World Events in Brief

By: Max Creager ~Staff Writer~

Getting caught up on World News has been a difficult process in the heat of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. With global leaders weighing in, the influence of Wiki leaks and 24-hour coverage of candidates’ gaffes and rallies, many of the issues around the world have been put on the back burner.

The Zika Virus has spread over the course of the summer, and according to the CDC is now affecting 54 independent regions across South, Central and North America, Africa and Islands in southeast Asia. This has many worried that governmental responses have been too slow to stop the mosquito-spread disease.

According to the New York Times there are nine countries currently advising women to delay pregnancy in order to prevent Zika-infected mothers from transmitting the virus to their fetuses, as there is currently no vaccine or medicine for Zika.

As of Aug. 19 Congress is still deadlocked on funding a bill that would help fund medical research on prevention, vaccination and treatment of the virus. Congress re-starts session in September, and there is little doubt that a bill will be passed soon after.

In the Middle East, as ISIS looses territory in Iraq and Syria, the United Nations is warning about a push into the City of Mosul by Iraqi forces.

“The humanitarian impact of a military offensive there is expected to be enormous,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Adrian Edwards said.

According to BBC world news this would force 500,000 civilians to flee the city in the wake of conflict. Plans are being drawn up by the UN to provide humanitarian support in camps outside of the city, but the impact of the battle could cause further devastation to an already suffering population.

Numbers of refugees continue to mount since 3.38 million people fled their homes when ISIS militants occupied large territories to the North and West.

On U.S. soil, both the Republican and Democratic national conventions came and went. Hillary Clinton amassed 2800 delegates on her way to securing the Democratic nomination. On the Republican side, Donald Trump outlasted competitors Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to win the nomination for the GOP. Both cantidates have taken to producting particularly negative portrayals of the other. Trumps numbers have fallen quickly in recent weeks and libertarian Gary Johnson has made a push to join the debate stage.

Additionally, millenials are tending toward defining themselves as ‘global citizens’. According to a survey conducted by The Global Shapers Community, consisting of 26,000 individuals from around the world ages 18-35, 36% of respondents answered the question “How do I Describe my Identity?” as, “Global, I am a citizen of the world”. This trend is consistent in showing an increasing cultural and political identity among Millennial populations around the world, which now appears in stark contrast to Gen-X populations in consequential political decisions like Brexit and the 2016 election.