On Tuesday, November 23, Kansas City inmate Kevin Strickland was exonerated from his 1979 conviction of one count of capital murder and two counts of second-degree murder. Retired Missouri Judge James Welsh ordered an immediate release of the 62-year-old, who spent 43 years in prison without any possibility of parole for 50 years and two…
Since early November, thousands of migrants have been camped in the Białowieża Forest at the border of Belarus and Poland, suffering in freezing weather with few resources. Most of the migrants came from Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan and remain on the patch of land, nicknamed “the jungle,” because neither country will grant them access. While…
An Overview On February 1, the Myanmar military—known as the Tatmadaw—staged a coup d’etat, overthrowing the Southeast Asian country’s government. This restricting takeover, involving the detainments of government officials and internet shutdowns, came after a 12-year quasi-democratic rule under State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and supported campaigns against Myanmar’s religious and ethnic minority groups,…
On Saturday, October 26, Japan’s Princess Mako married her long-time partner, Kei Komuro. Instead of a large and pompous celebration, the Komuro wedding took place at a registry office in Tokyo. The nuptials and following press conference were simple and muted, a common theme in the couple’s approach to the “drama” surrounding their relationship. Mr….
The article below contains information concerning sexual assault and violence. If you or someone you know may be dealing with anything of this nature, Hope College has an anonymous reporting form you can access here. In light of the recent Clery Act Timely Notice, which addressed an incident of sexual assault on Hope College’s campus,…
On Wednesday, September 29, federal wildlife officials announced that 23 species of birds, fish, mussels and other wildlife are set to be removed from the endangered species list and declared extinct. This includes the ivory-billed woodpecker, which birders have long searched for in the bayous of Arkansas. The bird has been listed as an endangered…
An ambitious climate change bill, part of President Biden’s goal to transform America’s energy sector, will soon hit the Congress floor. Democrats in Congress are drafting legislation that, if passed, would put $3.5 trillion towards reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions, improving clean electricity sources and addressing the destruction caused by the recent record-making floods, heat…
The United States Armed Forces completed withdrawal efforts from Afghanistan on Monday, August 30, ending an occupation that lasted over twenty years and cost over $2 trillion and over 170,000 lives. The withdrawal, enacted by the Trump administration and continued by the Biden administration, was forced to hastily end as the Taliban — the Islamist…
The United States Armed Forces finished their withdrawal efforts from Kabul, Afghanistan late on the night of Monday, August 30, effectively ending a two-decade-long occupation that began in response to Al Qaeda’s terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The occupation, which cost over $2 trillion and over 170,000 lives, was ended by the Doha Agreement,…
President Biden spoke to a joint session of Congress in his State of the Union Address on Wednesday, April 28, laying out an ambitious $1.8 trillion social spending plan to expand health care, increase access to education and reduce the cost of child care by raising taxes on the wealthiest earners. The American Families Plan…