Search The Website!

Today's big news is in the United States. US President Joe Biden has just announced, in a video, that he will be running for reelection in the election of 2024. However, many people have concerns over his age (80 years old) and how he may have to face off against former president Donald Trump once again. Many people have posted on social media around a specific topic: I'm not a huge fan of Biden, but I'm terrified of Trump. This shows how many US citizens are not happy with how the country progressed under Trump, but they aren't loving what Biden has done so far. So the big question is, can Biden win a second term in November of next year, or will someone else take the win? On another note, a cease-fire has finally been announced in Sudan after almost a week of intense fighting throughout the East African country. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Force (RSF) have been battling for control of the country, with bombings, raids, and gunfire erupting across the country. The death toll is now at around 450 people, with thousands more injured. However, many countries are using this break in the fighting to evacuate their personnel in Sudan, and many foreign citizens who were visiting or temporarily staying there are also packing up and leaving as fast as possible before the battles continue.

Today, we have some major news about Bed Bath & Beyond. Recently, the company announced that it was going out of business, and it filed for bankruptcy a few weeks ago. Its 360 stores across the US and its website will continue to stay open, but they have now started the clearance of all of their store items. Its stocks also plunged by over 25% after the announcement that they were bankrupt, and the collapse of the retail giant has just begun. Over 14,000 employees are now expecting to face unemployment in the near future, so many are frantically searching for new jobs as Bed Bath & Beyond transitions into the beginning of the end. On another note, over half of the US and all of Canada saw some dazzling Northern Lights on Sunday night, with the auroras stretching from Washington to Maine and appearing as far south as Oklahoma and Arkansas. The green-blue lights were caused by a solar storm, which is a massive burst of solar energy that hits Earth's magnetic field. Think of it like this: the solar storm is like a leaf, and Earth's magnetic field is a pond. When the "leaf" hits the "water" in the "pond," a ripple is created, which are the Northern Lights. However, those "leaves" are normally drawn toward the poles, which is why you normally see the auroras in the Arctic and Antarctic Circles (above 66.5ºN or below 66.5ºS).

Today, we have some big news for Australians! In the past few days, the official borders of the city of Melbourne have just been expanded to include the town of Melton, which allows the South Australian city to overtake Sydney as Australia's most populous city. It now leads by about 19,000 people, but both cities' populations continue to grow, so Sydney could retake the crown in the next few years. On another note, we have some more big news for anyone living in the northern half of North America. A massive solar storm is headed that way, and the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) could light up the skies from Alaska and Greenland all the way down to Illinois and Indiana. The lights will also light up anywhere from Washington to Maine, and go as far south as Kansas if the storm is powerful enough. So if you live in that range, look for some beautiful green lights in the sky tonight!

Happy Earth Day! We at TWN hope you can help contribute to making the Earth a better place today! Remember, a contribution is a contribution, no matter how small. Anyway, today's only major news is a big update on the warfare in Sudan. As the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Force (RSF) continue to fiercely battle for control of the East African country, chaos has ensued. Over 420 people have been killed and over 3,700 people have been injured, as the fighting spreads across Sudan. Amid fears of bombing and attack, many foreign countries have announced that they are evacuating their embassies in Sudan. Saudi Arabia was the first to announce this, and both the SAF and RSF have agreed to help get their citizens out of the warring country. The United States, United Kingdom, France, and China followed suit. The battling has also not stopped for the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which ended on Friday, April 21.

Today, we have some good news about the Amazon Rainforest. As illegal logging and deforestation continues in Brazil, United States President Joe Biden has promised to give $500 million in a new pledge to saving the rainforest. This will make the US one of the largest donors to the Amazon Fund, which is an international organization that is committed to saving the rainforest from the dangers of deforestation and illegal logging in Brazil.

