Monday, October 30, 2017

Trump Administration to Resume Refugee Admissions with Advanced Vetting.

Trump Administration to Resume Refugee Admissions with Advanced Vetting.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/24/politics/trump-refugees-enhanced-vetting/index.html

This article talks about Trump and the administration starting to let refugees from all countries into the United States with extra vetting. Trump signed an executive order last Tuesday and now the administration will collect more biological data, "scrutinize" their social media accounts, and look for other fraudulent activities. Before letting in those that come from the countries under the newest and previous two travel bans.

-Marissa Laurie

Sunday, October 29, 2017

Burundi Quits International Criminal Court

On Friday, Burundi became the first country to withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The move comes when the country has been under investigation for a number of crimes. Even though Burundi leaving may not have a real impact on the legitimacy of the Court, it is still something of note that a country actually has left.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/world/africa/burundi-international-criminal-court.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fworld&action=click&contentCollection=world&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=25&pgtype=sectionfront

Eric Walliser

North Korea Rouses Neighbors to Reconsider Nuclear Weapons

Kissel Salmeron
Professor Muck


In this article, it states that North Korea wants to re-evaluate their building of nuclear weapons, but the United States fear because North Korea could actually build such weapons that can either reach Los Angeles or Washigton. It also states the history of the development of Japan's nuclear weapons developement, which it began in the 1960's.  It talks about the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and how it's used. 

In this link would give you the full article with more detailed and how the nations itself would be facing the fear of the development of nucelar weapons. 

North Korea Rouses Neighbors to Reconsider Nuclear Weapons

European's Continue to Elect the Young

Following on from the election of Sebastian Kurz as the next Chancellor of Austria, the rise of young European politicians continues with Iceland's Katrin Jakobsdottir's coalition of left leaning parties gaining a small, yet workable, majority in the recent Icelandic elections Sky News reports.

http://news.sky.com/story/iceland-election-results-leftist-coalition-led-by-katrin-jakobsdottir-close-to-forming-narrow-majority-11104251

Frank Sherwood

Houston Texan players kneel in protest against the owners' comments

Earlier this Sunday, the majority of the Houston Texan's took a knee during the national anthem. These players knelt because of Bob McNair's comments at the owner's meeting earlier this month. His statements have recently become available to the public and he said, "We can't have the inmates running the prison". In his analogy, the inmates are the player's making owners the warden's. Now, obviously players' didn't take too kindly to this. People believe that there is a racial undertone in McNair's statements. We saw how the NBA reacted to Donald Sterling's racist remarks towards black people at his stadium. It will be interesting to see how the NFL will move on from this.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2741350-multiple-texans-kneel-during-anthem-vs-seahawks-after-bob-mcnairs-comments?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

Jacob Walls

Mexico’s Day of the Dead Parade Pays Tribute to Quake Victims

The September 7 and 19 earthquakes that occurred in Mexico City still remain a very delicate subject upon Mexican citizens. Citizens have tried getting past all the horrendous occurrences in Mexico by trying to get back into their normal routines and festivities. One festivity specifically is the Day of the Dead celebration/parade that took place in Mexico City itself, holding the presence of about 300,000+ (about 100,000 more than the previous year) individuals. As mentioned in the New York Times article, the parade was a "distraction" and "escape" for the population. This celebration united individuals, not only in remembrance of the dead but also to celebrate life in that moment. If the earthquakes did anything for Mexico is bring love and a sense of hope for those struggling to regain a purpose in life and for those who feel as if they cannot move on without that certain someone they lost in the disaster. Aside from the celebration, people have come together to help the greater good and to prosper as a whole country if and when they face a similar situation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/29/world/americas/mexico-day-of-the-dead.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Famericas&action=click&contentCollection=americas&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

- Giselle Gutierrez


Catalonia independence: Puigdemont 'could run if not in jail'

