Blog
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What’s Going on With Brexit?
By Alexandra Calhoun, Associate Editor In 2016, 51.9% of voters voted in favor of leaving the E.U. How that exit would take place would become a political firestorm. Former Prime Minister Theresa May lost her position because she couldn’t finish what she’d begun- Brexit. Boris Johnson then took her spot with the promise that he’d get a Brexit withdrawal agreement through Parliament. Boris Johnson once stated that he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than ask Brussels for an extension past October 31, 2019 and that the U.K. would leave on October 31st “deal or no deal” But “deal or no deal” was not the acceptable pathway for many…
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The World’s Most Wanted Man is Dead
By Shannon Bausinger, Associate Editor In the early hours of October 27, 2019 President Trump announced ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had died by suicide after being surrounded in a tunnel by U.S. forces. No U.S. personnel losses were suffered, although many of Baghdadi’s people were killed including his three children who were alongside him when the suicide vest was detonated. This successful mission followed the cancelation of other attacks set to take place in preceding weeks. Baghdadi rose to prominence in 2014 when he declared the creation of a caliphate. Under the leadership of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, ISIS has been held responsible for a reign of terror; displacing millions…
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Ecuador Agrees to Resume Fuel Subsidies After Weeks of Violent Protests
By Grace Mandry, Associate Editor For the past two weeks, the world has watched as conflicts unfolded in Northern Syria, Turkey, and the streets of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, in South America, thousands of protestors shut down the streets of Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Violence erupted after the President, Lenín Moreno, announced the end of fuel subsidies and controversial labor reforms. The protests are the biggest to occur in years. The government announced the law, Decree 883, as an austerity measure in an effort to secure a $4.2 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). President Moreno initially signed the agreement in March. Decree 883 ended forty years of…
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Liberty, Equality, Paternity? France Divided Over Pending IVF Legislation
By Brenna Mason, Associate Editor On October 6, 2019, thousands of people took to the streets of Paris to protest a French bill that would make in-vitro-fertilization (IVF) treatment available to women regardless of their relationship status or sexual orientation. The bill is the largest social issue President Emmanuel Macron has placed on his agenda since taking office in 2017. However, the subject matter of the proposed legislation has divided the country along moral and political lines. Under current French law, IVF treatment is only legal for heterosexual couples who have been married or in a civil union for at least two years and have been deemed infertile by a…
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Old Enough to Save the Planet: Young Activists Lead the Fight for Climate Change
By: Frances M. Rivera Reyes, Associate Editor In this era of social media, distinguished by information overflow, young people have surprised the established system by taking leadership roles traditionally held by nation leaders. Children like Greta Thunberg have made headlines for initiating worldwide movements and expressing blunt frustration with the lack of urgency world leaders have shown in matters that will mainly affect newer generations. Adolescents like Thunberg are paving the way for the growth of movements such as the fight against climate change. Last week, a group of sixteen children ages 8 to 17, including Thunberg, filed a complaint with the United Nations against five of the largest carbon…
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FIFA Lays Down the Law for Iran, Inspired by #BlueGirl
By Jake Gellerstein, Associate Editor In early September, 2019, the hashtag “#BlueGirl” began trending on Twitter. This moniker referred to Sahar Khodayari, an Iranian citizen who passed away as a result of lighting herself on fire in protest. Khodayari was potentially facing up to six months in prison for the crime of entering an Iranian football stadium. Women have been banned from entering Iran football stadiums since the Islamic revolution in 1979. Khodayari’s story received national attention from NGO’s such as the Human Right’s Watch and the Open Stadiums Movement, a coalition started by Iranian Woman seeking to ensure more freedoms for women and end the constant discrimination. Masoud Shojaei,…
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From Sanctions to War: An Analysis of America’s Relationship With Iran
By: Sarah Hansen, Associate Editor On Saturday, September 15, 2019, drone strikes hit oil installations in Saudi Arabia. While Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attacks, the United States and Saudi Arabia maintain that Iran was responsible. The Trump administration claims intelligence assessments and satellite photos show evidence of Iranian involvement. Iran has denied any involvement and American officials have offered no evidence beyond satellite photos, which analysts said were insufficient to prove the source of the attack and responsible parties. Despite a lack of sufficient evidence, the U.S. continues to blame Iran for the attack. President Trump announced on Twitter he would “substantially increase sanctions” on Iran after…
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TURNING BACK THE CLOCK ON PUNISHMENT: HOW BRUNEI IS RE-ENFORCING STONING AGAINST HOMOSEXUAL INDIVIDUALS
By Davida M. Hawkes The Nation of Brunei has a long history of discrimination against Homosexuals. Since it was under British Colonial rule in 1984, the Nation of Brunei has enacted laws and regulations against members of the LGBTQ community. The Nation continues to regulate intimate private activities of its own members through prescribing punishment for extramarital sex, and abortion. At issue recently, is Brunei’s implementation of imposing death by stoning as a punishment for homosexuality and adultery. The implementation of this new, yet medieval like punishment has been classified as a “great achievement” by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkia. This comes shortly after Brunei adopted a more conservative…
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Sustenance or Sanctions?
North Korea is facing a major food shortage. Although the country has struggled to feed its people for over two decades, following a famine that killed one million people, the situation has worsened: an estimated 11 million people—40% of the population—are currently malnourished, including one in five children whose growth is stunted due to chronic malnutrition. The notoriously secretive country publicly admitted that it lacks enough food to feed its people in a February memo authored by Kim Song, the North Korean ambassador to the United Nations. However, the announcement was met with skepticism and considered a ploy to reduce sanctions, as it was coincidentally announced ahead of President Trump’s…
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New Zealand Banned Assault Weapons In Less Than One Week- What’s the Hold Up In The US?
By Sarah Everhart On March 15, 2019, fifty Muslims were killed and fifty more were injured when a gunman opened fire in two mosques in New Zealand. Six days later, New Zealand banned military-style semi-automatic weapons. On April. 1, 2019, New Zealand’s government introduced legislation that would ban most semi-automatic firearms. The bipartisan bill is expected to go into effect April 12, 2019. If the bill passes, New Zealand will have banned all military-style semi-automatic weapons and most semi-automatic firearms within four weeks of the mosque shootings. The debate for gun control in the US is one of the most controversial and heavily-debated topics. By some estimates, there have been…