Brawl in Waco, TX

The night of Sunday May 17, 2015 produced a quite different scene for the usual inhabitants of the college town of Waco Texas. On Sunday night at the local bar and grill of twin peaks the inhabitants were met by five rival motorcycle gangs, which soon turned into a deadly brawl. These rival motorcycle gangs turned the south Texas town into a bloody battle scene, rendering nine deceased bikers and eighteen others injured. This cross town biker feud has been brooding for years and the bitterness of the gang members unleashed into an all out bar and parking lot battle with weapons from guns to knives, chains, and clubs. As many as 192 other bikers and fighters are facing organized crime charges thus aiming to distinguish the biker feud.

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ISIS Takes Important Iraq City

ISIS militants have recently taken over most of Ramadi and Anbar in Iraq, despite the U.S. led air attacks trying to stop them. Since June of 2014, when the ISIS seized Mosul, Ramadi is the first important city seized in these recent attacks. The ISIS is a terrorist organization, currently traveling through Iraq taking over cities and placing their flag at the government headquarters in each city. Due to the chaotic invasion, government officials apparently have requested help from the tribal group the Shia. However, the government has been warned that Sunni tribal allies might retaliate. Ramadi is home to 500,000 and is considered a key area of Sunni dissent against the Iraqi government. The war against ISIS continues in Iraq with America’s help.

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Former Egyptian President Given Death Sentence

Mohamed Morsy, the leader of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, was elected the fifth president and first democratically elected president of Egypt from 2012 to 2013 then removed in June of 2013 by the Egyptian coup d’etat. In April of 2015 Morsy was sentenced to 20 years of prison for the arrest and torture of protesters in the Cairo uprising of 2012. A month later, on May 16th, 2015 Morsy was sentenced to death, on charges of breaking out of prison during the 2011 Arab Springs uprisings. His original verdict is currently under review by the Grand Mufti, Egypt’s highest religious authority, although this final jury’s decision isn’t legally binding, this final jury is traditionally held by the court. A final verdict based on the previous trials and Morsy’s innocence and life will be released on June 2nd.

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The Rohingyas

In the Andaman Sea, just south of Myanmar and Thailand sit thousands of stranded and desperate Rohingya Migrants from Myanmar. Rohingya people are Muslims living in Myanmar who have a history of persecution. The Rohingya migrants are stranded in the Andaman Sea to escape Myanmar persecution and man slaughter, most of the migrants are woman and children hoping to find refuge in nearby Malaysia or Thailand. Both Malaysia and Thailand have begun to refuse the immigrants due to an abundance of previous Rohingya migrants and supposed overcrowding of this particular group. Malaysian officials claim that some stranded on the Andaman seas are also economic refugees from Bangladesh thus they are not permitting the refugees, however most are the minority Muslim Rohingya people of Northwest Myanmar, stranded and searching for solace. 

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Kayne West Earns Honorary Doctorate

Kanye West, a pop music icon graduated high School and was enrolled at Chicago’s American Academy of Art but dropped out in 1999 because he claimed that his collegiate studies were deterring him from being able to excel as a rap artist. Dropping out of College was much to his mother Donda West’s, a college professor, disapproval, this disapproval and the story of his schooling was a huge factor of the success of his albums such as College Dropout, a concept album about him dropping out of college. His mother died from complications of the heart in 2007 and as an ode to his beloved mother, and after accomplishing wild amounts of fame West re-enrolled at Chicago’s Academy of Art and graduated with an honorary doctoral degree on May 12th, 2015. Lisa Wainwright, the dean of faculty had nothing but praise for Mr. West, she stated "here is this major figure in the cultural landscape promoting art school".

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Fowler Wins the Players Championship

The Players Championship concluded Sunday night after a thrilling 3 hole playoff and sudden death. Although the Players is not considered one of the 4 major championships, it is often times referred to as the "5th major". Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, and Kevin Kisner all finished the tournament tied for 1st at 12 strokes under par. This began an aggregate 3 hole playoff in which both Fowler and Kisner birdied hole 17 and were tied ahead of Sergio after the 18th. Fowler and Kisner had now advanced into a sudden death playoff beginning on the iconic par-3 17th. Fowler beautiful tee shot set him up for birdie and the championship. Fowler's ascent to the playoff was nothing short of extraordinary. He finished the last 4 holes with birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie. Fowler's victory quiets his critics because it comes immediately after being voted as the most overrated player on the tour. 