In this article courtesy of the BBC, the Spanish foreign minister has reaffirmed the Spanish Government’s position that Carles Puigdemont, the leader of Catalonia could potentially still run for reelection, that is, if he is not imprisoned. As we have all heard by now, the Catalonian’s has made a bid for independence from Spain, which has been met with swift action by the Spanish Government. This move to potentially allow Puigdemont to run is clearly intended to bring tensions down from a boil to a simmer after Spain took control of Catalan’s institutions, particularly because an arrest of Puigdemont would likely spark riots and further destabilize the region. On this topic, Spain’s foreign minister commented that, “We are not taking autonomy away from Catalonia. We are just re-establishing it, in fact.”  Regardless of this reestablishment, this type of action will certainly not remedy the desire for independence by the Catalonian people. Therefore, we can expect that Madrid will be exerting much more formal control of the region over the next few years to come. Of course, this all hinges on whether the situation escalates any further.
Aric Laatz

Iran will keep building missles

On Sunday, the Iranian President began questioning the "credibility of the United States". In the Iranian President's speech he said, "If a government like the US government states that it is not committed to an important international commitment, and its reason is that the previous administration has been tricked, then what happens with the continuity of the responsibility of the governments?". He continued on to say that the United States is not living up to what they have previously agreed on. Iran has been building missiles with the intend of using them for defense purposes only. So far Germany, EU, France and Britain has agreed to try to make a deal and all that they are waiting for is for the United States to be open to a deal. Reading this article made me wonder what Trump will say about Iran's questioning of the United States. It also makes me worry- given the fact of how Trump acts. I begin to think if this is just going to make things worse between us and Iran. Also, the fear of a nuclear war comes to mind when thinking about all the possible responses Trump can come up with.

Article: 
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/29/middleeast/iran-rouhani-trump-nuclear-deal/index.html

Azucena Ramirez

Puerto Rico: Whitefish energy grid deal to be scrapped

Five weeks after the devastating hurricane, 70% of the island of Puerto Rico is still without power. The governor had previously been working on a deal with Whitefish Energy to help rebuild the island's power grid. The governor just announced that he is cancelling the contract given to the company, though. Fema denied any involvement in the deal, attempting to stay out of the mess.


http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41795774

Paige Dean

Russia Uses Its Oil Giant, Rosneft, as a Foreign Policy Tool

Russia Uses Its Oil Giant, Rosneft, as a Foreign Policy Tool

Russia is looking to expand its power throughout the globe by becoming a major energy distributor. They are currently in talks with Venezuela, Maduro hoping Russia will stave off its current trend toward further dissemination. The lack of economic growth is putting Venezuela in stagnant disrepair and political unrest. Russia is hoping to take a bigger stake in Venezuela’s oil company, (PetrĂ³leos de Venezuela) known in the U.S a Citgo. Currently, Russia has a 49.9 percent stake in Citgo. This could potentially bring further political strife between the U.S and Russia, taking into account the current political climate. Russia’s objective is not to help Venezuela, but to expand its geo-political power in the western hemisphere (specifically the U.S). Most of Russia’s investments are with countries that despise the American way of life. Russia is taking the Risk that Venezuela wont collapse, and that the will pay their debts. Venezuela needs Russia now, more than ever, especially with China’s choice to avert their support from Maduro.

Mike Ziccarelli






Multiple Houston Texans players kneel in protest to owners comments

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2741350-multiple-texans-kneel-during-anthem-vs-seahawks-after-bob-mcnairs-comments?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

In today's Houston Texas vs Seattle Seahawks game the majority of the Texans players chose to kneel in protest to Bob Mcnairs comments about his players. McNair made comments on Friday where he said 'we can't have the inmates running the prison'. These comments came in response to nunrous players on multiple teams kneeling for the national anthem. It seems that whether players kneel or not is more important than the games themselves.

James Brown

Saudi Arabia to allow women into sports stadiums

This article talks about Saudi Arabia's new lift on the restriction of women is sports stadiums. This is the second decree allowing more freedom for women this year, following the lift on the driving ban. Because of this recent shift in Saudi Arabia's policies toward women, some critics are wondering if this is the beginning of more major changes towards freedoms and women's rights. The Saudi prince says that he wants to move towards a more moderate practice of Islam in the country, but some conservatives are pushing back. 

Protests over Catalonian Secession

The Washington Post is reporting that hundreds of thousands of Spaniards have turned out to protest the declared independence of Catalonia from Spain.  The regular citizens of Spain do not want to see Catalonia leave.  Not only that, but they want to see the leaders of the independence movement punished for their rebellion.  This incident shows the public hatred throughout the rest of Spain for Catalonia and the public pressure the government is on to prevent secession. 

Summary by Alec Beutel