Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Shooting at Purdue University Leaves 1 Dead

A shooting at Purdue University left one person dead, on Tuesday afternoon.

The shooting took place in the Electrical Engineering building in Lafayette, Indiana.

According to witnesses, the shooter came into the classroom, shot one person, set the gun down, and then with hands up walked out of the room and surrendered to police.

Police say that they arrested the shooter, without incident, and found one person deceased.

A campus wide lock down was in place for two hours, but was lifted.

Officials have closed off the Electrical Engineering building, while the investigation is underway.

At this time, the identities of the shooter and victim have not been released, nor has the motive.


Priests Stop Violence in Kiev

Three Orthodox priests brought a pause to three days of clashes between police and protesters in Kiev, on Tuesday.

The priests walked between the two sides praying and calling for peace.

Their bravery was enough to end the fighting, at least for now.

Fighting began Sunday, after parliament passed a heavily controversial law, on Friday.

Under the bill, any protest can be banned, freedom of speech is limited, freedom of the press is cut, the government is allowed to ban citizens from using the internet, and it classifies advocacy groups as "foreign agents" if they receive money from abroad.

Opposition leaders accused Yanukovych of trying to cement a dictatorship by following the ways of Russia and North Korea.

News of the bills passing was met with condemnation from much of the world, especially the European Union.

Hundreds have been injured, as protesters hurled rocks and fire bombs at police, who used water cannons to try and break the protesters into submission.

Tuesday morning saw the police move in to try and break the barricades, leading to some of the worst violence.

It was as police were clearly failing to break the protesters, that the priests appeared.

Continuous protests have been taking place in Kiev, and elsewhere in Ukraine, for several months now, with crowds as large as two hundred thousand, in Kiev's Independence Square alone.

Many Ukrainians worry that Yanukovych is taking their country back under Russian influence and fear a loss of their independence from their former Soviet masters.

The protests gained steam after three former presidents backed them.

Police were unable to clear out the protesters in December, and their failure had been followed by Yanukovych promising to get back to working on the deal with the EU.

However, his once again breaking his word only heightened the calls for his removal from office and led to many to call him a traitor and warn that he should never return to the country.

The opposition had called for the government to replace him, but their lack of movement on the issue has led to calls for their removal as well.

Thailand Declares State of Emergency for Bangkok

Thailand's government declared a state of emergency for Bangkok, on Tuesday.

Under the state of emergency security forces can impose curfews, detain citizens without pressing charges, censor the media, ban gatherings of more than five people, and declare public areas closed.

The government's move follows months of protest, which have begun to cripple the city.

Protesters are demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra resign, with many demanding she and her family leave the country.

Dozens of government buildings have been occupied by the protesters, and police have been unwilling to commit to retaking the buildings.

With the emergency declaration, the police now have more legal ability to begin working on ending the protests.

The state of emergency lasts for sixty days.