Stabbings Around London Bridge Kill 2 in 'Terrorist Incident'

Two people were killed Friday afternoon and left several injured as an acclaimed Islamic state terrorist crossed the London Bridge. The motive is still unclear to why the man attacked and why he had a hoax bomb attached to his chest. Despite the threat of the incident, those nearby stepped in immediately and attempted to disarm the man before police arrived. These people are now considered heros for stepping in when they did. When police arrived they shot the man who then ended up dying later at the scene. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/29/world/europe/london-bridge-shooting.html

By: Chloe Erickson

Students Fainting From Hunger In Venezuela's Failing School System

With the decline in the Venezuela economy that began in 2013, education has declined immensely. Millions of Venezeulans have left the country in the 6 most recent years the economic crisis has been occuring. Among these citizens, teachers started leaving their jobs that payed only $8 per month. They fled to find work in nearby cities or completely left the country to start over and overcome poverty. As more teachers left, the younger generation was in desperate need to be educated. The economy here has been at a constant downfall since. The younger generation is lacking basic knowledge and teachers to teach them what they need to know. According to the article, "the collapse of the education system in Venezuela is not only condemning an entire generation to poverty, but risks setting the country's development back decades...". Students' families are struggling to provide food, therefore, making the children rely on eating school meals. But because of the economic crisis, schools stopped serving food and became a large deciding factor if a student would attend class or not. Of the few students who still attend school, they risk fainting from hunger while trying to learn all they possibly can before having to begin working in fields to support their families.

 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/30/world/americas/venezuela-students-hunger.html

By: Chloe Erickson

Desi Bouterse: Suriname president gets 20 years in jail for murder

Desi Bouterse has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for the murder of 15 political prisoners in 1928.
The sitting president is currently on an official visit to China, which makes things quite awkward. He has two weeks to appeal the decision, which he is expected to do.
Bourtese led Suriname during the 1980s as head of a military government and de facto leader.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-50611555

Schools Offer a Safe Learning Environment for Refugee Children

Valencia Newcomer School located in Phoenix, Arizona has international flags waving from the tops of each doorway, welcoming in the refugee children and allowing them a safe place to learn. These classes will teach these young kids English skills and classroom customs that many students here in America have been taught at a young age in order to succeed in a classroom setting. New environments are scary for most people and many of these children start off startled when first entering the school. But once becoming accustomed, they begin to learn the rights and the wrongs of the classroom along with making friends across many different cultures. It sounds like an amazing outcome for all of these students intermingling and learning about one another's cultures and customs. "This year's kindergarten through eighth-grade students come from 21 countries and speak 15 languages." The schools are popping up where local education officials have decided to create them and are located in Indianapolis, Houston, Fort Worth, Texas, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Providence, Rhode Island. Trump's order to refuse refugees from entering into America has of course decreased the amount of refugees that have been entering into our country. But, the refugees that do enter our country deserve attention and safety to get them into the groove of things here and I believe these schools are a great way to get them integrated and educated. Valencia has a handful of U.S. schools who have been taking in these refugee students and dedicate their time to helping them out. In regards to Trump's order, "There may be less, but they're still coming," says a teacher from Valencia. "And we have to be there for them, whether it's academically or getting them services like immunizations." The Arizona Department of Economic Security last year devoted $635,000 to help 1,026 school-aged refugees. I find these programs to be extremely beneficial to these young children because they're still growing mentally and intellectually and it's easier to teach a young child a new language than it is for a grown adult to learn. Additionally to educational services, the children are also provided social services that way they are able to vent about any previous trauma or hard feelings they have. All of these services are the building blocks to creating a successful and healthy individual in our country. It's hard for young kids to go through trauma and then be expected to adjust quickly to a new culture and a new way of living. "We want to provide them a space where they can get grounded, whenever they feel traumatized or whenever they remember something from the past," said Principle Moreno as she showed the school's peace garden. These schools are a magical place for these young individuals and they supply them with the necessities they need to thrive. It gives them hope that they've been lacking and allows them to create healthy relationships with faculty and other students their age. 


























https://apnews.com/ee60eb7fc0f646e58c194be8f9206dbd
By: Nicole Bellino

Hong Kong Election Results Give Democracy Backers Big Win

Democracy advocates have witnessed a huge victory which is represented in several local counsel seats being earned by democratic politicians in Hong Kong. This has been made possible by the months of street protests. With 70 percent of the population voting, democratic politicians secured 389 out of 452 possible positions. The article does later go on to say that these positions are of the lowest political prowess and tend to be focused more on community issues like more bus stops and traffic lights. However, just because these positions don't have much power, does not mean that it isn't important. This is the biggest transformation that China has seen which pushes for democracy. And based on the deep unrest Hong Kong has for their central government, this is only the beginning.

Michael Pollack

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/24/world/asia/hong-kong-election-results.html

Hong Kong Election Results

Pro-democracy candidates have made a major victory in the Hong-Kong District Council elections. An estimate of more than 2.9 million individuals voted in the election. So far, 95% of constituencies have been declared which results in a landslide victory for the democrats. 

