JANUARY 16th MARKS THE 20th ANNIVERSARY
OF STAR TREK: VOYAGER.
AMONGST EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD THIS PAST WEEK...
*Maithripala Sirisena has been elected President of Sri Lanka.
*Lebanon is enforcing tougher immigration restrictions along its border with Syria because of the civil war within that country.
*Cuba has started releasing American political prisoners as part of renewed negotiations with the United States.
*Russia has decided that transgender and transsexual people should be denied drivers' licenses on the grounds they are mentally unfit.
*Oxford University is testing a new anti-Ebola vaccine.
*Dunkin Donuts will be operating stores in China by 2035.
*Tombs dating back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty have been discovered in China.
TERRIBLE TERRORISTS TRAGEDIES...
*Boko Haram terrorists attacked the town of Baga, Nigeria without warning or provocation. The death count is unconfirmed at this time, for the survivors fled the area and have yet to return. The Nigerian Army has vowed to recapture the town.*An attack on the offices of French magazine Charlie Hebdo has left several members of the staff (including Cabu, Elsa Cayat, Charb, Philippe Honoré, Bernard Maris, Tignous, and Georges Wolinski) dead. Authorities are close to capturing the final suspects in the matter.
*Bombs seem to have been the weapon du jour this past week, with many hidden devices or suicide bombers going on a killing spree.
WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...
*The 114th session of Congress officially began with the Republican dominated legislature re-electing John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives and naming Mitch McConnell Senate Majority Leader.
*Other than swearing in ceremonies and celebrations, nothing got done Tuesday, but some Republican Congressmen are allegedly taking credit for the currently positive economic situation in the United States, despite their party's actual track record for the past 14 years.
The House has since proposed...
*changing who could contribute what to Social Security,
*further restructuring of the tax regulations to only benefit "the 1%",
*six different measures to regulate women's health choices!;
*and authorized construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, despite ecological concerns and the limited long term job growth that would occur after the construction is completed. The Senate has yet to formally address the latter.
*Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has proposed an idea to make the first two years of community/junior college free to qualifying students, which is already meeting heavy opposition considering Republicans passed measures protecting the banks from students defaulting on educational loans during their last session.
*The Obama administration has fined Honda Motors $70 million US Dollars for failing to report deaths and injury complaints from 2003-2014.
*President Barack Obama's annual State of the Union address is scheduled for January 20th.
*ELSEWHERE...*Cuba has started releasing American political prisoners as part of renewed negotiations with the United States.
*The state of Massachusetts opened a time capsule left by founding fathers Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. Buried sometime after the conclusion of the American Revolution, the box contained coins and papers from that era.
*Meanwhile, Boston will be bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics.
*Randy Johnson, Craig Biggio, Pedro Martinez, and John Smoltz are the 2015 inductees of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.
*Actor Rod Taylor (the original versions of The Time Machine and 101 Dalmatians, The Birds, Inglorious Basterds) has taken his last bow on life's stage.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment