The Yen's Steepest Fall in Decades

The yen first arrived at its slide to the abyss on April 28th and consistently since has only gotten worse: it remained at only 115 to the dollar toward the beginning of this current year. Japanese policymakers have begun to fret, leading markets to speculate about whether they will intervene to halt the fall. That would probably prove futile: deep forces are driving the yen’s depreciation.

Policymakers have customarily seen a frail yen as a positive for Japan and its strong commodity-centered businesses. "The flip side," a banker of Goldman Sachs says, Is that they can't reap as many benefits from depreciation." The yen could keep falling, maybe to 150 to the dollar, a level unseen, even during the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98.

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/will-an-ever-feebler-currency-save-or-sink-japans-economy/21809095

By: Noah Hittie

Are Russian Sanctions Working?

President Vladimir Putin says that Western sanctions aiming to cause panic and shortages among Russians have failed abysmally. A few Western-owned stores, like The Body Shop and L’Occitane, have notices posted on their doors that cite temporary closure, with no reason given. But many local franchises all seem to be working as usual. Russian life, at least around Moscow, looks shockingly normal. 

Opinion surveys show that almost 10% of Russians say they didn’t even know about the situation. “For the most part we are still living in our previous reality,” says Ivan Timofeev, a sanctions expert with the Russian International Affairs Council. “But at some point, we will begin transitioning to a new reality, and then it will be very hard to ignore the deep changes we shall have to make.” 

https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2022/0502/Sanctions-What-sanctions-Russians-aren-t-feeling-the-sting

By: Noah Hittie

Ukraine Civilians Describe Desperate Efforts to Flee Bombed-Out Mariupol

 Ukraine Civilians Describe Desperate Efforts to Flee Bombed-Out Mariupol

            

            While the war between Ukraine and Russia continues, the longevity of the war continues to take a toll on the people of Ukraine. With the relentless attacks from Russia on Ukraine, many Ukraine’s have been stuck in rubble for weeks. In particular, the city of Mariupol. Mariupol is a city with a large steel plant that Vladimir and the Russians have being eyeing for a while. In recent weeks Russia has doubled their military efforts to taken control of the city. According to the Wall Street Journal their efforts were successful and left many people of Ukraine left forgotten. Those who were fortunate to live through the attack were left hiding in the bunker of the steel mill. Many rationed foods and lived off scraps for days. This was not the end of their nightmare though. While in the bunker they could steel feel the attacks of the Russians and heard the bombs going off around them. When finally left to leave, the had no choice but to take a long journey too safety. This journey included two full days of travel through Russian occupied spaces. After the journey they were met with Russia troops. Who forced them to hand over their phones too check for connections or communications to the Ukraine resistance. Though the process seems straightforward, a report from someone in the convoy said that the line to get too safety was so long it was taking days to get through. This was too much time for some people, as some Ukrainians turned around. This is a very scary time for the people of Ukraine, not knowing when the war will end or how the next few months might play out. It seems that Russia is going to continue their push through the country no matter the cost. 

By: Luke Schmidt 

“2 More Survivors Found 3 Days After China Building Collapse"

 https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-05-03/2-more-survivors-found-3-days-after-china-building-collapse

Megan Campion

The title of my article I am writing about is “2 More Survivors Found 3 Days After China Building Collapse.” This article is from U.S. News and written by Associated Press. There was a six story building that collapsed on Friday in the early afternoon in the Hunan provincial capital of Beijing. There was a woman who was rescued from the building after being buried for about 88 hours. The reason why the building collapsed is unknown so far, but nine people have been arrested for possibly ignoring building codes and for committing other violations as well. I can’t even imagine being buried for 3 days under a building. I’m glad this woman was found alive, but what I wonder is how many are still buried and are alive, and how many are still buried but are dead.

Civilians Evacuate from Mariupol steel plant

 Civilians are finally evacuating Mariupol, which tis the city that was "bombed-out" and has since been under Russian siege. The evacuation or rescue of these civilians took weeks due to the fact that Russia has now taken on a more offensive role in the war. However, the US and its allies have been stepping up, Nancy Pelosi visited Ukraine, met with Poland's President, and Jill Biden, First Lady, is traveling to NATO to meet with some families who have fled the war. While the US and its allies are continuing to step up Russia lost one of its last few allies, Israel, when Israel compared Putin to Hitler. 

russia-ukraine-war-live-updates-civilians-evacuated-mariupol-azovstal-rcna26863 

Abby Cox 

Punishing heat wave in India reaches 115 degrees, part of a 'hotter and more dangerous world'

There has been a month-long heat wave across Asia, seeing some areas reaching a scorching 115 degrees. This heat wave is the cause of a significant rise of heat stroke, health issues, and 277 fires across the continent that are ongoing. These heatwaves that have been seen now, and last summer in Northwest America are a scary indicator on where climate change will be taking the world. Without change in policy and a true effort to limit green house gases, the heat will only rise and cause more and more deaths globally.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/04/29/climate-change-india-heatwave/9583931002/

Skyy Hills