News for the week of April 12

Martino An

Current Event Blogs

Gray, Rosie. World Powers And Iran Agree On “Parameters” For A Final Nuclear Deal. BuzzFeedNews. April 3,2015. http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/world-powers-and-iran-agree-to-continue-talks-after-marathon#.lnvB4a9dva. web

In the city of Lausanne in Switzerland, the long conflict between the US and Iran over nuclear power may come to an end as both parties agreed on a set “parameter” to be implemented on the Iranian Nuclear Enrichment program. Although the deal has not been officially signed, by July, negotiators will work on tying up loose ends and work through the details of the deal so that both parties will be satisfied. By limiting Iran’s nuclear production and inspecting Iran’s nuclear facility by the International Atomic Energy Agency, many sanctions set by the EU and US will be lifted to reward Iran for their cooperation. This agreement called for a celebration in Iran however other countries like Israel were unhappy about the deal. The newly elected Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu believes that the grant allowed by US for Iran to continue their Enrichment program would threatened the security of Israel and bring insecurity to the middle east. Although US is working to block Iran’s nuclear program from creating a bomb in their deal, Netanyahu believes that the deal will only pave a pathway to a nuclear bomb.

It has been a long debate whether countries can deny other countries the right to create nuclear power. Major power countries like US and Russia are nuclear recognized state(NPT) that ratifies and administers the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, while countries like North Korea and Iran that do have nuclear power/weapon but are not formally recognized. Should countries like Iran that are weaker than nuclear recognized state be punished and be denied to right to create nuclear power. Nuclear power is an energy source not just for nuclear bombs but power plants and reactors. As our world is becoming warm due to CO2 emissions and pollution, I see nuclear energy as a viable clean energy source for the future, therefore countries that are developing nuclear power as an alternative energy source should not be denied the right to develop nuclear power. Despite all measures to prevent Iran from creating a nuclear bomb, I think that Iran will “sugarcoat” their program and eventually develop a nuclear bomb secret with repercussions that will ripple in the entire world and threaten the foundation of our society.

Shoichet, Catherine. Kansas governor signs abortion law. CNN. April 8, 2015. Cable News Network. http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/07/politics/kansas-abortion-law/index.html. web

On April 7, was a day of victory for the Republicans as Kansas banned second term abortion which made it the first of its kind in the United States. The law which defines abortion as the “dismembering an unborn child” took a step closer to protect life at its most vulnerable stage. Although there is no time frame that restrains the abortion, the new law bans the specific abortion technique used in aborting a fetus in the second trimester. Kansas, being a republican state felt the need to make abortion illegal and took steps to ban parts of abortion, making it the state with the most restriction on abortion in US. This new law has sparked a national outcry as many feminists and democrats condemn the law claiming it denies women the right to make important decisions and their access to healthcare. Despite this new law, groups that advocates for planned parenthood and women’s right plan to fight back in hopes of gaining for rights when it comes to abortion.

Abortion is one of the many controversial issues such as gay marriage and death penalty that turns this country into a big turmoil. I feel that abortion should be left for women to decide instead of state officials that are mostly males bickering among each other when they have no idea what its like for a women when she has to make that monumental choice whether to kill her own son/daughter for her life. Being raised by the catholic doctrines, I was taught that abortion is terrible and evil but as I grew older, I saw that abortion wasn't as evil and terrible as I was taught at church. As I became aware of things such as rape and underage sex, abortion seemed to be to be a way to get out of that predicament. Should our country deny access to abortion towards patients that were raped or had underage sex? I firmly believe that abortion should be a woman’s choice and us males should not get involved in it because we will never have to make that choice. In spite of what I said, killing a fetus in the second trimester seems inhumane to me but again I’m a male and have no right to comment on a woman’s decision.

Arajuo, Felipe. Kenya Wants To Shut Down Africa’s Largest Refugee Camp. BuzzFeedNews. April 12, 2015. http://www.buzzfeed.com/felipearaujo/kenya-wants-to-shut-down-africas-largest-refugee-camp#.sbG4zdOPEd. Web

One of the repercussion of the al-Shabaab attack on Garissa University is the relocation of the Dadaab refugee camp located in Kenya and is believed to be a breeding ground for al-Shabaab militants. The Kenyan government has asked the UN to close the refugee camp and relocate 600,000 Somalis away from Kenya on April 12. 2015. The Kenyan government has given the UN only 3 months to relocate 600,000 Somalis before they completely shut down the camp. It seems that the country is “kicking out” the Somalis out of anger after the massacre that occurred at the University, however the Kenyan government is justifying their actions by saying that it is for the security of their country. In addition to closing down the refugee camp, the Kenyan government began building a 440 mile long wall on the border between Kenya and Somalia to prevent more Somalis from entering Kenya. Many experts doubt that the UN will be able to close down the refugee camp considering that there are more than 600,000 refugees living at the camp. It is highly unlikely that the UN will be able to move more than 600,000 refugees in a year.

I find this act to be extremely unfair to the Somalis living in the Dadaab refugee camp. It is unfair that 600,000 Somalis are being forced out of their homes because a couple Islamic extremists from Somalia wrecked havoc on the country. Kenya is not solving their terrorist problem but only running away from it. Instead of kicking out the Somalis out of their country,  Kenya should focus on working together with the US to put the al-Shabaab regime to an end. This tension between Somalia and Kenya can correspond to the relationship between US and Mexico. Kenya and US both have a superior economy over their neighbors, thus immigrants from Somalia and Mexico come flocking across the border in search of a better life. Developed countries like US should help those poor countries to improve their economy because that is the reason why many people migrate to another country. As the younger generation begins to control the world, we should take action and provide relief to the developing countries instead of ignoring them and focusing on our internal affairs.