Ecuador Earthquake (Vice News)
A 7.8 Magnitude earthquake struck Ecuador last week killing at least 587 people with another 155 people still missing. It’s estimated that nearly 60% of all homes were destroyed in the quake. For such a devastating event little attention seems to be focused on Ecuador and some Ecuadorians are afraid of being forgotten.
President Obama in the U.K Discussing Brexit (BBC News)
President Obama was in the United Kingdom discussing brexit (Britain’s exit from the European Union which will be taken to a vote on June 23). President Obama stated that the U.K. U.S. relationship was still strong but seems to want the U.K. to remain in the E.U. President Obama stated in a press conference that a trade agreement between just the U.S and the U.K was not a priority as the U.S. is looking at trade agreements with the E.U. as a whole first.
Examination of Prince’s Body Begins (BBC News)
A post-mortem examination is under way in Minnesota after the sudden death of music superstar Prince at his home on Thursday, aged 57. Police found the legendary artist unresponsive inside a lift at the property, and paramedics were unable to revive him, the sheriff said. A wave of tributes has swept around the world for the enigmatic musician who sold more than 100m records. “Gathering the results will take several days and the results of a full toxicology scan could likely take weeks” the Examiner’s office said.
Suicide Rates Climb in US; especially among Adolescent Girls (NPR)
The suicide rate has risen by a quarter, to 13 per 1000,000 people in 2014 from 10.5 in 1999, according to an analysis by Curtin and her colleagues that was released Friday. Some reasons include economic stagnation, which left more people out of jobs and blocked access to health care and treatment for depression. Another contributing factor may be early onset puberty. Because of the shifting age of puberty onset, girls might be opening the door to anxiety, depression and other psychiatric disorders earlier in life.
Volkswagen takes $18billion hit over emissions scandal (Reuters)
Volkswagen said it would take a $18.2 billion hit to its 2015 results and slash its dividend to help pay for its emissions-test cheating scandal. A regulatory clamp down is affecting the broader industry, with Germany-based automakers including Mercedes-Benz, agreeing to recall 630,000 cars to fix diesel engine technology blamed for high pollution. VW agreed to a settlement with U.S. authorities to buy back or fix half a million cars fitted with illegal test-fitting software, and set up environmental and consumer compensation funds.
