Global News Roundup: March 14-21

By Lily Cusack

Russia Withdraws Warplanes from Syria

Russia withdrew war planes such as these from Syria on Tuesday, March 15, 2016. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Russia flew their warplanes in Syria home on Tuesday, March 15, which the United Nations hopes will aid in the development of peace talks in Geneva, according to CBC. Russia has stated that they are still maintaining an air base and an undeclared number of forces in the country. The Syrian Organization for Human Rights has stated that Russian airstrikes have killed over 1,700 civilians, but Russia denies this statistic. The airstrike program has cost Russia an estimated $700 to $800 million. Russia supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and has been trying to put an end to the rise of the Islamic State in the war-torn nation. However, Russia has been increasingly frustrated with al-Assad, as he refuses to cooperate at the Geneva peace talks, which also include the United States. Russia is pushing for presidential elections, but they are leaving the question of al-Assad to inside, rather than outside, forces.

North Korea Sentences U.S. Student to Hard Labor

21-year-old student Otto Frederick Warmbier was arrested in Pyongyang , the capital of North Korea. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 

According to CNN, on Wednesday, March 16, an American college student was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by the North Korean government while visiting the country. Otto Frederick Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, reportedly removed a political banner from his hotel room before leaving, which the North Korean government constitutes as a “hostile act” against the country. The government claims that Warmbier was supported by either a church in his home state of Ohio, a secret university organization, or the CIA to commit the act. Warmbier pleaded guilty and issued a tearful apology, but was sentenced only after an hour of the trial. Warmbier was arrested on Jan. 2 as he was about to board his plane to leave the country.

SeaWorld to Stop Breeding Killer Whales

One of the multiple Shamu killer whales jumps during a show at Sea World San Diego in 2009. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.  

SeaWorld announced on Thursday, March 17, that they will stop breeding their killer whales in captivity, while their current killer whales will continue to perform in shows until their deaths, according to Calgary Sun. They will use birth control to prevent reproduction. SeaWorld, which has 29 killer whales under their care, have come under fire by activist groups for their treatment of whales in captivity. In 2015, three killer whales died within six months at a park in San Antonio, Texas. Since then, SeaWorld has implemented a new plan for viewing the killer whales. The whales will be shown at specific times, and the viewing areas will “reflect the natural world” while focusing on “orca enrichment, exercise and overall health.” For the next five years, SeaWorld will also partner with the Humane Society of the United States in providing $50 million to end commercial whaling and seal hunting and killing sharks for their fins. The company’s shares rose 8.2 percent on Thursday.

FlyDubai Plane Crashes While Landing

A FlyDubai plane like this crashed upon landing in a Russian city on Saturday, March 19, killing all 62 passengers on board. Photo 

According to Bloomberg Business, a FlyDubai plane broke apart while attempting to land in Rostov-on-Don, Russia on Saturday, March 19. The crash, which took place during difficult weather conditions, killed the 62 people on board. After trying to land two hours earlier, the plane returned to the landing pad, where it crashed and immediately burst into flames. Flightradar24, which tracks and collects data concerning airlines, stated that while the plane was losing altitude, it was gaining speed. The Investigative Committee in Russia is planning on examining “human error, technical failure and difficult weather conditions” as possible causes to the crash. The flight had 33 women, 18 men, four children and seven crew on board. FlyDubai is providing $20,000 per passenger to the families of the deceased.

Paris Attack Suspect Arrested

The Eiffel Tower illuminated in the colors of the French flag in honor of the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. 

Salah Abdeslam, a key suspect to the Paris attacks in November, was arrested in Brussels on Friday, March 19, according to International Business Times. The Belgium-born French national has been in hiding since the November attacks. He was formally charged on March 20 with involvement in terrorist murder. Abdeslam is thought to have transported the suicide bombers to the Stade de France before they detonated themselves, as well as possibly purchasing the detonators. He has said that he planned to detonate his vest, but backed out at the last minute. Due to the large amount of heavy weapons found during the initial search, it is thought that Abdeslam was planning another attack in Belgium. On March 21, the government announced the search for Najiim Laachraoui, who has the alias of Soufiane Kayal, as an accomplice in the attacks.

