Huffington Magazine Issue 68 | Page 8

Enter FROM TOP: NICHOLE SOBECKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES; SIMON DAWSON/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES; FRANCO ORIGLIA/GETTY IMAGES 2 POINTERS SIEGE IN NAIROBI Masked gunmen stormed Kenya’s upscale Westgate shopping mall last Saturday in a major assault that left more than 70 people dead, according to officials in the country. Al Shabab, an al Qaeda-linked militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack. According to CNN, witnesses said gunmen went from store to store in the mall, shooting people and taking hostages. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced Tuesday that troops had finally defeated the attackers after a four-day standoff. In a televised address while the siege was ongoing, Kenyatta said the Kenyans “have overcome terrorist attacks before. We will defeat them again.” 3 BLACKBERRY POWERS DOWN 4 HUFFINGTON 09.29.13 BlackBerry, formerly Research in Motion (RIM), reached a preliminary deal on Monday to go private for $9 a share. Fairfax Financial Holdings, which already owns 10 percent of the ailing smartphone maker, led a group that valued the company at $4.7 billion with its offer. The news came on the heels of an announcement that BlackBerry would lay off around 40 percent of its workforce, or 4,500 people. BlackBerry has until Nov. 4 to solicit other offers before it moves forward with Fairfax. The once-mighty corporation has continued to slide downward as Apple and Google have risen to prominence in the smartphone market. A CHURCH ‘OBSESSED’ In an interview published on Sept. 19, Pope Francis criticized the Catholic church for becoming “obsessed” with divisive issues like homosexuality, contraception and abortion. “We have to find a new balance,” he said in the interview, which was conducted in Italian over three meetings with Rev. Antonio Spadaro. While the interview didn’t change church policy, Francis expressed a vision of a church that is a “home for all.” “His big vision is to see the church in the middle of the persons who need to be healed,” Spadaro said of Francis. Other topics covered in the tell-all? The pope’s favorite movie (La Strada by Fellini) and when he prays (sometimes while waiting at the dentist).