https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-warns-against-russian-threat-to-put-nuclear-weapons-in-belarus-fd94ae39
On March 22, 2023, Ukraine called for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the threat of nuclear weapons in Belarus. This comes after reports emerged that Belarus was acquiring nuclear technology from North Korea and Iran, and that it may be in violation of international agreements on nuclear weapons. Ukraine's Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, stated that the situation in Belarus poses a grave threat to regional and global security, and that the international community must take action to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The meeting is expected to take place in the coming days, and it is unclear what steps the Security Council may take in response to the situation.
China and Russia have held a partnership since before Russia's attack on Ukraine. Once the Ukraine War came into effect, China has been supportive but strategic in how it supports Russia. Recently, Russia's defense--the one used to continue pressing on Ukraine--has been depleting its resources. This is where China comes in, and news reporter Simone McCarthy talks about how there's evidence that China has been sending resources to a Russian-affiliated company that would theoretically transfer those resources to Russia's department of defense. China's aid to Russia can significantly change the trajectory of the war. As a result of their alliance, 10 Chinese companies have been restricted by the U.S. Despite restrictions on both nations, they remain defensive and denounce allegations for example, that the U.S. has been making about China's support to Russia. Senior lecturer Alexander Korolev from the University of New South Wales (Australia) states, "Neither China nor Russia wants Western Intelligence to be aware of the depth and breadth of their strategic alignment". This means that both nations will do whatever it takes to conceal their partnership to continue supporting each other during the war.
Link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/china/china-russia-military-defense-ties-ukraine-war-intl-hnk
-Juan Castro
Two of the largest labor unions in Germany walked out on their jobs to begin a 24-hour strike on Monday. The workers involved in the strike include staff at airports, buses, and railways, causing a significant disruption in the operations of German public transportation. The two large unions, Verdi and EVG, cite elevated costs of living in Germany as a reason to demand higher wages from their employers. A round of pay negotiations will occur on Monday.
Joe Kaminski
Russia has mobilized its nuclear weapons to Belarus. Belarus is a long time supporter of the Kremlin regime and the war effort in Ukraine. Russia has still control of the arms but nuclear weapons have not been moved outside of the Russian federation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Putin claims this is no different than the US stationing nuclear weapons in NATO allied countries. The United States claims there is no imminent threat of nuclear war and that they hope to deescalate the situation.
Robert Szabad
Russian and Chinese executive leaders Putin and Xi met and negotiated an economic alliance in the midst of Russia's war with Ukraine in which Chinese leader Xi stated would require a 'peaceful settlement'
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/21/europe/china-xi-russia-putin-visit-day-two-talks-intl-hnk
Chinese apps such as Tik Tok and Temu have been used often enough to become household names in the U.S Part of why is due these company's organization efficiency, which includes creating content recommendation algorithms that are based on gathering user data, and through rigorous testing and observing of user preferences on the domestic versions of these apps before introducing changes to the foreign versions. Other factors in these app's popularity, particularly in Temu's case, is that they are selling goods for lower prices at a time when a pandemic has affected the global economy enough, and an actual recession looms. U.S lawmakers and the Biden administration are concerned with the data gathering of apps owned by Chinese entities, citing national security concerns, and are exploring possible bans of these and other apps.
Source Article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-chinese-apps-are-the-favorites-of-young-americans-a9a5064a?mod=hp_lead_pos1
Putin has continue to taunt the Ukraine this weak in further comments that he has begun to move nuclear war heads and short range missile systems to Belarus, the neighboring country to north of Ukraine. Belarus is a well known ally to Russia and helped in the initial launch of the invasion into the Ukraine in February 2022. Putin continues to escalate the war with Ukraine by making threats and increasing the tension with the potential use of nuclear weapons. This weeks comments follow his December threats that Russia is training Belarusian pilots to fly jets carrying special warheads. Zelensky, Ukraine President, has called for an emergency UN meeting. It is safe to say that tensions rising over the threat of a nuclear war that would suck in all countries. The longer this continues the more likely a nuclear outcome will be. This ties into our class discussion about leaders that make decisions based on power and self preservation. Putin doesn't want to appear weak and be defeated by a "less" powerful country.
