THE WEEK IN REVIEW: JANUARY 25-31, 2015

TODAY IS NAURU'S INDEPENDENCE DAY.

FEBRUARY IS NATIONAL HEART HEALTH MONTH

AND AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH.

IF IT WERE STILL IN PRODUCTION, FEBRUARY 5th WOULD MARK THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE COMIC STRIP CATHY MARRYING IRVING.

FEBRUARY 6th MARKS THE 80th ANNIVERSARY

OF THE MONOPOLY BOARD GAME.

AMONGST EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD THIS PAST WEEK...

*The loss of Malaysia Flight 370 has been officially been declared an accident.
*North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has vowed his country will defend itself against "all" enemies.
*Edgar Lungu has been elected the new President of Zambia.
*Sergio Mattarella has been elected the new President of Italy.
*United States President Barack Obama met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a three day visit to India. Meanwhile, India honored Bill and Melinda Gates with the Padma Bhushan Award for their trying to improve health services in developing countries.
*Libby Lane has been officially ordained as the first female Bishop in England.
*Miss Columbia Paulina Vega is the new Miss Universe.
*Charles H. Townes, co-inventor of the Maser, is no longer with us.

BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UKRAINE...
*The Standards and Poor Rating Agency has lowered Russia's credit rating to Junk Status.

*A new session of peace talks between Russia and the Ukraine were cancelled before they were held, while an artillery barrage in Donetsk killed at least 12 civilians.

TERRIBLE TERRORIST TRAGEDIES...
*Insurgency seems to be the weapon du jour this past week, as new fighting broke out in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
*ISIS/ISIL terrorists have released a video detailing the murder of a Japanese hostage after negotiations with his native land failed.




WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...
POLITICALLY...
*President Barack Obama met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a three day visit to India.
*The Senate has approved construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, despite environmental issues and the project would result in less than 50 permanent jobs. Now both sides of Congress must agree on the wording of a joint bill to present the President for his approval.
*The Republican majority of the Senate has also gone on record, issuing a statement that climate change is a hoax, without any human being creating or contributing to the alleged situation.
*Since the new session began, the Republican dominated Congress has introduced 11 new bills in hopes of "amending" the Dodd-Frank Act in favor of banks and other financial institutions.
*Senator Rand Paul is considering introducing new bills that would address Social Security "issues".
*Speaker of the House John Boehner is considering yet another lawsuit against President Obama. This one on the grounds of using executive action to address immigration/illegal aliens issues. His current lawsuit against the President concerning the Affordable Health Care Act, aka Obama Care, is in its preliminary stages. All Boehner's legal actions against the President are federally funded with tax payer money.
*The Democratic National Committee is concerned that the Koch Brothers, through their various superpacs and other organizations, have allegedly already set aside almost $900 MILLION to support whoever wins the Republican nomination in the 2016 Presidential election.

*The Republican Party has discovered that the domain name "JebBushForPresident" is unavailable. It is currently owned by a same gender couple who are using it to positively promote LGBT issues while pointing out Jeb Bush's policy errors towards the LGBT community while he was Governor of Florida.

*Mitt Romney has decided NOT to run for President in 2016.

*A couple of companies in Connecticut are still trying to collect the debts the Republican Party owes them from the local 2014 mid-term collections for printing flyers and other campaign expenses.

ELSEWHERE...

*The northeastern coast was hit with a blizzard this past week, dumping over two feet of snow between Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.
*There are conflicting reports as rapper Marion "Suge" Knight is being investigated on possible murder charges.
*The 49th Super Bowl will be held Sunday night between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.

For more news at any time, either scroll down to our IN OTHER NEWS feature at the bottom of your screen or visit any other reputable news source.