By Shelby Moquin [email protected] On Easter Sunday 2019, multiple bombing attacks occured in the small country of Sri Lanka. The coordinated attacks occured in churches and hotels, injuring dozens of people. The Sunday, ment for rest and worship, instead left 359 people dead and harmed hundreds more. The attack was targeted to the Christian population of Sri Lanka, which is why many believe the attack was orchestrated to occur on Easter. The ones responsible for the attack were bomber brothers Imsath Ahmed Ibrahim and Ilham Ahmed Ibrahim. Although more than six other suicide bombers played roles in the six attacks, these are the main ones the news is covering. They were apart of one of the wealthiest families in Sri Lanka. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack but there is no evidence that the orchestrators were collaborating with them. Days before the attack, Sri Lankan intelligence reported rumors of hearing warnings of an attack. Many believe more could have been done to prevent the attack from happening. The government recently released a statement saying that they failed to act on multiple warnings. The government is now trying to conclude if there are currently more people on the run with explosives. Many countries have issued travel warnings, informing that traveling to Sri Lanka might be risky. Tourism is one of Sri Lanka’s most booming industries, and while the country still claims they are “open for business”, many citizens, along with the watching world, are scared that more threats are looming overhead. The island of Sri Lanka pictured above.
0 Comments
By Shelby Moquin [email protected] Whether you know it or not, ice skating is one of the most competitive industries in the world. It wouldn’t appear that way as the skaters glide across the ice, but we all know they fall at some points, and that their blades are even sharper. On the 20th of March, 2019, Korean figure skater Lim Eun-Soo’s calf was allegedly slashed American skater Mariah Bell. The International Skating Union addressed and investigated, and concluded that Bell did not harm/hurt Soo. Soo’s management team reports that Bell bumped into Soo on the ice during a warm-up, slicing the back of her calf with her skate’s blade. Bell then, reportedly, skated away without apologizing or acknowledging that she ran into Soo and continued to rehearse her routine. Soo came back in the competition, the World Figure Skating Championships, and placed fifth with her personal be score, while Bell landed in sixth. Does this remind you of something? In 1994, on January 6th Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by a man who was married to another skater, Tonya Harding. Following this attack, a consistency unraveled that baffled the world. Many people realized the similarity to the situation and started comparing Bell to Harding. Followers and viewers alike started attacking Bell on social media. Reports earlier from this year say that Bell has been bullying Soo for months. Adam Rippon, Bell’s choreographer and Olympic Gold-Medalist came to Bell’s defense on Twitter saying, “This article is clickbait. I’ve been to the rink multiple times and NO ONE has been bullying anyone. Stop creating ---- and spreading rumors. What happened in the warm up was an accident. Don’t distract both Eun-Soo and Mariah from the competition.” By Amelia Keller The Romani (or Roma) are a group of people who migrated from India to Europe a thousand years ago. They have a long history of oppression. Many Roma were living European countries by the 1400s. These countries passed laws against the way they dress, their languages, and some even went as far as expulsion. During the Holocaust, it is estimated that between 25 and 70% of their European population was wiped out by Nazis. Discrimination against these people is known as antiziganism.
April 8 is International Roma Day and is a reminder to continue working towards true equal rights. The Romani people are still struggling for access to education, health care, employment, and adequate housing. Earlier in 2019, a group of Roma people numbering more than 100 were pushed out of their homes in Bulgaria. This was due to pressure from other locals after a fight broke out during which a non-Roma was injured. Just a few days after they left, the authorities began to demolish the homes, citing health and safety as their reasoning. The misplaced people have been living with relatives in a nearby town. It's been reported that many of the children are no longer able to attend school and that none of the families have been provided with other housing. While many people in the Roma community do experience these blatant acts of extreme antiziganism, there are smaller things in everyday life. For example, the term "gypsy" is considered to be extremely offensive. It comes from when the Romani first arrived in Europe. They were mistaken as Egyptians and picked up this name. It now carries a connotation of theft, with many people (even Americans) using the word "gypped" to mean ripped off. On April 8 take a moment to think of, respect, and learn something more about the rich culture of Romani people. BY MARCUS EMMEL At the recent Apple Keynote on March 25, 2019, Apple revealed not only a new pair of Airpods, an Apple Arcade gaming service and improved their News+ service, but also revealed a new type of subscription streaming service. Called Apple tv+, the service aims to hit Apple fans this fall, introducing a new streaming service, "where the most creative minds in TV and film tell the kinds of stories only they can." Apple's big move into the subscription software competition marks a change in Apple's plans of tech domination. Some people think the idea of tv+ is simply to give up hardware and become their own Netflix, but the reality is that Apple is expanding their efforts to make AirPlay, Apple Music streaming and iTunes movie downloads available on hardware from Samsung TV's to Alexa WiFi microphones.
Apple has already largely switched from iTunes download sales to Apple Music's subscription streaming, so Apple also believes that customers will switch to a streaming service that offers the movies and shows of iTunes exclusivity while also being a subscription. Apple has also seen success in selling online services under the iCloud brand, which provides cloud storage, backups, cloud sync and a variety of other services all bundled into a monthly fee. Subscription services are now Apple's fastest-growing sale provider, outpacing the profits of both Macs and iPads. The hardware that gains value from paid or free subscription services (Apple Music, iCloud, etc.) is what Apple is selling best. The Apple TV's, iPhones, Apple Watches, Airpods, iPads and Macs that use these subscription services are what are making the profits explode, as a sort of supply and demand situation. The more services out there, exclusive to Apple products, the more Apple products that sell. Apple continues to dominate the technology market and with this new launch of tv+, expect to see some expansion in their grip on the world. By Shelby Moquin [email protected] On February 27th, 2019, a train crashed in Egypt at Cairo’s main railway, Ramses Station. More than forty people were injured and over twenty were confirmed dead. The train derailed and slid into a concrete buffer on the side of the tracks, causing a commotion and panic as it flames escaped from the train and lit up nearby platforms. Bystanders commented saying that the trail came into the station too fast when it should have been slowing down, leading to the derailment and crash. The General Prosecutor working the investigation on the case says that one of the conductors failed to apply the brakes. The Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, promised that he would punish individuals he found responsible for the crash. Egyptian officials recently arrested six individuals that they will be holding in responsible for the crash, including multiple conductors and rail workers. Video of the crash has since gone viral, along with Mohamed Abdel Rahaman, a rail worker who after the crash spent his time pulling people from the wreck. Egyptians say the death toll could have been if Rahaman and others didn’t step in and help others from the wreck. He called his actions “normal”, and said that in his village anyone would have helped out if they could. In the past, Egypt has had a history of train crashes along with other locomotive accidents. The infographic attached to this article provides statistics on accidents, what the trains carry, and how many passengers they carry daily. Trains in Egypt are a major part of daily life. Commuters take them from their villages to work, and companies use them to ship their goods and products all over Egypt and also in about of out the Middle East. Egyptian officials also declared a updated revamp of all the locomotives tracks and cars, making it more efficient for both passengers, companies, and conductors. Image via Arabnews
Today, January 9th, 1946 is James Patrick Page’s birthday. Better known as Jimmy Page, he is one of the most influential guitarists of all time. The Rolling Stones ranks him at number 3 of the best guitarists of all time just behind Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix. Page has written many iconic songs such as The Immigrant Song, Stairway to Heaven, and Rock and Roll. Page also formed Led Zeppelin, which is the 2nd most successful band in the world. Heres a little backstory on him.
|
|