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/24/asia/hong-kong-district-council-elections-intl/index.html 

Mass surveillance system flags Uighurs for detention camps

"Voluntary job training is the reason the Chinese government has given for detaining more than a million ethnic minorities, most of them Muslims. But a classified blueprint leaked to a consortium of news organizations shows the camps are instead precisely what former detainees have described: Forced ideological and behavioral re-education centers run in secret.

The classified documents lay out the Chinese government’s deliberate strategy to lock up ethnic minorities even before they commit a crime, to rewire their thoughts and the language they speak.

The papers also show how Beijing is pioneering a new form of social control using data and artificial intelligence. Drawing on data collected by mass surveillance technology, computers issued the names of tens of thousands of people for interrogation or detention in just one week."

https://apnews.com/4ab0b341a4ec4e648423f2ec47ea5c47

White House Discovers Emails of Trump Justifying Trumps Decision to Block Ukraine Military Aid_Sierra Perez

It has been released today November 24th by Josh Dawsey, Carol D. Leonning and Tom Hamburger the article "White House review turns up emails showing extensive effort to justify Trump's decision to block Ukraine military aid". In this article it explains how hundreds of documents have turned up due to the impeachment inquiry, that are trying to justify whether or not the hold on Ukraine's military aid was legal or not. White House lawyers have even reviewed the exchange and are concerned this could "embarrass" the president and possibly pose legal problems. The concern was that the hold on the military aid did not take its proper steps and was not approved by congress through the congressional Budget and Impoundment Act. It is interesting to see how this will affect Trumps image and the impact how his impeachment hearings. Trump continues to deny all accusations and the impeachment inquiry as a "hoax".

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/white-house-review-turns-up-emails-showing-extensive-effort-to-justify-trumps-decision-to-block-ukraine-military-aid/2019/11/24/2121cf98-0d57-11ea-bd9d-c628fd48b3a0_story.html

China can go carbon neutral by 2050 while still growing its economy: report -Cortney Ferretti

China can go carbon neutral by 2050 while still growing its economy: report

By Laura He, CNN Business

Updated 6:35 AM ET, Fri November 22, 2019

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/22/energy/china-2050-climate-crisis-report/index.html

           In the next few decades, China can go carbon neutral without sacrificing economic growth or prosperity. Going “carbon neutral” is a way of releasing no carbon dioxide into the atmosphere or balancing carbon emissions with carbon removal. By 2050, China could triple its economic output per person, while reducing its carbon footprint. Adari Turner, the former chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority and UK Climate Change Committee, had a lot to say about China this past week. He stated that, “Given China's central role in the global economy, its vast renewable energy resources, and its technological leadership in key industries, China is uniquely positioned to lead the global energy transition and to decarbonize its economy completely by 2050”. Currently, China is one of the world’s biggest polluters. China and the U.S signed the 2015 Paris Agreement. Which is a pledge by 187 countries to reduce their carbon emissions. When the United States, began a formal withdrawal from the treaty this past month, Chin’s role has become even more important than ever before.

            Turner continues to that’s that China’s ability to meet its objective by 2050 will “stir investment and innovation that could accelerate progress”. He believes that it would make the world’s second largest economy stronger. It is recommended that China focus on lower emissions from industries like steel, cement, and chemicals through the use of recycled materials. Another step would be to transitions into total electrification of rail and road services. Solar energy is another popular suggestion in the report for China. It is stated that China may set forceful public policies to obtain their objective.

Hong Kong Pro Democracy parties make major gains in de facto protest referendum - Alex Eberhardt

Hong Kong Pro Democracy parties make major gains in de facto protest referendum
by Maisy Mok, Eric Chueng and James Griffith
CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/24/asia/hong-kong-district-council-elections-intl/index.html

This story was pretty interesting to me. There was an election in Hong Kong and the pro-democratic party completely destroyed the polls (figuratively). It was a huge win for their party as several district leader positions were won by pro-democracy candidates. It's likewise a huge loss for the pro-government supporters. I don't believe there are really going to be too many immediate effects for the people of Hong Kong, but in the longterm, things are probably going to get interesting.
I see this event as a very good and troubling for the people of Hong Kong. Several records were broken in the polls largely due to the pro-democratic party. Their party is extremely dedicated to their cause. The good thing out of all of this (at least for me being a westerner) is that Hong Kong got a little bit closer to keeping an ensured democracy. It is obviously something the people highly value and desire and the fact they are keeping it is good in my opinion. However, I also know that China is very powerful and potentially just as dedicated in enforcing their governmental system on Hong Kong. China claims they own the islands down south in the sea and look at what they've done to ensure that. China literally does own Hong Kong and so I expect that they may go to great lengths to keep control over it in the way they see fit. I mean China even claims that Taiwan is still their land (although the vice-versa is somewhat true here too).
This just scares me because it's two dedicated and powerful (even though one is significantly more so than the other) sides that are getting into a conflict. In order to prevent this one side has to give in and I'm not sure if one will. I will say that as China gets bigger and bigger, I think that they are going to have to start accepting more open policies in regards to western ideals. I think their restrictions of free speech and their human rights violations are too extreme and that, despite the advantages of that system that have helped China grow, it will hurt them overall in the long run. Having such tight control over your people is good for getting stuff done, but is bad for your relations with other powerful countries which is equally as important. If I were China, I would start rethinking some of my tactics and values. At the same time, however, China is a very unique country and full of very smart, thoughtful, and calm people. They certainly do not act like our president does. They think and plan, and so if they want something done, there is a good chance it will be done.