Carter Vance
As of today, it is said that President Vladimir Putin will move Russia's nuclear weapons to Belarus, a country that borders both Russia and Ukraine. However, Putin states that this will not violate the nuclear non-proliferation agreement, as he compared it to the US stationing its weapons in Europe because Belarus would not be getting any control of Russia's arms. In response, the US said they would not adjust their nuclear weapons in Europe since they did not believe Russia was preparing to use its arms. It is important to note that Belarus supports Russia's invasion of Ukraine and is an ally of the country.
Continuing to protest President Emmanuel Macron's bill to increase the retirement age in France, demonstrators have called for more strikes and gatherings as the British king plans to visit France. These marches have increasingly begun to include violence. The door Bordeaux City Hall were set on fire and destroyed on Thursday evening, and groups of black masked individuals have attacked fast food restaurants, a supermarket and a bank. Police have been met with Molotov cocktails, fireworks and other projectiles and they have tear gassed protestors in turn. Despite the intensifying violence in the protests of recent days, the vast majority of protesters, numbering tens of thousands, are peaceful. Instead, they block buses, trains and vehicles.
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165759889/more-than-1-million-demonstrate-across-france-against-pension-reforms
Abigail Black
Tiktok being one of the most used apps right now is being threatened to be banned. Tik tok is being threatened to be banned by Biden because it is owned by Chinese owners. Many in the government believe that Tik tok is a way to spy on Americans. This ban on Tik Tok was talked about when Trump was in office. So now that it is being talked about is scaring Tik Tok users again.
The city's population fell from 21.88 million to 21.84 million which is a decline by 84,000. This represents a larger problem as China's national population also shrank last year for the first time since 1961. Their are multiple factors that could have caused this such as: the one-child policy. This has now been abandoned because it established gender inequality and led to challenges of raising children in expensive cities.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/23/china/beijing-population-drop-intl-hnk
Popular app TikTok due to get banned sometime this year due to national security of the app collecting data from users when they use it. The CEO (Shou Zi Chew) of the app even made an appearance on the app making 2 min video talking about everything going on and saying he’s doing everything he can to not let the app get banned. This is surprise to many people because even with the threats made over the years about the app being banned and nothing ever happening. Chew making a video and also showing his face to many viewers who haven’t seen him before makes this a serious situation. Other says that the parts of the United States is fighting to stop the app from getting banned because of the profit that’s coming from the app. Do you think the app will get banned? It’s very serious especially when Chew flew out to the United States to Washington to talk about the situation. This is also very scary because how about all the people who live off that app to make money or provide for their families? Yea, there are other popular apps like Instagram or Facebook but none of those ever topped TikTok.
https://www.axios.com/2023/03/22/tiktok-popularity-us-ban-congress
Twenty years after the first bombs were dropped on Baghdad, in a U.S. invasion, the Senate has voted 67-28 to officially started debate to repeal the congressional authorization that justified the war. This vote is really just symbolic because combat operations in the Iraq War ended over ten years ago, but Senate supporters emphasize it's important for Congress to use its constitutional power to start and end wars; this is basically because as long as Congress didn't say the war was over, any leader could have abused the state of war, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. However, the end of the Iraq War does not strip the president of his legal authority to conduct counterterrorist operations around the world, and there are still about 2,500 US active forces in Iraq, and those soldiers have taken part in nearly three 36 partnered raids with the Iraq counterterrorism forces against Isis in the last month.'
I think it's also interesting how Democratic are united in support of this legislation, but the Republicans do not have a unified front; this rift in the Republican Party is really a difference in ideologies between a more conservative foreign policy and an "American First" foreign policy, which is more non-interventionist, which NPR credits to former President Donald Trump.
