Suspected Boston Marathon terrorist Tamerlan Tsarnaev was buried at an undisclosed location, and the Benghazi whistleblowers testified under oath before Congress.
On the international stage, there are reports that Pope Emeritus Benedict is shrinking due to poor health. One Archbishop said in an interview with a German Catholic News Agency: “He looked like he had halved in size.”
Here’s a recap, or wrap, on the week that was from The Washington Times.
• Two-thirds of senators to vote on U.S.-Mexico border without having seen it
Border security is a key sticking point in this year’s immigration debate, but only a little more than one-third of senators have been to the southwestern border during their time in office to get a firsthand look at the security situation, according to a survey of the chamber’s members by The Washington Times.
Of 100 senators, 34 said they have been down to observe the border, 64 senators have not, and two — the Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which is writing the bill, and the chamber’s Republican leader — refused to answer.
• Washington Times Special: Benghazi Attack Under Microscope
The latest news, analysis and opinion about the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
• Bill Maher: ’Ridiculous,’ ’quaint’ to think 2nd Amendment can protect from tyranny
HBO host Bill Maher and MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell seemed to agree Friday night that it’s ridiculous for Americans to think the Second Amendment can protect them from tyranny. …
“Gun ownership is a minority activity,” he said. “The rate of gun ownership is declining significantly; that’s why the NRA is pushing this so hard. And what you have in terms of gun sales is simply fanatic collectors. People have 48 guns where they used to have four. And that’s how you get gun sales in this country, not by getting new buyers.”
• Tag team: Jihadis, hackers join forces to launch cyberattacks on United States
Middle East- and North Africa-based criminal hackers are preparing cyberattacks this week against the websites of high-profile U.S. government agencies, banks and other companies, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The attacks, dubbed #OpUSA, for Operation USA, will begin Tuesday, the department said in a warning bulletin circulated to the private sector last week.
• D.C. council member seeks ban on plastic guns made with 3-D printers
A D.C. Council member is proposing legislation to ban plastic guns made with the emerging technology of 3-D printers just days after a group claimed to have successfully test-fired the first functional weapon produced.
Tommy Wells on Tuesday introduced a bill that would make it illegal for anyone to make or possess one of the weapons.
• Cleveland kidnapping suspect Castro wrote: I’m a sexual predator who ‘needs help’
Police combing Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro’s home stumbled upon a letter he supposedly wrote in which he admitted to being a sexual predator who “needs help.” In the letter, Mr. Castro also allegedly writes of his involvement in crimes, as well as a desire to commit suicide and “give all the money I saved to my victims,” The Daily Mail reported.
A 19 Action News reporter who obtained a copy of the letter and said it was dated from 2004, sent a message on Twitter: “I just got a copy of a letter written by Ariel Castro. Cops found it in his house. He says “I am a sexual predator. I need help.”
• Arias says in interview that she wants death
he jury has rendered its verdict — Jodi Arias is guilty of first-degree murder — but the trial is far from finished.
The same jury now returns to the courtroom Thursday to decide whether she deserves to die for killing her one-time boyfriend on June 4, 2008 at his suburban Phoenix home. …
Arias spoke out about the verdict minutes after her conviction Wednesday, telling a TV station that she would “prefer to die sooner than later.”
• Pope Emeritus Benedict shrinking away: He’s ‘halved in size’
Pope Emeritus Benedict has lost so much weight in the weeks since he left the papal that one archbishop commented he seems to have actually shrunk in size.
The Telegraph reported that Joachim Meisner, the Archbishop of Cologne, said he emerged from a March 18 meeting with the former pope with wide eyes.
“I was shocked at how thin he had become,” he said, in an interview with German Catholic News Agency. “He looked like he had halved in size.”
• Tamerlan Tsarnaev buried at undisclosed location outside of Worcester, Mass.
The body of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev has been buried at an undisclosed location outside Worcester, Mass., a Boston newspaper reported Thursday.
“As a result of our public appeal for help, a courageous and compassionate individual came forward to provide the assistance needed to properly bury the deceased,” a Worcester police officer said, according to the Boston Globe.
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