by Alex Eberhardt

Secret Documents of Chinese Detention Camps Leaked

What the Chinese calls “voluntary job training” has been described as a “forced ideological and behavioral re-education centers run in secret” by former detainees of Chinese detention camps. Leaks of classified blueprints shows the Chinese strategies of what they are doing to the ethnic minorities they lock up. Their strategy is to lock up ethnic minorities before they commit a crime to “rewire their thoughts and the language they speak.”  

These leaked documents describe the most “high-tech mass detention in the 21st-century.” Most of these ethnic minorities are Muslims. Detainees confirm these camps are committing cultural genocide as they are forced to assimilate to the Chinese way of life. The Chinese government has been justifying these actions of religious restrictions through relating back to the 9/11, claiming that the Muslims in China are susceptible to Islamic extremist influences.  

Inside of the “education camps” detainees are only allowed to leave when absolutely necessary, but they still we be under strict surveillance. Escaping was also impossible, there are armed police at every corner at these facilities. A detainee called the detention center a “’concentration camp...much more horrifying than prison,’ with rape, brainwashing and torture in a ‘black room’ were people screamed.” Detaniees were also given medicine to help them become “obedient”.  

After the detainees leave they are forced to sign job contracts, which forces them to work long hours with little pay. If they refuse these jobs they most go back to the camps.  

https://apnews.com/4ab0b341a4ec4e648423f2ec47ea5c47  

Dominika Szczepaniak

US Security Adviser Says World Silent on China Camps

US security advisor, Robert O'Brien, says that the world is silent on China re-education camps. O'Brien said that he believed that the world's silence on the 1 million Muslims currently present in Chinese re-education camps is due to China's economic influence and power in the rest of the world. He further went on to basically call the camps a genocide of China's minority Muslim Uighurs population, and said that after every genocide all you hear is never again, never again, but now there is another genocide occurring in China, and no one speaks up about it. China denies that any wrong doing by the state is occurring in these camps, and says that they are schools designed at providing their populace with employable skills and combating extremism. The US has condemned them occasionally, but not as frequently or as adamantly as some may like due to the ongoing trade negotiations. O'Brien then further went on, talking about the US's concern over the Hong Kong protests, and that he does not wish to see another Tiananmen Square type crackdown on the pro-democracy protestors.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-security-adviser-world-silent-china-camps-67255283?cid=clicksource_76_null_headlines_hed

-Alex Kitzmann

Russia Bans Technology W/O Russian-made Software

Russia will be enforcing a new law as of July 2020, stating that all smartphones, smart TVs and computers have a Russian-made software installed to make these gadgets easier for the users in their country. The alternative to this proposal is that the people of Russia worry that there could be problems with surveillance with this software, thinking that the government could be spying on them through this software. Also, problems could arise with the firms who are in the Russian market, as this software could be difficult to install. One of the bill's co-authors, Oleg Nikolayev, said "When we buy complex electronic devices, they already have individual applications, mostly western ones, pre-installed on them." For this reason, I can see how Russians can have difficulty with using their new gadgets when the applications they're using don't apply to their country. The Association of Trading Companies and Manufacturers of Electrical Household and Computer Equipment has said that this software will not be compatible with some computer devices, and therefore it will be more likely for some firms to pull out of the Russian market. It seems that Russia's most recent laws have been becoming overpowering and has been restricting toward the internet and technology use. The Russian government wants to have more control over what it's people have access to online... I feel that when laws restrict the rights and freedoms of people, riots and protests begin to emerge. Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, is an authoritarian figure and is power hungry. Through the sovereign internet law, government officials have the authority to ensure that the Russian web's traffic is kept to a restricted limit, and if it isn't they have the authority to restrict the internet use amongst the Russian users. Many gathered when this law was made, protesting an unjust law that was made to censor the internet use and to gather private information about their civilians. As these laws continue to crack down, it'll be interesting to see how Russians agree to this new law involving Russian software that will be official this upcoming summer.  








https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50507849
By: Nicole Bellino

Using AI to Battle the Climate Crisis

The solar energy startup company, Heliogen, recently made a major breakthrough while testing new concentrated solar heating technology. Concentrated solar heating is when you use mirrors to focus sunlight at a concentrated point. By using an AI to automatically track and adjust thousands of mirrors to focus the sun's energy at a single point, they have possibly discovered a clean way of powering super-heated systems. Heliogen's breakthrough may industrial companies, such as cement and steel making, to switch to a green power source. The fossil fuels required in cement, steel, and glass making account for one-fifth of the total greenhouse gas emissions.

