Americans killed in Ethiopian Airlines crash included Army captain from Illinois, California brothers by Cole Griffin

An army captain from the Chicago area and two brothers on an adventure before one was set to become a father were among the Americans killed when an Ethiopian Airline jetliner plunged out of the sky on Sunday. Lewis was in Africa doing Christian missionary work at the time of the air disaster. The 40-year-old enlisted in the army as a third-generation family member before going on to serve in Afghanistan. Lewis had planned to start a business or charity and build a home in Africa following his retirement from the military in a few years, according to family members. He leaves behind a wife and 15-year-old son. Brothers Mel and Bennett Riffel were also killed in the crash. There were also more individuals that passed away on the flight but these are just a few that I went into detail about. We will have to see what happens with the airline in the future. I send my condolences to the families of the lost ones. 

americans-killed-in-ethiopian-airlines-crash-included-army-captain-from-illinois-california-brothers

NKorea Denuclearization Must Not Be Incremental

The agreement between Trump and Kim Jong un demands the eventual denuclearization of nukes perceived to be in North Korea. An envoy of the US, Stephen Biegun, is critical of the slow process and is exuberant on his position of the total denuclearization of North Korea. Trump also mentioned that not all sanctions will be lifted in order to keep North Korea in place.

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2019-03-11/us-envoy-nkorea-denuclearization-must-not-be-incremental

Shivam Rana

Europe to Follow U.S. Lead in Sharing Data to Fight Crime

“The European Commission proposed Tuesday that national law enforcement authorities be allowed to access data stored on tech companies’ servers in other EU countries or the US, to speed cross-border criminal investigations,” reports Natalia Drozdiak as she weighs in on the EU’s attempt to aligning rules and contain crime in the union. In the United States, the Cloud Act is a federal law that enables law-enforcement warrants to apply to data that tech companies store overseas. The EU’s proposals enforces “tech companies to have to respond to requests from authorities within 10 days, or in urgent cases, within 6 hours.” This new law emphasized a prominent issues that both US and EU governments face with big firms as they now store more and more data around the world. Although internet companies in the EU welcomed the government's efforts, many privacy activists are against this new action. They claim that this would violate their rights and put them and their data (information) at risk.

Read More

https://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-to-follow-u-s-lead-in-sharing-data-to-fight-crime-1523973304

Zohra Ouhabi

Saudi Crown Prince Makes Deals in France

The Meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and new Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman marks an new era of change lead by a younger general filled with hopes and aspirations. Stacy Meichtry and Margherita Stancati reports back on three days of political discussions and planed project in aerospace and energy. Saudi is reported to have invested billions of dollars in this short visit to L'elysée. That being said, this visit to the European Union marks Prince Salman’s first official visit to the Western World as the leader of the kingdom and representative of the royal family since the scandalous purge that put Saudi moguls and royals in prison. According to Meichtry and Stancati, this visit strengthened the ties between the nations as “Mr. Macron’s steadfast support for international nuclear accord that provides sanctions relief to Saudi rival Iran in exchange for restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program.” Both leaders concluded that the two governments must work together in order to “contain Iranian expansionism,” which seemed to the the underlying issue that concerned both leaders.

Read More: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-saudi-crown-prince-france-visit-20180408-story.html

Zohra Ouhabi

In the capital of Bulgaria, European leaders gathered this past wednesday to discuss Trump’s foreign policies. It was apparent that the collective was quite frustrated with his approach towards: American’s exit from Iran nuclear deal and US tariff threats. Prior to the official announcement made by the Trump administration concerning their exit from the nuclear deal, it is reported that European leaders spent months negotiating with the White House in order to avoid the current outcome. Nonetheless, the US’s response to those negotiations seemed more like threats as they claimed to consider sanctions against European firms if they continued their business endeavors in the Iranian capital. Laurence Norman reports, “German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently has questioned the long term liability of Europe’s U.S security umbrella while French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday that Europe must salvage the Iranian nuclear deal and show the nations that the bloc aren’t American ‘vassals.’”

