School Shooting in Kentucky Leaves Two Dead, 17 Wounded
—A 15-year-old male student entered Marshall County High School in western Kentucky on Tuesday morning, armed with a handgun. He opened fire, killing two students and wounding seventeen others. A 15-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl were the victims that passed away. Of the injured, two are currently battling gunshot wounds to the head, one suffered an arm injury, and another sustained injuries to the chest and abdomen. As of now, investigators have not identified a motive and it is reported that the 15-year-old appeared to be shooting randomly. Officials were able to arrive on the scene in less than ten minutes, and the suspect was apprehended and will likely be charged as an adult for murder and attempted murder. This is the nation’s rst fatal school shooting in 2018.
Government Shutdown Ends
—President Trump signed a bill Monday night ending the government shutdown and reinstating funds through Feb. 8. The three- day shutdown was the first in history under a one party government and began on the one year anniversary of the Trump presidency. Longer term funding is at a deadlock in the Senate, where Democrats and Republicans have disagreed on the spending bill that passed the House last week. The disagreements are over a variety of issues, but notably the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program. In a poorly thought out tweet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell explained how Republicans were holding Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) hostage by refusing to fund it if DACA got an extension.
Ex-C.I.A. Officer Arrested for Compromise of Chinese Informants
— A former C.I.A. officer suspected of helping China take down a United States spy network operating in the country was arrested for compromise of Chinese informants. Jerry Chun Shing Lee, 53, was arrested at the end of a five-year F.B.I. inquiry into the disappearances of C.I.A. informants in China. Mr. Lee allegedly exposed the identities of U.S. informers, which led to more than a dozen deaths, a devastating blow to operations in the region. The Central Intelligence Agency is best known for subverting U.S. human rights policy. Its “blacksites” commonly use torture, violating both U.S. and international law. The C.I.A. propped up fascist dictatorships, assassinated or assisted in the assassination of leftist politicians on at least four different continents, and trained counterrevolutionary and police forces in psychological operations and unconventional warfare, leading to the death of countless civilians and prolonged civil wars. The C.I.A. has not commented on Mr. Lee’s arrest.
Amazon Narrows Possible Headquarter Location to 20 Cities
—Twenty out of 238 cities in the United States and Canada have made the final list in their bids for Amazon’s second headquarters. The corporation will decide later this year on the city to house its new operations, including 50,000 Amazon employees and $5 billion in economic investment according to the company. The list includes larger cities such as Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Toronto and some smaller surprises like Columbus, Ohio. Bids offered by the cities include large tax breaks, and D.C. even proposed an “Amazon University,” which would train and create a direct pipeline of workers for the company. The bids for HQ2 have been heavily criticized for being shameless displays of state governments prostrating themselves at the altar of big business. Many people have called on the corporation to consider Rust Belt cities like Detroit who could use the industry instead of “trendier” cities like Austin.
Kazakhstan Welcomes New Alphabet, Except for Plethora of Apostrophes
—In his 26th year in office as Kazakhstan’s first and only president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev has sparked controversy over the creation of a new alphabet. The Kazakh language is written in a modified form of Cyrillic, a vestige of Soviet rule, but last May President Nazarbayev announced the Russian alphabet will be switched to a Latin based alphabet. The decision was difficult to implement due to the fact that Kazakh has no alphabet of its own, so how to write the language down had to be agreed upon. The president has proposed a solution to the difficult pronunciations with no Latin counterpart: apostrophes, and lots of them. The authoritarian leader ignored the advice of specialists, and in a country where his rule is usually absolute, he has been under attack for his decision. The new alphabet is seen as part of the construction of a national identity after Soviet subjugation.
Sessions Interviewed by Special Counsel
—General Jeff Sessions was the first member of President Trump’s cabinet to be interviewed for the Russia investigation. Last week, Sessions spoke with special counsel Robert Mueller about possible coordination between the 2016 Trump campaign and Moscow. Trump reportedly said that he was not troubled that Mr. Sessions met with the special counsel. Although, it is understood that Sessions discussed the possible obstruction of justice in the ring of former FBI Director James Comey. If Session’s statements are true, this would mean the president was trying to obstruct justice. Sessions met voluntarily with Mueller, and the interview was reported to last several hours. It is significant that Mueller met with Sessions before he met with Trump, because he may now have access to information of evidentiary value.
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