BY ALEXA BINKOWITZ
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Kentucky, United States
Over the weekend, powerful storms destroyed properties and delivered heavy floods to the central and southern United States. Four people have died as a result of the storm, which included severe thunderstorms, high winds, and tornadoes.
In Kentucky, two men were found dead in cars that appeared to have been swept away from flooded roadways. Also in Kentucky, a woman died after a tornado struck her home. In Arkansas, a man was killed after his trailer home was blown into a pond.
Meteorologists expect another storm system to sweep across the Mississippi Valley and reach the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys later this week. Flood warnings and advisories are still in effect in the central and southern United States, including some areas of Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee.
Parkland, Florida
On Feb. 14, 19-year old Nikolas Cruz stormed into Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. shooting and killing 17 people. Cruz used an AR-15 rifle, shooting in the high schools “Freshman Building” for six minutes.
Cruz arrived at the school via Uber, wearing a Stoneman Douglas ROTC polo shirt, and fled the scene disguised by the crowds of students running out of the school buildings. Cruz then went to a nearby Subway and then to a McDonald’s, until he was arrested nearly a mile away from Stoneman Douglas. Cruz is now in jail and is charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder. He is currently awaiting trial. According to Broward County police and people close to Cruz, he was reported to the police numerous times for aggressive behavior and for inappropriate comments and posts on social media, but almost none of those tips were acted upon by the sheriff’s office of the FBI.
Since the shooting, survivors of the ordeal have taken to social media demanding gun reform and control. Specifically, Stoneman Douglas students Emma Gonzalez, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky, Sarah Chadwick, and Jaclyn Corin have accumulated hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers, have appeared on CNN and the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and have organized the #NeverAgain and The March for Our Lives movements. Multiple companies and business have stopped their partnerships with the National Rifle Association (NRA) in support of the gun control movement. The investigation on the shooting is still progressing.
Syria
The Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta in Syria suffered intense bombardment on Sunday, Feb. 25. Syrian forces backed up by Russian warplanes dropped multiple bombs, killing hundreds of people within days.
More than 520 people have been killed and 2,500 wounded since the bombing began last week. The Syrian regime is targeting terrorists inside the suburb, but the rebel groups in the area have been firing mortars, causing dozens of deaths and injuries. The United Nations voted in favor of a resolution to the hostility, calling for a 30-day ceasefire.
Papua New Guinea
Authorities in Papua New Guinea are assessing the damage after a magnitude-7.5 earthquake struck the Pacific country early Monday.
The US Geological Survey said the quake hit at 3:45 a.m. local time (12:45 p.m. ET Sunday) near Porgera, northwest of the capital Port Moresby. It was 35 kilometers deep.
It estimated that the quake could have been felt by more than a million residents, with approximately 40,000 exposed to “violent” shaking. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami was not expected.
Peyongchang, South Korea
The 2018 Winter Olympics have come to an end in Peyongchang, and the American team will return home with 9 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 6 bronze medals for a total of 23 medals. However, the Norwegian team came out on top, bringing home a total of 39 medals, 14 gold, 14 silver, and 11 bronze.
The Associated Press contributed to this article