Read More:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-leaders-vent-over-trump-policies-1526501344


Zohra Ouhabi

The Glitch in Trump’s Immigration Campaign Overloaded Courts

Ever since Trump took office, “the number of pending cases has increased by 25%.” Thus, hiring more judges gained more support as it is becoming a necessity. Courts are becoming crowded with cases concerning illegal immigration. As a result, this is slowing down the process and delaying decisions concerning people that both eligible and and ineligible to stay in the United States. During his campaign, Donald Trump focused a great deal of his agenda on immigration vowing to deport those who are living in the country illegally. Nonetheless, “the number of pending cases increased by more than 150,000— a 25% jump since Donald Trump took office.”

https://opinionhall.com/the-glitch-in-trumps-immigration-campaign-overloaded-courts/

Zohra Ouhabi

Russia Wants Access To Ex-Spy In U.K.

On March 4th it had been exactly one year since a former Russian double agent and his daughter were found poisoned in the British city of Salisbury. Tuesday the Russian government accused U.K. authorities of violating an international treaty by not granting them access to the two. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were discovered collapsed on a park bench near a shopping mall on March 4, 2018. The laboratory results revealed that they had been exposed to the Novichok nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Russia however denies any involvement.
In a recent news conference Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's deputy ambassador to the U.N., questioned the British narrative that blames Russia for the attack. "We still don't know who did it, why and how, one year on," he said. "All our efforts to cooperate with the British side are being constantly rejected. They don't want to listen. They expect us only to tell them: either President Putin did this himself or he lost control of the people who did this."

By: Bry Walker

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/05/700277978/russia-wants-access-to-ex-spy-in-u-k

Ethiopian Airlines Flight Crashes, Killing More Than 150 On Board

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed early Sunday morning shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the airline said. The plane had 149 passengers and eight crew members on board. There were no survivors. The cause of the crash still remains unknown. Ethiopian Airlines claim that there was nothing weird or out of order so they have no idea as to why the plane crashed. According to the airline, inspectors last conducted maintenance on the aircraft on Feb. 4. The plane which was a Boeing 737 MAX 8, had flown from Johannesburg to Addis Ababa earlier Sunday morning without any problems. The victims include 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven British citizens, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Dutch citizens, four Indians, four Slovakians, three Austrians, three Swedes, three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis. One of the victims had a United Nations passport and they were believed to be traveling U.N. environment summit in Nairobi, Kenya. The Ethiopian Airlines CEO "expresses his profound sympathy and condolences to the families and loves ones of passengers and crew who lost their lives in this tragic accident."

By: Bry Walker
https://www.npr.org/2019/03/10/701984701/ethiopian-airlines-flight-crashes-with-more-than-150-on-board

Princess Sheikha Latifa tried to flee Dubai

Legal case is pending for Princess Sheikha Latifa, daughter of the leader of Dubai.

Last year a video was released of Sheikha, stating that if the video was release she was either dead, or in a very bad situation, after attempting to leave Dubai. About eight months passed and Sheikha was suddenly seen in photographs, but friends reported that they believe that she is being drugged and/or being held against her will.

Mary Robinson, a former U.N. commissioner for human rights had pictures taken with Sheikha on Christmas eve, confirming Sheikha was with her family and is now a family matter, but friends say the photo could be provided as a clue as they said she seems to look dazed and confused in the photograph. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/03/08/sheikha-latifa-how-princess-plotted-escape-dubai-maktoum-khashoggi-fitaihi/3003369002/ 

Jessica Padilla

Europe will fight Mark Zuckerberg's plan for Facebook

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/07/tech/facebook-whatsapp-europe/index.html

