News on the Go: March 14, 2013

Maura Zurick

In one week, President Obama is traveling to Israel where he will meet leaders from both Israel and Palestine. In preparation for the meetings, both countries are planning ways to earn Obama’s support in the regional conflict. This will be the president’s first visit in the region. He plans to see Israel and also the West Bank. Read more here.

An inquiry into the 900 deaths in the 2011 Egyptian uprising has concluded that police were behind almost all of the killings. They used snipers on rooftops overlooking Cairo’s Tahrir Square to shoot into the massive crowds. The reports have determined the deadly forced used could only have been authorized by former President Hosni Mubarak and his security chief.Read more here.

Seven Saudi men were executed Wednesday after being convicted of theft, looting and armed robbery. More than a week ago, the families of the men and a human rights group appealed to the king for clemency. The executions took place in Abha, according to the Saudi Press Agency, A witness said the seven were killed by a firing squad, which is a first in the kingdom that has a tradition of beheading convicts sentenced to death. Amnesty International called the executions an “act of sheer brutality.”

Miami doctors said a five-organ transplant patient is the first to deliver a baby, making her the first reported case in the world. The woman, Fatema Al Ansari, was 19 and living in Qatar when she was diagnosed with a blood clot that resulted in her need a new liver, pancreas, stomach and small and large intestine. Five years after her surgery, she had a baby girl. She did face some complications during pregnancy but nothing major, and her doctors said she could have more children.

All information is from The Associated Press.

Contact Maura Zurick at [email protected].