United Nations Members Reach Agreement of Ocean Protection

 For the first time since 1982, the members of the United Nations have reached an agreement on The High Seas Treaty, which aims to place 30% of the ocean under environmental protection by 2030. Debates over the treaty lasted for around 10 years due to disagreements over funding and fishing rights. This comes as roughly 10% of marine species are at risk of extinction. Laura Meller, oceans campaigner for Greenpeace Nordic, stated that "this is a historic day for conservation and a sign that in a divided world, protecting nature and people can triumph over geopolitics."

Link to Article

Joseph Kaminski

China to increase defense spending 7.2%, sets economic growth target of ‘around 5%’ for 2023- Carter Vance

 As the world's watches China to see how their economy will perform in 2023, China comes out announcing that they are projecting 5% roughly growth and will increase their defense budget by 7.2%.  They had similiar projections of 2022 but blamed the lingering effects of covid for under performing.  While China is expecting economic growth, world economist are not as confident since the Ukraine-Russian war continues and interest rates continue to rise. Economist project growth to slow for 3.4% in 2022 to 2.9% in 2023.  It appears that world leader's such as China and US will have to find a balance on a global level to build back the negative impact the past two years has had on the economy. 

Carter Vance

Article link

Serbia denies it has supplied weapons to Ukraine- Olivia Walko

 https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/russia-seeks-serbian-explanation-rockets-ukraine-97604042

Serbia, with pro-Russian ties, is implicated in exporting rockets to Ukraine that would be put to use in the conflict against Russia. They claim that if the origins of the arms are Serbian, they were sold to private companies, and that is just "international trade".

China rolls out the red carpet for key Putin ally as US warns against aiding Russia’s war-Hailey Morsovillo

 Russia president Putin arrived in China for a visit. And discuss some thoughts aiding Moscow assault on Ukraine. There were a lot of meetings. There were many different things that were discussed in the meetings. Different countries are trying to agree on different things. A Lot of them just settle on stuff. The United States responded to these meetings in support.

Fire Erupted in a Skyscraper in Hong Kong

Late Thursday night (Wednesday morning in the US), a fire broke out in a skyscraper, causing about 170 people to evacuate the shopping area where the building was located. The upper levels of the building caught on fire which flung debris of bamboo scaffolding that then sparked smaller fires on nearby structures. Luckily, the fire was put out at around 8 am Hong Kong time by around 250 firefighters. As of now, the cause for the fire is being investigated. 

Article Link 

Greta Thunberg Protesting Wind Farms

 Greta Thunberg is a young, Swedish activist who just recently joined an environmental group in Norway to protest wind turbines. There is an Indigenous group that is protesting wind turbines being built in their historic and traditional reindeer herding fields. They are claiming that the turbines being built will disturb and upset the reindeer that graze and live there. Greta Thunberg said "Indigenous rights, human rights, must go hand-in-hand with climate protection and climate action. That can’t happen at the expense of some people." Recently, Norway's Supreme Court ruled that the permits to construct the wind turbines were invalid because it infringed on Indigenous cultural rights. We will see what happens with the turbines with the ongoing protests. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/europe/greta-thunberg-wind-farm-norway-sami-climate-intl

Lauren Pesola

Nigeria elects new president

 After a highly scrutinized and criticized election, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has won the role of president in Nigeria. Gathering a little over 36% of the vote, he defeated his two competitors although his third-party competitor garnered the highest third-party percent in the country's history. Upon entering office, Tinubu is expected to deal with the major security and economic crises Nigeria is facing, including high youth unemployment and inflation. While the election has been criticized for logistical failings, vote suppressing violence, and calls for a rerun, Tinubu is expected to be inaugurated in May.