Mark Zuckerberg plans to integrate Facebook, Instagram, and his other companies to make it easier for users to communicate. This plan is going to run into opposition from European regulators. They have recently passed privacy laws and have already warned Facebook about sharing data between companies. Facebook has a headquarters in Ireland and the Data Protection Commission there asked to be briefed on Zuckerberg's proposed plan. Facebook released a statement that said this plan was in the early stages and would take time. This plan also raises concerns about metadata and competition within the media realm. Facebook uses metadata about their users to create their targeted advertisements which is how Facebook makes money. Also, Facebook purchased a potential competitor, WhatsApp, in 2014 for billions of dollars. Regulators are mostly worried about how these moves will affect consumers, especially when it comes to privacy. Facebook is no stranger to controversy and this seems to just be another one. I think it is really hard for anyone to take on these huge companies because of their legal teams and their ability to simply pay the fines.

-Devin Carrier

Some Russians fight back as Putin cracks down on freedoms

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/09/europe/vladimir-putin-russia-authoritarian-intl/index.html

Putin and Russia are trying to take away some internet freedoms from their citizens in what has been described as a "more authoritarian turn". Russian lawmakers passed a series of laws that crack down on internet freedom, which are waiting to be signed by Putin. One law says that citizens can go to jail for criticizing government officials online. It's a pretty vague law that can send people to jail for up to 15 days for posts that "disrespect" the state, society, or state symbols. Russia already has laws passed in 2016 that make it illegal to endorse extremism online, which were passed to fight terrorism. There is another law that restricts internet use for members of the military. According to Human Rights Watch, dozens of Russians have been jailed for social media posts. The anti extremism law from 2016 allowed police to search places of worship and ban some religious texts. Two Mormon US citizens were detained in Russia this week. These moves by Russia seem to be an attempt to address internal threats that could undermine the government. In a recent speech, a Russian General accused the US of using soft power to promote regime change in countries around the world including Russia. There has been some public opposition in Russia though. 29 people were detained during a protest against these new proposed laws in Moscow. Also, two activists were detained for interrupting a ceremony on the 66th anniversary of Josef Stalin's death. Time will tell if these new measures actually strengthen or weaken the government.

-Devin Carrier

New type of government for Mexico? - David Pate

Despite just taking office on December 1st, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is really shaking things up. Within his first 100 days he's "answered more questions from the press, flown in more economy-class flights, posed for more selfies with admiring citizens and visited more genuinely risky areas with little or no security than several combined decades of his predecessors” (Sherman 2019). His approval rating has surpassed 80% which is impressive to me. He’s a man of the people and not afraid to prove it, even in risky areas. Every week he announces something new, which is great, he’s spicing things up in an otherwise sedentary country, but could it be too much too soon? Sometimes he would announce more plans before enacting on previous plans, overshadowing them. Lopez divided his army and navy to launch a military assault on fuel theft gangs which were stealing from refineries and pipelines. You’d think that this would provide the country with more oil since it was burning off the leeches, but it created fuel shortages instead. It will likely be a delayed effect before the people of Mexico see better gas prices. Lopez is proving himself to be a man of the people. He got rid of the presidential airplane, residence, motorcade, and his security to show his people he isn’t afraid of them. I’m impressed, but I hope he doesn’t let it get to his head, Mexico is still infested with Cartel.

David Pate

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexicos-leftist-president-creates-style-government-61586432?cid=clicksource_4380645_1_heads_hero_live_headlines_hed

Brand new Boeing 737 crashes - David Pate

Two Boeing MAX 8s have crashed in less than six months. The Lion Air flight from October had 189 souls on-board and the Ethiopian Air flight had 157 souls on-board, in both instances, all passengers were killed and both planes were in the air for less than 15 minutes before a catastrophic malfunction occurred. Striking similarities happened between the two flights at the time of the malfunction, Lion Air experienced wild fluctuations in altitude and the Ethiopian flight also experienced altitude variations prior to crashing, although not as erratic as the Lion Air flight. It was determined that a module called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System on the plane belonging to Lion Air was malfunctioning. This system works like the automatic braking feature in some new vehicles. If live data suggests the plane is at risk of stalling during assent, the nose downward will adjust automatically. Since the plane wasn't at risk, the pilots chose to fight the system. I'm all for fighting the power, but in this case, almost 200 lives were in their hands. Boeing released a statement saying that this system can be turned off by the pilots. They also sent an emergency bulletin out to all airlines making sure their pilots are trained to shut the module down in case of malfunction. It's too early to know for sure if the same thing happened with the Ethiopian plane, but time will tell when data is retrieved from the flight recorder.

