ISIS released videos of beheading 2 Japanese hostages, then burned alive Jordanian fighter pilot when their ransom demands were not met. They claimed Jordanian airstrikes on their training centers killed one of the remaining American hostages a few weeks later. The Pentagon estimates ISIS has about 20,000 to 30,000 fighters. Obama asked Congress to formally authorize use of military…
Iraq
December Headlines
An AirAsia Airbus A320 crashed in the Java Sea killing all 162 passengers aboard. 30 bodies have been recovered so far. President Obama initiated a major shift in US foreign policy toward Cuba which will allow limited travel and trade to begin. North Korean backed hackers infiltrated Sony pictures and threatened violence if they released…
Current Events, Don’t forget to Vote on November 4th
Honestly, there’s not much change this month… Ebola is still rampant in a few west African countries. The first patient on US soil who traveled from Liberia after lying on his exit questionnaire died shortly after infecting two nurses in a Houston hospital (both of whom are now clear). The CDC has ramped up it’s…
September News Highlights
This is my first current event post in a new format attempting to give you more with less; more topics with less details. Of course we will still will follow our self-imposed rules of engagement but this should be a quicker glance. We want your comments! to let us know if you prefer more details or this…
Current Events Around the World
The death toll climbs in Ukraine as Pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian Nationalists continue fighting. 280 trucks with humanitarian aid from Russia are being inspected by the Red Cross before they enter Ukraine who suspects ulterior motives. Russia enacted trade sanctions on specific food items from the U.S. and E.U. ; Russian aircraft skirting US and…
Spring/Summer 2014 Elections around the World and a little more
European Union European Parliament (EP) elections were held between 22 and 25 May. Across the 28 member-states the centre-right European People’s Party won the most seats, but came up well short of a majority. Representatives from the Roughly a quarter of all seats went to parties skeptical of the EU (or protest parties), thus, the…
International Headlines
Ukraine – Fighting continues and EU/US sanctions on Russia increase. Kiev’s security forces have launched their biggest effort yet to dislodge the pro-Russian militants who have overrun the south and east of the country, reportedly seizing buildings in dozens of towns and cities (CNN). There is worry Russia will dispute the validity of the Presidential election planned…
Quick and Dirty Headlines from February
Okay folks, a lot has happened recently and I apologize for taking so long to hit the highlights. Busy busy! Ukraine – Since we last wrote about this in December protests have continued, truces were made and broken, and almost 100 people have been killed. Last week the President and his allies were ousted and the country…
News of the week… or so
U.S. A $1 trillion farm bill was passed by the Senate Tuesday and is expected to be signed by the President that sets the policy on farming (and food) for the next five years. CNN has a good article on what the bill means to you here. A drought is ongoing throughout the West – 11…