Alex Miller

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/19/business/heliogen-solar-energy-bill-gates/index.html

US has the most detained kids

According to a study by the UN that was written by an international law expert, separating babies and children from their families “in order to deter irregular immigration” is prohibited by treaties. And yet the United States has the world’s highest rate of detained kids, this includes more than 100,000 children in immigration related custody which violates international law. The United Nations and it’s Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty state that children should only be detained as a measure of last resort and I believe it’s the least the US should do although I personally don’t believe in detaining immigrant children and separating them from their loved ones at all. As of today, the US still has more than 100,000 children who are in migration related detention. Therefore this article also states that this immigration detainment at the Mexican-US border is “inhuman treatment for both the parents and the children”. This may be difficult for some people to understand but it’s the logical truth because at the end of it all, these people are human just like everyone else in the US. Immigrant or not, I don’t think anyone would ever want to be in these kids shoes regardless of if they fully understand everything about this ongoing issue or not since when you’re a kid you can’t truly understand why there are people separating you from your family.

-Melissa A.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/u-s-has-world-s-highest-rate-detained-kids-should-n1084841

Hong Kong protests: up to 800 trapped as police lay siege to university

800 protestors are currently trapped in Polytechnic University. The university has been one of the staging grounds for demonstrators and protestors this week in Hong Kong's continued fight against China's authority. As of last night Sunday, via a Facebook post from the student union of the university, stated that Hong Kong police have blocked the exits of the university essentially trapping some 800 protestors inside. The protestors have prevented Hong Kong police from pushing into the building using petrol bombs and arrows, while Hong Kong police have prevented protestors escape firing tear gas and water cannoning any who attempt to flee. The growing concern is that the trapped protestors are running out of supplies and some are suffering from injuries as a result of the police.https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/18/hong-kong-protests-up-to-800-trapped-as-police-lay-siege-to-university
Weston Valkner

Kim Jong Un watches air drills after US, South Korea delay theirs

Kim Jung Un watched air force drills for the second time in 3 days. He is doing this amidst the U.S and South Korea scaling down their combat drills in hopes of re-initiating talks of denuclearization of North Korea. Washington has denied that this move has resulted in another concession to Pyongyang. The drills that the U.S has scaled down their drills known as the Combined Flying Training Event which simulates air combat scenarios and a classified amount of warplanes from the United States and South Korea. Kim, in regards to North Korea's drills, said that "It is necessary to wage a drill without notice under the simulated conditions of real war" for improving the preparedness." Trump, on Sunday told Kim that he should act quickly and that he will see him soon.

Michael Pollack

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/kim-jong-watches-air-drills-south-korea-delay-191118040001928.html

Sri Lanka Elects New President

Sri Lanka elects a new president since the deadly bombings in April. In April, a series of bombs destroyed churches and hotels. This incident occurred on Easter Sunday and killed 290 people. The newest president is named Gotabaya Rajapaksa and he competed against 35 candidates and won 52.2% of the vote. He was also Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary.  

Link: https://www-m.cnn.com/2019/11/17/asia/sri-lanka-election-intl/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fworld

'Show no mercy': leaked documents reveal details of China's Xinjiang detentions

According to a report  by the guardian over 400 pages of documents originally obtained by the New York Times reveal how China’s mass detention of Uighurs and other minorities came from direct orders by Xi Jinping, to “show absolutely no mercy” in the “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism”.  This has added to the criticism of the Chinese government's treatment of minority groups into government camps for political indoctrination. The Chinese government claims it is voluntary "vocational training" to intended to provide "students" with skills for jobs. The recently released documents contradict that, with some excerpts stating that they want to avoid placing human rights above security. The report details how Uighurs and other minority groups were had been exposed to "religious extremism" and therefore had to receive "concentrated education"to eradicate them of "violent terrorist thoughts". The report hos sparked international outrage and has lead to scrutiny of the Chinese government who have pushed back on the report claiming it is illegitimate. It will be interesting to see if the report leads to any action as most countries have done little to address the treatment of the minority Muslim populations by the Chinese government.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/17/show-no-mercy-leaked-documents-reveal-details-of-chinas-mass-xinjiang-detentions

Tighter production targets have failed to lift the price of oil

Climate change is causing worry for the leaders of OPEC. With the demand for oil declining with new advancements in energy usage, the price of oil is not going where they want it to. In early December members of OPEC will meet to discuss what they plan on doing with the slow-moving price rates of the oil they produce. This time last year they did almost the same thing, announcing that they were planning to restrict the amount of oil that the members of OPEC could produce in order to raise prices. The more open OPEC alliance will now have to decide if they will stick with last year's plan or will they make an even bigger cut in production.