Following a recent plea for artillery shells, 17 EU countries (and Norway) agreed to supply Ukraine with at least one million shells over the course of the year. This totals to roughly 2 billion Euros of ammo handed over to Ukraine to fight against Russia's invading forces. The plan is for each country to dip into their own reserves (for a total of ~1 billion Euros) and then the other 1 billion Euros will be used to order brand new shells for Ukraine.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65018434
Frankie Wozniak
A Ukrainian couple took a wrong turn on their drive and ended up on an active front line of Russian soldiers. The driver and husband was shot and pushed into a ditch by Russian soldiers. The incident was caught on camera by a drone being flown by the Ukrainian military. It was put into a documentary against Russia for war crimes. They flew the drone out with a sign that said "follow me" and directed the wife to safety. Ukrainian police are now launching an investigation into a Russian War Crime for the attempted murder of a civilian. They found their suspect, a 26-year-old Army officer by tracking Russian phone calls. He made one to his wife shortly after and said "I f-ing killed a man today." Although, he did not actually kill him. Miraculously, the man survived and woke up the next morning and began to limp to safety with the Ukrainian military.
https://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2023/03/21/izium-ukraine-war-crimes-investigation-russia-watson-ac360-vpx.cnn
Lauren Pesola
In the course of today and its current events Russian and Chinese leaders met for a discussion on the issues of the Russo-Ukrainian war and the USA's foreign policies. In Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping's discussion, the two leaders referred to each other as "dear friends" as the Chinese presidents spoke of a possible negotiation that could lead to a crease fire in the Ukraine war. This is a very important development in global politics as this development helps back the theory that China has been trying to replace the United States as the world's mediator in global conflict. Now it is uncertain if the Unkriane military would agree to this peace deal with the knowledge that the Chinese government has a slight bias as supporting their public ally would be more beneficial to the Chinese. We will have to wait and see.
Ryan Lawrence
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65018657
The leader of China, xi Jinping has made a visit to Moscow to have a meeting about "friendship" with the president of Russia Vladimir Putin. This meeting also had taken place just after an international crime organization had placed a warrant for Putin's arrest because of the war crimes he has committed with the Russian and Ukrainian War. The world is watching in horror as these two Politian's meet because people are afraid that the conflict will escalate to a global war if China decides to aid Russia with their invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/20/china/china-xi-putin-russia-visit-analysis-intl-hnk-mic
Jonathan Cotsiomitis
French president, Emmanuel Macron, passed a bill that raises the pension age in France last week. This bill bypasses France parliament and was passed, causing, at this point, three days of protests in the country. Many of the protesters call for Macron's resignation due to the legislation passing without votes. The protests turned violent as riot police used tear gas and the use of physical force in an attempt to control the protests. Municipal authorities around Paris have banned protests in the area, leading to sixty one arrests for protests. Frances main unions have states that they are going to try to overturn the legislation. Railway strikes that have been in place since before the protests on the legislation. This has been compared to the Yellow Vest Protests of 2018 in France over higher fuel prices, which Macron partially overturned the tax, lowering fuel prices. There will be more developments in the coming days as the protests continue in France.
By Michael Gill
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/paris-police-protesters-clash-third-night-macrons-pension-reform-rcna75611
On Saturday, March 18th, an earthquake struck near the southern town of Baláo, Ecuador. According to government officials, at least 13 people have been confirmed dead. Later on it was discovered that 461 people have been injured in the quake and the death toll was updated to 16. The Ecuadorian president states that the people who were injured were being treated at local hospitals but provided no further details. In one of Ecuador's largest cities, Cuenca, there was reported structural damage to several buildings.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/18/americas/ecuador-earthquake
By: Raegan Stinger
President of Russia, Putin was issued an arrest warrant due to several war crimes conducted in the Russian and Ukraine wars. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant on Friday. The warrant for Putin's arrest was based on suspicion of unlawful deportation of children and unlawful transfer of people from the territory of Ukraine to the Russian Federation. After Sudan's Omar al-Bashir and Libya's Moammaris only the third serving president to have been issued an ICC arrest warrant Gadhafi, Putin .
link:https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/putin-war-crimes-arrest-warrant-icc-1.6782182
The Willow Project is the expansion of oil drilling in Alaska to expand the United States' natural fossil resources. Many activists are challenging the project--which was approved by President Biden--in court for environmental reasons. His presidential campaign was centered around ending public land drilling and has since been a broken promise.
