It’s been a big week for news headlines. Here are some top stories in case you missed them!
United States: We love red, white, and blue…and the freedom to vote! Assumed to be less important than the presidential election, midterm elections are unquestionably important and affect very citizen. On Tuesday November 4th, the midterm election resulted in the Republican Party taking control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which has not been done since 2006. The Democratic Party spent unprecedented amounts of money for this campaign season, and polls in the weeks leading up to the election did not indicate that the GOP would win in such a landslide. However, widespread discontent with a variety of matters including the economy and foreign policy led to a large conservative voter turnout.
Iran: Nuclear warfare and ISIS are pressing issues on the always-eventful table of international politics. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, President Obama has been writing to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Obama is hoping to secure some sort of a nuclear deal with Iran, though he says these negotiations do not pertain to the fight against ISIS, the extremely violent terrorist group. Many are skeptical of Obama’s plan because Iran is not an American ally, and their nuclear program prompts further questions.
Nuclear program in Iran
Jerusalem: On November 5th, one Israeli was killed and many other were injured after two cars drove into crowds of people in the city. What is being called a “hit and run terror act” has larger implications than this single act of violence. Rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians over the Temple Mount, a holy sanctuary where only Muslims are allowed to pray. A week before the car incident, a Jewish activist who argued that Jewish people should also be allowed to pray on Temple Mount was shot and killed by a Palestinian man. There has been ongoing violence between the two groups, and the drivers of the cars into the crowds were unsurprisingly Palestinian.
Hebron, near where the accident occurred
Cuba: President Obama has been trying during his presidency to shut down Guantanamo Bay, the American prison camp. There are still 148 prisoners in Guantanamo. Guantanamo’s longest-held prisoner, from Kuwait, was released after being held for 13 years without trial as a suspected associate of Osama bin Laden. This is the first time since Obama’s controversial trade of 5 Taliban members for a US soldier that an inmate from Guantanamo has been released.
Fawzi al Odah
Stay beautiful and stay informed, Collegiettes!