Home- On Jan. 30, WJ held a Drug Awareness assembly during third period. Namon E. Jones Sr., the speaker present at the assembly, is a member of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He shared his stories about illegal drugs that he experienced through his job. The freshman class attended the assembly, while the rest of the students watched the televised broadcast in their respective classrooms. While the assembly was meant to be informative, some students expressed feelings that they were uninterested in the assembly.

“I thought he had good ideas, but he seemed a but over the top” said Senior Yari Jamali. “It seemed like propaganda in a way.”

United States- On Thurs. Jan. 31, a hostage standoff involving a five-year-old child entered its second full day. Police surrounded an underground bunker near Midland, Ala., where the gunman is holding the child hostage. The man has been identified as Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, a man who has, according to neighborhood residents, threatened to shoot children if they stepped on his property and patroled his yard at night holding a flashlight and a gun. According to authorities, Dykes stopped a school bus on Tues. Jan. 29 and demanded the bus driver give him two boys. When the bus driver tried to block his way, Dykes shot him several times, killing him, and took the kid off the bus. The standoff is still continuing. (Source: AP)

Globe- On Jan. 30, South Korea successfully launched a satellite into orbit on the third try, seven weeks after its rival, North Korea, completed a successful launch. The vessel, named the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or KSLV-1, was the first satellite ever sent into space by South Korea. The KSLV-1 weighed 140-tons and stood 108-foot-tall, and was built using the help of Russian technology. By taking this step, South Korea has “joined an elite club of space technology leaders,” along with China, Russia, Japan and the USA.  (Source: The New York Times)