Tragic Deaths and The Law

This week we see man recovering from natural and accidental tragedies while the law takes center stage over escaped prisoners and excessive force.

Tragedies

We begin with man vs nature as South Korea announces more deaths from MERS as the virus continues to spread and entire villages are quarantined. However, even with the virus claiming more lives the WHO has not implemented any travels bans. Continuing with nature and her deadly rampage we find Napal hit with a deadly landslide claiming 21 lives.

After an earthquake on a sacred mountain in Malaysia killed 16 people news broke that tourists who posed naked were arrested and are blamed for angering tribal spirits that caused the quake. Previous tragedies still carried the weight of grieving families as 430 people that died in China when a boat capsizing were honored while the remains from the Germanwings crash were returned to family after 11 weeks.

The Law

With nature fighting back we find more worries in the form of two convicted murders on the run after escaping using power tools, the search has lead police to expand into neighbouring Vermont as house to house searches continue. On the subject of law enforcement a police officer criticized for excessive force at a Texas pool party has resigned even after the Police Chief defended his actions.

Finally we end with Oscar Pistorius who could be released from prison as early as August after just 10 months behind bars to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest.

Tragedy Shakes the World

After a terrible end last week it seems we are doomed to endure more after a massive earthquake hit Nepal and violence broke out in Baltimore over police brutality.

Earthquake in Nepal

A 7.8 earthquake struck in the Gorkha district of Nepal on Saturday, 25 April causing widespread damage throughout the region including affecting climbers on Mt. Everest. Following the quake nearly 2000 bodies were found with fears of landslides  in the future, the UN estimated that nearly 8 million people were affected by the earthquake with the death toll passing 4000 early in the week, a day later 6.7 magnitude tremor hit leaving fears for those still trapped on Mt. Everest. On Mt. Everest hundreds of climbers were stuck with at least 10 people killed on the mountain, a video of the earthquake and avalanche filmed by German climbers captured the moment of impact.

As the death toll rose over the following days Nepal grappled with a humanitarian disaster with many hospitals overwhelmed. As search efforts carried on people were being found trapped under rubble days later with one man was found trapped in a room for 80 hours with 3 dead bodies and a baby being pulled from the rubble after 22 hours but even with the best efforts anger grew due to the slow pace of support and help with victims in remote areas struggling to find aid.

Protests in Baltimore

While some struggled with mother nature the other side of the world was thrust into chaos with protests turning to riots after Freddie Gray died in police custody on 19 April after falling into a coma, later reports would claim Freddy had slammed his head against the police van causing the fatal injury. While the initial protests were peaceful they soon deteriorated with shops being looted and other casualties of the protests including a senior citizen home which was burnt down along with police cars being vandalized. Arrests were made outside the Camden Yards baseball stadium while those inside were asked not to leave while other games in the area were played in empty stadiums. As protests grew a state of emergency was declared with curfews introduced and the national guard called in, as temper flared and protestors defied the curfews the police fired gas canisters into the crowds echoing the events of Ferguson mere months earlier.

In other parts of the US protestors took to the streets outside the Chicago police headquarters to protest police brutality along with protests in Philadelphia and Cincinnati and more. While the approach used to tackle rioters was considered a disaster Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake defending their actions but while politician's argued and protestors and police fought unlikely figures stood out including Vietnam veteran Robert Valentine who stood between the two waring parties and a mother who became famous for her tough love approach slapping her son for joining the protestors. As the incidents and protests continue to grow and spread across the US it is clear that the current approach isn't working.

Accidents and Natural Disasters

The week wasn't particularly pleasant with misfortune playing a large role in many tragedies.

Accidents

We begin the week with the world looking on as it was feared nearly 700 people had drowned off the coast of Libya after a human smuggling vessel sunk with the only progress being the captain and his crew being arrested. The EU held an emergency meeting regarding the tragedy however the outcome has been criticized as been inadequate. Elsewhere in the world 7 people were reported dead and 17 trapped in a flooded coal mine in China.

Older tragedies made news with robot's at the Fukushima nuclear power plant capturing images of a strange green glow and even further back to one of histories most notorious accidents one of the remnants, a deckchair from the Titanic, was sold for $190,000.

Natural Disasters

Mother nature proved a destructive force earlier in the week with Tsunami warnings raised for Japan's southern Okinawa island after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake struck off the Easter Taiwan. Another earthquake, 6.3 magnitude, was recorded between Nelson and Kaikoura in New Zealand's south island. However nature wasn't done with the Calbuco volcano erupting and sending plumes of smoke and ash into the atmosphere in southern Chile forcing evacuations of surrounding areas.

On the biological front new warnings were raised after it was discovered that Ebola, now thought to be under control, could still be spread by sex with the CDC asking previous victims to abstain from sex. Good news also followed on the Ebola front when a monkey was cured with a new experimental drug along with more good news of a clinical trial coming to an end offering a malaria vaccine. Meanwhile in Iowa 5 million hens are to be euthanized after a bird flu outbreak. We end the week with man doing as much damage to nature with the deteriorating quality of air in China under more scrutiny over the last few months as the second largest economy continues to plow ahead but it's not alone with growing economy Delhi claiming the most polluted air.

