International Aid Funding

Link: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/crunch-time-israel-ukraine-aid-lawmakers-return-congress-recess-rcna126175

With 12 days left of the government year, the interest in international aid is at the forefront. Democrats are starting to divide in aiding Israel. Bernie Sanders says that the blank check policy should end. Republicans are divided in continuing to aid Ukraine. Tom Cotton stated that Biden does not care about "securing the US border." The Democratic party says that this shows how the Republicans are just ready for Trump to hand Ukraine back to Russia. 

 

It is important to remember that we have aided both countries since the start of these conflicts. It would be enormous if we just stopped aiding them. Ken Buck said he favors aid to Israel and Ukraine — if they’re paid for: “We have three weeks of legislative business ahead of us, if not more, and we can get those things done and they’re very important to get done."

By: Karen McClain

The prime minister of New Zealand gets sworn in

 On Monday, November 27 (GMT+13), Christopher Luxon was sworn in as New Zealand's prime minister. He is a part of the New Zealand National Party, a center-right political party.  His main concern seems to be the countries economy. So far, he has promised to cut taxes and train 500 more police officers within two years, less government bureaucracy and repeal tobacco restrictions.

By: Ayshe Ali

Source: https://apnews.com/article/christopher-luxon-new-zealand-prime-minister-f3f6c4c80b75521647b8e61e5ff71673

4-year-old Hamas hostage set free

     Abigail Mor Edan, the youngest U.S. citizen held by Hamas, was among the group of hostages released back to Israel on Sunday. President Biden and the Israeli military have both confirmed that Abigail has been released. Abigail was kidnapped and taken to the Palestinian enclave during the deadly rampage along with an estimated 240 others. Her parents were tragically killed in the October 7th attacks, and she had to celebrate her birthday alone while in captivity.  However, Abigail's story has taken a brighter turn as she was finally released as of Sunday. 

3 dead in morning shooting in Winnipeg, Canada

 Early Sunday morning around 4 am officers arrived to a scene with 5 people shot at which lead to 3 of them dying and 2 of them in critical condition. This shooting had happened in a multi suite residence with no information on what the possible motive was. The victims identity has not yet been released and will not be released until all evidence is found in this case. Winnipeg's violent crime rate has been increasing the past couple years making 2022 the most violent it had been there since 2009. 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/26/world/winnipeg-shooting-canada-langside-street/index.html \

=Simon Krugliakovas 

Riots Breakout in Dublin

 Riots have recently broken out in Dublin as a result of a stabbing in the city which left a 5 year old little girl, and a teacher’s aid in critical condition. 2 other children were also stabbed, but with less severe injuries. The riots are considered to be anti-immigration from what the prime minister called “far-right hooligans.” Cars, buildings, buses, and much more have been burned and destroyed in central Dublin, and there have been 34 arrests made. The Prime Minister of Ireland sent over 400 police officers to Dublin to try and get control of the situation. The commissioner of the police force, Drew Harris said that social media is partly at blame for its radicalization of people nowadays. 

Link: https://apnews.com/article/ireland-rioting-dublin-stabbing-farright-2eaabb92b4e1623615a0860911cab91b

By Andrew Elleson

Germany Faces Financial Crisis

 Germany has always had a policy on ensuring the loans they take out as a country was never higher that 0.35%. This has been the key piece of their financial policies. This changed however when the pandemic hit. When COVID happened, the federal government took excess loans to try and balance out the impact it had on the economy. They ended up taking more than needed and now have extra moans left over that were originally allocated for COVID relief.

            The plans were to reallocate the excess money but when this was taken to court to determine its constitutionality, it was determined that it would constitutionally be illegal to reallocate the loans to anything other than the original intended purpose. This excess in funds was planned to be used to remedy climate change. Germany currently is $65 billion down and this will not only influence their financial structure but also their political structure.

            Although this would not completely dismantle the structure of government it does add pressure on officials. One immediate way to remedy this situation is to amend the constitution but that is much easier said than done. Another way is to try to include climate change as a “crisis” so that they would then use the funds. Currently no news of which path to take is made clear and federal spending has been shut down for the rest of the year excluding what has already been planned.