Dozens of tornadoes have just struck the Central US in a massive storm that knocked out power to over 30,000 homes and businesses on Wednesday and early Thursday. The hardest-hit states were Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas, with one destructive EF3 tornado killing three people as it raged through the town of Cole, Oklahoma. The storm is now moving farther east, with the tornado, flooding, and hail threat expected to move to parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Missouri. On another note, the new SpaceX rocket, Starship, just attempted its first launch this morning, exploding in a ball of fire in the sky. The massive rocket stands at over 390 feet (119 meters) tall and weighs over 5,000 tons. Nearby spectators of the launch reported that they felt the ground shaking like crazy, calling it "thunderous" and "earth-rattling." However, even though it exploded just a minute after launch, Elon Musk still thinks that it achieved expectations. Earlier this week, he even stated, "Just don't blow up the pad," showing how he had very low expectations for the first test of the supersized rocket. Lastly, we end on a sad note, as we inform you about the recent stampede in Yemen, which killed 78 people. A Ramadan charity event in an alleyway of the city was handing out about 10 dollars to anyone who came along to celebrate Ramadan, and people started to come in masses to get the money. Unfortunately, in the stampede, 78 people were killed, and dozens more were injured after the crush of people started falling on each other, and people were suffocated under the mass of people. A similar event also happened in Seoul, South Korea in October of 2022, which was much more deadly. In that crowd crush, over 150 people died and over 200 others were injured.

If you live in Australia or Southeast Asia, we hope you enjoyed a stunning, rare, hybrid solar eclipse! For more information on the eclipse, read yesterday's update here. On another note, we have some bad news about plastics. Scientists have recently discovered a toxic chemical in fast food packaging. PFAS, the chemical, is also known as a 'forever chemical' because it never fully degrades. PFAS has recently been found almost everywhere on Earth, from rivers in the US to in the bellies of fish in the Maldives, and even to the Himalayas! PFAS is used in this packaging to make them grease and water repellant, but they have many harms. The 'forever chemical' is linked to a lot of serious health problems later on in life, and it also leaches over time, allowing it to spread into the air around it and even the food on it. Also related to plastics, scientists have also recently made a huge discovery about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The patch of junk and trash is over 620,000 square miles, and is located in between California and Hawaii. A group of researchers actually discovered life in the patch, and it seems like many animals have adapted and gotten used to the massive floating patch in the ocean. The researchers found sea creatures like anemones, crustaceans, and jellyfish making the garbage patch their new home.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, so let's take a minute or two to honor the over eleven million people who died at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis. Okay, so today's only major news is about the huge celestial event coming up on Thursday! If you live in Australia or Southeast Asia, get ready for a stunning, rare, hybrid solar eclipse! A solar eclipse happens when the Earth passes through the moon's shadow blocking out the Sun, but there are different types of solar eclipses. The first thing you need to know is that a shadow has two parts: the umbra and the penumbra. The umbra is the darker, inside part of the shadow, while the penumbra is the lighter area on the outside. When a partial solar eclipse occurs, the Sun is only partially blocked out because we only pass through the moon's penumbra. An annular solar eclipse is when the moon completely blocks out the Sun, but you can still see the Sun's edges because the moon is too far away from Earth to completely block it out. Finally, the big one is a total solar eclipse, where the moon completely blocks out 100% of the Sun and the part of the Earth in the moon's umbra experiences a few minutes of total darkness. However, a hybrid solar eclipse is extremely rare, and it is when you can see different portions of the Sun in different places. For example, in the hybrid eclipse on April 20, 2023, parts of Australia will see a total solar eclipse, but most of Indonesia and New Zealand will see a partial eclipse.

