Cruz, Clinton win Iowa caucuses

Candidates cheered and wailed as the Feb. 1 Democratic and Republican presidential caucuses in Iowa officially kicked off the selection process for the nation’s next commander-in-chief. Texas Senator Ted Cruz won the most Republican votes with 27.6% of the vote, followed by New York Businessman Donald Trump with 24.3% of votes and Florida Senator Marco Rubio with 23.1% of votes. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who received 9.3% of the vote, accused Cruz of spreading false rumors before the caucus that he was suspending his campaign, and the Texas senator later apologized for this. On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton received 49.84% of the vote to Vermont Senator Bernie Sander’s 49.59% in the closest Democratic Iowa caucus in history. Following the results of the Iowa caucuses, Republican candidates Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum and Democratic candidate Martin O’Malley suspended their presidential campaigns. The candidates will next compete in the New Hampshire primaries on Tuesday, Feb. 9.

Crane collapses in New York City

On Friday, Feb. 5 a large crane collapsed in New York City, killing one and injuring three as well as damaging many cars. Authorities are unsure what caused the crane to collapse, though many suspect that high winds were the cause. In response to this incident, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio issued restrictions on when large “crawler” cranes such as the one that collapsed may be used.

“No building is worth a person’s life. We are going to ensure the record boom in construction and growth does not come at the expense of safety,” de Blasio said in an official statement.

Earthquake causes damage in Taiwan

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake shook Taiwan’s oldest city, Tainan, on Saturday, Feb. 6, resulting in the collapse of an apartment building and the deaths of at least 32 people. According to the BBC, about 200 people have been rescued and 500 injured as of Feb. 7. Officials blamed poor construction for the collapse of an apartment building and resulting deaths.

“In this earthquake, it was just this building that collapsed, so it was definitely a problem with its construction,” Chen Mei-ling, Tainan’s secretary general, said during an interview with the New York Times. An earthquake survivor named Chien, who declined to state her last name, gave a frightening account of the earthquake during an interview with CNN.

“I was trapped in a room in a building toppled by the quake,” Chien said. “The smell of gas was thick in the air and I was worried that I would be killed by an explosion if not crushed to death in the collapsed building.” Rescue efforts continued as of Sunday, Feb. 7.