Chloe Hart

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/11/14/tighter-production-targets-have-failed-to-lift-the-price-of-oil

Leaked Files Expose Chinas Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims -Sierra Perez

In the article "Absolutely No Mercy: Leaked Files Expose How China Organized Mass Detentions of Muslims" by Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley there has been leaked files exposing how China deliberately organized mass detentions of Muslims which included over 400 pages of internal Chinese documents intended to crackdown on ethnic minorities. Students that attended school internationally had come home to almost all of their relatives gone in detention camps. The authorities in Xinjiang region worried of the situation and directed the local authorities to corner the students as soon as they arrived to help keep them quiet. The officials called the camps "training schools set up by the government" and that their behavior could "either shorten or extend the detention of their relatives". The government has fought international criticism by saying these camps are job training centers meant to fight Islamic extremism. The papers were leaked baby a member of the Chinese political establishment who requested anonymity but it was unclear how the documents were gathered to be selected. I think its really interesting to see how other countries are going to respond to these documents and how its going to effect more riots from the Chinese people.

Iran supreme leader backs petrol price rises as protests spread-Tom Pancione

Tom Pancione

Iran Supreme Leader Backs Petrol Price Rises as Protests spread

So Iran is dealing with massive protests as they spike the price of oil by 50% overnight. This despite sitting on the fourth largest oil reserves in the world. This is said to be very concerning to Iran, because the country has seen a massive economic downturn thanks to sanctions. In order to try and limit protestors, they have almost completely cutoff internet access in the region. Saying that they are only at 7% of the internet connectivity compared to normal levels. That is drastic, and in my mind shows how scared they are. If only 7% of normal internet users in the US could connect to internet, I think people would freak out, and wonder what is happening. As we have talked about in Petrol-politics, when the price of oil is low petrol states generally have a heard time keeping the level of oppression on their people. I think that is what we could be seeing that Iran can't sustain itself. It probably won't gas prices doesn't rise dramatically or sanctions are lifted. After that happens god only knows what happens next.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/16/protests-erupt-in-iran-after-government-raises-price-of-gas-by-50

Iraqi's Question: Where does the oil money go?

The waves of protests in Baghdad and the Southern province of Iraq that started October 1st has left at least 320 people dead and thousands of people injured. The protestors have been fighting for the downfall of their political system that does not help their people.

Oil accounts for 85-90% of the state's revenue. The federal budget predicts $79 billion in oil money this year. Iraq’s economy has been improving in 2019 due to oil money. A protestor states “We are jobless and poor, but every day we see the flares of the oil fields. Where do the millions go?” This is extremely concerning, because Iraqi leaders are not changing how they use this oil money. Many Iraqi’s express the concern that this form of income is bound to collapse leaving the nation with nothing. 

These protests are fueled over their economy that is filled with oil money. This oil money has failed to provide jobs and failed to improve the lives of young people, who are the majority of the protestors. They claim that they “have had enough of blatant government corruption and subpar basic services.”  

Dominika Szczepaniak 

Link: 

https://apnews.com/96cafdaa891e41d9b3f0cc19db01fa5d 

Hong Kong Police Flush Plan to Flush out Protesters

https://apnews.com/50ee45ba82de4b3692794ab7c5096725
George Queisser

With protests still continuing in Hong Kong, the violent protests have taken a even more violent turn. With a new police plan placed in by the government it has made efforts to remove protesters out of public places and cause less of a public scene. This article highlights the event of the removal of 200 protesters from a inner city university with a violent conflict between the protesters and government  police officials.  This event included the police asking protesters to leave before they used water cannons and tear gas to remove the group. In retaliation to the tear gas a protester fired a bow and arrow at police officials and striking a media officer. Majority of students at these inner city universities have used the campuses as safe spaces to stay and protest and now is a common space for all protesters.   

Mali's Military Abandons Isolated Outposts Amid Extremist Attacks

Mali's military abandons isolated outposts amid attacks. Dozens of Mali soldiers in the remote northern town of Labezanga, who served as the last line of defense against Islamic extremists, pulled out of the town earlier this month. The soldiers have now been stationed in central bases with the closest 100 kilometers from the town. The town is now defenseless and open to attack from the extremists. Mali soldiers have also pulled out of other northern towns, leaving the inhabitants worried that they will again be controlled by Islamic Extremists who implemented a harsh version of Islamic law. The military has seen a decrease in morale as more than one hundred soldiers have been killed in the last six weeks. The civilian population and widows of soldiers have grown outraged and have organized sit ins in the capital to protests the current situation and the Mali government's response to it. They have also directed their outrage at France, Mali's former colonizer, who has kept 5,000 soldiers in the Sahel region of West Africa  to help create stability in the region. Citizens of Mali have called for France to leave the country as violence continues to erupt and spill over into neighboring Burkina Faso, leaving citizens of Burkina Faso worried about the future.  

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/malis-military-abandons-isolated-outposts-amid-attacks-67064061?cid=clicksource_76_null_headlines_hed

-Alex Kitzmann

Mainland Chinese Soldiers Take to Hong Kong Streets for First Time During Protests - Alex Eberhardt

Mainland Chinese Soldiers Take to Hong Kong Streets for First Time During Protests

WSJ

by John Lyons, Steven Russolillo and Eun-Young Jeong

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/mainland-chinese-soldiers-take-to-hong-kong-streets-for-first-time-since-protests-began-11573907250

In HongKong, after several roadblocks were put in place by protesters as part of their demonstration, Chinese mainland PLA soldiers came out of their barracks to assist with clean up of the roadblock and the mess caused by the rioting in general. This was seen as important as the barracks of mainland troops very rarely leave their barracks. The troops were not in any combat gear and were merely assisting with the cleanup, however many saw it as a signal of what may come from the mainland.

