The UN Turns 75
In 1945, out of the chaos and destruction of World War II, the United Nations was formed. The goal of the international organization was to keep peace between nations to prevent future horrors similar to the Second World War. The UN works to maintain international peace and security, provide humanitarian assistance, protect human rights, and […]
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Deadly Hurricane in Louisiana At least fourteen people are dead in Louisiana after Hurricane Laura, a Category 4 storm, made landfall last Thursday afternoon. Usually, hurricanes weaken as they approach the shore. Laura was one of the rare storms to intensify as it made landfall. With dangerous storm surges and sustained winds of over 150 […]
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Parliament: Back in Session Last month, Election Central brought you the latest update in the Brexit saga (Brexit is the nickname assigned to Britain’s 2016 decision to leave the European Union). At that point, Boris Johnson, Britain’s new conservative prime minister, had convinced Queen Elizabeth II to prorogue Parliament. That meant that Parliament would be […]
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Responding to Tragedy Last week, btw brought you the story of dual mass shootings that occurred within less than a day of each other in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and left at least 31 people dead. Gun safety advocates had hoped that the twin tragedies would spark renewed interest in gun safety legislation, […]
Haley Resigns UN Post
This week’s story update on the Election Central Web site reports on the resignation of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Nikki Haley, the United States’ ambassador to the United Nations, announced last Tuesday that she will resign her position by the end of the year. This is the latest in a string of […]
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Trump’s Financial Past Revealed You may remember that during the 2016 presidential campaign, many voters supported Donald Trump because of his success as a businessman. They hoped that Trump would bring those business skills and sensibilities to the federal government. However, when pressed about his tax returns, Trump–then a candidate–refused to release them. Ever since […]
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Trouble at the UN? Last week, the United States butted heads with Russia and China at the United Nations Security Council. The reason? A disagreement over the Council’s policies toward North Korea. A week earlier, the United States submitted a complaint to the Security Council, saying that North Korea had imported more than three times […]
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Hungarian Hard Line The United States isn’t the only country that’s divided right now over the controversial issue of immigration. Hungary has taken the debate a step further, by passing a law making it illegal even to help undocumented immigrants. Like Donald Trump, Prime Minister Viktor Orban believes that immigrants are a threat to his […]
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Federal Funding to Puerto Rico Ends Puerto Rico is home to 3.4 million American citizens. Nearly two months after Hurricane Maria devastated the island, many Puerto Ricans still do not have reliable access to food, water, electricity, or health services. And now, federal disaster relief funding from the United States–never sufficient in the first place–has […]
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Anti-Weapons Group Receives Nobel Prize Lately, there has been a lot of talk in the news about nuclear weapons, particularly as tensions escalate between the United States and North Korea. So it seems fitting that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to a group that is working hard to get rid of nuclear weapons. […]