Make sure you get your taxes done, and if you haven't done them yet, make sure to send an application for an extension to the IRS! Now, let's get into today's news. This morning, Elon Musk attempted to launch the new SpaceX rocket, Starship. Unfortunately, the launch was called off, and has been rescheduled for 9 AM on Thursday, April 20. Starship is unmanned, but it is the tallest and most powerful rocket ever created, standing at over 390 feet (119 m) tall. It also weighs over 5,000 tons, but it is intended to be fully reusable. However, Musk does not seem to have very high expectations of the rocket. He stated that they would consider a success if it even got far away enough from the pad before something went wrong, and also said, "Just don't blow up the pad." On another note, if you're in India right now, you may want to watch out. A massive heatwave is hitting the area, with temperatures hitting around 104ºF (40ºC) in most states. Nine states are also under a heatwave warning, with the temps soaring to over 113ºF (45ºC) in those areas. At an awards event in Maharashtra, 11 people died to due heatstroke, and many more have been hospitalized or killed across India in the extreme heat, so if you are under a heatwave warning, stay inside, and stay cool! Lastly, over 100 people are dead and over 1,300 injured after the third day of intense conflict in Sudan, where the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Force are fiercely battling for control of the East African country. It first started in 2021, when the military overthrew the government in a coup, and decided on a power-sharing arrangement between two big military leaders of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo. But now, any peace between the two men has evaporated, and they are both now leading two separate forces against each other for control of Sudan. Dagalo defended his position by saying that the Sudanese Army broke a UN peace treaty that was put in place between the two rivals, and that is how the fighting started. However, al-Burhan has had no comment. Also, many medical groups are struggling to reach victims of the fighting, and more and more people are dying by the day because of the lack of medical help.

All of today's big news is about violence, unfortunately, so young children and violence-sensitive adults may not want to read this update. Over 85 people are dead and over 1,100 injured after the second day of conflict in Sudan, where the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Force battling for control of the East African country. It all started in 2021, when the military overthrew the government in a coup, and decided on a power-sharing arrangement between two big military leaders. But now, any peace between the two men has evaporated, and they are both now leading two separate forces against each other for control of Sudan. On another sad note, ten more mass shootings have just taken place, this time in Dadeville, Alabama; two in Louisville, Kentucky; Pope County, Minnesota; La Palma, Mexico; Nyssa, Oregon; Portland, Oregon; Chicago, Illinois; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Biloxi, Mississippi. In downtown Dadeville on Saturday night, a Sweet 16 birthday party was taking place when a shooter marched onto the scene, killing four teens and injuring almost 30 others. The suspect is still at large. The same day, shots were fired into a crowd in Louisville, killing two people and injuring four others, and another person was hospitalized after a shooting in the neighborhood of Shelby Park. These are the second and third mass shootings in the city within a week, with another shooting taking place on Monday at the Old National Bank, killing five. The suspects have also not been found. Then, on the same night, the police deputy was killed in Pope County, in western Minnesota, during a shootout while tracking down a suspected gunman. Another deputy and officer were injured as well. In La Palma, a town in central Mexico, seven people were killed at a resort, including a child, by a band of gunmen who entered, fully armed. Also, on the same night, a police officer in Nyssa, Oregon, was killed in the line of duty while chasing down a suspect. However, the suspect has not been found. Then, a woman was killed in her apartment by a man who arrived at the complex with a gun, and witnesses say that she survived, but then succumbed to the pain later and died in their arms. A shooting also took place in downtown Chicago, near Millennium Park, injuring two teens, who were shot by sixteen-year-old boy who was part of a large group of young adults that were "engaging in reckless and disruptive behavior" on the same night as the Dadeville, Pope County, and Louisville shootings. Lastly, a combined seven people were also injured after gunmen opened fire in a park in uptown Charlotte and near Surf Style in Biloxi. And this all comes right after the National Rifle Association (NRA) national convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, where photos of kids, as young as six years old, handling deactivated guns have been circulating around social media. These photos then prompted serious backlash from many people. One parent said, "The NRA hopes to push 'gun extremism' onto the next generation," and later talked about how she thought that the NRA's goal was never to teach children about being responsible with guns, but to market and introduce guns and gun extremism to the next generation.