Spanish Journalists Freed From Syria

Two Spanish journalists, who had been taken captive in Syria, have just been released to the relief of their family member. El Mundo correspondent Javier Espinosa and freelance photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova were captured by al-Qaeda linked militants on their way out of Syria. Many reporters, both foreign and native to Syria have gone missing. A group called Reporters Without Borders have called Syria the most dangerous country to visit. Free Syrian Army's political wing, the Syrian National Coalition, have said that they are committed to protecting the journalists and freeing the hostages.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26812951

"Syria Crisis: Freed Spanish Journalists Back in Spain." BBC News. N.p., 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/ world-asia-26812951>

Over 20 Dead in an Attempted Prison Break in Nigeria

21 people were killed in an attempted prison escape in Nigeria. The prisoners were being kept at the headquarters of the Nigerian secret police in the capitol, Abuja. It is unclear if all that were killed were prisoners. The many of the detainees were suspected members of Boko Harem, an Islamic group that has waged a violent campaign in Nigeria since 2009. Thousands have been killed in a result of this. The group wants northern Nigeria to become a radical Islamic state. The president has stated that the event has been labeled as an attempted jail break, and all was under control.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26814376

"Nigeria 'Attempted Jailbreak' Leaves More Than 20 Dead." www.bbc.com. BBC News, 
     30 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/ 
     world-asia-26814376>

U.S. Space Plane Beats The Longest Orbit Record

U.S Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane beat the orbit record on Wednesday. The aircraft had circled the earth 470 days on Wednesday, beating the past record for longest orbit which was 469 days. This aircraft was the airforce's first unmanned aircraft to renter orbit. The mini space shuttle was launched on December 11, 2012. It has been circling the earth on a mystery mission from the American military. The robotic plane may use NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida as a possible landing sight sometime in the future.

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/air-forces-secretive-x-37b-space-plane-shatters-orbit-record-n66231

David, Leonardo. "Air Force's Secretive X-37B Space Plane Shatters Orbit 
     Record." www.nbcnews.com. NBC News, 28 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.      <http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/      air-forces-secretive-x-37b-space-plane-shatters-orbit-record-n66231>.

A New Ebola Outbreak Threatens Guinea's Capitol

A new outbreak of the Ebola virus has recently affected Guinea. So far 59 out of the 80 people that have been infected have died. There is no known cure or vaccination for the disease. Over the past few days the illness has spread between the communities of Macenta, Gueckedou, and Kissidougou, until it ended up in the capitol Conarky. The capitol houses about 2 million people. At the moment, isolation is key. The virus is spread by close personal contact with people who are infected so the doctors are trying to find and monitor anybody the patients have been in contact with over the past few days. Ebola typically occurs in remote villages in Central and West Africa, there has never been a recorded outbreak in Guinea before.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26701733

"Deadly Ebola Virus Reaches Guinea Capital." BBC News. (March 23, 2014): n. page. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26701733>.

Taiwan Students Protest New Trade Deal With China

Hundreds of students protested Taiwan forming a trade deal with China at government headquarters which lead to many arrests on Sunday. Over 30 people were arrested and many injured, as police let water cannons out to control the raging crowd. The students have also broken into the legislature as a sign of protest and have barricaded themselves in with furniture. They wanted more scrutiny with any further arrangements with China, including trade deals. Thousands of people rallied to support the students on Friday, and the opposing Democratic Progressive Party supports them as well. The students believe that a trade deal with China will further worsen their economy.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26705779

"Clashes as Taiwan Students Storm Government HQ." BBC News. (2014): n. page. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26705779>.

Turkey Downs A Syrian Warplane

Turkish fighter jets shot down a Syrian warplane on Sunday. Two planes had entered Turkey heading in the direction of the Turkish airspace. One of the planes had turned around about 10 nautical miles from the Turkish airspace after receiving warnings from the Turkish Air Force. The other plane was shot down with a missile from an F-19 plane that was on patrol. The plane that was shot down received 4 warnings over the course of the flight. The pilot was able to eject before the plane crashed, according to Syrian officials. Turkey and Syria have been at odds since 2011, when conflict first started to occur in Syria. Both countries have shot down other aircrafts from each other in the past few years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/world/europe/syria.html?action=click&contentCollection=Europe&region=Footer&module=MoreInSection&pgtype=article

Arsu, Sebnem. "Turkey Downs Warplane From Syria After Warning." New York Times. (March 23, 2014): n. page. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.

