Melvin, Don, Ray Sanchez, and Manesh Shrestha. "Earthquake in Nepal Leaves Hundreds Dead - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 25 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/25/asia/nepal-earthquake-7-5-magnitude/index.html>.

On April 25, 2015, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 struck Nepal causing a lot of buildings to collapse and also claiming the lives of hundreds. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 can easily destroy buildings and can be felt as far as 250 km away.  The epicenter of the earthquake was 50 miles west of Kathmandu, Nepal. Nepal being located near two big tectonic plates has always been prone to big earthquakes and unfortunately one massive earthquake struck this month. This earthquake was very devastating because it left cities demolished and destroyed great historical sites. When the earthquake struck the city, the tourists and the native Nepalese people poured out onto the streets to avoid a building collapsing on them. After the earthquake was over, people started desperately to find their loved ones and other people started to dig through the rubble right away to search for people. Two hours later after the earthquake struck, the military finally arrived and started digging through the rubble to find survivors. The earthquake sadly claimed the lives of at least 1,457 people so far and this figure will unfortunately rise slowly as more bodies are dug out of the rubble. In Kathmandu, an emergency outside hospital has been established to treat the wounded. The earthquake also caused a lot of avalanches in the Himalayas and 12 lives were lost at Mt. Everest. With the earthquake damaging electric lines, most of the country will lack electricity for a good period of time.

This unfortunate natural event could not have been avoided and it sadly left Nepal in chaos. I feel it is necessary for other nations to send immediate aid to Nepal because they are left very devastated right now. Considering Nepal lacks proper resources for digging through rubble efficiently, it will be a tough task to quickly find and extract the survivors from the rubble.   Thankfully the US embassy is giving one million dollars immediately to Nepal and also, American disaster response teams are being deployed to Nepal right now. The immensity of this earthquake and the damage is did the Nepal is absolutely ridiculous. The last major earthquake hit Nepal was in 1934 and it had a magnitude of 8.1. The earthquake will have a lasting effect on Nepal too with a lot of its sacred temples and its historical sites destroyed. Also with all the dust coming from the rubble, the people will have a hard time breathing in the dusty air. The road to recovery for Nepal will be a long and painful one in my opinion. WIth many lives lost and with many injuries brought about, this tremendous earthquake will never be forgotten.

Yan, Holly, Ashley Fantz, and Kimberly Hutcherson. "Freddie Gray Death: Protest to Grow as Union Compares It to 'lynch Mob' - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/23/us/baltimore-freddie-gray-death/index.html>.

In the city of Baltimore, there are protests occurring and mass demonstrations erupting for the death of Freddie Gray. On April 12, 2015, Freddie Gray was arrested for reasonable suspicion and one week later he is declared dead. At some point during the arrest, Freddie Gray received a fatal spinal cord injury which put him into a coma and later caused him to die. The arrest of Freddie Gray was very brutal and a video of the arrest released by a bystander shows his legs dangling and broken. The people of Baltimore are outraged also because of the lack of information released by the police department. The police department have also yet to release information on how Freddie Gray received his spinal cord injury. The people have been directing their anger mostly towards the mayor and the Baltimore police commissioner. So far the protests have been mostly peaceful but a few arrests have been made due to disorderly conduct and the destruction of property.

I feel that the death of Freddie Gray could have been completely avoided. The police states that he was arrested for reasonable suspicion but there was nothing suspicious about him in the first place. Freddie Gray was unarmed at the time and he was also not committing any sort of crime before he got arrested. His arrest is not justified and that is one thing that is maddening the people of Baltimore. The video that shows the arrest of Freddie Gray is also very brutal and violent. I feel that the method that the police use to restrain their arrestees these days is too violent and physical. The procedure of restraining unarmed people should be reformed and certain actions and maneuvers should not be used at all because it is too dangerous. The protesters are looking for a change in the way our policing system works and I strongly agree with them. With more innocent and unarmed people dying in our nation, I feel that their deaths should be the push for change to occur in our nation’s policing system.             

Held by Al Qaeda." The New York Times. The New York Times, 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/world/asia/2-qaeda-hostages-were-accidentally-killed-in-us-raid-white-house-says.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=a-lede-package-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1>.

On the Thursday of April, 23, 2015, President Obama and his officials released information about the deaths of two aid workers from USA and Italy. The names of the two individuals that were killed were Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto. These two innocent individuals were being held hostages by Al Qaeda in Pakistan and was killed during a US counter terrorism drone strike. The specific location of the drone strike was not released by the government. In a video, President Obama was apologizing and giving his dearest condolences to the families of the two hostages. President Obama states that the CIA did not know that the terrorists were hiding two hostages in the compound before the drone strike occurred. The death of an American by his own government has truly become a sad reality brought upon by the drone war. The use of drones has been slowly increasing and the US government believes that Drones are safer to use because it does not place our soldiers in danger when fighting enemy operatives.        

The use of drones to fight terrorist groups in the middle east should not be used in my opinion. The lives of two innocent aid workers were taken because our government decided to use drones to attack a terrorist outpost. The use of drones in my opinion is too risky and dangerous because we cannot clearly distinguish the enemy from the innocent on a TV monitor. The chances of collateral damage to occur when using drones is very high and our nation should limit the number of drones they use in the near future. Although the death of these two individuals were very tragic, the US government did succeed in their mission by killing members of Al Qaeda. Our nation is upset at the government for the death of an American but, there was no way that the CIA would have known the location of Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto. Warren was kidnapped in 2011 and Giovanni went missing in 2012, many years has passed since the last sightings of the two individuals. Although the US actions aren't justified for the death of Warren and Giovanni, you can’t possibly blame them because no one knew the exact location of the two hostages since their disappearances several years ago.