Global news is a vital part of news today and can directly affect MHS students. In order to inform our readers, The Mentor has compiled small summaries describing some of the largest happenings in the world today. We encourage the reader to read about these topics, as well as others, in greater depth.

US hostage killed in rescue attempt

President Barack Obama authorized a mission last month to rescue American journalist Luke Somers from al-Quaeda which ended in failure when it was discovered that that Somers was no longer present at that location. Another attempt, the second in two weeks, was made and ended in the death of Somers and another hostage.

According to the New York Times, “The hostages — Luke Somers, an American photojournalist, and Pierre Korkie, a South African teacher — were killed by their captors, militants from Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, when they realized the rescue effort was underway. President Obama said he had authorized the operation, led by about three dozen Navy SEAL Team 6 commandos, after concluding that Mr. Somers’s life was in “imminent danger.””

Shell has possible earliest human engraving

Scientists found a shell in Indonesia that has several zig-zag marking on it that have markings made by human ancestors.

“Immediately when I saw the markings there I thought, those are human engravings, there’s no other explanation,” Stephen Munro said. Munro used the fossil while working on his PhD in 2007 and the results have recently been published in the journal “Nature.”

Scientists have dated the fossil to be between 430,000 and 540,000 years old. Further tests have shown that the engravings were made on the shell before it was fossilized.

Because of its age, the engraving could not have been made by the current day Homo sapiens but instead our long-extinct ancestor Homo erectus. Homo erectus was previously thought to not have the mental capabilities and dexterity for this kind of behavior.

Typhoon hits Philippines

Tropical storm Hagupit hit the  Philippines Friday and has been raging over the weekend. The storm is now reported as weakening as it hits Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

Predictions fluctuated wildly the week prior to the storm, Hagupit switched several times from being a typhoon or a super typhoon. Hagupit was classified as a normal typhoon when first hit land. Now the storm has been downgraded from typhoon to tropical storm as it crossed land.

The storm has left 21 dead.

Police involved in death of Eric Garner cleared of charges

The NYPD police officer who was responsible for the death of Eric Garner due to a choke hold during an arrest has been cleared of charges by a Staten Island grand jury. The arrest was caught on video where Garner is audibly saying how he cannot breathe.

According to the New York Times, “An autopsy found that Mr. Garner died from a combination of a chokehold and the compression of his chest during the arrest, listing poor health as a contributing factor, the office of the city medical examiner said on Friday.”

The man who recorded the arrest and death of Garner was arrested in August on charges of criminal possession of a weapon.

The Garner case has sparked protests and questions of police brutality.