The agreement between HK and the mainland in regards to what PLA troops do is that HK can ask Beijing for assistance if needed. During the typhoons that damage the country, HK asked the mainland for troops to assist with clean up. HK did not ask the troops for assistance during the clean up for the riots. People are fearful that this is a message that says that China is willing to use military force to keep control of HK.

Despite the original goal of the protesters being met, that beings the extradition bill that was revoked, protests have still gone on. The pro-democracy protesters have continued to block streets and riot. The protests have led to large scale riots and conflicts that have been mostly non-lethal but definitely still very dangerous. Police have fired a few shots but have mostly stuck to non-lethal tactics. Pro-Democracy protesters have been quite lethal in an attempt by throwing bricks and Molotov cocktails at police regularly.

Looking at videos of the protests, you are seeing more and more pro-democracy protesters dressed up in military gear such as ballistic helmets and vests. Police have been in riot gear pretty much constantly for 5 months. This is starting to look more and more like a civil war rather than protests. The mainland has several armed troops stationed at the border between HK and the mainland. I think for now there is not too much to worry about, but it's been a long time and protests have only been getting worse. Hopefully, this all gets resolved but it seems that there are two forces going against one another that are unwilling to back down. Beijing doesn't have much intention to allow HK to stay democratic for much longer, while the protesters don't seem to have much intention to allow Beijing to do so. Regardless of who is right, when you have two sides that won't back down, the only option left is the use of force.

by Alex Eberhardt

Violent Outbursts in Chile

The people of Chile are used to seeing police and demonstrators battling against one another. But what is one the rise and is shocking to many of the Chileans is the amount of people obtaining eye injuries from the shotgun pellets fired by state's security agents. What's ironic about this is that the police are supposed to be providing security and safety to the surrounding people, but these gruesome cases are contradictory to that. 




Protestors are fighting against inequality and want improvement amongst social services in the South American nation. 230 Chileans have lost their eyesight due to these shotgun pellets. The medical team is overwhelmed with the amount of ocular cases that they're having to deal with. Some individuals have lost their actual eye and will need a prosthetic one to replace it because of these violent outbursts. It seems that there is a divide amongst the nation and the people are outraged at some of the disadvantages the average Chileans are suffering with compared to those who are wealthier. The protesting began when subway fares increased; since then the Chileans have brought to the surface other problems that have been building up over the years. The protestors are now additionally fighting for "health care, education, the pension system and even the constitution, which dates back to 1980 and the military dictatorship." Apparently it's common for police to fire directly at the protestors, and the National Institute of Human Rights doesn't address the condemnation of violence that comes directly from the police but only advises against violence coming from the protestors. The use of weapons against the protestors have been limited to situations where the police personally are being attacked or have been limited to situations where the protestors are causing violence and need to be stopped. 
"I think it’s absolutely incredible that, after all these cases of lost eyes, immediate action has not been taken to ensure it doesn’t keep happening," said Ennio Vivaldi, rector of the University of Chile. People of Chile are outraged at the amount of injuries from the local police called Carabineros. 
It was stated in the article that police will begin using cameras on their helmets that way they have justification for when using their pellet guns. Although protestors have been mostly peaceful, there have been certain situations where they have built barricades and began throwing things and confronting police officers. Hopefully the cameras will be a clear indication of who is using these weapons as a source of protection and who is enforcing their power in an unjust way. 








https://apnews.com/c28a41899d9b4005aa2faf22637e150f
By: Nicole Bellino

Sri Lanka is Electing a New President

Following the Easter bombings that destroyed parts of Sri Lanka and killed approximately 250 people, the country is taking to the polls. A combination of the bombings and inter-governmental gridlock has caused the public to lose trust in their government. There has been a lot of interested candidates, but the two front runners are the former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the minister of housing Sajith Premadasa.

by Jared Weaver

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/15/asia/sri-lanka-elections-intl-hnk/index.html

Five freed in Russia-Lithuania-Norway exchange

Russia has taken part in a co-ordinated spy swap with Norway and Lithuania. Additionally, Lithuanians had to change their laws. This deal took place at Lithuania's southern border with Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and involved two Russians, a Norwegian and two Lithuanians. This operation took weeks to come to a clear consensus. The most famous of the men is Frode Berg, a Norwegian ex-border guard. His case became a cause celebre in Norway after her was found with naval documents that were handed to him by a former Russian policeman. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50431713

Ben Williams

Flood, fire and plague: Climate change blamed for disasters - Cortney Ferretti

            

Flood, fire and plague: Climate change blamed for disasters

November 14, 2019 14:37 IST Posted by Sumeda

https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/flood-fire-and-plague-climate-change-blamed-for-disasters-1618901-2019-11-14

          As we discuss climate in class, we know the importance of each country doing their part for the world. Emissions of carbon dioxide and global warming are both things that every person has to consider. The extreme flooding in Venice, fires in Australia, and an outbreak of the plague in China have all been blamed on climate change. Many researchers argue that global warming could result in future generation with illness.

