Twelve people including at least one police officer were killed in a mass shooting at Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California last Wednesday night. The New York Times reports the suspect, 28-year-old Ian Long, was found dead at the scene. Investigators believed he committed suicide. Long was reportedly a combat veteran who served in Afghanistan and was likely suffering from PTSD. There have been multiple reports that some of the victims were also present during the Las Vegas mass shooting from a year ago in which 58 were killed. At least one of those survivors died in this shooting.
Wildfires in both northern and southern California are targeting more populated areas as high winds help them spread, making them the deadliest wildfires in California’s history. In this week alone over 200,000 people have been forced to evacuate, and the death toll is now at 44 with hundreds more missing, according to National Public Radio. It also reports that one wildfire dubbed the “Camp Fire” has already burned 113,000 acres of land, destroyed over 6,000 structures and is responsible for the majority of the fatalities. Meanwhile, the Woolsey Fire in southern California is lurking dangerously close to Malibu and Thousand Oaks. Pictures in the Washington Post illustrate the entire town of Paradise, California, whose population was 26,000, being completely destroyed.
National News:
United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been forced out of office by the request of President Trump. This comes after months of Trump expressing disappointment in his performance. Session’s former chief of staff Matthew Whitaker, described as a Trump loyalist by many, will take his place, and National Public Radio explains that this has the potential to completely change Justice Department Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Whitaker has expressed in the past that he is against the investigation, but he now has the power to stop it altogether if he deems it necessary.
Stan Lee, the president of Marvel Comics, has died at 95. He was most famous for revolutionizing the comic book industry as a whole by introducing his creative new superheroes in the 1960s and 1970s. Among the most popular of these include Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, The Hulk, the X-men, the Fantastic Four and an array of others. Marvel Comics is seen today as Detective Comics’ (DC’s) most powerful rival due to some of his creations. Stan Lee has remained relevant in pop culture for decades, making a cameo in almost every movie put out by Marvel Studios since the first Iron Man movie in 2008.
Local News:
A fatal accident occurred on Route 10 south in Cranston on Monday at around 4 a.m. The driver of the car, 28-year-old Miguel Revolorio, was found dead at the scene, and his two passengers were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Revolorio allegedly lost control of the vehicle, causing it to roll over multiple times, WPRI reported. It has since been reported that the car was stolen three days earlier and that it actually belonged to Sara Garcia of Cranston, who claims she did not know any of the victims in the crash.
The Country Inn in Warren has closed down for good. WJAR reports that none of the employees were informed of the closure and that some were working the night before. When they showed up for work again Monday morning, they were met with a sign thanking them for their patronage. The employees still have not heard any word on why this happened. The same thing occurred last week at a few Papa Gino’s pizza chains in the area, but it is unknown if the incidents are related.
International News:
The New York Times is reporting on new satellite images from North Korea revealing at least 16 hidden nuclear bases, leading experts to believe that the nuclear threat is far from neutralized. The Times is calling it a “great deception.” President Trump has commented on the issue, claiming there is still nothing to fear, especially since North Korea has not tested one nuclear weapon in almost a year. Nonetheless, this finding is still worrying to government officials, as it seems the North has not taken any steps towards denuclearization yet and has also canceled a meeting between its top negotiator and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, along with many protesting civilians, are now demanding to know what happened to Saudi Journalist Jamal Khashoggi of the Washington Post, and who ordered him to be murdered. The New York Times says Saudi Arabia has now admitted that Khashoggi was, in fact, killed inside the consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, but they will not reveal what was done to his remains. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia told Erdogan he would reveal the truth regarding the incident but has since said nothing. Turkish intelligence has reportedly released an audio tape of the killing to every country who requested it.