Written by David Pate

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/10/africa/ethiopian-airlines-crash-boeing-max-8-intl/index.html

Some Russians fight back as Putin cracks down on freedoms

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/09/europe/vladimir-putin-russia-authoritarian-intl/index.html

President Putin's monopoly on power is being fought as new laws are starting to really infringe upon the citizens freedom. While there are reports of signing suspensions to nuclear forces the lawmakers passed a new legislation to impact the freedom of speech among the Russians. This freedom will make it illegal to criticize the Russian government and result in jail time. As well Putin released documents stating that military service personnel cannot criticize the government. Although the laws have not been fully passed people in the past have been getting prosecuted for their remarks against the government.


Matthew Sheinfeld

Second Crash of Boeing 737 MAX Occurs in Ethiopia - Sam Glodoski

Sam Glodoski

Ethiopian Airlines reported the second crash of the Boeing 737 MAX in the last eight months. The crash, occurring on March 10th, resulted in the deaths of all 157 people on board. The previous Lion Air crash, which occurred in October, killed an additional 189 people. The new Boeing model was released approximately two years ago and is now under suspicion due to the recent tragedies. As of today, no evidence has been recovered to indicate the cause of the latest crash or its connection to the October incident. However, a crash of this magnitude to transpire with so many similarities is unprecedented, convincing multiple experts that this is likely not a coincidence. The Lion Air crash was the result of a malfunction of the plans's new Maneuvering Characteristic Augmentation System, designed to automatically pull the plane's nose down if it pointing at a dangerously high angle. Although the Ethiopian crash displayed similar movement patters, they were not as extreme, suggesting the issues may not the result of the same cause. Experts have also largely dismissed the possibility that the crash was directly the result of Ethiopian Airline's, stating that the airline is very well run with no safety issues.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/10/africa/ethiopian-airlines-crash-boeing-max-8-intl/index.html

Blackouts in Venezuela Lead to More Protest - Sam Glodoski

Protests against Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro have intensified since a national blackout out which has been ongoing since  March 7th. The black out, which is the cause of Venezuela's main hydroelectric generator failing, has led to power failures across the country. As a result, people's refrigerated food has perished, causing many to go hungry, and power outages at hospitals has led to multiple preventable deaths. Despite an order banning protests in the capital's core, outraged Venezuelans have gathered in ever-increasing numbers to show disapproval of the Mauro and his government. However, despite the high emotional tension and shared hunger, Protests have remained mostly peaceful, with opposition leader and self-declared President Juan Guaido advocating for a nonviolent display. Meanwhile, Maduro continues to claim the power outage is the result of U.S. sabotage to advance its plan to take advantage of Venezuela's national resources. Critics note that outage is far more likely a result of poor maintenance of the generator. Unfortunately, power is not estimated to return to the nation for another few days, leaving the Venezuelan people with ever-worsening conditions

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/world/americas/venezuela-power-protests.html

-Sam Glodoski

Hope Flynn -- Australian PM implies women's equality shouldn't come at the expense of men

https://www.foxnews.com/world/australian-pm-implies-womens-equality-shouldnt-come-at-the-expense-of-men-on-international-womens-day

Australia’s Prime Minister made a shockingly unpolitically-correct statement in a speech given on International Women’s Day: “We want to see women rise. But we don’t want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse” implying that those ‘others’ were men. In 2019, we are not allowed to say anything remotely negative about women or we are accused to being misogynistic, anti-women, patronizing, and/or against gender equality. I think it was brave of him to make this statement because I have noticed that modern-day feminism seems to do exactly what he is suggesting shouldn’t happen—that equality for women must come at the expense of men. Like he said later in the speech, true gender equality is making the ‘playing field’ equal across the board not putting women higher than men which is often the case. There have been some women leaving his cabinet now citing after the speech that it was due to a “culture of gender bias” which may be the case or could just be a reaction to his IWD speech. Despite that, his comment about gender equality was brave as it was clearly not taken well and proves a good point to today’s feminism. 

