Burning news:

For the past week, California has been engulfed in one of the biggest and deadliest wildfires the state has seen. Around 200 people are still missing. Moreover, at least 28 people died and at least 3,500 buildings were destroyed this week, making the fire both the second deadliest and the second most destructive in the state’s history. More than 191,000 acres have been burned – an area the size of more than 13 Manhattans. Information on the current status of the fires can be found here.

Meanwhile in Hollywood:

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood film producer behind movies like Pulp Fiction, Shakespeare in Love, and Clerks, has been in a lot of trouble this week following a New York Times investigation that revealed numerous allegations of sexual harassment and assault going back nearly three decades. High-profile actresses such as Ashley Judd, Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow came out with claims that they were among Weinstein’s victims.

So far, the producer been fired from the board of the Weinstein Company (a film studio which he co-founded), his wife divorced him, and he has been spoken out against by the majority of the creative community.

Weinstein’s problematic behavior has been rumored in Hollywood for decades, but the acts have stayed in the shadows until now because people feared to hurt their careers by coming out against the producer. This case finally coming to light could point to a shift in the way these issues are handled, not just in Hollywood but in our society as a whole.

A Cup of Tears:

The US Men’s Soccer Team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup Russia last Tuesday, for the first time since 1986. Americans lost 2-1 to Trinidad and Tobago. The world tournament would have given the US team a lot of money and publicity. Now, the only hope left for American soccer is that the girls’ team will get to the 2019 France World Cup.

The North Korea Update:

North Korean hackers illegally obtained numerous classified US-SK wartime plans last year, according to a lawmaker in Seoul. Among the files that were stolen were OPLAN 5015, a plan drafted two years ago outlining a strategy for a war with NK and a plan to “decapitate” the leadership of the country, OPLAN 3100, containing a military response to infiltration by NK or another provocation from the country and a contingency plan in case of a sudden change in NK. This is not the first time NK has broken into a foreign country’s defense network – South Korea and other countries have reported similar breaches in the past. One time, NK infected more than 3,000 computers of the SK Defense Ministry with malware. Don’t forget to update your antivirus, DoD (and make sure it isn’t Kaspersky, but we’ll explain more about that in a different article).

SAT word of the day:

Contingency plan – a plan for a situation that may or may not happen, designed just in case.

That’s it for now. See you next week for more exciting current events!