*The World Elects Autocrats

“My alma mater was books, a good library…. I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.” – Malcolm X

“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” – Ibid.

“You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.” – Ibid.

Turkey Turns Towards Autocracy: Turkey’s election gave President (Autocrat) Recep Tayyip Erdogan another victory, lengthening his fifteen-year grip on power over the country. Erdogan won the vote with fifty-three percent of the votes, and narrowly avoided a runoff against his leading challenger, Muharrem Ince. This may lead to grave consequences with NATO allies, however, as Erdogan has slowly been associating himself with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Last year, Tukey had voted on a referendum which gave executive powers to the president, and now Tayyip has the country the palm of his hand.

The referendum included the appointment of top public officials, interventions in the country’s legal system, and the power to impose states of emergency – which Erdogan has done in the past, as shown by the state of emergency announced after a failed coup in 2016. In his victory speech, Erdogan made promises to act against terrorist groups and “liberate Syrian lands.” With all the powers imbued into one body, many people have spoken out against the political system in place. Though Turkey’s voters notionally do hold the power, with all of the influence and political polarization, Turkey’s system barely rides on the edge of what one could consider a democratic system.

Can Prince Kushner Deliver on Middle East Peace?: President Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner has stated that an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan will be presented soon. Palestinians have been quite vocal with their distaste of him, however, and some worries remain on how the peace talks will go without Palestinian cooperation. Some of the leaders Kushner met with were satisfied with the upcoming deal, while some continue to accuse the Trump negotiating team of refusing to talk substance – something many Americans accused Trump of in the recent US-North Korea summit.

Jared Kushner is not one to lay down and take the criticism. Kushner lashed back at the Palestinian president, saying that Palestine was scared to make peace with Israel, and the deteriorating situation in Gaza was his responsibility. A large part of what Mr. Abbas has against the negotiations is the economic unrest which may be caused by the West Bank were the treaty to pass.

– The United States has told Syrian rebels that they’re on their own were the government to launch an attack. In essence, telling them: “I really don’t care, do u?” This announcement came after Russia finally stepped into the battle with an airstrike on an opposing city. The forces have pushed onto the border of the de-escalation zone, and the US stated that they will no longer bear responsibility for how the Syrian and Russian forces choose to push forward. (Guardian)

– Trump has flexed his muscles with his trade tariffs on China, but China has called out the big guns, stating that they will team up with the EU to make Trump reconsider his choices. China’s investment in the United States has dropped by 92% in the past five months, and the EU threatens a tariff of over 3 billion dollars if the United States doesn’t back off. Trump’s trade war may not be so easy to wage with these new revelations. (Guardian)

– An explosion went off during a political rally in Zimbabwe this past weekend.Though President Emmerson Mnangagwa was unhurt, the Vice President and security forces sustained minor injuries. The culprit of the attack is unknown, but there is no doubt the upcoming presidential election was a major factor in this incident. (NYT)

– Thousands witnessed another explosion in Ethiopia’s capital during a rally for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Not long after he finished his speech, blasts in the crowd scattered bodies and spread panic as hundred were injured and at least one death occurred. The Prime Minister remained unharmed and the culprits remain unknown. (NPR)

– History was made on Sunday when women were legally allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia. Hundreds of thousands of women flocked to Saudi Arabia’s DMV to get behind the wheel. Photos, videos, and celebration were in order for the historic time. Saudi Arabia has announced that this was only the first step in loosening restrictions placed on women. (CNN)

– Prepare your “I-Struck-Oil” dances for July, because OPEC has created an agreement between oil-producing countries to raise the output of oil in the coming months. An estimated extra million barrels a day will be pumped in upcoming months, which will hopefully lower those gasoline prices for the summer road trips. (Reuters)

– Iraq is attempting unification under two radically different leaders – outgoing Prime Minister Abadi and Shiite cleric Sadr. The alliance is supposed to speed up the process of political alignment and send a message of forward movement to the country’s citizens. This alliance is, however, causing difficulty for the United States government, as Sadr has been a longtime foe, which Abadi has been an ally. (NYT)

The United Nations vs. The United States: The United Nations has called out the United States, as one United Nations official argued that the Trump administration is “behaving like a kid who takes the football and goes home.” With a country as rich as the United States, the UN has questioned why over forty million Americans live in sustained poverty. Though no US representative attended the conference, ambassador Haley retorted, calling out the UN for being politically motivated and stating that they were biased in retaliation to the US stepping aside from the Human Rights Council.

Tensions have risen repeatedly between the US and UN during the Trump administration, and this attack seems to have riled up Haley beyond any past incident. Though poverty has been rampant over the past five decades, Trump’s presidency sees the lowest point of unemployment, with many job openings – yet, poverty still remains as big an issue as ever.

– The Pentagon has been reluctant in following Trump’s order to develop a Space Force, but some legislators and aerospace experts see the benefits of such a program. China and Russia continue to push ahead in the study of space and technology, and some fear that the US may fall out of the race if there is not enough done to further develop space technology and equipment.

– President Trump has stated that he believes illegal immigrants should be deported without due process (as much as a court case if caught crossing the border). A very brash outlook, the “zero tolerance” announcement has drawn much criticism due to Trump’s lack of distinguishment between illegal immigrants and other groups of migrants. Though he signed an executive order stopping the separation of families at the border, he has only become more frustrated by the state of affairs in dealing with immigration.

– Nerd Unite! The latest in Star Wars memorabilia just sold for over half a million dollars! The blaster used by Harrison Ford’s Han Solo in “Return of the Jedi” recently sold at a New York Auction for 550,000 dollars. But Han Solo and Star Wars fans shouldn’t get too excited as future Star Wars spinoffs have been put on hold due to Solo’s poor showing at the box office. (BBC & Collider)

– China’s intellectual property thieves in Taiwan went full Metal Gear Solid mode in trying to hide their American secrets. USB drives, laptops, cell phones, and other electronic devices were hidden from a police raid on the company’s factory; carried out were designs of Micron Technology – microchips which are essential in the digital revolution. (NYT)

– “Not even the sight of devastated families could move the party that once called itself the party of family values.” The Trump administration’s grip over the Republican party that some call it a cult-like situation. (NYT)

– Deaths now outnumber births among white people across half of the United States. This trend has been consistent for a few years now, but researchers are saying that this decline has been happening at a faster rate than expected. (NYT)

– “The Perfect Weapon” by David E. Sanger details the routes of the most dangerous weapons throughout history, all leading up to the current state of cyber warfare. (NYT)

LAST MORSELS

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

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