On October 17, seventeen missionaries were kidnapped in Port au Prince, Haiti. The 17 missionaries consisted of 16 Americans and one Canadian citizen. The kidnappers are known as 400 Wawazo Gang.
On October 29, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 through 11-years old to further mitigate the spread of the virus. The emergency authorization was issued following the FDA’s detailed and transparent evaluation of the data that included input from independent advisory committee experts who voted largely in favor of making the vaccine available for younger Americans.
More than 200 female judges remain in Afghanistan, many of them under threat and in hiding, according to the International Association of Women Judges. Taliban officials have recovered their personal information from court records, several former judges said, and some have had their bank accounts frozen.
On October 27, 2021, Sam Pesin, the current president of Liberty State Park (LSP) spoke on behalf of the park and the privatization plans he is trying to fight. Sam’s father founded the popular Liberty State Park, Sam has spent most of his life in the park either helping his father, enjoying the scenery, or fighting for the park. “My father, Morris Pesin spent 18 years leading the movement to create the Liberty State Park, and I will spend my life making sure it stays open for the people just like he intended no matter what,” said Pesin.
The Canary Islands' volcano eruption was a horrible thing and affected thousands of people.
The Canary Island volcanic eruption affected the whole island and engulfed it in ash. It went on for hours and and the residents were scared it was never going stop. To this day, it's still going and there seems to be no end.
In September of 2014, the spotted lanternfly (SLF) was discovered in Berks County, Pennsylvania. It has since then spread to other counties and states such as New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, New York, and Connecticut. It is approximately one inch long and looks relatively similar to a moth. Its top wings are a beige color with black spots, and its bottom wings are half red with black spots and half black with white splotches.
On October 20, 2021, there were multiple articles released about an outstanding medical success. For the first time ever, surgeons attached a pig kidney to a human and it worked successfully. The pig kidney was put onto the human at The New York University. These articles share just how amazing this experiment will be for the world, moving forward.
As European countries recover from COVID and lockdown restrictions are being lifted, European countries now face a new problem: a shortage of natural gas. Due to climate change, many countries around the world are moving towards cleaner energy sources such as natural gas. However as countries come out of lockdown, they are faced with the fact that there is not enough natural gas for the post pandemic recovery.
On Monday, October 18th, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov announced Russia will suspend diplomatic ties with NATO. This also includes the information office in Moscow. According to RT News, “Lavrov said that, after that date (November 1st) NATO should turn to the Russian ambassador in Belgium for any contact.”
Hundreds of people were ordered to report for jury duty Monday, October 18th, in Georgia for what could be a long, laborious effort to find jurors to hear the trial of three white men charged with fatally shooting Ahmaud Arbery as he was running in their neighborhood.
The United States pulling its troops from Afghanistan after more than 19 years is a major news story globally. There have been mixed responses, some celebrating the troops coming home, while some protesting, saying that they need to stay.
A collective emotion however, is a sense of foreboding.
Over the summer, starting on July 20, 2021 and ending July 25th, the International Aviation and Space Show, otherwise known as MAKS, was held in Moscow Russia at Zhukovsky International Airport. The show allows for Russian aerospace companies to showcase their new designs and then negotiate export contracts to foreign nations looking to buy the new designs. During the 2021 MAKS, a new Russian light multirole stealth fighter, the SU-75 Checkmate, was revealed.
The death of George Floyd in 2020, brought a tremendous uprising in the black community. the movement, Black Lives Matter, was shown in a protest. Even some athletes take a knee, or a fist, to protest against racism. Also wearing shirts that read, “Black Lives Matter”, but now those shirts, have been banned if worn in the Olympics.
On Sunday May 9, 2021, 13-year-old Trystin Bailey was killed by 14-year-old classmate Aiden Fucci in a wooded area near her home in St. Johns county, Florida. After an hours-long search, the police had located her body and announced on Tuesday, May 11 that the teenager had been stabbed to death. Aiden Fucci, who was previously charged with second-degree murder, has now been indicted as an adult on a first-degree murder charge by St. John’s County Grand Jury. According to the 7th Judicial Circuit State Attorney R.J.
After 15 long months of battling the COVID-19 crisis, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced on May 24, 2021 that the statewide indoor mask mandate and requirement for maintaining six feet of social distancing in indoor and outdoor settings would be lifted on May 28. The Governor also signed Executive Order No. 241 on May 17, which eliminates the requirement of masks in public outdoor spaces. These new executive orders come into effect, as more and more New Jerseyans have gotten vaccinated and the number of COVID-19 cases has continued to decline.
On May 18, news came out that Ohio is holding a Vax-a-million lottery for Ohio’s residents. Five people will get $1 million for getting the vaccine. Five separate weekly drawings of the lottery will take place.
On April 19, 2021 it was reported that more than 100,000 Russian soldiers had built up near the Ukraine border and in annexed Crimea. This worried members of NATO and the EU as this came after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the Russo Ukrainian war which also began in 2014. Journalists and politicians have Identified this as the biggest Russian troop movement since WW2.
Recently in South Carolina, a new law has been put in place regarding executions for death row inmates. South Carolina’s Governor, Henry McMaster, has signed to approve the electric chair and firing squad option if lethal injection is not available for executions.
On May 29, Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation Chief Rosanne Casimir announced that the remains of 215 children had been found near the city of Kamloops’ native residential boarding school in southern British Columbia.
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the independent state of Gaza, agreed to a cease-fire that began on May 21, following pressure from the U.S. and its allies to end 11 days of fighting.
The barrages from both sides were the worst since the most recent of three wars between Israel and Hamas in 2014. The fighting, which began on May 10, claimed the lives of more than 250 people, mostly in Gaza.
