Did the flooding, storms and endless rain distract you from the news this week? Have no fear, The Cougar’s five things you might have missed is here to keep you up to date on world and national news.
Deadliest earthquake in decades strikes Ecuador
After a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the Ecuadorian coast on Saturday, over 570 people died, with over 150 still missing and thousands injured. Over 23 aftershocks have rocked the area as it recovers from the country’s deadliest disaster since 1987.
“We’re facing the most difficult phase right now, which is rescuing victims and recovering bodies,” Ecuador’s Defense Minister Ricardo Patiño said. “We’re removing debris, and we will very likely find more bodies. It’s going to take us years to recover from this.”
After he declared the country in a state of emergency the night of the quake, President Rafael Correa announced Friday that he will raise taxes on all of Ecuador to help rebuild the towns hit near the coast. Correa said that may cost billions of dollars.
Leading candidates win key New York primary
In a key primary vote, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump each won the Empire State with wide margins, solidifying Clinton as the Democrats’ front runner and giving Donald Trump more of an edge to secure the Republican nomination.
Trump won his home state with 60.4 percent of the vote, while Ohio governor John Kasich took second with 25.1 percent and Texas senator Ted Cruz came in last with 14.5 percent.
Meanwhile, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders took second with 42 percent and Clinton got 58 percent of the vote in the state for which she was senator.
American money will feature feminist and civil rights leaders
The secretary of the treasury Jacob Lew announced changes to the faces of American money, including placing Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill and adding feminist and civil rights leaders to the backs of the $5 and $10 bills.
Tubman will be the first woman to be featured on the front of a United States bill in centuries. Five portraits of leaders in women’s rights, Lucretia Mott, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Alice Paul and Susan B. Anthony, will be added to the back of the $10 bill. The $5 bill will see additions of Eleanor Roosevelt and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The new designs of the bills will be revealed in 2020, but they won’t go into circulation until years later.
Prince dies at 57 years old
Revolutionary pop artist Prince was found dead in an elevator in his home in a Minneapolis suburb Thursday morning. Prince was 57 years old.
“It is with profound sadness that I am confirming that the legendary, iconic performer Prince Rogers Nelson has died at his Paisley Park residence this morning at the age of 57,” his publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, wrote in a statement.
The cause of Prince’s death is unknown, but he was briefly hospitalized the week before and was “struggling with the flu.”
2016 Pulitzer winners announced
The winners of the esteemed journalistic and creative Pulitzer Prizes were announced Tuesday afternoon, and few were shocked with the Drama award winner: Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “Hamilton.”
Journalism prizes went to the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, non profits ProPublica and The Marshall Project, as well as smaller papers like Sun Newspapers from Charlotte Harbor, Florida.
A complete list of winners can be found here.
