Plane crashes over Sinai, kills all on board

A Russian airliner crashed in Egypt above the Sinai peninsula killing all 224 people onboard on Saturday. According to Russia’s top aviation official, it broke apart in mid-air. The Airbus A321-200, bound for St. Petersburg, Russia from the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh dropped “abruptly from 31,000 feet just 23 minutes” after it took off, according to the Associated Press. Aviation experts and search teams are surveying an area of about six square miles looking for bodies and strewn parts of the plane.

GOP candidates demand greater control over debates

Republican presidential campaigns gathered outside of Washington, D.C. on Sunday night to discuss potential changes to the GOP debates format, a move that comes amid widespread frustration with the Republican National Committee’s handling of the nomination process. The Republican presidential campaigns that spent days advocating for an overhaul of the debates emerged from the meeting with only modest proposals for change — and a great deal of disagreement. The campaigns’ requests — a two-hour time limit, 30 seconds for opening and closing statements, equal speaking time for each candidate — were remarkably limited in scope when compared to the ambitious proposals put forth in the days leading up the meeting. But the campaigns failed to agree on key proposals, including bringing the so-called undercard candidates onto the main stage.

“The last debate was kind of ridiculous,” GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush told reporters in Iowa according to The Washington Post. “I say this somewhat in jest: At least there was someone who fared worse in the last debate than me — CNBC.”

South Carolina SRO throws black girl, is fired, reignites racial debates

The school resource officer at a South Carolina high school who was filmed tossing a black teen from her desk and dragging her was fired, officials announced on Wednesday. That officer, identified by the Richland County Sheriff’s office as Ben Fields, was initially put on unpaid leave after the video surfaced last week. In the original confrontation on Monday, Fields can be heard telling the student to get up. A few moments later, he grabbed the student as she was in her seat, which caused the girl and the chair to flip over onto the floor. Fields was then seen dragging the girl for several feet and restraining her on the ground. The female student’s attorney told the New York Times that she suffered injuries to her head, arm, neck and back during the incident. The incident has brought the discussion of the unfair treatment and abuse of black girls and women to the forefront of the nation’s reignited race discussion.

Shooting leaves four dead in Colorado Springs

Law enforcement authorities in Colorado were investigating a shooting over the weekend that left four people dead, including the suspect, who was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police officers in Colorado Springs. Police officials said Sunday that the officers involved in the shooting, which occurred Saturday, had been placed on routine administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, according to The Denver Post. The Colorado Springs Police Department said officers encountered a person with a gun just over a half-mile away from a residential area at an intersection with fast-food restaurants, businesses and a high school campus. The person began shooting at the officers, several of whom returned fire, according to the police account. The authorities said the assailant’s motive was unclear. Officials have not released any information about the suspect, including name or sex, although a witness described the assailant as a man in his 20s or 30s. Officials have also not released information about the three people who were killed.