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/28/1160204284/nigeria-africas-most-populous-nation-elects-bola-tinubu-as-the-new-president

Abigail Black

FBI Chief says COVID was most likely caused by a China lab leak -- Sydney Park

Christopher Wray (an FBI chief) says the FBI believes COVID-19 originated in a Chinese government-controlled lab. This is the first time the FBI has publicly confirmed its judgment of COVID's origins. There are many differing views among doctors, scholars, and agencies in the US about where the virus came from, and there is no consensus across the US government. in 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) called the lab-leak theory "extremely unlikely," but more recently, WHO has decided to investigate "all hypotheses." The virus is said to have originated in a seafood market in Wuhan, which isn't too far away from Wuhan Institute of Virology, a world-leading virus laboratory. The US Department of Energy suggests that the virus came from a leak in the lab. Basically, what I have concluded from reading this article, is that COVID could have come from a lab leak, or it could have come from animals to humans; no one really knows, and there are just hypotheses being thrown around and investigated.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64806903

Protests in Israel Over Judicial Reforms

 Protests broke out over the judicial reforms that have been taking place in Israel. The Israeli people believe that the changes that are going on in Israel's parliament will lead to the undermining of the Israeli Supreme Court. Reports and videos are coming out showing violence between the police and protesters with the police using physical force against the protesters and using water canons and stun grenades against them. Protesters have blocked roads and railroads in an effort to stop the judicial reforms in the country. Over the past few weeks tens of thousands of people have protested in weekly mass protests against the new reforms. According to the BBC many of Israel's allies have expressed concern over the new legislation and the U.S. ambassador to Israel said to slow down and try to bring people together to build consensus. Many elite military units in Israel are refusing to serve in protest of the legislation. Many people in Israel and around the world believe that this new legislation is leading to Israel forming an authoritarian leadership as the checks and balances system in the country is losing power along with the Supreme Court's right to decide what is lawful. 

By Michael Gill

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-64810148

Covid: FBI chief Christopher Wray says China lab leak 'most likely'

 The FBI just made a new assessment as of late, claiming that the COVID-19 virus was likely a lab leak from the Covid research center in Wuhan, China. One of the central beliefs for this theory is the fact that the COVID research center in Wuhan, China, is 40 minutes away from where people predicted the virus to have originated. Although other US government agencies have drawn different conclusions, China has repeatedly denied these claims. The US Department of Energy decided to say with low confidence the Covid research center had a lab leak that’s leading to the global pandemic that we all experienced personally for the past two years. There has been a world health organization investigation, but it is being intensely criticized as its director general has called for a new inquiry. In the meantime, Chinese propagandists have also been pushing a conspiracy saying that the United States caused the COVID-19 pandemic with no evidence to back up their statement. This shows how the United States and China are still finding ways to hate each other.

Ryan Lawrence

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64806903

26 million student loan forgiveness could be declined by the Supreme Cour.

 Last august Biden announced a plan to forgive loans that were up to 10,000 or 20,000 depends on your status. A lot of the higher power have disagreed with Biden on this plan because one he didn’t get permission from them before going along with it and also the government believing this will put them in higher debt. There’s a lot of different sides going on with what should happen with this student loan forgiveness plan. With the pause date coming up and people having to go back to find a way or find out if they to pay their schools loans coming up, a lot of people wonder what will congress decision will be for it. In my opinion I don’t think this shouldn’t be up to anyone expect the person who made the decision which is Biden. I don’t know what congress is afraid of especially loosing more money. The money the United States has nothing to do with the people living here anyways so. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/politics/supreme-court-student-loan-forgiveness-what-matters/index.html 

China is rolling out the red carpet for a key Putin ally as US warns against aiding Russia’s war

 China is hosting a meeting with the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Putin and the leader of China, Xi Jinping, will be talking about diplomatic topics as well as possible trade deals and other political banter. However the United States warns China not to aid in the war between Russia and Ukraine and if they do, it would cause a global catastrophe. If China aids Russia it its war, then everyone who is allies with Ukraine will be involved in the war as well. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/china/belarus-lukashenko-visits-beijing-china-xi-jinping-intl-hnk

