• Egyptian state television reported on Monday that the country had hit Islamic State targets in an airstrike in the militant-held city of Derna in Libya. The bombings came hours after the Islamic State released a video showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians. Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced plans on Monday to retake the major city of Mosul, which the Islamic State occupied in June, from the militants in the next few months.
• Despite a ceasefire planned to take effect Sunday, along with a weapons withdrawal set to begin Monday, Ukrainian and pro-Russian separatist forces continued fighting in Mariupol, Debaltseve and the Donetsk airport on Monday.
• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg blamed fine wine for her inability to stay awake at President Barack Obama’s annual State of the Union address at George Washington University on Thursday. At 81, she is the oldest serving justice on the Supreme Court.
• Newly-elected Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf imposed a moratorium on the state’s death penalty on Friday, halting the executions of 180 people on death row, the earliest of which was scheduled for March 4.
• Georgia Governor Nathan Deal issued a state of emergency for 15 northern Georgia counties on Sunday. A winter storm warning, lasting from 7 a.m. Monday to 7 p.m. Tuesday, was also issued for the North Georgia mountains. School districts in seven counties, including DeKalb, closed schools Monday in anticipation of the inclement weather.
• Chatham County, Georgia commissioners debated on Friday whether same-sex couples can enroll in the county’s health insurance plan. Though the commissioners voted 4-3 in favor of the county ordinance change, five votes were needed to enact the measure, and two commissioners were absent.
— Compiled by Asst. News Editor Lydia O’Neal
News Roundup | 2.17.15
Courtesy of Marjory Collins / Wikimedia Commons.
