OCTOBER 7, 2016

By Omkar MahajanEditor in ChiefThis week was filled with several interesting events.On Sunday, UK Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced her plans to trigger Article 50 no later than March of next year in order to effectively withdraw from the UK. Unsurprisingly, most in the UK are in support of Article 50. However, some want it triggered immediately.About a week ago, European Space Agency’s spacecraft, Rosetta, effectively terminated its journey when it crashed into a Jupiter family comet. Despite the loss, Rosetta was the first spacecraft to orbit a comet and had been traveling in space for more than a decade.On a more positive note, President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos, was awarded the Noble Peace Prize for his efforts in reaching  a deal in ending the 52 year violence with the leftist rebels. The award is expected to revive hopes for long lasting peace with the rebels and other violent leftist groups in the country.In US foreign policy news, Secretary of State, John Kerry, has called for an investigation into war crimes committed by the Russian and Syrian governments in regards to the Syrian Conflict. Although both governments have declared that civilian casualties and the bombings of hospitals were accidental, Kerry has argued that the attacks were far beyond accidental and were rather a systematic group of targeted attacks on civilians.In a bizarre twist of events, President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, affirmed his intentions of carrying out his plans to exterminate habitual drug users even if the US, the EU and others withdraw support and aid.On Tuesday, the World Wildlife Fund published a report stating that 75% of seafood species consumed in Singapore are not caught sustainably. The World Wildlife Fund plans on establishing programs and measures to ensure that fishing practices comply with safer measures and that resources are not depleted.Finally, in domestic US news, a certain presidential candidate boldly declared that undocumented immigrants are crossing the border and entering the United States in order to vote against him. Not only is this a fallacious statement since only citizens can vote in elections, but it is reflective of the eccentric statements that the Trump campaign has used in the past.Photo by Ralph Alswang