What Happened? 2014 Headline News

2014 wasn't an easy year for the world at large with tragedies and human suffering defining a difficult time for many. While governments struggled with conflict and people fought for their rights, nature reminded everyone who was in charge.

Tragedies

Tragedy struck with Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappearing on a route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with not a trace to be found of the 239 on-board. Things got worse when Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was shot down over the Ukraine by pro-Russian rebels killing all 298 on-board. But it wasn't over when another aviation tragedy struck on the tail end of 2014 when communication was lost with Asia Airs Flight QZ8501 echoing the loss of MH370 with 162 on-board until search parties discovered parts of the wreckage and bodies of the crew and passengers.

South Korea suffered a national disaster when a Ferry carrying 450 people, mostly school children, capsized. Towards the end of the year another Ferry disaster struck in the Adriatic Sea when the ferry caught on fire killing 11 on-board. The year ended with 35 people killed in a New Years celebration's stampede.

Protests

The year saw people protesting across the world starting with the unfortunate killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri which sparked protests around police brutality. Things only got worse when a second man, Eric Garner, was killed in New York by a police officer using a choke hold. However the protests against police brutality were stymied after 2 police officers were executed in New York by a lone gunman and tension grew as more police became targets.

It wasn't only the US that saw people protesting as Hong Kong came to a grinding halt after protestors took over the main business district. With corruption and gang violence prevalent Mexico experienced protests after 43 students went missing and were believed to have been killed by gangs with government assistance. Protests were triggered in the Ukraine by politics resulting in the President being thrown out, but it didn't end there with things only getting worse.

Politics

After protests in the Ukraine erupted Russia invaded Crimeia outraging the international community and beginning the process of sanctions on Russia for it's actions. While some conflicts resulted in financial pain others were outright bloody with old enemies fighting in Gaza to a new foo the world learnt to fear with ISIS who resorted to beheading journalists as threats against the west.

North Korea flexed it's muscle with it's old adversary South Korea and challenged Sony when a movie about it's leader resulted in hackers believed to be from North Korea breaking into Sony's network and threatening terrorist style attacks if the movie was released. Even with blood in the streets it was what happened behind the scenes that brought about outrage when the CIA torture report was released detailing it's torture methods. Boko Harem in Nigeria resorted to kidnapping 273 school girls and selling them off into slavery triggering the campaign for #BringBackOurGirls.

Individuals

Some individuals shone bright making their names with the Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Malala Yousafzai making her the youngest ever recipient while the entertainment world lost great entertainers with Robin Williams death shocking everyone.

The news wasn't great for everyone with Rob Ford caught in another video smoking crack less than a year after the first video emerged and the Oscar Pistorius trial which gripped the world. US President Obama had a tough year when the Democrats lost control after many cut ties to Obama and top officials like Eric Holder resigned.

Nature

For a year where man did his best to destroy nature wasn't going to be outdone with Earthquakes ravaging areas and Wild fires tearing through Northern California destroying everything in its path as it passed through, Hawaii had to call in the National Guard after a volcano directed a slow moving mass of lava into populated areas.

Over 900,000 people had to be evacuated after Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the Philippines all the while a deadly disease threatened to take down everyone in the form of Ebola which spread through West Africa claiming nearly 7000 lives.

A week of Death, Destruction and Foreboding

It's been a week where Mother Nature's devastating reach took it's toll and men tried to match her destructive power.

Nature

An earthquake hit off the northern coast of Chile with a magnitude of 8.2 triggering a tsunami warning. A 7.6 aftershock hit Chile the following day.

An outbreak of Ebola has been reported in Guinea with 63 people reported dead. Liberia has also confirmed cases of Ebola while Senegal and other neighbouring countries have closed their borders to prevent the spread of the disease.

A mudslide in Washington has officially killed 27 people with 19 victims positively identified. Along with the human lives many pets and livestock have also been lost.

A UN panel on Climate Change warns that global temperatures will likely be "severe, pervasive, and irreversible" in coming years. 7 Key findings in the report summary span only 44 pages with full chapters providing in depth details.

Man

Both Korea's traded fire over a sea border after South Korea warned North Korea of immediate retaliation if any ordinance was fired across the border. North Korea had declared a no-go area in disputed waters warning South Korea that it would be using live fire while conducting drills.

Another shooting took place at Fort Hood with 4 people killed, including the gunman, and 14 injured. President Obama has vowed to get to the bottom of the shooting.

A Senate report claims the CIA mislead the US and that the "enhanced interrogations" contributed almost nothing in the fight against al-Qaeda. The Senate Intelligence Committee voted to declassify portions of the report on the CIA's torture program.

The Philippines has filed a case after a Chinese navy vessel tried to prevent a Philippine supply boat from delivering supplies to a disputed island. The confrontation was captured on film by reporters on board the Philippine boat.