Taravella Shooting Threat:
Friday May 5th, Taravella High School received a shooting threat, later confirmed to be false. The threat was carried out by a Taravella student, who is now facing 19 criminal charges. The student allegedly used another student’s name and computer access to send the threat (CBS). The threat had been circulating on social media when Doral police were made aware of its existence. The threat had sparked concerns across both the Broward and Miami-Dade counties, with assurances of the threat’s inauthenticity sent out following the student’s arrest. She is currently being held in North Broward Bureau Detention Center in Pompano Beach.

Florida Social Studies Textbook:
In a review of social studies textbooks offered to students in Florida, which occurs every couple of years, the large majority were rejected for containing material deemed “controversial” topics that did not align with the goals of Governor Desantis’ legislative agenda. In his newest attempt to fulfill his campaign promises of eliminating “leftist indoctrination” from schools, all content referring to modern social justice issues, like the Black Lives Matter movement, were scrubbed from textbooks before being approved. Those that were originally rejected went through extensive edits, before being approved. The Department of Education claims all the information removed contained “errors and other information that was not aligned with Florida Law”(The New York Times).

Florida Books Banning:
Following the restriction of certain books in Florida school districts, the major publishing company Penguin Random House partnered with a group of Florida Parents who are suing the Escambia County School claiming the restriction is effectively censorship. The plaintiffs were joined by PEN America, a pro-literature advocacy group. Their legal teams assure that their first amendment rights to freedom of speech are being infringed upon, as well as the equal protections assured by the 14th amendment, as the books being removed are disproportionately written by minority groups. Most of the books in question cover topics of race, gender, and sexuality, two topics that recent state legislation has been tough on. They include works such as The Handmaid’s Tale, and To Kill a Mockingbird (NBC).

George Santos:
House representative George Santos has been officially charged for several federal crimes, following the numerous exposés on his history of lying and fabricating misleading information about himself and his campaign. The charges include wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making materially false statements to the House of Representatives (CNN). Santos has been embroiled in controversy since his term began last year. The freshman representative is currently being investigated by the House of Ethics committee as well as by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who will personally decide if the congressman is to be removed from office or not,

Missouri Trans Health Care:
State legislators in Missouri recently passed two bills banning gender-affirming care for minors, as well as preventing transgender athletes from playing with the gender they identify as. Gender-affirming care being affected includes hormone supplements, puberty blockers and gender-reassignment surgery (AP). However, Kansas City is preparing to defy the measure, with the City Council working on making the city a safe haven for those seeking gender-affirming care. The new bills would not only affect minors but also anyone under Medicaid, which will no longer cover gender affirming care. Additionally, schools that allow student athletes to play with their preferred gender would lose state funding.

British Coronation:
The new acting monarch of Britain was crowned Saturday, May 6th, in the first British coronation since 1953. King Charles III was preceded by his mother, Queen Elizabeth, who passed away last year. The 74 year old’s ceremony began with a procession through London, and was finalized with the centuries old ritual conducted in Westminster Abbey. A few modern changes were observed in the King’s coronation. For the first time, a woman carried the Sword of State during the ceremony (The New York Times). However, the ceremony was not without controversy, with animosty to the now Queen Camila at an all time high, due to public resentment of her involvement in the end of the King’s and the late Princess Diana’s marriage.

Indian Temple Attack:
India’s Golden Temple, the most spiritually significant religious shrine in the Sikh religion, was subject to several bomb blasts in only the span of a week. Suspects were apprehended but authorities gave no information as to what the motive might have been. There were wounded reported, and the area surrounding the temple has been sealed off for the time being (Aljazeera). Public opinion seems to be that the blasts are connected to an underground Sikh sepertaist movement in the stat of Punjab, where the temple is located. The attack is not the first, but rather the most recent of a series of violent occurrences in and surrounding the Golden Temple for several decades.