Hope Flynn -- Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes, killing all 157 aboard including Americans, officials say

https://www.foxnews.com/world/ethiopian-airlines-passenger-jet-crashes-with-more-than-150-aboard-reports-say

An Ethiopian airplane crashed shortly after taking off killed all who were aboard (157 members). They are not sure yet why the plane crashed, but the pilot sent a distress call just after taking off. There were people of 33 nationalities of aboard the plane, including 8 Americans. Other countries were Canada, China, Italy, France, Britain, Egypt, the Netherlands, India, and Slovakia. The U.S. Department of State of contacting all the American families personally and the US embassies’ in Ethiopia and Kenya are also working with authorities to get more information.  

'This breaks our hearts': Ghana promises action after CNN child slavery report

CNN has reported that around 20,000 children work as slaves on Lake Volta in Ghana. Desperately poor parents sell their children to human traffickers for as little as $250. For me, a human being has no price; this is horrible. I cannot believe that this is still happening in the world. Those poor children are enslaved by fishermen and are forced to call them “master” and work all day on the lake, which is their only source of income. Many children die drowned while fishing in the lake. In addition, they are mistreated and poorly fed.   

Ghana’s minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, promised specific action: “aimed at rescuing the victims, rehabilitating them, reintegrating them into society (and) prosecuting persons responsible”. The saddest part is that the government is aware of this and – in my opinion – is doing nothing to stop this crime against human rights. I strongly disagree with child labor; I’m absolutely against child slavery or any other kind of slavery. The minister can say whatever he wants, but the reality is that they do not have the resources necessary to achieve all the statements that he made to CNN. All of these problems are caused by Ghana’s biggest problem of all – poverty.

I’m super mad L

by Lupita Turriff     

reporthttps://www.cnn.com/2019/03/07/africa/ghana-child-slaves-minister-intl/index.html

ISIS Becoming Active In the Philippines - Sam Glodoski

On January 27th, ISIS took responsibility for a suicide bombing at Our Lady of Mount Carmel catholic cathedral, leaving 23 dead. This terrorist attack has prompted a discussion in the pacific region of a rise of ISIS influence in the area. Since ISIS began to loose its territory in the middle east in 2016, the terrorist organization has begun to spreed into other other countries, with a focus on the Philippines. Around this same time, ISIS began to circulate recruitment videos directed towards Philippine Muslims, while also sending funds and militant jihadists. Currently, the fighting has been taking place on the Philippines' southern islands between the state's Christian-majority and Muslim-minority, although the thick brush and lack of patrol offers cover for the militant jihadists,t allowing many to avoid capture. In response to the cathedral bombing on Jolo Island, the the Filipino Government has deployed 10,000 solders on the island in addition to carrying out airstrikes. Unfortunately, according to the Philippines' President, Rodrigo Duterte, "The fighting has just begun."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/09/world/asia/isis-philippines-jolo.html

-Sam Glodoski

Russia internet freedom: Thousands protest against cyber-security bill

Thousands of people went out to the streets of Moscow and other Russian cities to protest a controversial new bill which will apply hard restrictions on the internet. The bill intends to isolate Russia's Internet service from the rest of the world. Russians are saying that this is just one more step toward a complete banish of freedom for the citizens.

Article by: BCC

Summary By: Maria Clara Ospina

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47517263

An Ethiopian airplane crashes: 157 dead.

