World News

The world will face a food crisis?

The president of Ukraine, President Volodymy Zelenskyy has stated that the world could face a ‘severe food crisis,’ since Russia’s war is seemingly continuous. Zelenskyy addressed his statements towards the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, telling the delegates that Ukraine is unable to export an appropriate amount of food because Russia has a blockade at Black Sea Ports, which prohibits exports from being shipped to different countries. Whereas, the world could face a minute food crisis and famine. ‘Ukraine along with Russia are among the largest producers and exporters of wheat and other essential foods like other grains and oils.’ This food crisis could touch all the different continents, as Russia has blocked the Black Sea, hence Zelenskyy believes that Russia is violating international law.

March For Our Lives

There have been tens of thousands of protesters that have rallied across the different states to hopefully enforce stricter gun laws, in regard to the recent two mass shootings. President Biden has also been in support of the protestors, calling on Congress to ‘“pass common-sense gun safety legislation". 19 children and 2 adults were killed during the shooting at Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. A few days later, 10 people were killed in Buffalo, New York. It’s important to consider, how many more lives will be lost due to the lack of protection of people over armed weapons.

Nassar

The Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, along with numerous other women who have been sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are looking for more than $1 billion from the FBI, ‘for failing to stop the sports doctor when the agency first received allegations against him.’ Though the FBI was aware of the accusations that were made against Nasser, they failed to act upon these accusations, which left Nassar free to target more young women and girls for another year. ‘“When FBI Director Wray admitted the FBI completely failed in their duties to protect these survivors, he essentially closed the door to a court fight.’” However, Michigan State University which was also accused of being unable to stop Nassar has agreed to pay $500 million to more than 300 different women and girls that were assaulted by Nassar.

- Written by Jenna Cho; Source CNBC, BBC, AP News

Political Commentary

January 6th Committee Hearings

The United States House of Representatives January 6th Committee began conducting public hearings a year and a half after the riots at the Capitol. The objective of the hearings is to expose the roots of the insurrection— that being its causes, whether politicians played a role, and the dangers it warned Americans of. The first hearing took place on Thursday, June 9th and featured testimonies from members of Trump’s party who spoke against him, stating that he played a role in inspiring the riot. The second hearing is set to take place on Monday, June 13th.

Conservative Commentary

The January 6th committee has laid the blame for the attempted insurrection squarely on the ex-president’s doorstep. There is no debate that his actions and decisions directly impacted the event. What needs to be taken into consideration are two facts. The first is that this is a bipartisan commission. There are multiple members on the commission who are representing Americans not one party or another. Chairman Thompson strictly instructed that this committee was going to look into the interests of the American people and that each member has sworn an oath to uphold the constitution and the will of the people.

The second fact is that Donald Trump is not the only Republican, and the GOP does not unanimously support him. We need to separate this idea of agreeing along party lines only and understand that one republican is not representative of all. The GOP needs to allow for a diversification of ideas and beliefs by their representatives since the country itself is diverse and dynamic. Many conservatives abhorred the actions of the Proud boys and other rioters who attacked the capitol. Frankly, they were an ugly radicalized sect of conservatism that is unrepresentative of conservatives as a whole. Conservatives must separate themselves from this faction who have gone so far as to worship their leader, Donald Trump, as the second coming of some sort. This is not republicanism but instead has become the Cult of making America Great again by breeding hostilities and racism reminiscent of the pre-civil rights era. The visceral footage of the attack on the capital has caused many Americans to ask how an election has led to an insurrection when in reality this is a subsect of one party and most conservatives condemn their actions the same as liberals. “the crowd turn from protesters to rioters to insurrectionists.”(Helderman and Alemany). And when they took that step to try and thwart democracy, they irrevocably split themselves from the republican party. This committee has become about finger-pointing rather than accepting the fact that the republican party has a diseased extremist faction that must be cut off to save the limb.

- Written by Alexis Walker; Source WSJ, Washington Post, AP News, CNN,

Liberal Commentary

The January 6th attack on the Capitol took place during and after a speech by then-president Donald Trump a few blocks away from the Capitol building as a response to the results of the 2020 presidential election. Rioters planned to overturn Trump’s defeat by stopping Congress from counting electoral votes when they breached the Capitol. Those who made it inside the building vandalized the offices of Congress members and the Senate chamber while employees were being evacuated.

Some say that Trump and other members of the Republican Party incited the riots, while others say words were taken out of context and blown out of proportion. The January 6th Committee will measure both possibilities as well as the grey areas in between, as some are pushing for legal charges against Trump and other members of Congress.

The January 6th riots marked a tragic shift in the conscience of the nation. A President that routinely lied about government affairs and failed to do his job on multiple occasions stood just blocks away from the Capitol and spoke to his already angry followers, saying, “We fight like hell and if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore.” These are not the words of someone who wants to encourage the democratic process or a peaceful transition of power; these are the words of a man who wants to unlawfully seize power after he lost a fair election. The biggest lie conjured up by any politician in recent history is that Democrats “stole” the election and conducted large-scale fraud across the country to secure Biden the presidency. This lie ultimately caused thousands to storm the Capitol, delayed the release of vote numbers from multiple states, and decreased trust in our electoral institutions that are essential to democracy. While Trump didn’t directly say “storm the Capitol” he displayed that he wanted action taken through his conduct and his words, both of which he knew had a great influence on his followers. Indicting him on charges isn’t too far-fetched considering what happened that day, and the same can be said for some Republican congresspeople.

- Written by Ashlyn Hill

Economy

Economists have two leading theories about the drivers of inflation sweeping the globe: the usual supply and demand explanation or a concept referred to as “greedflation”. Supply and demand is a take as old as time— supply drops and prices rise; supply rises and prices drop. “Greedflation” offers a different explanation though, suggesting that companies are taking advantage of inflation and using it to price gouge, which is accelerating inflation even further. Renowned economists argue both ways as well as taking a middle ground. (Source: New York Times

)Russia has cut back its key rate— the interest rate charged to banks— back down to what it was before the start of the Ukraine war in hopes of recovering the nation’s economy. The rate now rests at 9.5%, which is a considerable decrease from its peak in February at 20%. Also in a positive sign for the Russian economy, inflation has decreased from its initial war shock and the ruble is beginning to recover some value. (Source: NBC News)

- Written by Ashlyn Hill; Source New York Times, NBC News

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