Syria

In the midst of a violent civil war, millions of Syrian refugees are attempting to flee their country and find safety in Europe. Since 1976, tensions have been rising in Syria until it came to a head in 1982 with the brutal massacre of members of the anti-government Muslim Brotherhood in Hama. This uprising set the stage for a series of protests against the regime and eventually a civil war, causing a mass exodus of Syrians to escape to surrounding nations in a life-and-death struggle to avoid the violence of their country. In April of 2015, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) created a “choose your own escape route” game modeled after Oregon Trail, but instead of making a journey out west, the player is making the journey out of Syria. The purpose of “Syrian Journey: Choose your own escape route” is to make the crisis more real to westerners who feel detached from the situation. All of the decisions and outcomes in the story are based off of real accounts from escaped Syrian refugees. The game can be found at http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32057601 .

U.S.- Iran Deal

In July of 2015, the U.S. made a nuclear deal with Iran. Because of this agreement, all of Iran’s four ways of building nuclear weapons have been blocked: highly enriched uranium at Natanz facility, highly enriched uranium at Fordow facility, weapons-grade plutonium and production of fissile material. Additionally, Iran must significantly reduce their stockpile of uranium and keep their uranium enrichment level significantly below what is needed to produce a nuclear weapon (3.67%). Centrifuges are also essential in creating bombs, and Iran is required to reduce their numbers from 20,000 centrifuges to 6,104 for the next 10 years. This deal also makes Iran subject to several inspections, preventing them from building weapons in secret. The Iran deal is meant to bring about peace and safety for several nations, including the United States, and many politicians are in agreement that it will.

Presidential Candidates

Over the summer, several politicians announced their 2016 presidential candidacy including Scott Walker, Donald Trump, John Kasich, Bobby Jindal, Jim Gilmore, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Jim Webb. In this election, the Republican candidates heavily outweigh the Democratic candidates, which puts the pressure on Republican candidates to stand out among the crowd. All candidates are gearing up for a tough competition in 2016.

Gay Marriage

On June 26, 2015, millions of people across the globe celebrated the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which ruled that people of the same sex are legally allowed to be married in all 50 of the United States. Countless parades and rallies exclamated their excitement over this verdict that has been several years in the making. This decision had not only the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) community celebrating and proudly displaying rainbow flags, but all who support their rights as well. On social media, many used the hashtag “love wins” to show their support. Snapchat even created a filter displaying the gay pride flag so that people could take pictures and show that they were behind the ruling. While many people celebrated this as “the day that love won”, several groups and individuals were vocal about being against the ruling despite the overwhelming tide of social media that was supporting equal marriage rights for the LGBTQ community.