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Terrorist Attack in Garland

Two Phoenix roommates, seemingly linked to ISIS, attacked an American Freedom Defense Initiative cartoon drawing competition. The event was held in Garland, Texas, and was a contest on the best drawing of the prophet Mohammed. Any drawing of the prophet Mohammed is a considered sacrilegious in Islamic religion. The American Freedom Defense Initiative is an active anti-Muslim group.  The two terrorists were armed with assault rifles but couldn’t get past the first line of security. The police officer that was on duty fatally shot the two men with his pistol. No one at the event was killed thanks to the success of the officer, but unfortunately a security guard was wounded. The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement chastising the terrorists, declaring, “Bigoted speech can never be an excuse for violence”.

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Fight of the Century

The Fight of the Century, two of the best professional boxers of our time battling it out on the world stage, eight-division world champion of the Philippians Manny Pacquiao versus the undefeated five-division world champion of the united states, Floyd Mayweather. The two best fighters of the world had been planning to fight since November of 2009 but finally stepped into the ring at the MGM Grand the night of May 2nd, 2015. The fight generated between $300 million and $400 million in gross revenue and portrayed an equally as fitting and exciting battle. In the end of the fight, Mayweather, the undefeated champion won the fight by a unanimous decision however Pacquiao put up a valiant fight for an underdog, winning four rounds, more than was expected of the Philippian whirlwind. The fight took the nation by storm and kept the world on its toes and awarded Mayweather as one of the best fighters to step foot on the ring. 

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Nepal Earthquake

A 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Nepal on Saturday, April 25. Its devastation is mainly concentrated in Nepal, but can be seen in India as well as China. Unfortunately, the earthquake’s epicenter was located just east of the major city Kathmandu. The death toll has now reached more than 7,000 people. Many survivors have taken to the streets, sleeping under tents in fear of aftershocks. There has been no shortage of relief efforts. Many countries and agencies have pledged to help, but the rural aspects of Nepal have made it hard for them to provide aide. The high mountains of the Himalayas only allow air transport of relief goods, therefore remote areas have not been able to receive their needs in a timely manner. The earthquake also provided a challenge for those on Mt. Everest. Avalanches and landslides have trapped many tourists and natives on the mountain. Only time will be able to tell the true devastation and effect of this horrific earthquake.   

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Baltimore Riots

Freddie Gray was in the custody of the Baltimore police officers, on April 12, 2015, for the illegal possession of a switchblade. He died in a Baltimore Hospital a week later from a spinal cord injury suffered during the arrest. It is unclear on the cause of the injury, but many eyewitness claim he was a subject of police brutality. This alleged spark of police brutality created a fire within the residents of Baltimore that burst out into protests beginning at his funeral. The protests began peacefully but erupted into violence on April 27 when high school students began throwing bricks at police officers. Since then there has been a mix of violent and peaceful protests, but unfortunately the peaceful protests have been overshadowed by the violent acts. Protesters have begun looting and setting stores/cars on fire, spurring the National Guard to deploy 1,500 of its members onto the streets of Baltimore. Additionally, there has been a curfew set from 10pm to 5am, and two Baltimore Orioles games have been postponed.


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Speith Wins Masters

After an exciting week at the Masters (April 9-12), Jordan Spieth came out on top shooting 18 under par. This ties the Master’s lowest score in history. Tiger Woods broke the age record in 2000 when he was 21, now Speith, who is also 21, tied Tiger Woods’ record. The newest Masters Champion shot his best round on Thursday with an astounding score of 64. This great start propelled him to the top, and from there he never looked back. Friday he shot a 66, Saturday a 70, and Sunday a 70.  Spieth is originally from Dallas and just this year has finished Top 10 in seven of his thirteen starts. Spieth has started the year off strong and is expected to be a powerhouse in his upcoming years. Young and looking to continue his success, Spieth will be participating in the Players Championship two weekends from now.

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First Post

This blog is created by three Plano West High School students: Cody Hein, Larry Blaser, Neil Hunt. We have a recognized a problem, specifically in the Plano community, but also present throughout the world, of the unawareness of current events about world news. This problem plagues mainly the younger generation, namely kids from middle school to high school. We believe this problem stems from the short attention span of young adults. They are constantly barraged with quick snippets of information. Young adults enjoy reading things that are under 140 characters, rather than long new stories laced with unimportant details. To counteract this problem, we have decided to briefly summarize the main points of current events, and post them on this blog "News for Newbies".