 

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/23/germany-slides-deeper-into-budget-crisis-heres-what-you-need-to-know.html

Israel Confirms 17 Hostages Have Been Released From Hamas Holding

During the Israel and Hamas conflict, hostages have been taken from both sides in an attempt to slow down the fighting with negotiations. With the two sides taking a 4-day military pause, there has been time for them to make negotiations regarding the hostages from both sides. With these 17 hostages being freed, one being a four-year old American girl, the total number of freed hostages is now at 41. This comes during the third day of the the military pause that Israel and Hamas has agreed to, but Israel said they are willing to extend the military pause if Hamas agrees to release additional Israeli hostages. United States President Joe Biden spoke on his gratitude and relief that Abigail Edan, the four-year old American girl, was released and back in Israel. He stated, "She's free and in Israel now. Those who are wrapping Abigail in love and care and the supportive services she needs, she's been through a terrible trauma." Biden was referring to Abigail's sudden tragedy in her life after she lost both of her parents during the October 7th attack from Hamas that killed both of her parents and made her an orphan. To add on to the struggle she felt, she became a hostage after being captured by Hamas, the people responsible for killing her parents. Abigail's great aunt and cousin spoke on her return saying they had much gratitude for Abigail's return and  said they hoped other families would be able to feel the gratitude of having their loved ones returned from being hostages. With the military pause still going on, only time will tell if more hostages will be released from both sides.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/26/white-house-growing-optimism-for-release-of-four-year-old-hostage-.html

Written by: Tyler Surin

Dutch election: Anti-Islam populist Geert Wilders wins dramatic victory

 Veteran anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders has won a dramatic victory in the Dutch general election, with almost all votes counted.

After 25 years in parliament, his Freedom party (PVV) is set to win 37 seats, well ahead of his nearest rival, a left-wing alliance.

"The PVV can no longer be ignored," he said. "We will govern."

His win has shaken Dutch politics and it will send a shock across Europe too.

But to fulfil his pledge to be "prime minister for everyone", he will have to persuade other parties to join him in a coalition. His target is 76 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67504272

Pepijn Hakstege

Derek Chauvin attacked in prison

 Anthony Cristiano:

The ex police man that killed George floyd was attacked over the weekend. He was in critical condition and rushed to the hospital. This was days after the Supreme Court rejected his unfair trial and he will be serving 22 years and is in isolation as there is growing tension for more attacks to happen.

China is willing to work with Argentina

 Argentina has elected a new President. President-Elect Javier Milei has been elected and has not been quiet in the past about his thoughts on working with China. Despite the criticism being received by Argentina, China says they are ready to work with Argentina. China's foreign ministry spokesperson has mentioned that Argentina pulling away from China and Brazil would be a big mistake. The Chinese spokesperson is referring to Milei stating that he does not want to interact with governments like Brazil and China but did not comment on what that would mean in terms of imports and exports.

By: Vanessa Constantino

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/21/milei-china-says-it-would-be-a-huge-mistake-for-argentina-to-cut-ties.html 

Premature babies getting evacuated out of Gaza

 Anthony Cristiano:

As Hamas was able to hold many innocent civilians hostage in the biggest hospital in the Gaza Strip. We saw many patients without any resources to survive and a lot of babies that might not make it due to there being no power to activate the incubators. Finally it is expected to see 28 babies to be evacuated to Egypt by bus and helicopter to be treated in a much safer hospital.

Even After Meeting with President Xi Jinping, Biden calls him a Dictator

Following United States President Joe Biden's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he has kept his stance about Xi Jinping regarding him as a dictator. The two presidents met in San Francisco earlier in the month for the first time in over a year to help better the relationship between the two countries. The meeting had reportedly gone well with the two leaders making progress in the situation. Although, these comments by president Biden could damage some of the progress made during the meeting. Biden was asked about his comments earlier in the year about Xi Jinping, which he backed up saying, "He's a dictator in the sense that he's a guy who runs a country that is a communist country that's based on a form of government totally different from ours." This comment has left a bad taste in Chinese officials mouths since progress between the two countries has been made and this feels like an insult of the Chinese government. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs came out and said that there are constant attempts to damage the relationship between the United States and China, but they will not allow this to happen. With Biden's comments coming so soon after progress happening, there is no telling how much this will hurt the relationship between the two powerful countries and if this will halt any attempts at getting rid of the tense communications between the countries and making the relationship stronger going into the future.

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/16/us-china-apec-biden-stands-by-comment-that-xi-is-a-dictator.html

Written by: Tyler Surin 

President Biden and President Lopez Obrador are committed to working out issues between the two countries

 President Biden and President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador met on Friday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and stated they would “work together to address migration and combat fentanyl trafficking to the U.S,” The U.S and Mexico have discussed these issues that have been brought up numerous times. Biden also mentioned his conversation with Chinese President Xi, where they spoke about fentanyls flow. Although President Biden and Lopez Obrador  have found themselves “at odds.” before, both are committed to addressing these issues together.

