Close to 55 people were injured after a reported gas explosion at a film and TV school in Prague. Rescuers have started sifting through debris, looking for at least two people that are unaccounted for. The explosion caused the first floor of the school to collapse and shattered windows in nearby buildings.
Student shoots self in classroom at La Salle, http://rtvote.com/11wPYoP
A student at La Salle High School in Hamilton County, Ohio shot himself in a classroom Monday morning. The student has not been identified and is currently hospitalized.
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan, http://rtvote.com/ZZ29IV
According to The New York Times, the C.I.A. has been secretly delivering large sums of cash to Afghan President Hamid Karzai for over ten years. The tens of millions of dollars has been delivered in suitcases, backpacks, and plastic bags. The C.I.A. has been using the money to pay off warlords and politicians, many of whom are connected to the drug trade. The pay offs have not exactly worked, however, as corruption is still rampant. “The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan,” an American official told the Times, “was the United States.”
Russians to US: Boston bombing suspect, mother discussed jihad in 2011, http://rtvote.com/187RFhJ
Russian authorities have told U.S. officials that they suspected Tamerlan Tsarnaev was linked to radical Islam after they recorded a telephone conversation between him and his mother where they discussed jihad and a trip to Palestine. Counterterrorism experts say that the phone call is suspicious but does not provide enough indication that the suspected Boston bomber was plotting an attack. Authorities are more concerned about Tamerlan’s trip to Dagestan in 2012, and whether he and his brother had any help in planning the Boston marathon attacks.
Syrian Prime Minister Escapes Assassination Bid, http://rtvote.com/187RXW1
Syria’s Prime Minister Wael Nader al-Halqi has evaded an assassination attempt that took place in a wealthy Damascus neighborhood. The car bomb was detonated near the prime minister’s convoy, killing one of his bodyguards. As Syria’s civil war continues, there have been numerous assassination attempts on high-ranking officials. Last week, an official was killed with a silenced gun in a restaurant.
The death toll from the collapse of a Bangladeshi garment factory has risen to 381. There is little chance of finding more survivors after a fire erupted Sunday night at the building site. 3,000, mostly female, workers were employed at the factory which made clothing for Western brands. The building’s owner was arrested Sunday as he was trying to flee the country. Officials say the factory was structurally unsafe and built in a swampy area without the right permits.
According to a new analysis from the Brookings Institution and the Associated Press, the rate of African-American voters surpassed that of whites for the first time ever in 2012. African-Americans also voted in larger margins than any other minority group.
Michael Jackson wrongful death trial to open, http://rtvote.com/187T8Vp
Why NBA center Jason Collins is coming out now, http://rtvote.com/187WfwC
Kristen Wiig coming back to host ‘SNL’: What we do and don’t want to see again!, http://rtvote.com/ZLrLP0
‘Jersey Shore’ star hospitalized in Florida, http://rtvote.com/ZLrVWr