Jonathan Cotsiomitis

Finland starts construction of Russia border fence

Finland has begun building a 124-mile-long fence on its border with Russia to help and boost security amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine. Border guards said it is going to be 10 feet tall with barbed wire on top. As of now, the border is secured by light wooden fences but due to the rise in Russians seeking to escape Russia in order to not be conscripted to fight in Ukraine Finland had decided to build a more secure fence. In July Finland passed new amendments to its Boarder Guard act that allowed the building of stronger fences. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64802457

-Jessie Anaya 

U.S. Navy reconnaissance flight over Taiwan Strait draws angry response from China

 A U.S. Navy reconnaissance jet flew over the Taiwan strait on Monday. The purpose of this was to assert the U.S. ability to fly in international airspace despite the Chinese military's objections.  U.S. states that this flight adheres to the international law; however, China argues that it's just increasing tensions. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/28/asia/us-navy-plane-taiwan-srait-transit-intl-hnk-ml

Julia Benes 

Mexican Asylum On Brink of Collapse with Overwhelming Number of Refugees

 An unprecedented number--over 13,000 people requested to seek asylum from Mexico's refugee agency COMAR in January 2023. Experts believe the agency is being stretched beyond its budget means and the system is being misused. Many people seeking refuge in Mexico come from Haiti and corrupt South American countries. They see Mexico's agency as an ideal pit stop to head toward the United States, so the agency is seeing more traffic than it should since refugees can't directly request the U.S. for refuge--there's currently a capacity limit. Recently, Biden restricted its own refugee system's capacity, which is increasing the number of people seeking assistance from Mexico. Mexico's agency COMAR is being prompted to restrategize to prevent the agency's collapse like setting restrictions on how asylum seekers use the system and its documents to prevent them from prematurely receiving documents that would allow them to travel to the northern Mexico border. COMAR is essentially restricting the travel of asylum seekers so that it deters people who don't want to make Mexico their new home. 

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/24/americas/mexico-asylum-policy-intl-latam

Juan Castro

Turkey arrests nearly 200 people over alleged poor building construction following quake tragedy

Following the catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this month, 200 of the 626 suspects have been arrested according to Turkey's Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag. More than 5,000 buildings have collapsed according to the country's disaster agency and although some of the suspects died in the the quake, police are still  hunting for others. Many questions have been asked about the integrity of the structures in the affected areas as building codes were tightened after previous disasters. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/26/europe/turkey-earthquake-arrests-intl

By: Raegan Stinger 

Rising popular support for Putin in Russia marks the first anniversary of the invasion. Arayan Khare

 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/19/world/europe/ukraine-war-russia-putin.html?action=click&module=RelatedLinks&pgtype=Article

This article talks about the changes in Russian society after an year of the invasion of Ukraine. The prolonged crisis has ratchted up the popular support of Putin's cause domestically.
"The longer this war lasts, the more Russian society is cleansing itself from liberalism and the Western poison." - Konstantin Malofeyev, a russian conservative business tycoon.

Israeli settlers rampage after Palestinian gunman kills 2

Israeli settlers went rogue in the northern West Bank late Sunday, setting cars and homes on fire after two settlers were killed by a Palestinian gunman. This incident immediately raised doubts about Jordan’s declaration that it had received pledges from Israeli and Palestinian officials to calm a year-long wave of violence. Palestinian media said at least 20 vehicles and buildings were torched, and the Palestinian Red Crescent reported over 100 wounded.

link: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/02/26/israel-palestinians-west-bank-violence-00084474

4.5 million Pills of Fentanyl, Over 3000 Pounds of Methamphetamine seized in Arizona

 Over 150 people related to the Sinaloa drug cartel have been charged in an Arizona investigation of over three years, which has most recently resulted in a seizure of a large quantity of illegal drugs. The DEA stated that over 4.5 million pills of fentanyl, 3100 pounds of Methamphetamine, and heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl powder were seized. Additionally, about $2 million in cash and 49 firearms were included in the seizure. Sources say the total worth of the drugs is an estimated $13 million. Arizona and federal authorities view this as a win in the drug war, but the Sinaloa cartel and the drug war will continue to rage on.

