Stuff YOU Should Know
Zimbabwe Demonetizes Currency When the African country Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980 from British rule, its currency had the approximate value of $1.25 US dollars. The economy was strong. In the early 1990s, however, President Robert Mugabe implemented government-sponsored economic programs that ultimately had a devastating effect on the country’s economy. Designed to “correct […]
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Is Cooking Monkey Business? Consuming cooked food is considered to be an important evolutionary milestone for the human race. Since chimpanzees are closely linked to humans in terms of DNA composition and shared traits, researchers at Harvard University decided to conduct a study involving chimps and cooking devices. The series of experiments were conducted at […]
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USA PATRIOT Act Debate Shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. This law expanded the authority of federal law enforcement in order to better identify and stop terrorist acts. There are provisions (or sections, called Titles) that deal with different areas of homeland security. The […]
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Marriage Equality Vote in Ireland Beginning in 2012, Ireland’s government met regularly with 66 randomly selected citizens and members of representatives from Northern Ireland to discuss eight issues on which they would later debate in the Oireachtas (the Irish Free State’s equivalent to our U.S. Congress). One of those issues was a provision to legalize […]
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ISIS Continues Threat In March, btw brought you news of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) engaging in “cultural vandalism.” The terrorist group continues its threat in Iraq and Syria, inching closer to the city of Palmyra, where the UNESCO World Heritage is located. Dating back to the 1st century, this site is considered one of the […]
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United Kingdom Election On May 4, the people of the United Kingdom participated in new parliamentary election. Within the Parliament is the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons is made up of 650 members representing constituencies (geographic areas). Some of the political parties in the country are: Conservative, Labour, […]
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Nepal Earthquake Last month, Nepal, a country in Southeast Asia located between India and China, experienced a devastating earthquake. In geological terms, rock located approximately nine miles below the surface of the earth shifted, causing a shock wave to ripple throughout the region. Scientists measure the magnitude of an earthquake using instruments called seismometers and […]
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New California Vaccination Bill Earlier this year, btw brought you news about an outbreak of measles at Disneyland. Shortly after that incident, Senator Richard Pan and Ben Allen introduced legislature in California that would require more parents to vaccinate their children. The bill would eliminate the current exemption for “personal belief.” (The percentage of people […]
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UN Seeks More Aid for Syrian Refugees It’s been more than two years since btw brought you news of the growing refugee crisis in Syria brought on by an ongoing civil war. With its neighboring countries like Turkey and Jordan experiencing enormous burdens, the United Nation is calling on more nations, like the United States, […]
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Three More Candidates Announced Earlier this month, we reported that Senator Ted Cruz had officially announced his bid for the Presidency. This week, three more hopefuls threw their figurative hats into the ring – Rand Paul, Hillary Clinton, and Marco Rubio. Another Senator, Rand Paul from Kentucky, was the second Republican to join the race. […]