ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
CATHOLIC VALUES COLUMNIST
National
‘Hate crime’ shooting at Pittsburgh synagogue
Eleven are dead after a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday. The shooting at Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue occurred around 9:30 a.m., where many were gathered for the Jewish naming ceremony. The gunman, allegedly 46-year-old Robert Bowers, came into the synagogue shouting hate for Jews while he fired into the worshipers, authorities said. The attack lasted about 20 minutes, killing 11 and leaving six others injured, including four police officers. Bowers was charged Saturday with 29 federal counts, including hate crimes, according to USA Today. Bowers was known to post anti-Semitic rants on social media and said in a post he did not vote for President Donald Trump because he was “too soft on those of Jewish faith,” according to the report. The U.S. attorney for the western district of Pennsylvania, Scott Brady, said he is pursuing the death penalty for Bowers, a move supported by the president in a tweet.
Suspicious packages sent to prominent Democrats, CNN
Authorities have intercepted at least 14 packages reported to contain “potentially destructive devices” that were sent to several high-profile Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and CNN, according to a report by the news organization. None of the bombs went off, authorities said, as it appeared that they were missing a crucial piece. Police arrested Cesar Sayoc of Aventura, Florida, on Friday in connection to the packages. Sayoc, a fierce supporter of President Donald Trump, said during his arrest that the bombs would not have harmed anyone, and he didn’t want to hurt anyone. His two Facebook and three Twitter accounts featured several conspiracy theories, memes and articles against Clinton and a Sept. 20 tweet where he threatened former Vice President Joe Biden and former Attorney General Eric Holder, each of whom received packages from Sayoc. Sayoc remains in FBI custody.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/26/politics/pipe-bombs-suspicious-packages-what-we-know/index.html
Red Sox beat Dodgers, wins World Series 4 games to 1
The Boston Red Sox defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 5 of the World Series by a score of 5-1 on Sunday to become world champions for the fourth time in 15 years. This was the culmination of a 108-win season for the Red Sox, which breezed through the preliminary stages of the playoffs to meet with the Dodgers. The Dodgers, for its part, won 92 games to return to the World Series for the second straight year but struggled to reach the final stage. Game 3, the Dodgers’ sole win, was the longest game in World Series history for both time and number of innings with seven hours and 20 minutes to cover 18 innings of playing time. Much of the Dodgers’ struggles could be attributed to its use of relief pitchers, which accounted for half of the 28 runs given up during the series. Red Sox first baseman Steve Pearce was named series MVP after slugging three home runs and driving in seven runs with a batting average of .333.
https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/10/28/boston-red-sox-world-series-champions-los-angeles-dodgers-game-5
International
Brazil elect right-wing candidate for president
Right-wing candidate Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil on Sunday, defeating his opponent, Fernando Haddad of the left-wing Workers’ Party, with 55.2 percent of the country’s vote. Bolsonaro, a congressman for Rio de Janeiro since 1991, campaigned on a platform to fight crime and corruption, following a string of scandals that have plagued Brazilian politics for the past four years, according to BBC. His election breaks a trend of leftist victories in the past four election cycles for Brazil. Bolsonaro will inherit a country with a violent political climate, a prolonged recession, rising crime and widespread corruption in government, CNN reported. Bolsonaro has been accused by his opponents of making racist, misogynistic and homophobic comments and has been named the “Trump of the Tropics” by some media outlets. President Donald Trump congratulated Bolsonaro on his win, saying he will work closely with Brazil on trade and the military among other things.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46013408
German chancellor Merkel not running for reelection
Angela Merkel, who has led Germany as its chancellor for 13 years, announced Monday that she would not seek re-election in 2021 during the next scheduled election. Merkel’s term has recently been marked by immigration politics in the country; in 2015, she passed “open door” immigration policy that led to more than 1 million migrants and refugees flooding into the country. Now considered somewhat of a “lame duck” leader by some, Merkel will also not seek re-election as the chair of her own party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union, during its congress in December. Merkel was elected in 2005 and was, at one point, considered the most powerful in the world in her role as chancellor.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/german-chancellor-angel-merkel-will-not-run-again-leader-n925521
Pentagon sending 5,200 U.S. troops to border with Mexico
The Defense Department announced Monday that more than 5,200 active duty U.S. troops will be sent to the country’s border with Mexico by the end of the week. The deployed troops, which were called a start by department officials, will join the 2,092 troops deployed in April as part of Operation Guardian Support. The deployment is in response to President Donald Trump’s order to send more active duty troops to prepare for a group of several thousand migrants currently traveling from Central America to the United States. Defense Secretary James Mattis signed off on the deployment and other officials confirmed that more troops will be sent.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/413720-pentagon-sending-5200-troops-to-border