Article Source

Joseph Kaminski

60 Killed in a Boat Shipwreck off the Calabria Coast

Around 59 migrants, including 12 children, died due to a shipwreck near the Calabria coast. The ship broke while trying to land by the town of Crotone in Calabria. According to the article, around 150 people were on the ship with about 30 people still missing. It is said that the boat came from Turkey and carried passengers from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, and Iran. This is a common occurrence in Italy as many migrant flee there to get away from conflict or poverty. 

Article Link

CHINA POLITICS ‘Crisis point’: Foreign policy experts and investors are divided on China

 Foreign policy experts express grave concerns over U.S. and China relations at a council on foreign policy meeting. The emergence of the alleged Chinese spy balloon over the continental united states raised concerns over China's serious surveillance efforts. It was quoted that the crisis point has been reached due to both the U.S and China being 'quick to blame the other for their self-inflicted problems.". Fund managers are less worried about China's geopolitical effects and more about Beijing's economic revival in 2023.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/17/crisis-point-foreign-policy-experts-and-investors-are-divided-on-china.html

-Jessie Anaya

China refuses to condemn Russia's Ukraine invasion during G20 deadlock - Carter Vance

 China is unwilling to condemn Russia's aggression against the Ukraine at the G20 Summit this week in India.  All countries at the summit agreed on the assessment of the Ukraine invasion and on the sanctions imposed on Russia except for Russia and China.  China in response proposed a 12 point plan to end the war in Russia however, it did not include a point regarding Russia withdrawing their troops from Ukraine.  The other 18 participating countries feel if the war continues there will be a negative impact on global economy from global tax to food insecurity.  The war in the Ukraine is more than just a turf war and the longer this war drags on the greater chance of Putin doing something more extreme making this global issue!

Article Link

Carter Vance

Tensions Flare Between Israel and Palestine

 Earlier this week, the Israeli government conducted a day time raid in attempts to get rid of 3 Palestine militants. This raid occured in the West Banks and led to the death of over 10 people. Tension is very thick in the country as innocent people were killed during the raid. The last large raid conducted by Israeli government resulted in 7 Israelis being murdered while attending a synagogue. Some people are calling this right wing terrorism as the prime minister's cabinet has changed to feature much more radical right wingers.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/22/israeli-troops-west-bank-raid-palestinian-deaths-nablus

Frankie Wozniak

Rally for Ukrainians held at capitol building as war marks 1 year since Russian Invasion-Olivia Walko

 Groups of American Russians and Ukrainians met at Colorado's capital to express their support for the Ukrainian people and urge for more U.S. support in ending the genocide.

Biden promises new military aid for Kyiv during 'historic' visit- Hailey Morsovillo

 

Biden promised the new military for Ukraine worth $500 million during the surprise to Kyiv. Biden was really putting a lot of effort into the Ukraine because he thinks freedom is important. People of Ukraine really love Biden and how much he is doing for their country. Siren blared as Biden arrived in Ukraine.

Mississippi lawmakers seek to return to Jim Crow with separate white system of justice

In 2023,  According to Mississippi today, they have proposed a new law that will let the state whites chief justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court, white attorney general, and white state public safety commissioner appoint new judges, prosecutors, public defenders and police officers to run a new district in the city where most of the population and location is white people. We know Mississippi is main 83% black people, so what does that mean for them? Do the people think they can’t aren’t able to govern from themselves? This is the same state that continues to make laws and that keep taking us back into the old times? What is this saying? Could this lead to something more dangerous for the black community and why are these laws being passed so easily? It’s crazy how the black community is seen as in the wrong every time they’re trying to fight for their freedom or rights that they’re slowly getting taken away again but its okay for the other group to do whatever they want.

https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2023/02/13/mississippi-lawmakers-seek-return-to-jim-crow-with-separate-white-system-of-justice/ 