On Wednesday, floods came through lagoon city, destroying historic buildings and the basilica. The “apocalyptic” floods were peaked at 6 feet 2 inches tall. They are the highest they have been since 1966 and the flooding has become more of a threat in recent years. In Australia, wild bushfires have been burning in Australia and four people have been killed. Air temperatures have been reported to have risen in the past century, which has increased the number of droughts and fires around the world. The article states that cutting down the coal-industry would be an option, but it would hurt the economy.

As the world gets warmer, there is a growing concern about how human’s health will be impacted. Health officials in China have reported that there is a rare outbreak of pneumonic plague in Beijing. The rodent populations have increased after droughts. A warmer world would increase the risks of “food shortages, infectious diseases, floods, and extreme heat”. Different policies need to be put into place before it’s too late.

Red Tide Returns to Florida Coast

Red Tide has returned to the coasts of Florida after a months hiatus that began earlier this year. Red Tide is caused by a unique species of algae that release neurotoxins into the surrounding environment that kill ocean life and can even cause health problems in humans. The phenomenon has been occurring along the Florida coasts for centuries, but, in recent years, Red Tides have become stronger and longer lasting. Long lasting cases of Red Tide cause sea life, such as fish and dolphins, to die and be washed up on shore to rot. It also poisons the water, making it unsafe for swimming, damaging Florida's reputation as a pristine vacation destination and costing the State millions of dollars. While the exact cause of Red Tide remains unknown, we can infer that Climate Change is increasing the severity of the outbreaks, and, if left unchecked, could do serious damage to Florida's economy and environment.

Zimbabwe Plans Wildlife Migration

Over 200 elephants and many other species have been impacted by the droughts in Zimbabwe. Because of the lack of food and drinking water, the Wildlife agency has plans to move 600 elephants from Save Valley Conservancy to three other national parks. Additionally, antelope, buffalo, giraffes, and wild dogs will be moved in order to save as many of these species who are suffering in this area.

The area has been suffering from concerning weather conditions include above-average temperatures and unpredictable rainfall patterns has been a disaster for the people living in Southern Africa who depend upon the agriculture. The United Nations has been notified of these areas whose food sources are dwindling down and becoming scarce. Nine Southern African countries are in crisis mode and have severely low food supplies, and they're estimating that the amount of countries who will be enduring this same crisis is only going to increase. Meanwhile temperatures in southern Africa will be increasing at "twice the global average." This is just another example of why we should be paying more attention to climate change. It's concerning that for another blog I wrote about Trump's intention of pulling out of the Paris Climate Pact, where this would be a way for the United States to limit their pollution and show the world that we care about what is going into our air supply as it is affecting the o-zone layer. 

"We've had the worst drought in 35 years in central and western areas during the growing season," said the World Food Program's acting regional director for southern Africa. It breaks my heart that so many species of animals are suffering from these droughts along with millions of people who have no dependable food supply due to unpredictable rainfalls. Along with droughts, the area has been receiving massive floods. Both are destroying lands for agriculture and making the lands hard for many species to live on. 



















https://abcnews.go.com/International/zimbabwe-plans-mass-wildlife-migration-hundreds-elephants-die/story?id=66933850&cid=clicksource_76_null_bsq_image
By: Nicole Bellino

American Islamic State suspect 'stranded on Turkey border'

US citizen Muhammed Darwis B is an alleged Islamic State militant. He was denied entry into Greece after being expelled from Turkey and does not wish to return to the US. Turkey has about 2,000 captured IS militants in its prisons since foreign governments don't want to take back their citizens who left to fight in Iraq and Syria. Turkey previously took responsibility for sending foreign militants back to their respective countries but many countries have since stripped them of citizenship. Now, Turkey has begun to expel foreign militants from their country in an effort to get help from other countries to deal with this issue.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50390165

Allison Gammons

Man set alight hours after Hong Kong protestor shot by police as clashes erut citywide

Five months of protesting has continued in Hong Kong as now a protestor has been shot and one has been ignited in flames. The antigovernment protests have been going on since June in response to the government withdrawal of an extradition bill. Ever since last October, the city fell into a recession which has had long term effects. Protestors have been in conflict with police as violence has drastically increased and blame police for the extent of injuries that are happening.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/10/asia/hong-kong-protester-shot-intl-hnk/index.html
By: Chloe Erickson

Cyclone Bulbul hits India and Bangladesh

It has been reported that 12 people were found dead in India and 8 in Bangladesh because of the storm Cyclone Bulbul. It has uprooted many trees and has flooded many croplands. At the moment there are more than 2 million other people who have needed to stay a night in storm shelters after Cyclone Bulbul struck the coasts of India and Bangladesh with strong gales and torrential rain. The storm had winds of up to 120 km/h (75mph). And some of the people who were killed in India because of the cyclone were killed by uprooted trees which fell on their homes and others after being hit by falling branches in Kolkata. In Bangladesh a few people were killed by falling trees and at least 20 people had been injured. Others have gone missing as well. Though there is a bit of good news. Even though the frequency and intensity of storms such as this one have gone up, death tolls have come down due to faster evacuations and the building of 1000s of coastal shelters.