A global tragedy strikes as an airplane from Ethiopian Airlines crashes on its way to Nairobi, Kenya from Addis Ababa. Early Sunday morning of March 10th, 2019, a senior pilot with more than 8,000 hours of flying experience, who was in charge of the aircraft, reported an emergency return to the airport ten minutes after take-off. The Boeing 737 crashed soon after this report, leaving all 157 passengers dead. It has been reported that the passengers were of thirty-two different nationalities, making this a global emergency. States from all over the world have expressed their condolences about this tragedy; which sadly is the second one after another Boeing 737 crashed in the Java Sea leaving 189 dead back in October of 2018. Investigators along Boeing have not found the answer for this sudden crashes. For now, the world stands and watching as today's devastation continues to unfold.

Article by: Eric Levenson

Summary by: Maria Clara Ospina

Link: https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/ethiopian-airlines-plane-crash/index.html

South Asia Is Smothered in Toxic Air, Report Finds

The city of Gurugram, which is one of India’s industrial hubs, is claimed to be the city with the world’s worst air. According to the report realized by Greenpeace and IQAIR AirVisual, a software company that checks global air quality, found that India holds 15 of the top 20 spots of toxic air. In addition, the repost included the city of Lahore in Pakistan and Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, as part of the top 20 toxic regions. The conclusion of this report shows that Bangladesh is the most polluted country, followed closely by Pakistan and India. The air from those cities contains pollution called fine particulate matter, as known as PM 2.5, a toxic component, which can penetrate deep into the lungs and the bloodstream.  

A report from the United Nations Environment Program found that toxic air kills seven million people every year, and most of the deaths occurs in the Asia-Pacific region. Another study realized by Lancet Planetary Health conducted in December revealed that in India the number of deaths from air pollution was 1.24 million in 2017. 

In addition, a report conducted by UNICEF found toxic air may permanently damage children’s brains. Unfortunately, the Indian government is still in denial about how serious this crisis is for their population. This is a typical posture, in which developing countries with inefficient democracy fell to regulated and enforced --environmental norms-- and since there are not drastic sanctions, those norms are often ignored or unenforced. Lastly, the priority of 99 % of Indian people is to have food, shelter, and clothing. Sadly, health and environment are not even in the top ten.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/world/asia/india-air-pollution.html

Lupita Turriff

Venezuela: Thousands join rival rallies as power cuts continue

Venezuela: Thousands join rival rallies as power cuts continue

This Saturday morning, thousands of opponents of the government, came out to the streets in Caracas, where the police tried to contain them. This recent development of protests come because of the power cuts that have been happening this past week.

Interim President Juan Guaidó supported the rally, he announced that h will embark on a tour and will urge all the Venezuelan people to join forces in Caracas, to keep fighting back.

Meanwhile President Maduro, thanked the Venezuelan Military forces for their loyalty and said they defeated an attempt opposition coup.

Tensions in Venezuela keep rising and rising, it’s a matter of time, until it all blows over.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47510255

By Mirna Solis Perez

Activity at North Korean Rocket Facility

A little over a week since the failed summit, satellite images have revealed activity at a North Korean rocket facility. The images were taken on February 22nd but were released this week following an assessment of the Sohae satellite launch facility. Jeffrey Lewis, the director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Project at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, has suggested that the evidence points to a satellite launch. This launch could help them develop long-range ballistic missiles. This recent development could signal a potential blow to US relations with North Korea.

Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/08/asia/north-korea-satellite-images-activity/index.html

Posted by Kaitlin Pritchard

German minister: Envoys helped prevent Guaido arrest

By: Iselin Brady

After suspicion that the Maduro regime was planning on arresting Juan Guaido at the Caracas airport, several foreign diplomats showed up at the airport to help prevent such an occurrence. 65 countries, including the US, Canada, Germany, Brazil, and the UK, have stated that they support Guaido as the interim president. Germany's foreign minister reported that Guaido asked Germany’s ambassador to Venezuela to come with the others. While this move may have helped prevent Guaido’s arrest, Nicolas Maduro has announced that the German ambassador now has 48 hours to leave the country. This could raise concerns if Maduro will continue to tell ambassador’s they must leave Venezuela if there country has shown support for his rival. If a new election is not held soon or Maduro is not removed from power, such consequences are likely to continue. It will be interesting to see how other foreign diplomats respond to such news; If they start weakening their position and stance on this issue in order to ensure they can stay in the country, or if they use this occurrence to show why they strongly support Guaido.

