1. Execution takes nearly 2 hours: A condemned U.S. inmate gasped and snorted during an execution that took nearly two hours yesterday in an episode that is expected to heighten scrutiny of the death penalty in the United States.
2. Extraordinary ceremony: A national day of mourning was declared in the Netherlands, where the bodies of 40 victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 arrived for a sombre repatriation ceremony Wednesday. The military carriers carrying the bodies from Ukraine were met at Eindoven Air Base by hundreds of loved ones, Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other government officials.
3. Child sex crimes up in Canada: Sexual crimes against children and incidents of child pornography increased in 2013 while the overall crime rate fell by eight per cent compared to 2012, according to a newly released Statistics Canada report. Police reported 4,232 sexual violations against children in 2013 – 279 more than in 2012.
4. Gaza’s children: The two-week battle between Israel and Hamas is taking a heavy toll in Gaza, where a six-year-old is now living through his or her third war. In a conflict that has killed almost 700 Palestinians so far, UNICEF estimates that one in three civilian deaths are children under 18. The UN Human Rights Council voted Wednesday to create an independent commission to investigate potential war crimes by Israel and Hamas, the latter of which “continues to endanger the lives of civilians in Israel.”
5. Great white shark sighting: Tourists on a whale-watching expedition in St. Andrews, N.B., experienced a rare sighting when a great white shark appeared near their boat earlier this week. People aboard the boat scrambled to shoot video and take photos of the rare shark when it was spotted only about two kilometres from the harbour. A shark biologist confirmed it was indeed the fabled shark.
