AUGUST 12, 2016

By Bailey MarsheckStaff WriterUnbeknownst to many, the Olympic’s domination of this week’s news cycle didn’t halt a steady stream of current events from all around the world. Here’s what you might have missed:In his weekly eccentric statement, Donald Trump has claimed that President Obama, with Hillary Clinton’s assistance, is in fact the founder of the terrorist group ISIS. When given a chance to clarify whether he had actually meant that bad decisions made during the Obama administration had set the stage geopolitically for ISIS’s rapid rise to power, he instead confirmed that his accusations were wholly literal.In the Americas, Cuban migrants headed for the U.S. are being left stranded all throughout Central America. Columbia became the most recent country to opt for deportation, displacing the 1,200 Cubans trapped at the Columbian-Panamanian border following Panama’s border closure. Central American infrastructure is struggling amid an increase in Cuban migrants bound for the United States, which was sparked by an increasing anxiety that improved relations between Cuba and the U.S. might end the expedited immigration process that Cuban immigrants currently receive.Across the globe in Africa, tensions have mounted within the radical Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram. Two different factions seem to be emerging with one led by original leader Abubakar Shekau and the other splintering off from the main group and led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, a son of the group’s deceased original founder.Continuing a seemingly unresolvable conflict, Russia is accusing Ukraine of performing alleged “armed incursions” in the actively disputed Crimea region and soldiers on both sides are on high alert as forces amass in response.Yesterday, a series of bombings in 3 Thai cities left 2 dead and 15 wounded. Responsibility has not been claimed and no indications have been found that the attacks were a result of international terrorism. This occurs on the back of Thailand’s recent vote to pass a new constitution legitimizing the rule of the country’s military junta and allocating it more constitutional power.And for you diehard Olympics fans, there have been several interesting incidents of global significance throughout the Games. This was the first year that a Refugee team was allowed to compete with displaced athletes representing Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. While huge discrepancies in training background has made it difficult for them to gain success at such an elite stage, the adversities they have overcome are lessons to us all. In less heartening news, Chen Shih-hsin won gold in taekwondo to become her country’s first gold medal winner, only to do so under a different country’s flag and anthem. Contention over China’s claim of possession of Taiwan lead to a compromise in which Taiwan would compete under the title of “Chinese Taipei” with a different flag and national anthem.Photo by Luke Price