Wassapened this week: Feb 20th- 26th

Authors note: These are events that happened this week that I chose to highlight. These are in no way everything everyone needs to know. I highly encourage everyone to read the news themselves, from reliable sources, to develop their own opinions. My opinions have been italicized. With that being said all opinions stated in this article are my own so if you don’t like them then drink water and mind your business. 

Grab your tea and settle in cause in this week of Wassapened This Week we see viral sheep, failed politicians, and American hostages. Yet another week of crazy news.

United Airlines

On Saturday, February 20th, United Flight 328 had a catastrophic engine failure forcing the Boeing 777 bound for Honolulu to return to Denver. Luckily none of the 231 passengers or 10 crew were hurt, and the flight was able to land safely. While the plane was on it’s way back to Denver pieces of the engine rained down on the roofs of homes and into yards.. This incident has steered United Airlines to ground all of its Boeing 777s powered by PW4000 series engines and federal regulators have begun to reexamine how often the engines should be inspected. I was amazed to find out that United Airlines is the only US commercial carrier to use Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines which are mated to the  Boeing 777. The investigation as to why and how the engine failed is still ongoing. My question is if investigations like these typically take more than a year to complete, is United Airlines going to continue to ground all of their planes using this engine? I highly doubt this multi billion dollar company is willing to lose out on all that money?

Iran

On Sunday, February 21th, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said this week Biden’s administration will begin communicating with Iran over American hostages in the region. According to the Foley Foundation, there are at least 43 publicly known hostage or detainee cases in 11 countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, Rwanda and Saudi Arabia. Sullivan said it is a significant priority of the Biden administration to get these Americans safely back home.” Sullivan said that President Joe Biden is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and believes the best way to do that is through “clear-eyed diplomacy.” “He’s prepared to go to the table to talk to the Iranians about how we get strict constraints back on their nuclear program. That offer still stands because we believe diplomacy is the best way to do it. Iran has not yet responded,” Sullivan said. This sounds nice and all but this isn’t the first time Biden has said something was a priority and let it fall through. I do hope Biden is able to obtain the American hostas but I also know to not get my hopes up.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Women all over the world have come together to celebrate Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. On Monday, February 15th, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman Finance Minister of Nigeria, was appointed the Director General of the World Trade Organization. This will make Okonjo-Iweala the first woman and the first African to hold the office. Her term will begin on March 1, 2021. Throughout this week women donned her signature look: a full outfit and head tie made of Ankara, a single strand necklace, and clear glasses. The challenge has since been shared more than 30,000 times as the women talk about how inspired they are by an African woman holding such a powerful position.  Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been breaking barriers for women for decades so I’m excited to see what she does while in office. I’m not surprised by her appointment as Naija no dey carry last. 

Ecuador

On Friday, February 26th, Ecuador’s health minister Juan Carlos Zevallos stepped down. It was revealed that his department showed favoritism by allowing a university official to receive a Covid-19 vaccine ahead of other priority groups. This would make him the third top Latin American health official forced out in the last two weeks. Local communities are outraged that the region’s richest and most powerful have been able to obtain vaccinations before the rest of the population. Prosecutors launched an investigation into Zevallos mother’s vaccination in January which revealed Mr Zevallos’ department sent letters to university presidents inviting them to skip the line. Unlike Peru’s and Argentina’s health ministers, Zevallos has refused to release the names of those who were given access to the vaccine ahead of time. This is absolutely shameful and reprehensible. What’s sad is that this is just another example of abuse of power. Politicians around the world continue to prove how untrustworthy they are. It’s like they think their citizens’ lives are a joke.

Sheep

Earlier this week a Tiktok by Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary of a sheep named Baarack went viral gathering more than 18.5 million views. Baarack had been found in a forest by a member of the public in Australia who contacted Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary. Once rescued and shorn, he lost a fleece that weighed more than 78 pounds. Can you imagine??? I don’t even understand how he was able to survive in the wild. He was like a walking target. “Sheep need to be shorn at least annually otherwise the fleece continues to grow and grow” according to the Mission’s Kyle Behrend. Surprisingly Baarack was underweight, and due to all of the wool around his face he could barely see. Baarack now has a permanent home at Edgar’s Mission Farm Sanctuary.