Year in Review: World News
The U.S. and World Conflicts The deadly civil war in Syria continued to dominate the news throughout the early part of the year. In April, the United States conducted air strikes against the Syrian government, but with Russian support, the rebellion was largely destroyed. Meanwhile, the relationship between the United States and North Korea continued […]
Trump’s Asia Tour
This week, President Trump and his wife Melania have been on a twelve-day, five-nation tour of Asia. This has been the president’s longest foreign trip to date. Included on the itinerary are stops in Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Here, btw takes a look at some of the highlights of the visit. […]
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Brexit Bots? If you follow the news, you’ve probably heard a lot about the possibility of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Most recently, it was revealed that Russia purchased ads on Facebook and Google during the election season in an effort to sway voters. As it turns out, however, the United States […]
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Michael Brown Shooting Case Settlement Almost three years ago, Michael Brown, an 18-year-old African American male, was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was unarmed. Although Wilson said that he shot Brown because Brown was attacking him, witnesses said that Brown had his hands up at the […]
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Japanese Birth Rate Falling When you think of Japan, do you picture the crowded streets and skyscrapers of Tokyo? Just outside the city, the number of abandoned homes–called “ghost houses”—continues to rise, as the population of Japan continues to fall. Japan has been keeping records of its number of births since 1899. Last year was […]
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Japanese Emperor Retiring? In Japan, unlike in the United States, emperors don’t have term limits. In fact, they aren’t allowed to retire . . . ever. But all of that may be about to change. Japan’s current leader, Emperor Akihito, is 83 years old. The son of the infamous Emperor Hirohito, who ruled Japan during […]
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U.S. Drops “Mother of All Bombs” Last Thursday, the United States dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat. The target was a suspected ISIS base: 300 meter-long system of tunnels and caves in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan. According to Afghan officials, 36 ISIS militants were killed in the attack, though ISIS denies […]
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Self-Driving Chairs? Tired of waiting in long lines at restaurants, concerts, and amusement parks? Thanks to a Japanese car company, you may not have to some time in the future. Nissan has recently developed the ProPilot, a battery-operated chair that automatically follows another chair in front of it along a set path, maintaining a fixed […]
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U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Fights for Equal Pay In March, five members of the women’s soccer team playing for the United States in the upcoming summer Olympic Games filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In it, they accused the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) of wage discrimination, for spending $31 million on the […]
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Fukushima: 5 Years Later On September 11, 2011, northeastern Japan was devastated by an earthquake and tsunami. It is considered one of the costliest natural disasters on record, destroying nearly a million homes and killed nearly 20,000 people. One of the biggest lingering concerns facing the community is the destruction to Fukushima Daiichi, a nuclear […]