The Nairobi Mall siege ends, but there are concerns about how terrorists really got it, and how they might have gotten away – Investigators return to the scene of an apparent chemical weapons attack – And the former Pope says he never covered up sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta says the siege at the Westgate Mall is finally over, at a cost of 61 civilian and 6 law enforcement lives.  After days of grenades, bombs, and seemingly endless gunfire, Nairobi’s former upscale mall is a complete mess, with damage everywhere and several shops burned out by fire.  Eleven terrorists are in custody, and at least five are dead.  The al Shabab terrorist group is denying it sent women in to perform the siege, but witnesses have reported seeing a Caucasian woman among the terrorists.  The American FBI is looking into whether Americans were involved in al Shabab.

At least one mall employee colluded with the al Shabab terrorists, according to unnamed US security officials quoted by the New York Times.  Officials say the shop worker helped stashed a belt-fed machine gun in one of the stores a day prior to the attack.  The terrorists were able to obtain blueprints to the Westgate Mall, studying the ins and outs of the building right down to the air ducts.  It’s also feared that some of the attackers were able to slip into civilian clothing and escape with the fleeing shoppers as Kenyan security retook the mall.

Weapons inspectors are returning to Syria, according to the United Nations.  They will complete their investigation into “pending credible allegations” of chemical weapons use, revolving around the 19 March attack on the village of Khan as-Assal near Aleppo, in the north.  As with the investigation into the 21 August attack, the inspectors will only confirmed if chemical weapons were used, not who used them.

China is banning the export of certain pieces of equipment and chemicals to North Korea, fearing they could be used in Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.  If the list is enforced, it would be some of the strongest steps Beijing has taken against its troublesome neighbor, and a sign that it is following through with UN Security Council sanctions on the “hermit kingdom”.

A fourth Mexican police officer has been arrested in the kidnapping and murder of twelve young people from a bar in the capital’s popular Zona Rosa neighborhood, widely considered to be a relatively safe area in the big city and free from the nation’s devastating drug wars.  The kidnappings took place in broad daylight in May, the bodies were found in a mass grave out in a rural area many weeks later.  A total of 18 suspects are under arrest in the case.

The former Pope is denying acting to cover up sex abuse by Roman Catholic clergy.  Pontiff Emeritus Benedict’s first published statements since resigning in February were printed in the La Repubblica newspaper, as a response to questions raised in a book by noted Italian atheist Piergiorgio Odifreddi.  Benedict claims he “never tried to hide these things.”  However, the Vatican under John Paul II and Benedict was roundly criticized for the practice of shuffling clerics from parish to parish and often from country to country after they were accused of abusing children.

Rolf Harris is banned from unsupervised contact with children.  That's the outcome of Rolf's most recent court appearance on nine charges of sex attacks on teenage girls and four of making indecent images of a child.  Rolf’s lawyers indicated he would plead Not Guilty.

Aside from returning Angela Merkel to a third term as Chancellor, Germany’s weekend election resulted in making some history:  Karamba Diaby of the Social Democratic Party and Charles Huber of the Christian Democrats are Germany’s first Black Members of parliament.  Also, ethnic Turk Cemile Giousouf is the first Muslim to go Germany’s parliament as a member of the conservative Christian Democrats.  Equality campaigners are hailing the step forward.