Human Race

Recounted

In a moving account of her escape from Boko Haram militants, one of the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted last spring from the Chibok village in northern Nigeria spoke at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18. The 18-year-old student—now studying in the United States—recounted jumping from a moving truck to escape, and she lamented the loss of her Christian friends to Islamist captors. More than 200 girls remain missing, and at least one was reportedly used in a suicide bombing.

Granted

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, in a 7-2 ruling, on Sept. 24 granted Hannah Overton a new trial after she was sentenced to life in prison for the 2006 salt poisoning death of her 4-year-old adoptive son. Judges called “problematic” the details of Overton’s case, including a prosecuting attorney who later admitted she was an alcoholic at the time. Overton, 37, a committed Christian, has requested bond to reunite with her husband and other five children. The new district attorney has the option to retry Overton, reach a plea deal, or drop the charges.

Stepping down

Katharine Jefferts Schori announced on Sept. 23 she wouldn’t seek another 9-year term as presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church (TEC). Schori, 60, became TEC’s first female presiding bishop in 2006. Dozens of Episcopal parishes have left the denomination over its departure from Christian doctrine, including its embrace of homosexuality, and Schori refused to allow departing congregations to keep their property or to sell it to them. TEC has sold confiscated properties to Baptists, Methodists, Jews, and Muslims.

Released

SIM missionary Dr. Rick Sacra, 51, left a Nebraska hospital on Sept. 25 after recovering from Ebola. He vowed to return to West Africa where he had contracted the disease. Sacra, who praised God for his recovery, said he plans to return to his Massachusetts home before returning to Liberia. Sacra contracted Ebola on Aug. 19 while caring for pregnant women. Doctors aren’t sure what ultimately cured Sacra: He received an experimental drug, supportive fluids and electrolytes, and blood plasma from Ebola survivor and friend Dr. Kent Brantly.

Died

Infamous former Democratic Congressman James Traficant, 73, died on Sept. 27 when an apparent heart attack caused him to flip a tractor onto himself. Traficant won election to nine terms in Congress and in 2002 became the second member since the Civil War to be expelled from Congress. Traficant, a pro-life Democrat, was known for his eccentric hair and personality, outrageous statements, and a penchant for taking bribes. When he checked into prison in 2002, he had to reveal that his hair was actually a toupee.

Toppled

Citizens of an eastern Ukrainian city where pro-Russian separatists tried to spark rebellion showed their displeasure with the Kremlin on Sept. 28. A crowd of 3,000 people cheered as Ukrainian nationals tore down a 65-foot statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. Demonstrators pulled down a string of Lenin statues in the wake of anti-Russia protests last winter, but most were in the country’s west—this one was in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, which sits 25 miles from the Russian border.