Link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/14/politics/willow-project-oil-alaska-explained-climate/index.html
-Juan Castro
First Republic Bank, a global bank, found itself in crisis when its deposit to loan ratio far exceeded the recommended ratio and it carried almost a third of uninsured deposits from highly wealthy clients. This led to the bank needing a bail out from other banks like Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Bank of America (to name a few) totaling thirty billion dollars to avoid an international economic fall out and to try and boost confidence in First Republic's customers. As of Friday, the bank has not experienced the rebound they had hoped.
Carter Vance
https://abcnews.go.com/International/mexican-cartel-allegedly-takes-responsibility-kidnapping-4-americans/story?id=97749086
5 Mexican cartel members were found in connection to the kidnapping and homocide of four Americans he Gulf Cartel took responsibility for last year. The note attached to the bound members in a truck close to the Mexican-American border stated that this delivered those directly involved and responsible for this crime.
The rivalry between Beijing and the United States continues, but Beijing still wants to keep things civil between each other. Being able to do so will not cause any unnecessary tension. Well Beijing is not trying to cause unnecessary tensions, they are still trying to gain an upper hand in the technology field. They think that technology having an upper power technology will be an advantage.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discusses plans that will hold people smugglers accountable for deaths and serious injuries; these smugglers will receive up to 30 years in prison. There was also discussion to improve legal routes for foreign workers arriving in Italy, meaning it would allow migrants to safely reach the country. All of this is following the recent migrant shipwreck in which 72 bodies have been recovered, 79 people survived, and around 30 people are still missing.
A plane that was flying from Miami, Florida to Chile was carrying $32.5 million and was supposed to be transported by a local security provider. At around 7:50am, 10 people broke into the Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport in Santiago with the intention of pulling off a million-dollar heist of the money in this shipment. The robbery ended with a shootout between the robbers and the DGAC aviation agency in Chile. This left two dead, one of the robbers and a DGAC Airport Security Official. The robbers were said to have entered with high-capacity firearms and 3-4 trucks with a very well-thought-out plan. Unfortunately, this isn't the first instance of organized crime in Chile. Numbers have spiked in recent years with similar heists and robberies. This robbery is still under investigation, but there is no word on the other robbers and what happened to them.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/09/americas/chile-airport-heist-scli-intl/index.html
Lauren Pesola
On Thursday, Russia launched it's biggest aerial attack in weeks. It hit multiple areas of Ukraine with an array of weapons including its new hypersonic missiles. Russia says this is in retaliation because of the Pro Ukraine armed group that lead an incursion in Russia last week. The attacks by Russia killed at least 9 people and knocked out power while damaging three electrical plants. 81 missiles were fired overnight and into the morning and 47 hit their targets.
Emily Bartel
A network of volunteers work, coordinated by a Ukrainian referred to in the article only as Vlad, assists in evacuating civilians. They provide support and resources for residents and help evacuate civilians from the embattled sections of the Donetsk region. The article writer joined Vlad in his ambulance as he carried out his days work. They picked up a group of civilians at a bus stop, some were heading further toward the contested east but some were fleeing before it was too late. After dropping off the civilians and running into some Slovak journalists, they journey into Bakhmut. Vlad continues further into the city to rescue civilians, while the writers meet with survivors in the area. After leaving with a group of civilians, they go to a warehouse where more volunteers are preparing food for a village near Bakhmut. Vlad does work such as this everyday.
https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2023/03/05/1147815146/photos-of-the-evacuation-of-bakhmut-ukraine
Abigail Black
The United States has been looking to increase interest rates. Still, many left-leaning political officials disagree with this action claiming that higher interest rates would do little to help the economy because these inflation rates have little to do with the US economy and more with global issues such as the war in Ukraine and price gouging by significant corporations. As one senator of Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren, said, "You are gambling with people's lives," referring to this decision possibly leading to a much higher risk of damage to employment and then benefits for the economy.
