Stuff YOU Should Know
Colombia’s New President Gustavo Petro was sworn in as Colombia’s new president on August 7, 2022. This inauguration was historic because Petro is Colombia’s first leftist president and he was a former member of M-19, an urban guerilla group which fought against the nation’s past authoritarian government. For more than fifty years, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of […]
U.S. Troops to Leave Afghanistan
This week’s Election Central post describes President Biden’s announcement of a final deadline to remove U.S. military personnel from Afghanistan this year. Soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the United States began a war in Afghanistan. President Biden announced that he wants all American troops to return home by September 11, 2021. For […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
China Faces Dangerous Dust Storm Last week, strong winds blew dust from the Gobi Desert across much of the northern part of China. This caused what weather experts describe as the worst sandstorm China has seen in ten years. The dust turned the sky visibly yellow. Some schools were shut down, and more than four […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Hawaiians Face Widespread Unemployment and Few Solutions Hawaii has been hit harder than most other states by the economic recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. That’s because the islands are so heavily dependent on the tourism industry, which has ground nearly to a halt. While several states depend on tourism, Hawaii is unique because most […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Children in Spain Return Outdoors No doubt about it, shelter-in-place and social distancing orders are challenging. Many of us miss our friends, classmates, and participating in the activities we once loved and perhaps took for granted. But in many other places in the world, you’d face even harsher restrictions than you do in the United […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Hawaiian Volcano Still Going Strong Mt. Kilauea, one of the world’s most active volcanoes, has been erupting on Hawaii’s Big Island since May 3. Devastation is widespread: homes have been engulfed by flames, roads have split open, power lines are down, and vegetation has been destroyed. Tourism–the island’s number-one industry–has fallen by almost 50 percent. […]
Missile Launch Raises Questions
Last week, North Korea fired an intermediate range missile over Japan. The Hwasong-12 missile, which is designed to carry a nuclear warhead, traveled about 1,700 miles in fourteen minutes before crashing into the Pacific Ocean 575 miles east of Japan. This isn’t the first time that North Korea has launched an object into the skies […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
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 […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Gas Attack, U.S. Air Strikes in Syria Early in the morning on Tuesday, April 4, the deadly civil war in Syria took a tragic turn when bombs carrying sarin gas, a deadly nerve agent, were dropped on Khan Sheikhoun, a Syrian town held by rebel forces. Dozens of civilians were killed, including several children. President […]
Stuff YOU Should Know
Bilingual Education Returning to California In 1998, 61 percent of California voters passed Proposition 227, which limited bilingual education in California schools by requiring parents to sign a waiver if they wanted their child to participate in a bilingual program. Next month, however, bilingual education will be back on the ballot again. If Proposition 58 passes, […]