ISIS militants destroy ancient artifacts in Iraq.
Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (second to the left) visits the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad. The museum was attacked by ISIS militants earlier in the week. (Image courtesy to Reuters/Khalid Al-Mousily)
In what many are calling a “cultural tragedy”, ISIS militants have destroyed many artifacts with sledgehammers and drills in a museum in Mosul, Iraq, with some artifacts dating back to almost 3 000 years. The terrorists destroyed the relics because people once worshiped the artifacts instead of God. Thus, the artifacts should be demolished. It is still unclear as to how many pieces were destroyed, but a video recording of the destruction shows that a significant number of artifacts are gone. With the intent of smuggling them, ISIS has also stolen some artifacts. The Iraqi Prime Minister has vowed to recover them. In the past, ISIS has also targeted many other ancient and culturally important sites in Iraq such as the tomb of Jonah.
Source and more information can be found here and here.
Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, is killed in Moscow.
Boris Nemtsov, pictured above, was an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Putin and was shot dead in Moscow. (Image courtesy of Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters.)
One of the harshest critic of Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, Boris Nemtsov, was shot dead in Moscow on 27 February. As the leader of the Russian opposition group, many are attributing his death to an assassination. Nemtsov was walking with an unnamed Ukrainian woman when a car drove by and shot at them. The woman was unharmed and is being questioned by the police. The late Nemtsov strongly criticized Russia’s government’s inefficiency, rampant corruption, the Kremlin- Ukraine policy, and strongly supported a political reform.
Source and more information can be found here.
American Blogger hacked to death in Bangladesh.
Avijit Roy was a strong atheist and was hacked to death in Bangladesh for his beliefs. (Image courtesy of Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images)
Avijit Roy was killed for his atheist beliefs in a largely Muslim dominated area, Bangladesh. Roy and his wife were travelling on a bicycle rickshaw when two assailants stopped and dragged them to the ground before striking them with machetes. Roy died from the wounds on the way to the hospital and his wife is in critical condition. Although the attackers are still unknown, many hardcore Islamists groups have demanded for his death and have threatened Roy before. Roy founded Mukto-Mona (meaning Free-mind), a blog site where he advocates liberal secular- writing. Hundreds of protesters are demanding justice for the 2nd blogger to be killed in Bangladesh in two years.
Source and more information can be found here.
Google in the works to create its own cellular service.
Google working to announce its own cellular network plan in the coming months (Image courtesy of Manu Fernandez/Associated Press).
On a plan to package “hardware, software, and connectability together,” Google has announced that it is working with unnamed network operators to create its own cellular network plans. As the plan is currently in its infancy, the company insists that while it is working to develop its own cellular service, this project will not pose a threat to traditional telephone and internet service providers.
Source and more information can be found here.
Nigerian extremist group believed to be using kidnapped victims as suicide bombers.
A 10 year old girl acted as a suicide bomber, killing 4 others in the area. (Image courtesy of the Toronto Star)
It is believed that Boko Haram, an extremist group emerging in Nigeria, is using teenage girls and young women as suicide bombers in crowded locations. Boko Haram is responsible for the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in April 2014, 219 of which are still missing and believed to be the girls and women forced to act as suicide bombers.
Recently, a ten-year-old girl was used as a suicide bomber in a blast that killed four and wounded forty-six in Potiskum, northeastern Nigeria. Though responsibility for the attack was not claimed immediately, the attack bore a glaring similarity to prior bombings by Boko Haram, raising fear that the extremists plan to use kidnapped victims as suicide bombers. Boko Haram further raises fear as the group recently indicated through a Twitter post that it may soon join forces with the Islamic State group.
Source and more information can be found here.
