For the past two decades, the U.S. dollar had not been stronger than Euro. This, however, changed in July as the two currencies reached parity. For the first time since 2002, the U.S. Dollar and Euro had a 1:1 exchange rate. The dollar has continued to strengthen, as one American dollar is worth 0.98 Euros, as of September 11, 2022. What made the dollar so strong? One of the most consequential reasons that boosted the value of the dollar is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s announcement to raise interest rates. Generally, higher interest rates lead to a stronger currency. In addition, turmoil in the global economy, including skyrocketing gas prices and…

As the nation watches the war in Ukraine unfold, many are closely monitoring the response from the United States and its NATO allies. On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, and since then, the countries have been at war over the sovereignty of Ukraine. Ukraine is not a party to NATO; therefore, this has kept the allies from joining the battle itself. However, NATO and the United States, have placed what they hope to be crippling sanctions on Russia. The United States began by sanctioning Russia’s export systems and economy. Specifically, the United States targeted the 10 largest financial systems in Russia, hoping to undercut the ability of Russia to…

Written by Associate Editor: Tia Thevenin Many Binance users in Nigeria and other African Countries were facing issues participating in their routine trading of cryptocurrency. Users (around 281 total) were unable to initiate in or complete payments. Since its inception in 2017, Binance Holdings Ltd. has grown to be the top crypto exchange in the world processing nearly 76 billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency daily. Changpeng Zhao, Chief Executive Officer of Binance is on the ranks of the world’s top billionaires. Binance is also widely used in Nigeria. Nigerians use cryptocurrency as a method to protect the value of their money, which fluctuates as the naira loses value, and as…

Written by associate editor: Brian Harrison China’s economy has seen massive growth over the last several decades growing from $300 billion USD in 1990 to over $14.7 trillion USD by 2020. This immense growth caused there to be a burgeoning middle class that wanted to own homes and property, which helped increase demand in an already quickly growing property market. Much of this subsequent property development was funded through debt. Easy access to debt and good political connections allowed companies like Evergrande to be able to borrow vast sums of money to fund property development projects all over the country. After over two decades of operating, Evergrande now has financial…

Written by Associate Editor, Kevin Casserino US chipmaker Intel has removed references to Xinjiang, China in its most recent annual letter to suppliers.[1] This removal comes after Intel’s December 23 letter to its suppliers in which they stated that Intel had been “required to ensure that its supply chain did not use any labor or sourced any goods from the Xinjiang region.”[2] Following the December 23rd letter, Chinese social media users and Chinese state-run media denounced Intel for their specific mention of the controversial region.[3] Intel has since apologized and told Chinese social media users that the letter was written to comply with U.S. law and does not represent their…

            Written by Associate Editor: Sam Keller A death penalty case in Singapore has drawn large amounts of attention from all over the globe in recent weeks. Nagaenthran Dharmalingam, a mentally disabled man, was caught smuggling 1.5 ounces of heroin into Singapore from Malaysia in 2009 and was subsequently sentenced to death under the mandatory punishment for drug smuggling in 2010. Mr. Nagaenthran’s execution initially stayed in 2011 when Singapore’s parliament reviewed and amended the country’s death penalty, which took effect in 2013, that allowed death penalties to be reduced to life imprisonment if the offender was “suffering from an abnormality of the mind.” During Mr. Nagaenthran’s trial, he underwent…

    Written by Associate Editor: Delaney Root         In an attempt to honor International Women’s Day on March 8th, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi coordinated with Egypt’s judiciary to announce that future appointments of women to judicial positions should be accepted. Following that, in early June of 2021, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Judicial Bodies announced their decision to officially approve future appointments of women to these positions of higher authority. Finally, as recently as October 20, 2021, 98 women were officially sworn in to serve on the State Council as judges and prosecutors.             Prior to following the directive of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the several bodies constituting the Egyptian judiciary…

Written by Associate Editor: Haley Carson As countries are still struggling to tackle major climate change issues (such as carbon emissions, endangered species animal preservation, and more), major players in the environmental crisis are attending the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (“COP26”). The event is being hosted by the United Kingdom alongside their partner, Italy. Notably, the goals of the major impactors are not as progressive as the world is hoping for. For example, Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has not officially committed to any official reductions of global emissions besides the 26-28% projection during the Paris climate conference back in 2015. Although the pandemic has…