Ryan Lawrence
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64881469
The city of Bakhmut has been the center of focus in the Ukraine- Russia war over the past few weeks as Russian soldiers surround the city. Russia plans to capture the city in what would be Russia's first major victory in the war in a few months. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky states that if the city falls to Russia, Russia will have an opening to take more in Ukraine's Eastern region. The victory would be important for Russia because of the loss of momentum the Russian military has experienced over the last few months of the war. Evacuation efforts are in place, but almost 4,000 citizens remain in the city hidden in basements and cannot be found by the military. Ukraine plans to continue to send supplies and arms to the city and plan on "inflicting heavy losses on Russian arms". This comes after a Ukrainian prisoner of war has been executed, adding to Zelensky's urgency on defending the Ukrainian city. Overall, this city is a important one for both Ukraine and Russia in keeping the momentum of the war and building morale and support.
By: Michael Gill
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/europe/ukraine-volodymyr-zelensky-cnn-interview-bakhmut-intl
The united states and china are heading toward inevitable conflict unless the U.S. changes its course, warned Beijing's new foreign minister on Tuesday. These comments were made by Gin Gan Beijings new foreign minister as the tensions between China and the U.S. deepen as the war in Ukraine worsens and issues arise like the surveillance balloon creating worsening tensions between the two leading world powers. Xi on Monday accused the U.S. of fencing in china, trying to contain the country and Qin stated that Washington's decision to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon 'violated the spirit of international and international practice...'.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/conflict-china-us-inevitable-new-foreign-minister-warns-rcna73705
Jessie Anaya
Climate Change continues to make itself known to the world, but yet it continues to be denied by some people. Since such a large portion of the US denies its existence, little has been done by America to soothe the climate crisis at all. Sea ice in the Antarctic has reached a record low level which points to the slow and steady increase of Antarctic temps. Failure to do anything about this situation will only exacerbate current issues being created by climate change, which will lead to increasing conflict due to finite resources (such as water).
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/04/everyone-should-be-concerned-antarctic-sea-ice-reaches-lowest-levels-ever-recorded
Frankie Wozniak
Over half a century since its declaration of independence from Palestinian powers, Israel continues to face casualties and military attacks. Both Huwara and Jerusalem are claimed Palestinian territories. Evidence of violence toward citizens and threats to 'erase' Huwara off the map--claims made by far-right leader Bezalel Smotrich--are causing international pressure and nations like The United States to consider interventions. President Biden had spoken previously about the tensions an questioned the Palestinian authority.
Links:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/middleeast/west-bank-smotrich-ned-price-intl
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/27/middleeast/netanyahu-power-challenges-mime-intl/index.html
-Juan Castro
German Chancellor Scholz Huddle and Biden had a meeting in the white house and talked about the increasing tension and war between Ukraine and Russia. During the meeting, they have feared that China may enter the war and supply Russia with Weapons. China has been Germany's top trading partner and Germany has insisted China not to aid Russia in this brutal invasion of Ukraine.
link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biden-olaf-scholz-ukraine-germany-white-house/
In Iran's capital of Tehran, concerned parents protested over a wave of suspected poison attacks on schoolgirls in dozens of schools. There have been hundreds of girls facing unexplained illnesses and Iranian officials believe that Tehran's enemies are to blame. In field studies, suspicious samples have been found and are thoroughly being investigated. This illness outbreak in Iran comes at a critical time for the country's clerical rulers, who are under fire after the death of an Iranian woman in their custody sparked months of anti-government protests.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/04/middleeast/protests-iran-schoolgirls-poisoning-intl-hnk
By: Raegan Stinger
With the ongoing war still happening in Ukraine, and with China meeting with Russia to discuss diplomatic issues, The United States has been conducting air drills along with Japan around North Korea in response to North Koreas ballistic missile tests. This will make it for the U.S. to gather information on what is happening around in south east Asia. If China aids Russia in its endeavors in the war, then the U.S. will have to intervene in south east Asia to stop China from helping Russia.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/05/asia/ukraine-war-us-pacific-alliances-intl-hnk
Jonathan Cotsiomitis
Polls indicate a shift in the attitude of the U.K. People seemed to be regretting the referendum votes to leave the E.U. Most people note believe that Brexit was handled poorly by the government or the it had a negative economic impact on the public. Leaders are scheduled to meet to talk about the Northern Ireland Protocol that is still very controversial. Heading into an election the ruling conservative party is still ahead by 20 points compared to the Labour party but seem to be loosing momentum.
Robert Szabad