U.S. Special Forces Seize a Tanker from Rebels in Libya

U.S. special forces seizes a tanker from a group of anti-government rebels in a Libyan port with a cargo full of oil. This order was approved by President Obama. No shots were fired and the tanker was taken in under 2 hours. The weak government makes the oil sector an easy and frequent target of rebel forces who use this control to make demands of the state. The seizure of the tanker will likely prevent any more attempts at illegal oil sales for a short time.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-navy-seals-board-tanker-hijacked-libya-pentagon-082427948--finance.html

Laessing, Ulf, and Feras Bosalum. "U.S. forces seize tanker carrying oil from Libya rebel port." Yahoo News. (2014): n. page. Web. 16 Mar. 2014. <http://news.yahoo.com/u-navy-seals-board-tanker-hijacked-libya-pentagon-082427948--finance.html>.

Crimea Referendum

On Sunday night the people of the Crimean peninsula voted as to whether or not they wanted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. An act highly denounced by Ukraine, the United States and Europe. A whopping 95% of the population voted to secede and join Russia on Sunday. “Opponents of secession appeared to largely stay away Sunday, denouncing the vote as a cynical power play/land grab by Russia”. Russian troops are already to be in the peninsula after the vote. Russia is expected to have huge sanctions put in place on Monday from the United States and Europe for going through with the vote. On Monday the Crimean government will formally meet with Russian leaders to be annexed. The United States isn't considering the vote to be legal because they believe that the referendum was held under threats of violence and intimidation.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/16/polls-open-in-crimea-referendum-amid-high-tensions/

"Crimea referendum: Wide condemnation after region votes to split from Ukraine." Fox News. (2014): n. page. Web. 17 Mar. 2014. <http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/03/16/polls-open-in-crimea-referendum-amid-high-tensions/>.

Search Area Expands As Officials Continue To Seach For Missing Malaysian Flight

It has been 9 days since Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 went missing. Since then, officials have deemed that this disappearance was not an accident as the communications were manually shut off. It was discovered that the plane may have flown for 7 more hours after the last signal was received from the plane. This expands the search area thousands of miles. Now the missing plane could be anywhere from Kazakhstan to the Indian Ocean. Over 25 countries have banded together now to search for this plane.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/16/world/asia/malaysia-airlines-plane/

Almasy, Steve, Chelsea Carter, and Jim Clancy. "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 search grows as pilots face increased scrutiny." CNN. (2014): n. page. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.

Conflicting Loyalties in Ukraine

The population is divided in Crimea, on weather or not to join the Russian Federation, or to stay with Ukraine. Many officials agree with the decision to join Russia but not all the people feel the same way. Crimean's first Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev states that he feels confident that "We will win this vote with 70 to 75% " Many people though beg to differ. The new Ukrainian Prime Minister has called the move "illigitimate and with no legal basis" since the changing of borders must be approved by the whole country. People such as Lana and her family, who were interviewed, also declared that they would rather stay with Ukraine since they have no ties with Russia

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26486289

Lowen, Mark. "Crimean's loyalties split despite leaders' certainty." BBC News. (2014): n. page. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Nato Jets Monitoring Ukraine Border

In the Ukraine crisis that is currently taking place in the peninsula of Crimea, the Russian parliament has allowed its troops to take possession of anyone who they fear is in threat of the new government in Kiev that they deem as “illegitimate.” Recently the new Ukrainian government has asked for support from the European Union and the United States. The Unites States has been placing extra troops into the countries of Poland and Romania. NATO has sent in AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) into these countries to keep an eye on the Russian buildup of troops along the border of Ukraine and Russia.This all comes from the invasion that troops of Russian origin, that Russia is claiming to have no affiliation with but are from the Russian Black Sea fleet, seized a Ukrainian hospital that had Ukrainian wounded soldiers and war veterans.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26521311

Lowen, Mark. "Nato jets to moniter Ukraine border." BBC News. (2014): n. page. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.

Malaysian Flight Missing

At 1:30 am on March 8th, a Malaysian flight disappeared off the radar. Modern flights occasionaly disappear and can take months to find, yet this situation is different. The area where they believe the plane when missing is frequently traveled by boats and is no deeper than 260 ft. Officials have stated that they could not rule out any possible causes of the crash. The search area for Flight MH370 is about 750 miles long. The last two readings from the missing flight was recorded at 1:21 am local time, approximately 40 minutes after takeoff.



http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/world/asia/hunt-for-missing-malaysian-jet.html?hpw&rref=world&_r=0

Fuller, Thomas. Bradsher, Keith. Wald, Matthew. "False Leads Set Back Search For Malaysian Jet." New York Times. (2014): n. page. Web. 10 Mar. 2014