https://www.apnews.com/bfb71a5c530a4667b8ffca6de522e864

Venezuela power cuts: Blackouts continue as protests loom

Venezuela power cuts: Blackouts continue as protests loom

Chaos has ensued in Venezuela as both political poles blame the other for the power outage that has swept the country. Hospitals are taking the hit hard, and at least one patient has died so far due to the fact that her respirator didn't get power. A children's hospital's generators stopped working, and the medical staff worked through the night with the flashlights from their cell phones as their only source of light. Many of the children were terrified, and some had to go without the non-emergent procedures and medications that they needed. The electrical issues began yesterday (Thursday) because of other problems at one of the major hydroelectric plant in Venezuela. Internally, Venezuela depends on the hydroelectric power to sustain itself, while the oil helps it function internationally. Today (Friday) many offices and schools were closed in an effort to keep everyone safe while operating without electricity. With organized protests set to begin tomorrow, the chaos will only grow.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47504722
By Megan Saar

Canada´s Trudeau admits " erosion of trust" in SNC-Lavalin case

Canada’s Trudeau admits “erosion of trust” in SNC-Lavalin case

On Thursday morning, Canada´s Primer Minister, Justin Trudeau, made a statement, regarding the comments, about his  former attorney general and justice minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, she said that she felt pressured and faced political interference by the prime minister and members of his inner circle, over when to make a deal that would have suspended prosecution against the engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.

He said that his government did not place any type of pressure on the investigation, he also tried to reassure the Canadian people that there was no breakdown in the system, the rule of law or the integrity of their institutions.

Over this matter, the Prime Minister lost two top ministers.

The SNC-Lavalin is a Quebec-based firm established as one of the biggest engineering and construction companies.

The company is facing allegations that former executives paid bribes to win contracts in Libya under Muammar Gaddafi's regime, which was terminated in 2011.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47473839

By: Mirna Solis Perez

Russia Stops 600 Spies

In the article "Putin says Russia stopped nearly 600 spies last year," written by Nathan Hodge for CNN details Putin's claim that he cracked down on more than 600 spies last year as the title explains. The claim was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, with Putin insinuating that many foreign countries are trying infiltrate Russia for information. The claim was made while speaking the Federal Security Service (FSB), which is like the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). According to Putin, the information the spies are looking for within Russia are technology, the economy, and scientific research. Indeed, a United States citizen named Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia last year on suspension of espionage. It is to be noted that Paul was a former Marine, and was found with classified material and was arrested in Moscow. Another US citizen named Michael Calvey, an investor, was arrested in connection with a fraud investigation. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Is the US citizens guilty, or is Putin simply paranoid?

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/06/europe/putin-russia-nearly-600-spies-intl/index.html

Alyssa Dahnke

French and ISIS ties

As the fight against ISIS comes to an end, Europe has to deal with the consequences of where to put citizens dealing with these extreme actions from the government. Out of all the European countries, France has been the one struck the most dramatically with 250 citizens killed by the terrorist group since 2013. On the other hand, France has also had a dramatic ISIS membership increase among French citizens. As the United States prepares to withdraw troops from Syria, France has rejected Trump's proposal of removing all ISIS fighters from the initial battleground. Still, people with loved ones lost to the terrorist group want those murderers to be tried on French soil. Now, France's biggest concern is bringing back the ISIS fighters to the country, in hopes of  a trial and ultimately closure for the victims family.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/06/europe/isis-children-france-intl/index.html