Ukraine Expects Increased Attacks on War's Anniversary

 Ukraine is preparing for increased attacks on the one year anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine war. Officials are urging schools to hold remote classes now through Friday rather than have in person classes. They are suggesting this due to Russia's past history of attacking schools and other civilian gathering centers. Many companies are having employees work remotely as well. Authorities have advised residents to stay inside as much as possible and asked humanitarian groups to discourage large gatherings. Additional safety measures have been put in place to guard against a potential attack. 

russia-ukraine-news

Emily Bartel

Biden Administration rolls out new refugee policy

 The Biden Administration has announced new asylum restrictions that some are comparing to Trump-era policies. It significantly restricts the asylum of other eligibility of migrant at the U.S.-Mexico border who traveled through other countries on their journey. The intention is to encourage asylum seekers to utilize "lawful, safe, and orderly pathways into the United States" or to seek asylum in the countries through which they travel. Officials in the administration emphasize these restrictions are intended to increase legal pathways and some programs have been implemented to accomplish this. This policy has faced wide scale condemnation from Democratic lawmakers and supporters of asylum. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/21/politics/asylum-policy-biden-administration/index.html

Abigail Black

 

Israeli West Bank Raid -- Sydney Park

Israeli troops carried out a daytime arrest operation that triggered fighting and killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded many others. This raid also caused a lot of property damage and was one of the "bloodiest" battles in what has been about a year of fighting in the West Bank/East Jerusalem. There was a raid last month that a Palestinian group responded to with an attack outside of a Jerusalem synagogue, and they said that their "patience is running out." There were no Israeli casualties, and they say they were able to confiscate two automatic rifles from the site. The Palestinian Health Ministry says that 102 people were wounded, 6 were in critical condition, and only 3 of those 6 were members of the militant group.

https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158703503/israeli-west-bank-raid-kills-10-palestinians-and-hurts-more-than-100-others 

Israel's Parliament Advances Bill That Allows For The Overturning Of Supreme Court Decisions

 On Wednesday the Parliament of Israel advanced the bill that would allow for the Parliament to overturn Israel's Supreme Court decisions with a majority vote in the Parliament. This bill would limit the authority of the Supreme Court of Israel and allow the Parliament to decide what will stand or what will fail in the court. The bills face committee approval after winning in the parliament 61-52. Critics of the imposed law claim it will erode and destroy the democracy of Israel and will get rid of the checks and balances system that is currently in place. The imposed haw has gained foreign and domestic opposition because of the law's nature of overthrowing the Supreme Court and giving complete power of the law to the Parliament. 

By Michael Gill 

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/israeli-parliament-advances-bill-override-top-court-97381769

Husband called to finish serving his prison sentence after wife speaks out against Iranian mandatory hijab laws

 Khandan, husband of active human rights lawyer Sotoudeh, was arrested for supporting his wife's efforts and her fight against mandatory hijab laws in Iran. He was charged with “gathering and collusion against national security," “propaganda against the regime,” and “spreading and promoting not wearing hijab.” He was held in prison briefly in 2018 but wasn't sentenced until 2019. He was never brought in to serve his five-year term, until now. Doing this shows that Iran has no plans to change the hijab laws anytime soon and wants to show all activists that they will be punished for speaking out.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/middleeast/reza-khandan-iran-prison-sentence-intl

Lauren Pesola

Belarus claims it won’t send troops to Ukraine unless it is attacked, as tensions escalate at border

 With rising tensions in Ukraine over the invasion of Russia, border tensions between Ukraine and Belarus continue with Ukraine fearing Belarusian troops will aid Russia in their invasion. Belarus has come forward with a statement saying that they will not send any troops to fight Ukraine unless Ukraine decided to fight or invade into Belarus. This gives Ukraine some breathing room to focus on their efforts to get rid of Russia from Ukraine. Belarus is one of the countries that has joined the Warsaw Pact against NATO and with Ukraine fighting to join NATO we'll have to see how the future plays out between these two countries. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/16/europe/belarus-ukraine-troops-russia-border-intl

Jonathan Cotsiomitis

Biden Promises New Military Aid for Kyiv 'historic' visit

 US President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, to meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy on February 20th, almost a year to the day of Russia invading Ukraine. Biden pledged $500 million to new military aid in Ukraine, with artillery ammunition, anti-armour systems, and air surveillance radars being most of the tech we are giving. This visit from Biden is seen as a message to Russia, which they referred to as "the swamp". The US has been the main supporter of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and they don't plan on letting up any time soon.

