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We have a lot of news today, so let's dive in. More severe weather is headed to the Midwest, South, and Central US, with strong winds, power outages, heavy rain, golf ball-sized hail, and tornadoes. Many people that were just struck by the severe storms in the past week or two are also under threat, which could be a big problem for towns that are still recovering from the damage. However, this storm isn't expected to be as bad as the others. On another note, Finland is officially joining NATO today as the 31st member, after over a year of debating whether Finland should join the organization or not. Finland started to hurry to join NATO once the Russo-Ukraine War started, amid fears that they would be invaded just like Ukraine was. The admittance of Finland to NATO has also eased Sweden's fears of being invaded (since they are also not part of NATO, but they have applied), as the only way to get from Russia to Sweden is through Finland. However, Russia has still threatened to take counter-measures, but they are still very busy in their war with Ukraine. Now we have some sad news: After a serious avalanche in the state of Sikkim, India, seven people are dead and over thirteen others are injured after the wall of snow thundered down a mountain, destroying homes and businesses. Avalanches are quite common in the area, since it is near the Himalayan Mountains, but this massive one was much bigger than the regular avalanches in the region. Also, one person is dead and over thirty others are injured after a passenger train in the Netherlands hit a construction crane. The Dutch train owned by the company Pro Rail slammed into a small construction crane on the track at around 3:25 AM and derailed, with three cars falling off the main rail. Lastly, Australia has announced that it will ban TikTok on government devices over safety concerns in the country, with many people suspecting that China could be listening in or tracking them from the app. However, Australia isn't the only one to impose some sort of ban on the Chinese social media app. The United States, the European Union, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Taiwan, and Canada also ban TikTok either only on government devices or completely ban it throughout the country.

If you live in the Midwest or Central United States, watch out! More severe weather is headed your way, with another storm system expected to hit on Tuesday. The storm will bring rain, high winds, hail, and a risk of tornadoes to the towns that were just battered by the severe weather systems of Friday and the week before that, and over 60,000 people are still out of power as of today. On another note, you might see gas prices spike once again. Some members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) have announced that they will start voluntarily cutting crude oil production, amid the new shift to renewable energy. OPEC members that are cutting production include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Algeria, Russia, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, and the total output that has been cut is over 1.66 million barrels a day, which is a big step in the shift to clean energy. Lastly, Finland has finally been approved to join NATO, after over a year of debating whether Finland should join or not. The official announcement will be made on Tuesday. Finland started to hurry to join NATO once the Russo-Ukraine War started, amid fears that they would be invaded as well. They have finally been approved, which has also eased Sweden's fears of being invaded (since they are also not part of NATO, but they have applied), as the only way to get from Russia to Sweden is through Finland.

Severe weather has continued to batter the South and Eastern United States, with big tornadoes pummeling the Midwest and Central US on Friday and Saturday. Over 32 people are now dead after over 50 tornadoes spawned in Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana, Wisconsin, and a loner in Delaware killed one person in Sussex County. In Illinois, four people were killed, one of which died when the roof of the Apollo Theater in Belvidere collapsed due to high winds. Five people were killed in Indiana, three of those five in the town of Sullivan. Two children and an adult were found dead in Tennessee after a tree fell on their house, and nine others were killed in McNairy County. Another person was found dead in North Little Rock, Arkansas, after a powerful EF-3 ripped through the state capital. Also, one person was killed in Madison County, Alabama, and another in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Now, the severe weather threat is moving into Texas and Oklahoma, where more tornadoes and golf-ball size hail is expected throughout the day. Unfortunately, since we have entered peak storm season, another system will move in on Tuesday, and it will bring more rain, hail, high winds, and even tornadoes.

Happy April Fools Day! Let's get into today's news. Unfortunately, we start off with some bad news. After a recent severe storm system, over 21 people were killed as tornadoes ravaged the Central US, Midwestern US, and Deep South. A strong EF-3 was reported to have crossed the Arkansas capital of Little Rock, along with other smaller tornadoes, strong winds, and golf ball-sized hail. More tornadoes also battered the towns of Covington, Tennessee, Sullivan, Indiana, and Madison, Alabama. Two more tornadoes also struck two counties in Illinois, with baseball-sized hail as well. According to poweroutage.us, over 255,000 people are out of power in Pennsylvania, around 207,000 in Ohio, about 79,000 in Tennessee, around 74,000 in West Virginia, over 68,000 in North Carolina, and about 55,000 in Virginia. About 49,000 are out in Kentucky, over 42,000 in Georgia, over 38,000 in New York, over 34,000 in Arkansas, over 32,000 in Minnesota and Indiana, about 24,000 in Illinois, and over 10,000 in Wisconsin.

