Australia is Burning

Did you know that that the continent of Australia is almost as big as the entire US and that  one quarter of it has been ravaged by fires, which have  been burning since September and have intensified over the past week.  To date almost 12.35 million acres have burned, destroying over  1,400 homes and killing at least 23 people. 

Estimates indicate  that more than half a billion wild animals have died in the fired and  those  numbers are expected to increase as the fire season continues. 

 See pictures of the Australia fires here.

Iran. Is it War? 

A drone strike by the US military that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani has caused mounting concerned that the United State will be once again pulled into a war in the region. The death of the popular general was followed by a flurry responses and  Iranian state television was reporting  that Iran would no longer abide by the limits of the 2015 nuclear deal. 

It was quickly followed by the announcement that the Iraqi parliament  had voted to oust the thousands of U.S. service members stationed in Iraq and President Trump threatened Baghdad with sanctions if U.S. forces were forced to leave the country and  that because of attacks on Iraqi and U.S. bases, the U.S. would be suspending support for Iraq's anti-ISIS operations and training of Iraqi forces.

Read more about it here.

Golden Globe Winners

Hollywood celebrated a glamorous night of awards and tributes as the Golden Globes handed out the golden statues that signal the beginning of the 2020 award season. The big winners of the night were Quentin Tarantino’s  “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,”  which took home trophies for best musical or comedy, screenplay and supporting actor. Other highlights included lifetime achievement honors for Tom Hanks and Ellen DeGeneres. 

See all the winners here.