Top 5 News stories of 2013

5) Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI

On February 28 2013 pope benedict XVI announced that he would be resigning from being the pope. It was first announced on February 11th 2013 by the vatican.The move was unexpected because most modern popes hold their place until death. He stated that the reason for his decision was because of his health and old age. At the age of 85 years old Pope benedict was the fourth oldest person to hold the office of pope. He declared that he would continue to serve the church. Pope Francis the first took pope Benedicts place and is now our pope.

4) Paul Walker

Paul Walker was born on September 12, 1973 and died at the age of 40 on November 30, 2013.  Paul Walker was an American actor that started acting at a young age and became a famous actor in 1999.  He starred in many movies like Eight Below, Running Scared, The Lazarus Porject, Into the Blue, Joy Ride, She’s all That, Takers and Hours.  He played Brian O

Conner in The Fast and the Furious movies.  On November 30, 2013 Paul Walker and his friend were leaving Paul’s charity event by the name of “Reach Out Worldwide Victims of Typhoon Haiyan”.  The car that he was passenger in crashed into a light post and a tree and then burst into flames.  Both of the people in the vehicle died in the accident.

3)  Birth of the Royal Baby

On July 22, 2013 the royal family welcomed Prince George Alexander Louis.  He is the son of Prince William and Catherine.  George is the only grandchild of Charles prince of Wales and the late Princess Diana of Wales.  On December 3, 2012 it was announced that Will and Kate were expecting their first child.  He was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, England.  The customary formal bulletin announcing the birth was placed outside Buckingham Palace.  Gun Salute signalled the birth in Bermuda, London, New Zealand, and in Canada.  The bulletin was mostly blue, stating that the royal baby was a boy.  This baby will have a great impact on the world.  In the future, Prince George could be the King of England.

2) Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlaha Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 but unfortunately died on December 5, 2013.  He was South Africa’s first chief executive to be American African and was the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.  His government mainly tried to get rid of racism in government, poverty, inequality, and helping racial reconciliation.   From 1991-1997 Nelson Mandela was president of the African National Congress.  In 1962 he was arrested and convicted of helping other countries plan to attack South Africa.  He was sentenced to life in prison.  Nelson was in prison for over 27 years and was released in 1990.  Then Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first African American President.

1) Boston marathon Bombing

On April 15.2013 during the Boston Marathon, 2 pressure cooker bombs exploded at 2:49pm that killed 3 people and injured around 264 others. The bombs exploded 190m apart, near the finish line. On April 18 the FBI released a surveillance video of 2 suspects. They were later identified as Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Tamerlan was shot by the police then he got ran over by his brother and later died. On April 19 thousands of law enforcement officers went on a manhunt to find the other brother. They were searching a 20 block area of Watertown. During the manhunt residents of Watertown and surrounding areas were asked to stay indoors. Around 7pm a Watertown resident found Dzhokhar hiding in a boat in his backyard. He was arrested then taken to the hospital. He said during the initial interrogation in the hospital that his brother was the mastermind behind the whole thing and that they learnt how to build bombs on the internet. He also said that after they bombed the Marathon they were going to New york to bomb Times Square.