Coalition of Troops Oust Al-Shabab: African Union and Somali forces stormed Al-Shabab's financial stronghold of Kismayo yesterday. Driving Al-Shabab from Kismayo may prevent the terrorist group, with links to Al-Qaida, from funneling weapons through the port city. In this final phase of "Operation Sledge Hammer," the allied forces stormed a north Kismayo beach to gain entry to the city.
GOP Under Scrutiny About Voter Fraud: The Florida voter registration scandal is quickly spooling into a full-blown shitshow. If you missed it this week, Strategic Alliedâa grassroots mobilization company contracted by the RNCâreportedly trained its employees to register only Romney supporters to vote in Florida. After closer scrutiny of Strategic Allied, at least 11 counties have found fraudulent forms submitted on behalf of the Florida GOP.
I-5 Blocked Briefly Near Bellingham: A Ferndale man left a wake of destruction on I-5 after rear-ending one car, veering off the roadway, crashing through a chain-link fence, and then rolling several times, according to the Bellingham Herald. The detritus left on the road then caused an incident with a third car. Police found a case of beer in the man's truck and are investigating the possibility that he may have been drunk.
Good Samaritans Hog Pile on Suspect: On Saturday in Burien, a man with long stringy black hair grabbed a boy in an Albertson's bathroom, according to King County Sheriff Steve Strachan. The boy fought back, making enough noise to attract store employees to the bathroom where they freed him. The employees chased the suspect down and hog piled on him until authorities arrived. KOMO reports that the suspect's pants were down and several used syringes fell out of his pocket in the tussle.
Candidates Fight for the Youth Vote: Chavez has a serious challenger in the upcoming Venezuelan presidential election, reports the Washington Post. Recent polls put incumbent Chavez and challenger Henrique Capriles roughly even. Capriles, an enigmatic young governor, enjoys unprecedented support from a newly energized demographic of 18- to 30-year-olds.
Series of Late-Night Robberies in U-District: A mugging blitz in the UW area last night left three people with serious headaches after the suspects reportedly pistol-whipped the victims. The police are investigating if the three incidents, which happened 15 to 20 minutes between each other, are connected. Investigations were hindered, though, because some of the victims were drunk when the incident occurred.