-Melissa A.

https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/11/cyclone-bulbul-deaths-millions-displaced-india-bangladesh

Bolivian president calls for new election

https://apnews.com/e4e1977c3e48426f927ce900d2818b4f

George Queisser
With a recent election in Bolivia that favored the removal of the current president the result process has faced extreme corruption. After the current President Evo Morales rigged his own election it has sparked deadly protest around the capital. With many third party communities stating there should be a new election held by a third party to prevent the corruption from the president. This clash between the citizens of Bolivia and the government has left 3 civilians dead in over a 100 clashes between the two. With no force up to challenge the government it looks like Evo Morales will stay in control for now.

Iraq gov't urged to rein in security forces to end 'bloodbath'

The killing's from the Iraq demonstrations of protests have now risen to over 300 since Oct 1. The majority coming from the Iraq security forces using aggressive force in attempt to halt the protests. They have used tear gas, live fire, rubber-coated bullets. Medical teams have claimed the SecFo has targeted their groups in order to prevent them from treating the wounded. The government has combated these claims saying that the groups who have targeted doctors and nurses are not legitimate security forces rather just militias. The article later discusses the pledges from politicians such as the Prime Minister or Iraq, Adel Abdul Mahdi. It is clear that the writer has a bias favoring the demonstrators because he notes several instances were Mahdi has dropped the ball as a politician, essentially not caring for his constituents. All in all, he has not been able to neutralize these protests and they are not disseminating, but growing. Iraq needs to get control of the situation and halt these protests peacefully.

Michael Pollack

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/11/iraq-gov-urged-rein-security-forces-bloodbath-191110093534131.html

Hong Kong Police Shoots an Antigovernment Demonstrator - Sierra Perez

During an antigovernment protest in Hong Kong tensions began to rise especially after a student had recently passed away in these protests. On Monday morning an officer shot several shots toward two "black0-clad" protestors in a neighborhood filled with multiple roadblocks. There has been video footage showing the protesters hitting the ground after being hit and still being couscous afterwards. After hitting the protestor the officer then tackles him while urging the other protestors to stop threatening public safety as others screamed for an ambulance. The roadblocks were the protestors way of peaceful protest it was said their aim was to "paralyze services to express their anger over the death of a student last week from a fall at a parking garage near by" (YU, Wong, Ives). This shows how high tensions really are in Hong Kong to fight back against the government and how the police force are impulsively firing their weapons resulting in two deaths recently.

Bolivia’s Morales resigns amid scathing election report, rising protests

Griffin Curran
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bolivia-to-hold-new-elections-after-protests-and-international-criticism/2019/11/10/4778e842-03b2-11ea-ac12-3325d49eacaa_story.html

Bolivia's president Evo Morales has resigned after a controversial election. After nearly 14 years in office Morales claims that he became the victim of a coup as national uprising among the nation's population recently forced the country's military to pull support. Morales, the countries first indigenous president initially won the support of the people by fighting poverty, but he soon found himself losing this support as one of his political opponents began to rally the nation against him. It was originally believed that the stepping down of Morales and the removal of the socialist party from power would lead to an end in the violence, however, the mobs have not stopped their violence. At the moment it is unclear who will come to power as the nation must hold an election in 90 days, according to the constitution, but the violence may make that difficult. I think that it is interesting to see the masses achieve success in a time where it seems like many people are rising up in their countries only to experience failure. It will be interesting to see where Bolivia goes in the coming months.

Spain's Socialists win national election; right-wing Vox Party surges-Tom Pancione

Tom Pancione

Spain's Socialists win national election; right-wing Vox Party surges

Spain had another election today. Their fourth in as many years, and while the socialist won the most seats they don't have enough for an absolute majority or a coalition with left wing partners. Meanwhile the right wing was up in this election with Vox being by far the biggest winner gaining 28 from last election in April giving them 52 in the Spain parliament. The People's Party was up 22 giving them 88 seats from their disastrous 66 last election. Though the Liberal party Citizen utterly collapsed losing 47 seats leaving them with only 10. This after they tried to copy some of Vox's policy positions. Though there are several regional parties entering parliament. Either the People's Party or the socialist party and there allies on both sides would have to do considerable political wrangling in order to form a governing coalition. Though this is expected to be all but impossible, since the Regional Parties have been historically hard to work with and are often contradictory to both the Left and the Right. If both the socialist and the People's Party fail to form a government it could mean a fifth election. Spain hasn't had a sable coalition/government since 2015, which is very worrying. For a personal perspective if you can't form a government, because you have so many regional parties, I think it undermines democracy. Speaking of regional parties pro-Catalan independence parties managed to get I believe 22 seats in parliament. So again they are a force to be dealt with after the leaders that tried to break away from Spain where just recently sentenced to prison for trying to break from Spain.

https://www.foxnews.com/world/spain-national-election-socialists-vox-party