Slavery's Last Stronghold

Mauritina is last place in the world to have slavery. Slavery was not a crime until 2007, and since then only one slave owner has been successfully prosecuted. In Mauritina the government officially abolished slavery in 1981 making it the very last country in the world to abolish it. Approximately 10 to 20% of the population is enslaved. The government has done little to nothing to combat this horrible human rights violation and this problem continues today. Many people would never imagine a place where slavery still exists but this problem does not exist in one country in western Africa. Human trafficking exists around the world, even in the United States, and the awareness of this problem is low. People need to stand up and confront these issues if Maurutina will ever truely abolish of slavery, and eliminate human trafficking around the world.  

     http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/03/world/mauritania.slaverys.last.stronghold/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Massacre In Afghanistan

On Monday the Taliban vowed revenge on the United States for the killing of 16 civilians. Allegedly a US staff Sargent walked off a base and killed 9 children, 3 women, and 4 men. The US has detained the soldier responsible for these murders. The Afghan government is encouraging the US to hold a trial in front of the civilians. This event obviously created a rift between the civilians and the soldiers. Theses killings only make the situation worse because of the Quran burning last month. The situation in Afghanistan will only get worse unless this situation is handled in an appropriate way.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXgYgfe-oNo

Putin Declares Victory

Thousands of people rallied against Putin in Moscow on Monday. The result of the election seemed very controversial to most people claiming that the election was skewed in his favor. Putin won the election with 63% of the votes. European officials claim that Putin has abused his executive power in order to keep his power. Many people accuse Putin and his followers of ballot stuffing and other ways of rigging the election. There is suspicion that the number of voters at each polling station exceeded the number of registered voters. Many different countries have encouraged the Russian government to conduct an investigation to confirm if these accusations.

    http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/05/world/europe/russia-election/index.html?hpt=wo_bn6

North Korea Halts Nuclear Activities for Food

Recently the DRPK has agreed to halt its tests, launches, and enrichment activities in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of nutritional aid. This gesture may signify a changing in time. Because of the change in power it could result in a change of times. The hostilities toward the west could be leaving because of the influence of the DRPK's new leader. If more aid comes to north Korea the hostilities between the DRPK could come to an end. 

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/29/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-deal/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Iran Could Increase US Fuel Prices

Recently Iran has been cutting their oil supplies to several countries. Iran has already cut off its supply to Britain and France and is threatening to do the same for several other European countries. This does not directly affect the US, but it would create a ripple effect. If The supplies are cut the demand will increase, resulting in higher prices. Even though the United States does not use Iran for oil, the supply cut will impact the US. Because of the supply cut and the already high demand countries will use oil reserves that the US uses the supply lessens, and with the demand of oil being extremely high the price will increase. Experts have predicted that gas prices over the summer could reach as high as $5.00 a gallon if the supply cut effects the United States as predicted.

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=wo_t3#/video/bestoftv/2012/02/21/exp-erin-iran-gas-prices.cnn

Apple Improving Conditions in Chinese Factories

Recently Apple has been in the middle of a controversy regarding the working conditions in its Chinese factories. Apparently the manufacturer that Apple uses has been using child labor. Apple is clearly trying to eliminate Child labor on its products, but now that the public has knowledge of child labor in china how do we know how much of our imported products have been manufactured using child labor. Apples charge on preventing child labor is admirable but only makes it seem like they are trying to save there own skin. Wouldn't Apple know if these factories were using child labor? In my opinion Apple should have had more knowladge of the issue and the consumer shouldn't rule out the possibility that Apple had knowladge of child labor in its factories.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/14/tech/innovation/apple-cook-china-plants/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Fidel Castro Ruz: Guerrilla of Time

Recently, the former Prime Minister of Cuba has announced that he will be releasing a 1000 page memoir of his life.  The who book will include two volumes and will be titled "Fidel Castro Ruz: Guerrilla of Time". The entire book was said to cover his life from his infancy and childhood all the way to his years as a military leader and eventually the Prime Minister of Cuba. The process if writing a memoir has been difficult for Fidel because of his age, however he has been encouraged to continue working and recalling his influential life.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/04/world/americas/cuba-castro-memoir/index.html?hpt=wo_mid