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-president-biden-visits-war-time-kyiv-ahead-invasion-anniversary-2023-02-20/

-Riley Johnson

2/20/2023

South Africa Connections with Russia Resurface Amidst Invasion

 According to writer David McKenzie, it seems that South Africa is not afraid to show lack of support for Ukraine. Both China and South Africa currently host naval exercises using Russian naval vessels. With South Africa being in the BRICS pact involving Brazil, Russia, India and China, it puts the United States diplomats in a difficult position to be criticizing South African practices due to the fear of rising economic and political conflicts.

Link: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/19/africa/south-africa-russia-china-military-drills-intl-cmd

Juan Castro

Biden wants Poland’s opinion — but he still has the power

 As President Biden travels to Poland to speak to world leaders about the one year anniversary of the Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it demonstrates that the following war has drawn more attention to the Eastern European countries in Europe. However, this does not diminish the Eastern NATO bloc's dependence on Western Countries such as The US and Germany. The increasing prominence of China also sheds doubts onto how long NATO's Eastern Bloc will be in the limelight.

Garrett Geraci

https://www.politico.eu/article/biden-poland-ukraine-natio-eastern-flank-bucharest-nine/

Could China start getting involved with in the Russo-Ukraine War?

  After a recent diplomatic meeting conducted by Blinken AND the top, Chinese diplomat Wang Yi, this Saturday, Mr. Blinken expressed deep concern over Chinese companies, providing non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine and talked about whether or not there would be a possibility of the Chinese supporting lethal equipment to Russia during these times of war. Wang then refused to elaborate on whether or not China would assist Russia in providing weapons or ammunition. The US has responded to this by beginning a sanction against a Chinese company for allegedly providing satellite imagery of Ukraine to the Russian government. These are very important times in the relations between America and China with the two nations' relationships already being on the edge. If China were to start supporting Russia in the battle in Ukraine it would only worsen relations further.

Ryan Lawrence

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64695042

In Retaliation, North Korea Demonstrates Reliability of ICB Missiles

As a response to the United States' and South Korea's plans to perform joint exercises, North Korea fired one of their intercontinental ballistic missiles in a "surprise" drill. The missile landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, west of Hokkaido. Officials out of Pyongyang supplemented the drill with verbal threats of retaliation in belief that there are plans to invade North Korea. Of course, countries and committees across the world condemned North Korea's actions, saying it "threatens regional and international peace and security."

Link to Article

Joseph Kaminski

China to Possibly Send Aide to Russia

 According to the US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, China is debating on sending weapons to Russia for the war in Ukraine. Allegedly, Chinese companies have already been sending "non lethal" aid, but there is now evidence that Beijing could send "lethal"support. However, China has denied reports that Moscow has requested equipment despite being close allies with Russia. If China does send military weapons to Russia, this could severely disengrate any US-China relations (more so than they already were), especially with the alleged Chinese spy balloon fiasco. 

Article Link

Turkey Halts Most Rescue Efforts for Earthquake Survivors

 Two weeks post Earthquake, Turkey is has ended most of their search and rescue operations. Survivors fortunately have continued to be found under the rubble alive. The key is that they have enough oxygen to breathe. One professor of disasters at University College London has found it very unusual that so many people have survived this long. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/19/europe/turkey-stop-earthquake-rescue-intl

Julia Benes

China’s balloon surveillance program has been ‘exposed to the world’: Blinken (Olivia Walko)

 https://globalnews.ca/news/9497236/china-ballon-surveillance-program-exposed-blinken/

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the PRC's top diplomat Wang Yi to stress that Chinese survellience in the US mainland will not be tolerated and that the PRC's continued assistance with Russia's invasion of Ukraine through material support undermines international rules-based order and is discouraged.