The Spill: Heist… Again!?

Articles of Impeachment Called Against President Trump

Over the last several weeks, the House of Representatives has been investigating whether or not to impeach President Trump. Hearings were held, where witnesses and experts testified about a phone call Trump had with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They discussed whether the conversation was inappropriate or not. Democrats have now called articles of impeachment against the president.

House Democrats unveiled two articles of impeachment accusing the president of “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The first article alleges that the president abused his power as president by asking for help from a foreign nation for personal gain. It says he asked the Ukrainian president to investigate certain activities of Joe Biden, who is currently a Democrat presidential candidate for 2020. The article of impeachment suggests that Trump hoped to use the information to beat Biden in the next election.

The second article of impeachment accuses Trump of obstruction of Congress, meaning that he did not cooperate with the investigation into his activities.

So, what happens next? The House of Representatives must vote on whether to impeach the president. If it does vote to impeach, the matter will then go to the Senate for a trial, where Trump will either be acquitted or found guilty and removed from office.

Second Museum Heist in Germany

Only a few days after the Dresden Castle robbery, Germany has suffered from a second heist that sounds like something you might see in a Hollywood movie. This time, jewels were taken from Berlin’s Stasi Museum, which seeks to educate the public on the history of East Germany’s secret police during the Soviet era.

This time, the items that went missing included a pair of earrings, a ring set with pearls and gems, a gold watch, a gold timepiece, and eight medals (seven of them were replicas). Although the items were only worth a few thousand dollars – not as valuable as those stolen from Dresden Castle’s Green Vault – they were historically significant. The items had been confiscated from people who had tried to escape communist East Germany, which was controlled by the Soviet Union. The Stasi were known to spy on and kidnap residents.

Were the thieves the same as those who performed the first heist? Police still don’t know who committed either robbery.

New Zealand Volcano Erupts

Eco-tourism (traveling to see natural landmarks) is a big market these days, but sometimes nature can be unpredictable. This week, 47 tourists arrived on White Island, or Whakaari, in New Zealand to see a volcano – but the active volcano happened to erupt while the travelers were still in the area. Tragically, six people have died, while over 30 have been injured and suffer from severe burns.

New Zealand is known for its natural beauty, but it is also situated in the “Ring of Fire,” a region of high volcano and earthquake activity. This was the first time Whakaari had erupted since 2001.

Tom Storey, a rescue pilot, described the ash that filled the air from the volcano. “It felt like running through talcum powder,” he said. “It was very hard to breathe and without a gas mask we were gasping for air, but … adrenaline takes over.”

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern praised the rescuers, saying, “Those pilots made an incredibly brave decision under extraordinarily dangerous circumstances in an attempt to get people out.”

COP25: UN Climate Change Summit

The United Nations is in the midst of COP25, a conference on climate change. The summit is being held in Madrid, Spain, to discuss the Paris Climate Agreement and the goals that countries have made to reduce carbon emissions.

The main star of the event has been Greta Thunberg, the famous 16-year-old climate activist from Sweden. She traveled to Spain to deliver a speech at the summit. “I sincerely hope COP25 will reach something concrete and increase awareness among people, and that world leaders and people in power grasp the urgency of the climate crisis, because right now it does not seem that they are,” she said.

Aside from Greta, young people have been the focus of the conference. Penelope Lea, a 15-year-old climate campaigner from Norway, recently became a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) ambassador. She also spoke at the meeting, while various governments signed a resolution claiming that “The climate crisis is a child rights crisis.”

President Trump decided in 2017 to take the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement, saying it puts an “unfair economic burden” on Americans. The withdrawal process began on November 4, 2019, and should be completed shortly after the 2020 election.