This week in the news: March 18

A self-driving Uber car hit a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona earlier this week as she was crossing the street, according to the Tempe police department. The car struck the victim, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, when it was going 40 mph in 35 mph zone. The car was in self-driving mode, but test driver Rafael Vasquez was behind the wheel. In response to the accident, Uber has stopped testing their...

Vladimir Putin won six more years in office by a large margin last weekend in Russia, an expected win by most experts. Putin won with over 76% of the vote, with his main competitor, Alexei Navanly, being barred from the race. Video records of polling places showed several abnormalities across Russia, with voting officials being seen stuffing ballot boxes with extra tickets. Along with irregularities...

After a string of bombings in Texas, Mark Anthony Conditt was identified as the suspect after he killed himself early Wednesday from an explosion in his car. An arrest warrant was issued late Tuesday night for Conditt along with a criminal complaint charging him with unlawful possession and transfer of a destructive device. Federal agents are now searching for answers. They interviewed his roommates...

Last weekend, it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm that aided Donald Trump’s campaign, has taken the information of over 50 million Facebook users from their profiles. Data was first collected from personality quizzes that were shared amongst Facebook users, with an initial purpose for academic reasons, were later given to Cambridge Analytica. They obtained profile information...

Trump’s push for stricter punishments on drug dealers might become a reality with Jeff Sessions memo to federal prosecutors to push for the death penalty in cases with “extremely large quantities of drugs.” With the opioid epidemic devastating local communities around the U.S., Trump responded with a three-point plan of limiting opioid prescriptions, cutting supply of illegal drugs, and boosting...