Gunmen Kill 23 in Nigeria

Two separate attacks struck Nigeria, killing twenty-three.

Late Monday night, gunmen attacked a market in Damboa, killing eighteen.

The market is known for selling "forbidden meat" such as pigs and monkeys.

On Tuesday, another attack killed five in Kano.

That attack hit people gambling over a game.

Both attacks are thought to be to the work of Boko Haram, as both struck against things Muslims consider immoral.

Boko Haram desires to setup an Islamist nation, of it's own, using part of Nigeria as it's own land.

The group terrorizes anyone it can and carries out Shariah law, wherever it goes.

Nebraska Approves Keystone Pipeline

On Tuesday, Nebraska's governor, Dave Heineman, announced that he has approved his state's part of the Keystone Pipeline.

It now falls upon the State Department to approve the project, before it can begin.

According to Heineman, he approved the route, due to it's minimalist impact on the environment.

The Keystone Pipeline will also add an estimated four hundred and eighteen million dollars to the economy, of Nebraska alone.

Nebraska was the last state to approve the pipeline, which will go from Canada to Texas.

Most of the other states have gone ahead and begun construction.

The Obama administration has repeatedly blocked the pipeline, but Nebraska's move should make it extremely politically inconvenient for them to continue doing so.

Israel Hits The Polls

Photo by Evan Pokroy

Israel went to the polls, on Tuesday, in parliamentary elections.

Turnout was quite heavy, throughout the country.

Expectations are for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party to retain a majority.

This would lead to a third term for him.

Even some of his opponents have publicly admitted that he is the best man for the issues facing Israel.

Netanyahu's party, the Likud, is likely to lose some of it's majority, despite his popularity.

With thirty-two parties, in the running, seats have a lot of directions they could go.

Shooting at Lone Star College, in Houston

Reports from Houston, Texas are that multiple have been shot on a college campus.

At least three people were shot, shortly after noon CST.

Lone Star College's North Harris campus, possibly the library, was the scene, of the shooting.

Witnesses are saying that two men got into an argument, inside the library, and then both pulled guns.

Police detained one suspect, but were looking for a second.

They were looking for an eighteen to twenty-two year old black male, wearing a red shirt and a Falcons baseball cap.

Officers in tactical gear moved through the campus to ensure that it was secure.

Four nearby Aldine Independent School District schools were put on lock down, they were: Dunn Elementary, Nimitz 9th grade campus, Nimitz High, and Parker Intermediate.

The campus is a gun free zone, meaning guns are not allowed.

Twitter Shows Major Struggles

No, it wasn't just you.

For hours, on Monday, Twitter has had some serious issues going on.

Service has been slow at best, and at times the site was not even findable, for browsers.

Even the dreaded and often mocked "fail whale" was not even showing up for users.

Some users never reported problems, but the outage wasn't limited to any one geographical area.

Nor was it  limited to online Twitter.

Mobile Twitter, computer based Tweetdeck, mobile Tweetdeck, and other mobile apps have been completely unresponsive as well.

For millions around the world, one of their key ways of communication was cut off for hours.

Twitter never commented about the issues, but did get it all fixed, after about eight hours.

Dozens of Syrians Killed in Car Bombing

Dozens were killed in Salmiyeh, Syria, on Monday, when a suicide car bomb exploded.

At least thirty of the dead were members of a pro-government militia.

The bomb blew right outside of their headquarters, in a crowded square.

Around a hundred people were injured in the blast.

Violence continued across the country, as the civil war goes on unabated.

An estimated sixty-two thousand people have been killed in the twenty-two month long conflict.

Russia Begins Evacuation From Syria

Russia has sent two planes to Beirut, Lebanon with the express purpose of evacuating Russians from Syria.

The first one hundred evacuees are expected to leave, on Tuesday.

It is the latest sign that Russia sees little hope for it's ally.

Moscow has been the main reason that no international effort was ever effective in intervening, in the civil war.

Anything that the international community attempted was vetoed by Russia, at the UN.

In December, Russian officials finally unofficially admitted that Assad could lose his fight, to stay in power.

Assad has been struggling to retain power, since March of 2011.

First it was against peaceful protests, then civil unrest, then riots, until it became open civil war.

An estimated sixty-two thousand people have been killed during the twenty-two month long conflict.

Algerians Raise Number of Dead Hostages to 38

Algeria is currently listing thirty-eight hostages, thirty-seven of them foreign, as having been killed either by their captors or in the attempts to rescue them.

Over seven hundred Algerians and one hundred foreigners survived the ordeal.

More hostages are still missing, and the Algerian military is searching for them.

Officials also say that they have the bodies of twenty-nine of the gas plant's attackers, including the leader.

Three more were arrested, after being captured.

It is coming out that the leader of the attack was a Canadian national, who went by the name Chedad.

Not much else is known about him, but international agencies are working to learn more.

Al Qaeda has widely bragged that the attack was an operation of theirs.

Pirates Strike in Abidjan

On Monday, officials confirmed that a tanker had been seized by pirates, in the Ivory Coast.

The Itri was captured on Thursday, while in the port of Abidjan.

Gunmen forced their way aboard and made off with her and her cargo, five thousand tons of fuel.

All sixteen of the Nigerian crew have been taken as hostages.

According to her owner's, the Itri's onboard tracking system has been disabled, so they do not know where she currently is.

This marks the first piracy of 2013.

During 2012, there were ten cases in the Gulf of Guinea.

International Effort in Mali Grows

Canadian C 17

The international effort to save Mali, from falling to Al Qaeda forces, continues to grow.

Aircraft from Canada, Denmark, the UK, and the US are helping bring French troops into Mali, from France.

US drones are expected to join the fight soon, as well.

African forces have also begun showing up, to join the more than two thousand French fighting alongside the Malian military.

Troops from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo are now in Mali, preparing to join the fight.

International funding is beginning to come in as well, with the EU leading the way.

Already several towns have been retaken by French and Malian forces, and the hunt is on for the rebels.