall

On Saturday morning, armed men attacked an upscale shopping centre in Nairobi, Kenya. They threw grenades inside, and continued into the shopping centre using AK-47s, killing at least sixty-two people. At least 170 others were also injured. A witness said that the gunmen were attacking non-Muslims, after telling Muslims to stand up and leave. Somali militant group al-Shabab has taken responsibility for the attack, saying that it was a response to the presence of Kenyan troops in Somalia. The militants stayed in the mall for days, holding hostages. At press time, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the four-day  siege of the mall by Kenyan security forces a success. He claimed that five extremists had been killed and another eleven arrested. “Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed,” he said in a televised address to the nation.

King calls for economic justice for minorities

Bernice King, a Baptist minister and the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., recently spoke in Vancouver at the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission, recognizing the horrors of Canada’s residential school system. In her keynote address at the Reconciliation walk, she has said that economic injustice must be addressed as a part of this Commission, and as a part of the broader reconciliation process with First Nations people in Canada. King said that she believes economic injustice goes along with racism, and for one to stop, so must the other. She also stated that her father fought this issue for three years before his assassination. In order for successful reconciliation to take place between the First Nations and Canada, King stated that apologies and money are not enough, and that further opportunities for economic empowerment are necessary.

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