By: Vanessa Constantino

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/17/biden-mexico-fentanyl-migration/

Active Volcano in Iceland

    Iceland is currently experiencing volcanic activity and is trying to prepare for the possibility of an eruption. Officials in Iceland recorded more than 1,700 tremors from the expected eruption location in a time span of approximately 24 hours. meteorologists in the are have reported that the magma may have reached the Earth's crust, and people will have to wait in suspense for the next couple of days to see how the situation may unfold. Scientists monitoring the situation observed changes to the volcanic dilemma on Sunday that could indicate magma is moving closer to the surface. Authorities in Iceland have declared a state of emergency, and advised many people to evacuate while the volcano is eager to erupt.  

Australia accuses China of injuring their Naval Divers with sonar pulses

 Australis accused the Chinese navy of injuring their naval divers with sonar pulses during an operation near the coast of Japan. This reignited tensions between each country just days after their leaders met to stabilize their relationship. Australian divers were attempting to remove fishing nets from their propellers when they were targeted by a Chinese naval destroyer. Australian navy told the destroyer to stay clear while they were sending divers but the destroyer moved closer after acknowledging the request. 

https://www.wsj.com/world/australia-accuses-china-of-injuring-naval-divers-with-sonar-pulses-b1927121?page=1

Russia bans LGBT movement

 Russia's Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court stating that the LGBT movement is extremist and has banned anything related to it inside its country. They allege that the movement incites the social and religious discord. People blame the West for trying to destroy their "traditional values" in more socially conservative countries. Putin has been trying to eliminate gay rights in Russia for awhile, including outlawing same-sex marriage in 2020. 

https://www.wsj.com/world/russia/russia-moves-to-ban-international-lgbt-movement-as-extremist-4da572e9?page=1

China Considers Meeting Between Presidents a Success

China's largest state-run newspaper, People's Daily, called the meeting between Xi Jin Ping and Joe Biden a "new starting point" for China-US relations. This is the first time the two had met since November of 2022. US and China relations have been at a new low as of late, so this meeting is certainly a step in the right direction. The meeting had positives that came from it, which includes resuming military cooperation to slow the flow of fentanyl into the US. However, towards the end of the meeting, Biden called Xi a dictator, but Beijing and Chinese state media didn't let this overshadow the rest of the meeting's positives. In order to further paint the picture that this meeting emitted many positives, Chinese state media showed video and images of Biden greeting Xi at the estate they met. This was because they wanted to show that relations were "back on course."

Link: China hails Xi-Biden meeting despite 'dictator' remark - BBC News

By Andrew Elleson

Refugee children’s education in Rwanda under threat because of reduced UN funding

Refugee children’s education in Rwanda under threat because of reduced UN funding

Fernando Abans

An international organization, built by states and supposed to protect citizens all around the world from poverty, discrimination, conflicts, and threats to their lives is in risk because of lack of funding. In this case, we are talking about children, refugee ones who had to leave their countries and their homes because it was not a safe place for them anymore. All these children will be in risk and extreme poverty conditions because countries are not giving funding enough to the UN organizations. The UNHCR funding has been cut, not being able to pay for education fees of children refugees, taking away their right to an education while being taken away from their houses. But this is not the only financial cut they have suffered, as UNHCR announced that food, education, shelter and health care were about to be cut too as 35% of the funding needed had been received by October of this year.

https://apnews.com/article/rwanda-refugees-unhcr-funding-education-schools-students-e1ef1f9613a414d009667136c9f3b7f3

Nearly 7 million people displaced in the Democratic Republic of Congo

A surge in attacks on civilians by non-state armed groups has newly displaced close to 1 million people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since January. Now nearly 7 million people have been internally displaced due to the threat of violence and atrocities, extreme poverty, and mining expansion and there has been a 17% increase since October of 2022. This displaced population is in urgent need of security support, medical aid, and other humanitarian aid. Approximately one million Congolese nationals are seeking refuge beyond the Congo’s borders. The country will hold their national elections on December 20th of this year. In the three months leading up to the election, candidates have been attacked and even put in jail by the president. As the conflict intensifies, the humanitarian situation continues to struggle, and millions are facing acute food insecurity and other critical needs. Across the country, over 26 million people need humanitarian aid.

Conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Nearly 1 Million Displaced in DRC in the First Half of 2023 Amid Surge in Violence 

Iran's steady expansion of their nuclear program

 Iran is expanding their nuclear program by continuing to stockpile uranium. However, they haven't accelerated production pace of nuclear fuel amid the ongoing issue in the Middle East. An international atomic energy agency report showed that Iran has slowed their accumulation of uranium since the summer but is continuing to build sufficient amounts of material that could be used to fuel nuclear weapons. Iran insists their nuclear program is for entirely peaceful civilian programs and claims that they would never develop nuclear weapons. 

https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-maintains-steady-expansion-of-nuclear-program-46df894a?page=1