A massive severe weather system is on the way, expected to smash into parts of the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Ohio Valleys today. Over 90 million people are under severe weather alerts and around 13,000 people are out of power in Colorado and Oklahoma, over 18,000 people in Missouri, over 20,000 people in Tennessee, over 27,000 people in Illinois, over 43,000 people in Iowa, and over 81,000 people are out in Arkansas after a strong tornado ripped through the state's capital of Little Rock, injuring over 600 people. There is also an extremely high chance of tornadoes in parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa.

The Major League Baseball (MLB) season of 2023 kicks off today, with every single team playing on opening day (that hasn't happened since 1968)! It is sure to be an exciting season after the Houston Astros won against the Philadelphia Phillies last year. Enjoy watching! On another note, we have some big news about plants. A new study shows that when plants are 'stressed' or 'injured,' they seem to emit an ultrasonic frequency, which raises many questions about if plants can communicate with other living organisms. When a plant is healthy, they only release the frequency at a rate of about once an hour, but when they are in trouble, they release it at about 30-50 times an hour. This could also solve one of nature's greatest mysteries: how are animals able to predict natural disasters? Maybe this is the answer: plants start rapidly emitting these ultrasonic frequencies when they sense a natural disaster, warning nearby animals, and other plants could pass on the message through the ecosystem if something like an earthquake is on the way. However, it is still unclear whether these frequencies are a form of communication, or if they are just a side effect of regular plant life. Lastly, we have some good news for the environment today! The European Union (EU) have come to an agreement that by 2030, they will receive at least 42.5% of their energy from renewable sources, which is another step towards achieving their goal of cutting emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels. The EU also plans to stop its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, in spite of the Russo-Ukraine War. The UK announced that they have made a plan for reaching net zero (removing as much pollution from the air as it emits) as well, but they have not specified a date. However, many people do not agree with the plan of 'net zero' because it balances the emitting of pollution and removing of pollution, which still allows polluters to keep polluting. They believe that the way to go is cutting the emissions of polluters, not balancing their pollution out.

Today's only big news is on the huge protests for pension reform against French President Emmanuel Macron, who is raising the retirement age for most workers from 62 to 64. This has sparked outrage across the country, and over 740,000 people lined up in over 240 rallies on streets across France to protest the change. Many services have stopped and over 10,000 tons of trash has piled up on roads as sanitation workers refuse to do their jobs. The protests have recently been becoming more violent, as people throw miscellaneous objects at police, including smoke bombs in some cases.

Here's another update on the shooting in Nashville, Tennessee: The 28-year-old shooter entered the building carrying two assault rifles and a handgun, and she killed three 9-year-old students, a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the head of the school before being fatally shot by police officers who had arrived at the scene. The shooter was also discovered to have an emotional disorder, and they actually legally owned seven guns, four of which were kept at her house. Also, many Philadelphia-area residents are extremely confused after the recent fiasco in the Delaware River. A load of a latex product spilled into the river, and officials advised residents of the area to stick to bottled water. Then, they announced that they weren't detecting any chemicals in the water, but residents are now conflicted whether to stick to bottled water like they first said, or if they should continue to drink the regular water.

Some more big bank news: First Citizens Bank has announced that it is buying Silicon Valley Bank, with seventeen former SVB locations reopening today under First Citizens. This rescue follows the shutdown of SVB on March 10 ago by the FDIC, which was the second-largest bank failure in history (after the collapse of Washington Mutual in 2008). On another note, watch out if you live in the Philadelphia area! A recent chemical spill in the Delaware River has residents on high alert, and officials say that bottled water is the safer option for now. This happened after a latex product spilled into the water, containing multiple harmful chemicals, including butyl acrylate (a chemical from the East Palestine, Ohio train wreck earlier this year), so make sure to avoid tap water if you live near Philadelphia or near the Delaware River. Lastly, there was just another school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, where a 28-year-old female suspect entered the private Christian school with two assault rifles and a handgun, killing three 9-year-olds, a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the principal. The suspect has been found to be Audrey Hale, who was an alum of the school. He was killed by officers soon after killing the three children and three adults.

It's about the severe weather again today, with a more thorough update on the Mississippi tornado. The EF-4 rated tornado (on a scale of 0-5) smashed through Rolling Fork, Mississippi, killing dozens of people, and any survivors have lost almost all of their belongings. In fact, the mayor of the town even stated that his town is practically gone after the tornado flattened the town. Over 43,000 people are still out of power in the state as well (plus another 15,000 people out in Alabama), but the power lines are completely gone in Rolling Fork. The storm system is now moving through the south, but it also brought severe weather to the Ohio Valley, where over 120,000 people are still out of power across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Thankfully, the system is now moving out, but big tornadoes like this are just becoming more and more frequent as spring passes, because spring is prime time for tornadoes to form.