By: Jocelyne Flores

Early Polling suggests 2020 will be bad for Trump

The 2016 election was a memorable one, with both party's candidates having extremely low popularity ratings. Specifically, the current president's situation, being the least liked nominee in presidential history. Still, his ratings are unfavorably growing among both the democratic and the republican party. The overarching question of whether his luck in the 2016 election will get him through the 2020 one again. In a hypothetical 2020 match up, the Washington Post put out a poll that showed that Trump was in fact losing to a Democratic nominee by a -6 net approval rating. Similarly, back in December a similar poll was put out that set Trump's approval rating at -14 among voters. Both of these negative approval rates directly correspond to his own popularity. Overall, Trump will have a hard time in the 2020 election if the Democrats elect an at least semi-favorable candidate. If not, Trump will most likely win again.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/politics/2020-bad-news-trump/index.html
By: Jocelyne Flores

Emily Knutson: Brazil Leader Jair Bolsonaro Criticised Over Obscene Video on Twitter

The Brazilian president- Jair Bolsonaro- who is often compared to Donald Trump, was elected this past January. He has often expressed extremely racist, homophobic, and misogynistic views, so his tweet didn't come to such a surprise. Bolsonaro sent out a video of two gay men "engaging in sex acts on a taxi." He used this content to suggest that Carnival was sinful and wrong. Some people believe this tweet is in response to the protests against Bolsonaro's condemnation of the gay community. With Carnival being such a large part of Brazil's culture, it will be interesting to see how such a conservative president will change things.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-47473582

First African Fighter Wins UFC

First African Fighter Wins UFC 

By: Reagan Quynn

Kamaru Usman won an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title in mixed-martial arts (MMA). Usman is 31 and originally from Nigeria. He and his family moved to Texas when he was a kid. Usman is the first African fighter to win a UFC title. Proudly known as the “Nigerian Nightmare” he currently upholds a winning streak in the UFC of 14 fights. The UFC is the biggest MMA competition that includes boxing, kickboxing, jiu-jitsu, and wrestling, among other fighting disciplines. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47433101?ocid=socialflow_twitter

Denmark has a 'pervasive rape culture,' says Amnesty International

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/europe/amnesty-denmark-rape-culture-intl/index.html

Much like the U.S. the Metoo like movements have been shown in countries. However, Denmark has a rape culture going on there but the country has spent years putting it off. Based on certain statistics Denmark is one of the highest places for violence on women. Which is shocking because one would expect the situation to be more properly fixed after hearing this. Movements have been coming up across Denmark to help stop this culture and it has taken massive strides. Women however feel that they can't go to the police because they feel threatened. The plans are going to an Istanbul convention to move forward.

Matthew Sheinfeld

Iraq defeated ISIS more than a year ago. The group's revival is already underway

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/middleeast/iraq-isis-return-intl/index.html

Iraq reportedly a year ago has defeated ISIS to an extent that the group was unable to be an influence in the world. The capital where there used to be a lot of fighting has grown up to be a sprawling marketplace and the people are relatively happy there. ISIS has been building up there fighters in the deserts and trying to recruit virtually. However, this is going to still be very difficult. Iraq and the surrounding areas like Mosul are still in recovery from ISIS but the downfall still seems to be considerable despite ISIS trying to rebuild.

Matthew Sheinfeld

London patient might be second to be cured of HIV

https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/04/health/hiv-remission-london-patient-study-bn/index.html

This article reports that the second patient treated with a treatment to help cure HIV might be cured. They say by proving this second patient is cured that the medicine may be successful. However, they also stated that the treatment may to be effective for all patients of this disease. While a lot more work is needed the cure will be allowed for even further development with the success of these few patients.

Matthew Sheinfeld

North Korea Rebuilding Sohae Rocket Launch Site

The second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un ended last week in Hanoi without any deal or agreement. New satellite images from North Korea show they are restoring a rocket launch site that they had said they would dismantle. The images were taken two days after talks ended between the United States and North Korea. The US has warned North Korea could face yet more sanctions should Pyongyang not take steps to denuclearize. Many believe that adding fresh sanctions could completely stall the peace efforts.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47465082

By: Matthew Rivera