THE WEEK IN REVIEW: JANUARY 10-16, 2016

WIKIPEDIA CELEBRATES ITS 15th ANNIVERSARY THIS MONTH!

AMONGST EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD THIS PAST WEEK...

*Hurricane Alex became the first recorded Atlantic hurricane to form in the month of January since 1938. While of minimal strength, all precautions are advised for those along its path.
*Tsai Ing-wen has been elected the first female President of Taiwan.
*While there is, sadly, still no sign of the remains of Malaysia Flight MH370 lost two years ago, the search has uncovered another lost shipwreck!
*China's Haier Group bought General Electric's appliance unit for $5.4 billion American dollars.
*Astronomers have announced the discovery of the biggest supernova yet.
*WINDOWS 8 AND INTERNET EXPLORERS 8-10 ARE NO LONGER SUPPORTED BY MICROSOFT.

TERRIBLE TERRORIST ACTIVITIES...
*Militant attacks in Jakarta, Indonesia, killed two people, injuring many more.
*At least ten people were killed in a suicide bombing in Istanbul, Turkey.
*ISIS/ISIL forces have claimed responsibility for the bombing at an Iraqi shopping center that left over 50 dead.
*Boko Haram militants shot and killed 7 people while burning down their homes in Madagali, Adamawa. No "reason" for the incident was given.
*A suicide bomber attacked and killed a small group of German tourists in Istanbul.

PASSING PARADE...
*Singer/actor David Bowie (too much to mention) is no longer with us.
*Actor David Margulies (Ghostbusters 1, The Sopranos) has taken his last bow on life's stage.
*Film art director John B. Mansbridge (Tron, The Apple Dumpling Gang, Bedknobs and Broomsticks) has passed away.
*Actor Alan Rickman (the Harry Potter series, Die Hard 1, Love Actually) has taken his last bow on life's stage.
*René Angélil, husband/manager of Celine Dion, has passed away.
*Actor Dan Haggerty (The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams) has taken his last bow on life's stage.

WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...
POLITICALLY...

President Obama

*As previously covered by The Free Choice E-zine, President Barack Obama gave the final State of the Union Address of his administration Tuesday night.
*Meanwhile, the GOP has announced its own agenda for 2016.
*The House of Representatives has voted for tighter sanctions against North Korea after that country's latest nuclear test. They have also passed a measure that would not allow individuals to initiate class action lawsuits against corporations if it officially becomes law.
*With the first state elections still a few weeks away as this is posted, Donald Trump is still the frontrunner amongst the hopefuls for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination, while Hillary Clinton's lead against Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination is seriously slipping.
*Besides trying to figure out whether or not Canadian born Ted Cruz is even eligible to run for President, let alone be an United States Senator, now comes allegations that he received and didn't disclose a "loan" from Goldman Sachs to his senatorial campaign while his wife was still working there.
ELSEWHERE...
*Wal-mart will eventually be closing all its "Express" stores. Eliminating the smallest format of the retail chain will result in over 200 closings across the globe.
*The 73rd presentation of the Golden Globe Awards included The Martian winning Best Picture: Musical or Comedy and a Best Performance by an Actor for Matt Damon, along with The Revenant winning Best Drama and Leonardo DiCaprio wining Best Performance by an Actor; and Mr. Robot winning Best TV Drama.
*The 2016 nominations for Razzies (for the Worst) in movies this past year, have been announced.
*The Martian led the pack for most nominations in competition for the 2016 Oscars.

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