International News Review
April
7, 2015
I.
USA
a.
Cultural
Awareness
i. Cuba
1.
President
Obama and President Castro are attempting to establish Cuban- American
relationships
2.
Obama’s
administration officials are trying to upgrade Cuba’s telecommunications and
provide more internet access
ii. Yemen
1.
The
Red- Cross has been trying to provide medical aid to hospitals in Yemen
2.
The
intensity of the fighting in Aden has prevented medical aid teams from helping
3.
Medical
aid flights have been schedule but cannot reach Yemen by air because of airport
damage
b.
Politics
1.
Rand
Paul
a.
Many
Republicans believe their party is not big enough to elect a president in 2016
b.
Rand
Paul is taking a different approach and appealing to younger and minority
voters by adding a libertarianism side
c.
Many
Republican’s doubt Rand Paul’s strategy
d.
He
would have to alter voting preferences that have been engrained for years
2.
Iran
a.
The framework nuclear agreement he reached with
Iran on Thursday did not provide the definitive answer to whether
Mr. Obama’s audacious gamble will pay off
b.
The
possibility of a reconciliation after 36 years of hostility between Washington
and Tehran now seems tantalizingly within reach
c.
However,
the deal remains unsigned
d.
Currently,
Obama has no foreign policy legacy. A
deal with Iran and the politics of the Middle East would be one of the better
foreign policy legacies of any recent president
e.
Congress
members, Republicans, and Democrats are concerned that Obama may be trading
away American and Israeli security because he is so desperate to make a deal
II.
United
Kingdom
a.
Economics
i. BG group and shell may be discussing a
possible merger in 2015
ii. The mega- merger could produce a company
with a combined market capitalization of more than 200bn Euros
iii. BG Group is Britain’s third largest
energy company
iv. If the deal goes ahead the recent
collapse in oil prices will have played a large part in it
b.
Politics
i. A
labour government would abolish the non- domicile rule
ii. The rule allows the rich to limit the tax
paid on earnings outside the UK
iii. 100 young voters questioned
representatives of the main parties
iv. There are about 115,000 so- called non-
doms in Britain
v. The last labour government also tried to
get rid of the non- dom rules but instead just made them more strict
vi. It is better for non- doms to pay taxes
on their UK earnings rather than having them leave
vii. High earners should pay their fair share
c.
Cultural
Awareness
i. Two boys have gone missing after
traveling to Syria
ii. Two 17 year old boys are feared to be
making their way to Syria to join Islamic State
iii. One of the boys’ brothers had been
arrested in 2006 after police found a guide to making napalm on his computer
iv. The police’ primary concern is that the
boys return safely home
v. Often times young Muslims feel as if they
don’t belong in British culture and look to joining Terrorist groups as a way
to fit in
