Breaking the Bubble

Ethan Zubkoff
Assistant News Editor

International

• American forces conducted twin raids in Libya and Somalia on Oct. 5. In Libya, Army Delta Force soldiers captured Anas al-Liby, the terrorist suspected of assisting in the bombing of the American embassies in Africa 15 years ago. In Somalia, Navy SEALs failed in capturing their target, Ikrima, a suspected terrorist operator there who is suspected of planning attacks against Kenya. (BBC and Reuters)
• Clashes escalated between Egypt’s military government and its Islamist opponents. On Oct. 6, Egyptian security forces shot and killed 53 protesters. On Oct. 7, three attacks took place against the government, which included a drive by shooting that killed six, the detonation of a car bomb that killed three police officers, and an RPG attack that damaged a satellite transmitter. (The New York Times)
• Nobel Prize announcements started this week. The committee announced on Oct. 9 that three scientists based in the United States, Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh Warshel, won the prize for chemistry for their work in creating advanced computer models that simply complex chemical interactions and create new drugs. On Oct. 8 the committee announced that François Englert of Belgium and Peter Higgs of Britain won the prize in physics for the discoveries on how subatomic particles acquire mass. Americans James Rothman and Randy Schekman and Thomas Südhof of Germany won the prize for Physiology or Medicine for their work on traffic-control systems for cells. (CBS News and The Washington Post)
  
• The Italian Coast Guard continued to find the bodies of African refugees who sought asylum in Europe. The ship capsized last week off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, and was carrying 500 people from Eritera. The Coast Guard raised the death toll to 250 with about 155 surviving. (The Telegraph and Bloomberg Business Week)

National

• Chaos engulfed Washington D.C. on Oct. 3 as a driver, Miriam Carey, tried to drive through a barricade to the White House and then led police on a fatal chase towards Capitol Hill. Carey, who had her one-year-old daughter in the car, was the only fatality; a Secret Service agent and Capitol Hill police officer were both injured. Lawmakers in Congress applauded the police for their actions as the lock-down was lifted. (The Chicago Tribune)
• A man who set himself on fire on the National Mall passed away last week. Although it did come in the wake of the federal government shutdown, it was not politically motivated. John Constantino, 64, suffered a long battle with mental illnesses. (The Washington Post)
• President Barack Obama nominated Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve Chairperson when Ben Bernanke’s term is over. Yellen, 67, currently the Federal Reserve’s number two, would be the first women to hold the position. Her nomination is pending Senate approval. (Reuters)

State

• Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett apologized for equating gay marriage to marriage between a brother and sister on a televised interview on Friday, Oct. 4. “My words were not intended to offend anyone,” Corbett said in a written apology released less than six hours after the interview. “If they did, I apologize.” (The Morning Call)