Omah (FLAVA FLAV!!!)

National- Local churches press for hate-crime charges in a kidnapping case. The discovery of Megan Williams, 20 years old, in the possession of three captors occurred last week. The horrible details are too graphic to say other than Williams reportedly being choked by a cable cord among other things. The three kidnappers have been charged with counts of kidnapping, sexual assault, an many other heinous crimes. Three additional suspects have also been charged with assault during the commission of a felony. All six suspects are in custody in lieu of $100,000 bail each. Williams is currently in recovery at a local hospital. "She still hollers, 'Ma, what they did to me was bad.' So the only thing I can do, me and her dad, is just be there for her, to comfort her. We can do nothing more." Says mother Carmen Williams.

Opinion- This is just unforgivable. Whether it was a hate-crime or not, the things Megan Williams fell victim are inhumane, sadistic, and cruel. I tried my best to illustrate the fact that the crimes against her are vicious without having to actually say the nasty, despicable acts done to her. There does seem to be evidence pointing to a hate-crime such as all suspects being white, but all the circumstances are still being investigated. Even if the suspects aren't charged with a hate-crime, they should be charged life for their acts done to Megan Williams.

International- 15 dead after bomb explodes in Pakistan. Fifteen members of the Pakistani army were left dead after a bomb blew up in the mess hall of the unit. Officials say a suicide bomber was the cause of the explosion, and 25 other Pakistani soldiers were wounded. Terbella Ghazi military base was the location of the explosion which is about 63 miles north of Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan. The unit that was attacked played a major role in ending the siege of Islamabad's Red Mosque. The week-long standoff was a gruesome battle between security forces and Islamic terrorists leaving at least 100 dead.

Opinion- This is a sad story. Not all people in the middle-east are terrorists. In fact there are some who even dare to oppose these extremists. Not many people realize it, but not all Islamic people are cruel. They are human beings just like us and they are even more afraid of terrorist attacks then we are. In my opinion, religion shouldn't be the only way humans are told how to act towards other people. Not every single person believes in the same religion.

National- Texas Governor Rick Perry declares 3 counties disaster areas. Orange, Jefferson, and Galveston counties are subject to floods and other weather disasters by Hurricane Humberto. At least one death has been blamed by the hurricane. An 80-year-old man had an aluminum roof collapsed on him while he was watching the occurring storm. The National Hurricane Center was surprised when Humberto gained strength turning from a tropical depression to Category 1 Hurricane with winds reaching 85 mph. Humberto was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday.

Opinion- I have some family that lives in Texas so this is quite alarming. Although it isn't rare for a storm or hurricane to reach Texas, it is odd however, that only 1 life has been lost. It is unfortunate that this man lost his life, but it is fortunate that there have been no more victims or at least at the moment. Hopefully Texas and other states in the south will be ready for the next storm to come.

International- Indonesia falls victim to yet another earthquake. The quake, with a magnitude of 6.2, hit Indonesia in full force on Thursday. This region was also hit with an 8.2 magnitude earthquake on Wednesday. 9 victims were claimed on Wednesday.

Opinion- Its amazing to believe that it has been nearly 3 years since the earthquake-caused tsunami occurred. It was a grim time. It is never good to hear of another earthquake in southeastern Asia. At least 200,000 people lost their lives in that tsunami and it wasn't easy to bear. hopefully in the future there will never be an earthquake/tsunami as devastating as the one in 2004.