Obama: Gun violence victims memorialized
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Sunday memorialized the victims of the Washington Navy Yard shooting by calling for a transformation in the nation’s gun laws to address an epidemic of gun violence, saying, “There’s nothing inevitable about it.”
Reprising his role of the nation’s consoler in chief after yet another mass shooting, Obama said Americans should honor the victims of the Sept. 16 shooting by insisting on a change in gun laws. “It ought to obsess us,” Obama said.
“Sometimes, I fear there is a creeping resignation that these tragedies are just somehow the way it is, that this is somehow the new normal. We cannot accept this,” Obama said.
He said no other advanced nation endures the kind of gun violence seen in the United States, and blamed mass shootings in America on laws that fail “to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people.”
Suicide bombers strike church in Pakistan
SHAWAR, Pakistan – A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up amid hundreds of worshippers at a historic church in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 78 people in the deadliest-ever attack against the country’s Christian minority.
A wing of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, raising new questions about the government’s push to strike a peace deal with the militants to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people.
The Jundullah arm of the Taliban said they would continue to target non-Muslims until the United States stopped drone attacks in Pakistan’s remote tribal region.
The attack on the All Saints Church, which wounded 141 people, occurred as worshippers were leaving after services to get a free meal of rice offered on the front lawn, said a top government administrator, Sahibzada Anees.
Merkel, conservatives victorious in Germany
BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives triumphed in Germany’s election Sunday and appeared likely to end up close to an absolute majority. While Merkel was headed for a third term, her center-right coalition partners faced ejection from parliament for the first time in post-World War II history.
Merkel, Germany’s chancellor since 2005 and the de facto leader of the response to Europe’s debt crisis during the last three years, told supporters it was “a super result.” She wouldn’t immediately speculate about the shape of the next government, but the 59-year-old made clear she plans to serve a full term.
Boston’s top cop set to step down
BOSTON – Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, who led his department’s response to the Boston Marathon bombing, is stepping down, a department spokeswoman said Sunday.
Davis gave his resignation to Mayor Thomas Menino and will hold a news conference today to discuss his future plans, police spokeswoman Cheryl Fiandaca said.
The decision by Davis to step down is perhaps not surprising. Boston is poised to have a new mayor for the first time in two decades after Menino opted not to seek another term.
Davis was thrust into the national spotlight on April 15 when twin explosions near the marathon finish line killed three people and wounded more than 260.
Associated Press
