Imaan Khan, Year 12
January 2016 is now over and, hopefully, we LGB students have successfully kept up with our New Year’s resolutions; we all know how hard that can be. So, in light of the beginning of February, I’ve decided to quickly recap on two major news events from last month that you might not know about.
Jakarta Attacks, The attacks carried out in the capital of Indonesia on the 14th of January in which a total of around 20 casualties and 3 deaths were reported. Shortly after the attacks took place, the so called “Islamic State”, also known as Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks. Although it was hard to specify the number of attackers it has been said that 4 people carried out the series of bomb and gun attacks. There was a series of 6 blasts heard on the morning of the 14th near a shopping mall and Starbucks, causing civilians to run out into the open, where two gunmen were waiting to open fire. Indonesian police and authorities arrived to attend to the people where the attacks took place. In the following days, 12 men were arrested in Indonesia after being suspected of carrying out further attacks in the area.
Flint Water Crisis, a problem that has actually existed before 2016 but has recently become a largely discussed issue.”Drinking water has been contaminated in Flint, Michigan in the United States. The water has extremely high levels of total trihalomethanes, which is carcinogenic. Certain residents of the area have turned to getting water from nearby rivers, rather than drinking the contaminated water available to them from the water systems. Many communities and charity organisations have donated water to the area in order for the people of Flint to have proper water. However, this crisis is ongoing and people still have bright yellow water flowing out of their taps. The cause of this crisis is thought to be because of the switch of water sources a few years back in the area.
The month of January has given us many interesting news stories; after all, these are only two of the many events that have happened since the start of 2016. Hopefully February will bring us as many interesting news stories, although preferably happy ones.
