How much have you missed?

Here’s a recap of this week. Just click the story to read on!

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Politics

• Trump declared a national emergency to get funding for his border wall, despite admitting that he "didn't need to" do it. Sixteen states have sued, saying that Congress controls the funds, and Trump can’t use his power in this way. Nancy Pelosi is introducing legislation to block the national emergency, which will be put to a vote by the House.
• Senator Bernie Sanders (I- VT) announced that he will be running for President again in 2020.
• Ruth Bader Ginsburg has returned to work at the Supreme Court after undergoing surgery to remove cancer in her left lung.
• The NYC Commission on Human Rights has made it illegal to discriminate against black New Yorkers based on their hair.
• It was announced this week that the Trump administration would launch a campaign to decriminalize homosexuality globally, however, when asked about this plan by a reporter, Trump answered that he didn’t know.

Pop culture

• Khloe Kardashian has officially broken up with Tristan Thompson after finding out that he cheated on her with family friend Jordyn Woods.
• Lady Gaga has ended her engagement with talent agent Christian Carino.
• Ariana Grande is the first artist since The Beatles to occupy the top three spots on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with ‘7 rings,’ ‘break up with your girlfriend, i’m bored, ‘ and ‘thank u, next.’
• Empire actor Jussie Smollett is under arrest and has turned himself in for paying two men to orchestrate an attack on him, which he had reported as a hate crime. He is charged with making a false police report.
• Miley Cyrus spoke out about being a queer person in a heterosexual relationship with her husband Liam Hemsworth.
• Beyonce praised Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for using their platform to open an important dialogue about race relations.

Humanity

• Designer Karl Lagerfeld, creative director of Chanel, has died at age 85.
• 5 people are dead after an ex-employee opened fire at a manufacturing company in Aurora, Illinois. The disgruntled employee had just been terminated, and began shooting outside of the conference room he had been in with HR. Chicago police have acknowledged that the gunman was wrongfully in possession of a gun license, as he had prior felonies on his record that were missed in the background check.
• Nine members of the Delta Kappa Epsilon frat at LSU have been arrested on hazing charges for some extremely disturbing hazing rituals they were conducting.
• Amazon has pulled out of their decision to open a headquarters in New York City.
• A sporting store in Colorado is going out of business after boycotting Nike over their campaign featuring Colin Kaepernick.
• A Coast Guard officer has been arrested and labeled a domestic terrorist for planning a white nationalist attack centering on democratic leaders and news reporters but intended to affect civilians. He had been stockpiling weapons and drugs, and has stated white supremacist views throughout his past.

Science says...

• An Australian rodent has been declared the first known mammal to go extinct as a direct result of man-made climate change.
• Scientists believe that sea squirts could be used to measure plastic pollution in the oceans.
• Scientists are testing genetically modifying mosquitoes with the goal of spreading lethal genetic mutations to other mosquitoes.
• An MIT study suggested that climate change is causing the ocean colors to intensify because of the changes in phytoplankton communities.
• Samsung revealed its next device, the Galaxy Fold, which will redefine smart devices.

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