Saturday, June 6, 2015

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: MAY 31-JUNE 6, 2015

TODAY IS THE 71st ANNIVERSARY OF D-DAY, THE MASSIVE ALLIES' OFFENSIVE THAT EVENTUALLY ENDED WORLD WAR 2 IN EUROPE.

AMONGST EVENTS AROUND THE WORLD THIS PAST WEEK...
*The Dong Fang Zhi Xing cruise ship sank in the Yangtze River Monday night, with 396 confirmed dead, only 15 rescued at the time of the incident, and the remaining passengers and crew still unaccounted for.
*South Korea is combating an outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome, with over 50 confirmed cases and 5 verified deaths.
*The BBC has discovered and reported that eight out of ten suspects in the 2014 murder attempt of Nobel Peace Prize winning schoolgirl Malala Yousafazi were secretly released!
*Germany hosts the G7 summit beginning Sunday, June 7th.
*Having been president of FIFA for less than a week, Sepp Blatter is resigning because of all the multiple corruption indictments the organization is facing.
*Alberto Contador won the 2015 Giro d'Italia of professional cycling.
*As the 2015 French Open of professional tennis prepares to conclude June 7; Serena Williams has won the Women's Singles title, while Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo have won the Men's Doubles title.

BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE UKRAINE...
*Pro-Russian separatists launched an offensive in hopes of gaining control of the town of Marinka, but Ukrainian officials claim Russian tanks were involved, a clear violation of recent accords if proven true.
*Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has since announced an Ukraine victory in the matter, capturing 12 rebels, including one Russian.

TERRIBLE TERRORIST ACTIVITIES...
*Suicide bombers seem to be the weapon du jour of ISIS/ISIL and Boko Haram forces this past week, with several incidents reported.
*Two separate rocket attacks occurred from the Gaza Strip into Israel, with no one yet to claim responsibility for the events.
*The Taliban launched a major offensive against the Badakhshan Province, the outcome of which was still unknown as this article went to press.


PASSING PARADE...
*Comedienne Anne Merra is no longer with us.

WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...
POLITICALLY...
*Key sections of the Patriot Act have expired because the Senate could not reach an agreement before the bill's deadline. The USA Freedom Act became law, but without allowing the NSA to continue massive phone data collecting. Local phone companies will now be doing that.
*President Barack Obama is now in Germany to attend the G-7 Summit.
*Political pundits and analysts are still concerned over the potential consequences if Congress successfully fast tracks passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership without publicly revealing the details of the agreement beforehand.
*Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has announced his intention to become the 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee.
*Meanwhile, in an already crowded slate of candidates, former Texas Governor Rick Perry has announced his candidacy for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination.
*Texas, still worried about a potential American take over of their state during the upcoming Jade Helm 15 military exercise this summer, has ordered new text books for their schools declaring the Biblical Moses a founding father (when did he sign the Declaration of Independence?), and passed a bill allowing college students to carry concealed handguns on campus!
ELSEWHERE...
*"American Pharaoh" won the Belmont Stakes to become the first horse since 1978 to win professional horse racing's Triple Crown.
*The winners of the 2015 Tony Awards will be announced Sunday, June 7th.
*It is being reported that Sideshow Bob will finally and successfully kill Bart Simpson! As part of the 2015 Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episode, that is.
*The sixth issue of Marvel's official Star Wars comic book will reveal that Han Solo was married! At least in-between A New Hope and the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. Current license holder and Star Wars movies producer Disney Enterprises, which also owns Marvel Comics, has confirmed this fact is official canon, leaving Sana Solo's (final?) fate unknown.


The Free Choice E-zine would like to thank its loyal readership for giving us 2700 page views during May 2015, thus continuing our streak of 2000+ monthly page views since September 2013!


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