2013 News Review - Typhoon haiyan, Boston bombings and ariel castro

We can confirm that there was a shooting incident this morning. On Valentine's Day 2013, we woke up to news that no one could quite believe. Olympic/Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has been arrested and is being questioned by South African police. Paralympic athlete and global superstar Oscar Pistorius had been arrested after his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was found dead in his home. Details were sketchy, but rumours were rife that Pistorius shot Reeva when he mistook her for a burglar. The police appeared with the media. We've also taken cognisance of the media reports during the course of the morning of an alleged break in or that the young lady was allegedly mistaken to be a burglar. Then on February the 15th, Pistorius was charged with Reeva's ***. Reeva's family were heartbroken and wanted answers. The truth must come out. I think it's what everyone needs, including us. Three people have killed and over 140 injured after two explosions at the Boston Marathon. In April, tragedy hit the streets of Boston at around 10 to three on April the 15th, a bomb exploded at the finishing line of the Boston Marathon followed moments later by an explosion a block away. Three people died and over 260 were injured. Make no mistake. We will get to the bottom of this, and we will find out who did this. We'll find out why they did this. Meanwhile the focus of the investigation turned to two brothers, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, then followed a massive manhunt which put Boston on lock down. Then, in the evening Friday April the 19th, there was a surge of activity as police rushed to a house in the area and found Dzhokhar Tsarnaev harbouring in a boat kept on a resident's drive. The suspect was brought into custody and later charged. The manhunt was over, giving Boston the opportunity to heal. It was one of the most shocking and distressing events of 2013 - the *** of Lee Rigby in a terror attack on the streets on London. Back on that day, May the 22nd, news of an incident in Woolwich began breaking on Twitter with eye witnesses posting seemingly unbelievable accounts of what was unfolding in front of them. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon when police were called to John Wilson Street in Woolwich to reports of a man being assaulted. Eyewitnesses describe the attackers as crazed, hacking at their victim and posing for pictures before charging at police wielding meat cleavers. And before long, the nation was sickened by images of the alleged perpetrators of the attack caught on camera, wielding weapons and covered in blood before they were arrested by police. It was soon made clear that what happened that afternoon was far from a random attack, as police stated they were dealing with a terrorist incident against a British soldier. It is the most appalling crime. We obviously are urgently seeking, the police are urgently seeking the full facts about this case, but there are strong indications that it is a terrorist incident. I just want to say that I love Lee. I always will, and I'm proud to be his wife. I've been kidnapped, and I've been missing for 10 years and I'm here. I'm free now. It's not very often that we get to report news stories with a happy ending, but in May 2013, it happened in one of the most shocking stories of the year. Back in May, news broke in the states that a woman had escaped from a house in Ohio. She claimed she'd been held captive for ten years, along with two other women. I'm Amanda Berry. I've been on the news for the last ten years. Okay, I got that here. When the other women were rescued, they too were identified as missing girls. Gina De Jesus and Michelle Knight, who'd last been seen eight and 11 years ago. I want everyone to know how happy I am to be home with my family, my friends. The girls' kidnapper was named as Ariel Castro, who was charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of ***. Castro was sentenced to life in prison, plus 1000 years, but he committed suicide whilst incarcerated. What started out as a normal day in a Nairobi shopping centre turned into one of the most terrifying stories of the year. At midday on the 21st of September, a group of Al Shabab terrorists stormed the city's biggest shopping centre - the Westgate Mall. Shooting innocent shoppers and letting off hand grenades. 67 people were killed and 200 wounded during the siege, which was to last for 80 hours. Don't worry. You're going to the ambulance. She'll be okay. She'll be okay. Take them. Footage started to be released to the public, including this incredible video of a policeman saving a terrified family trapped in the mall. Horrific things we saw in that level. The level of massacre that had taken place, the number of dead people we saw, the number of injured people we saw, the number of people who were just lying down bleeding. During the course of the siege, Kenyan security forces said they'd rescued about 1,000 hostages. By September the 24th, three days later, police announced that all hostages had been released. President Kenyatta said military operations at the mall had ended, that five attackers had died and eleven were in custody. It was one of the most heartbreaking stories of the year. Typhoon Haiyan devastated parts of the central Philippines, leaving nearly 6,000 dead and almost 2,000 people unaccounted for. More than 12 million people have been affected by Haiyan as the country slowly starts being rebuilt. The storm hit on November the 8th, turning towns into disaster zones. We need help! We need food! We need water! Amongst the tragedy though, there was stories of hope.