Obama’s Cuba Visit

President Obama arrived in Havana, Cuba (province #3) Monday, March 21, 2016. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

President Obama is making a historic visit to Cuba this week. According to The New York Times, he appeared with President Raul Castro on Monday, March 21 to kick off the first official talks between the two countries since before the Cold War. This is the third in-person meeting since December 2014 when they announced that diplomatic relations would be restored. The two leaders hope to discuss how to smooth out their relationship and deal with differences that divide them. Obama has said that he wants to address the issue of Cuba’s repressive governmental procedures, which were evident in the detainment of civilians that had the potential to cause concern before Obama’s arrival.

Opinon: The EU struggles to place Syrian refugees

By Ines Kagubare     

It’s been more than five years since the Civil War in Syria began during the Arab Spring uprisings. Unlike other countries such as Tunisia, Egypt and Libya who successfully overthrew their dictators, Syria has been unable to depose its current leader, Bashar al-Assad. Instead the revolt has led to a refugee crisis that’s now spreading throughout the region and across Europe.

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Courtesy of Wikimedia.

More than 1,000,000 refugees and migrants are currently seeking asylum in the European Union. Before I go on, let’s make a distinction between refugees and migrants. Refugees are fleeing their country of origin usually because of war or a natural disaster whereas migrants are choosing to settle in another country for economic opportunities.

Syrians make up one of the largest populations of refugees seeking asylum. Most of them are fleeing their country to escape the Assad regime and the ongoing violence caused by Muslim extremist groups like ISIS. According to Eurostat, “Syrians accounted for almost a third [of refugees] with 362,775 people seeking shelter in Europe, followed by Afghans and Iraqis.” According to the IOM, roughly 1,011,700 migrants arrived by sea while 34,900 arrived by land in 2015. Those arriving by sea usually cross the Mediterranean from Africa to Italy or Greece. While those arriving by land usually pass through Turkey from the Middle East to Europe. More than 3,770 migrants died trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea in 2015, according to IOM.

Syrian refugees strike in front of Budapest Keleti railway station. Courtesy of Wikipedia.

The European Union has tried to implement refugee-friendly policies that would make it easier for refugees to receive asylums. According to the BBC and Eurostat data, “Germany received the highest amount of new asylum applications (higher than any other EU nation) in 2015, with more than 476,000”. They were closely followed by Hungary and Sweden in numbers.

Although it seems that the EU is taking a step in the right direction in terms of helping refugees find new homes, they haven’t taken as many migrants as countries such as Italy, Greece, and Hungary. Since these  are the first nations where migrants arrive by sea and land, they have incurred more people hoping to find refuge than other countries. The EU is planning to relocate 160,000 migrants to some of its nations that have fewer refugees in order to lessen the burden of countries that have an abundance of them.

The new EU refugee policy hasn’t come without controversy or backlash from far-right groups across Europe such as Pegida, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West, who portray refugees and migrants as “invaders.” They believe that refugees settling in Germany will take over and destroy their culture. They have been very critical of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision of granting asylum to more than 100,000 refugees.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Courtesy of Wikimedia.

As of 2015, the EU has granted 292,540 asylums to refugees mostly coming from Syria, Eritrea, Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

News Analysis: Syrian civil war will continue without intervention

by Toddric Longwood

The Syrian civil war has been going on for almost two years now, and from the looks of things, it isn’t going to come to a halt anytime soon.

source: Freedom House flickr/ Children chanting Syrian freedom songs near Aleppo Dec. 26, 2012.

What started out as a simple protest promoting the resignation of the current president has turned into an armed rebellion, what some are calling a civil war.

The once-protesters demanded the resignation of the President Bashar al-Assad. They wanted the president to resign because they wanted a change in government; they wanted a re-instatement of civil rights. After not getting what they demanded, the protestors turned violent, and as a result the Syrian Army was deployed to stop the protest.