Macedonian Police Use Tear Gas to Stop Migrants at Border

Recently, after increased tensions with the European migrant crisis, Macedonian police used violent means to disperse a group of 12000 disgruntled and restless Middle Eastern migrants who had been stuck in a tent camp for multiple months after Macedonia closed its borders to immigrants.

Personally, I think that it's disgusting that the Macedonian government used violent methods against migrants just trying to find a better life. Not only do I disagree with Macedonia's closed border policy (because Macedonia was a passover country on the immigrant path to Germany, and many immigrants weren't staying there permanently), but its completely unacceptable to violently repress people, even if they are becoming physically restless. As far as I can tell, the use of these methods was not for self-defense on the part of the police, but purely because the migrants were vocally protesting the border closing, which by any standards is not grounds for violent repression. What's even sadder is that I'm willing to bet that this story won't get nearly the coverage it deserves, and Macedonia will not come under nearly as much fire as it deserves because the migrants are not white European citizens. Before it was even over, the whole world new about the 1968 DNC, but I can guarantee that we will not hear about this story anywhere else, and it's truly a shame, because these are the kinds of details that people need to know to make a fair assessment of the immigrant situation.

Alderman, Liz. "Macedonian Police Use Tear Gas to Stop Migrants at Border." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/world/europe/macedonia-greece-migrants-refugees.html>.

Revelation on Brussels Attackers Fuels Fears of New Assaults

Months after the Brussels bombing, new information has surfaced that suggests that another attack had been planned for Paris that was never carried out, meaning that even more people are involved in the underground terrorist network than was suspected by anti-terrorism organizations such as the French Center for the Analysis of Terrorism.

Personally, this is very troubling for me. Not only am I now more fearful of more attacks coming in world centers, but I am troubled by the fact that there isn't a good solution for stopping this. Thinking about the whole volatile situation with the Middle East, it is obvious that deep involvement in the area is not a good solution. Personally, what I think needs to happen is A) increased gun and weapon control. Many European countries have strict gun control, but they haven't completely outlawed guns and explosives for personal ownership, and I think that doing that is a step in the right direction for keeping the terrorists away from tools with which they can kill people, and B) more government funding for terrorism-prevention organizations. I found it troubling that I've never heard of the multiple terrorism-prevention organizations mentioned in the article, and though I have no real proof of this, I think that this is slightly indicative of the idea that these organizations aren't getting much done, considering the high amount of recent terrorist attacks, and I think that it should be governments' responsibilities to make sure that these organizations have enough resources to work to the full extent that they need to to get their job done. People are making a big deal about border policing and the immigrant situation, but many of the suspected terrorists are citizens who have been living inside Europe for many years, sometimes even born there, which means that what most of the European governments' attentions have been focused on is a waste of time in terms of terrorism prevention.

Breeden, Aurelien, and Alissa J. Rubin. "Brussels Attackers’ Original TargetWas France, Prosecutor Says." The New York Times. The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/11/world/europe/brussels-attackers-original-target-was-france-prosecutor-says.html?_r=0>.

Malaysian Sailors Abducted Near Philippines in Latest Act of Piracy

On Friday night, four Malaysian sailors were abducted off the coast of the Philippines, marking the latest in multiple recent kidnappings by a group called the Muktadir group that pledges allegiance to the Islamic state, with the result being 18 people being held for ransom in the Southern Philippine Islands. The group is connected to a larger criminal group, the Abu Sayyaf group, who handles ransom negotiations of people kidnapped by the Muktadir group. These kidnappings are also representative of a recent problem the Filipino government has had with violent Muslim insurgencies. A peace deal with the biggest of these groups is currently being passed.                                                                                                             

Personally, I am shocked that atrocities so similar to those committed by ISIS and other terrorist groups in the Middle East are now happening in the South Pacific, and I am also upset that these aren't getting as much news coverage as they should. Just because terrorist bombings in big cities are more flashy than kidnappings doesn't mean that they're more of an issue. If anything, these kidnappings and the insurgent crisis is more of an issue because a bombing is a one time thing, but these groups are posing a constant threat to the people living in the Southern Philippines, even to the point that the military can no longer keep these groups under control and peace negotiations have to ensue. Things like this need to be brought to the public knowledge, and the UN has to do something to intervene, just as they have to do in the Middle East. Terrorist groups can't be allowed to run rampant everywhere they please.

E.U. Suspects Russian Agenda in Migrants’ Shifting Arctic Route

Recently, Russia blocked off roads that migrants from Syria used to cross from Russia to Finland through the "Arctic route". They have manipulated refugee's routes to Europe before, and it has been suspected by the E.U. that Russia has been using the migrant crisis in Europe to make a political statement. Their exercises of power in this situation may be an assertion to the rest of Europe that Russia is not a power to be ignored, especially considering that many refugees are being displaced from their homes in the Middle East by Russian bombing runs, suggesting that Russia is intentionally stoking the flames of the migrant crisis for political motives.

For me, not only does this raise my awareness of Russia and their increasingly hostile actions, but it brings up an important issue in the refugee crisis. The only way to effectively resettle Middle Eastern migrants is for European nations to work together, rather than redirect the flow of migrants to increase tensions in Europe. These are people who need a place to live, and the UN needs to find a way to make it every nations responsibility to do whatever they can to help the situation, rather than using refugees as pawns in political schemes. I don't know how much power the UN has in making this happen, but every world power, including America, has to step up and work together to solve this issue.

Higgins, Andrew. "E.U. Suspects Russian Agenda in Migrants’ Shifting Arctic Route." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Apr. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/world/europe/for-migrants-into-europe-a-road-less-traveled.html?ref=world>.

Guatemalan Women’s Claims Put Focus on Canadian Firms’ Conduct Abroad

A poor, rural Guatemalan woman has brought a lawsuit against a Canadian mining company whose employees, she says, to take her land for mining purposes, gang-raped her, burned her house down, and forced her off her land. This, and the claims of ten other women in the area has brought up a history of misbehavior on the part of overseas mining companies across the world, over 50% of which are based in Canada; however, legal hurdles jumped by these cases in the Canadian court system may mean that overseas mining companies (at least those based in Canada) will face more heavy legal scrutiny.

To me, this is a moral outrage and something that needs to be brought to the public attention. This is surpassing even the barbarism of the East India Companies' abuses of indigenous people in Asia and Polynesia back in the eighteenth century. I am shocked that things like this are still happening today. This is also another sign that big corporations have too much power and can get away with too much. I am not opposed to big business as an economic system, but this is emblematic of the fact that some large businesses think (and effectively are, considering there is a history of this) they are above the law, and something needs to be done about. This power that they have is what enables large corporations to steal money from employees and clients and effectively abuse our economic principles. The fact this is only a civil and not a criminal case means our legal scrutiny of big businesses needs to be improved.

Daley, Suzanne. "Guatemalan Women’s Claims Put Focus on Canadian Firms’ Conduct Abroad." The New York Times. The New York Times, 02 Apr. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/world/americas/guatemalan-womens-claims-put-focus-on-canadian-firms-conduct-abroad.html?ref=world&_r=0>.