Movie executive Harvey Weinstein faces sexual misconduct charges

The New York Times posted an exposé detailing multiple women’s sexual harassment, misconduct, and/or assault accusations against Harvey Weinstein, movie mogul and co-founder of both Miramax and the Weinstein Company on Oct. 5. Just five days later, reporter Ronan Farrow of The New Yorker released a report detailing his 10-month investigation into the matter, in which 13 women claimed that from the 1990’s to 2015, Weinstein had allegedly made unwanted sexual advances on each of them. Since the Oct. 5 article, over 20 women have come forward with similar sexual harassment allegations against six-time Oscar Academy Award winner for Best Picture. Two days after the original article was posted, the Weinstein Company’s board announced they had fired Weinstein.

“I appreciate the way I’ve behaved with colleagues in the past has caused a lot of pain,” Weinstein said in a statement to The New York Times. “And I sincerely apologize for it. Though I’m trying to do better, I know I have a long way to go.”

California Wildfires

A series of 21 wildfires have burned through 191,400 acres of land in northern California, leaving the ruins of 3,500 homes and structures in their wake, NBC reports. According to CNN, the death toll currently stands at 31, and authorities are still working to track down 400 missing people in Sonoma County alone. Fires stretching over 40,000 acres across Napa and Solano counties have resulted in mandatory evacuations for residents in certain areas of California wine country. Deemed by CNN as one of the deadliest series of fires in history, this outbreak has 8,000 firefighters from both California and Nevada working to fight the blaze.

Attempted bomb attack at North Carolina airport

Police disabled a homemade explosive device planted near a terminal entrance at Asheville Regional Airport in North Carolina on Oct. 6. An investigation of the scene conducted by bomb technicians later revealed that the device, a mason jar filled with explosives, contained ammonium nitrate, Sterno fuel, nails, and a .410 gauge Winchester shotgun cartridge, according to ABC News. A backpack and tool kit containing tape, Sterno fuel, and excess shotgun shells was also located in the nearby woods. A surveillance video revealed that the attempted bomber was 46-year-old Michael Christopher Estes, who was arrested Saturday and is currently being held in the Buncombe County Jail in North Carolina. ABC News reported that in the criminal complaint written by an FBI agent, Estes “claimed he was getting ready to ‘fight a war on U.S. soil.’” Many have expressed feeling that this event did not receive a merited amount of media coverage due to the fact that the shooter was a white male. However, others believe that the lack of publicity was simply because it was only an attempted bombing, as the device was dismantled before exploding.