Four ExxonMobil workers have received minor injuries during a refinery explosion in Torrance, California. As of yet, the cause of the explosion has not been determined, though the California Department of Industrial Relations has opened a probe to investigate the matter. The explosion, as well as the recent walkout by United Steelworkers from a Tesoro Corp…
Kurdish forces inside of the city of Kobane have announced that after 134 days of fighting, Kobane is under the control of Peshmerga and there are no longer any ISIS militants within the city. There are reports of ISIS militants in surrounding villages. However, Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and Peshmerga forces are preparing to retake…
Three people have been transported to the hospital following a shooting at the Strozier Library on Florida State University’s campus. The shooter was a 2005 graduate at Florida State University. At 12:30 am November 20, FSU officers told the shooter to drop his weapon. He fired a shot and campus police shot back, killing him….
Election Day was November 4 and the Republicans were the big winners. 62% of elected Governors in the US are now Republicans, 56% of the elected House of Representatives are Republicans, and 52% of the elected Senate is Republicans (CNN). Republicans swept state legislative races by winning control of more than 68 legislative chambers, largest since 1920 (CNN). In addition, Ms. Mia Love narrowly won election to a House seat for Utah, becoming the first black woman to represent the Republican Party in Congress. For Colorado in the Senate, Cory Gardner (Republican) defeated Mark Udall (Democrat) by 48.5% to 46.0%. Governor John Hickenlooper (Democrat) was re-elected as governor defeating Bob Beauprez (Republican) 49% to 46%. The governor became the only Democrat to win the statewide contest and one of the few bright spots for the Democrats. “This is a moment and an opportunity to seize the day and to move forward,” Hickenlooper said, “Not to dwell on the wedge issues that too often divide us.” Hickenlooper’s opponent, Beauprez acknowledged, “There just aren’t enough options to get us across the finish line.” Beauprez said that he failed to capture the energy and could not offer a “fresh face” for voters.
Nurse Kaci Hickox, who recently returned to the US after treating Ebola patients, went on a bike ride while being followed by a police cruiser and a group of journalists watching her every move. Maine Governor Paul LePage said that he would “exercise the full extent of his authority allowable by law to keep her away from public places.” The governor has not set a court order for a quarantine, which is causing some people living in her neighborhood to panic. However, Hickox insisted that she was healthy. The government has yet to announce actions to be taken.
The Ebola scare continues, and, even with positive stories such as Nina Pham being cleared from her Dallas hospital, the cultural and economic strain of the virus is having a continued effect. In the end the greatest effect of the virus may be on the American economy as travel bans and fearful citizens have already caused airline stocks to drop and predicted economic losses swell to over $32.6 billion.
The Ebola outbreak has amounted to 4000 deaths in the world and has affected West Africa, such as Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the worst. One of those deaths belonged to Thomas Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. The UN says more than 233 health workers working in West Africa have now died in the outbreak, the world’s deadliest to date. A senior official said that they did not anticipate the scale of the Ebola outbreak. Chris Dye, from World Health Organization, said, “We’ve asked for a response of about $1 billion, so far we have around $300 million with more being pledged, so a bit less than half of what we need but it’s climbing quickly all the time.” President Barack Obama ordered screenings for Ebola at five American airports in the United States, including JFK International Airport in New York after being briefed by Center for Disease Control chief Dr. Tom Frieden earlier this week.
The first Ebola virus case has now spread to the USA. Currently, the Ebola patient, Thomas Duncan, is in full isolation in a hospital in Dallas. His family members are kept out of school and monitored for symptoms. Duncan got the Ebola virus when he went to Liberia and helped an Ebola virus patient to a hospital. He went back home to Dallas, where he carried the virus. Ebola spreads only through contact with bodily fluids, like blood. It is not contagious when there are no symptoms, and Duncan apparently had no fever when he got on the plane. He would have been contagious in Dallas, though, raising the possibility of the first case not just spotted but contracted in the United States. The World Health Organization now estimates that the virus has killed about 70 percent of people infected in West Africa. Also, in Liberia, an American cameraman working for NBC News has tested positive for Ebola and will be flown back to US for treatment.
An employee of the Chicago airports O’Hare and Midway has been accused of starting a fire in the FAA Air Route Traffic Control facility in Aurora, III. The fire caused the delay and cancellation of over 2,000 of flights out of both of the airports and disrupted even more throughout the entire country. Since failing to cut his own throat near the location of the fire, he has been charged with the destruction of aircraft and aircraft facilities and faces twenty years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
With the Ebola virus going around in Africa and spreading rapidly, there is no wonder why one in four people in the United States are worried they or someone in their family will become the victim of this deadly virus, according to an international poll by CNN. Because the Ebola virus has no treatment or vaccine available, “Ebola outbreaks have a 90% fatality rate,” according to CNN. Symptoms include severe fever, intense weakness, and internal and external bleeding. President Obama says that chances of the Ebola outbreak in the United States are extremely low and he said on Tuesday that the United States is leading international efforts to combat the virus. One of the efforts to combat this is shipping hospital equipment from the United States to Liberia starting on Friday. United States Aid Official Nancy Lindborg said, “The United States hopes its expanded effort to contain the spread of the virus will help rally other countries to respond to this epidemic.” The plane will arrive at a facility where it will be staffed by 65 Americans who will help treat about 2500 people who were affected. Finally, according to Reuters,, United States Secretary of State John Kerry will hold discussions with other countries to discuss about the response to Ebola.