World News: the news before Christmas

Jake Herrick

 

The Dark Side of Disney’s 4.05 billion dollar investment already seems to be paying off. Currently one Star Wars ticket is sold every second, though the movie hasn’t even been released yet, according to the Telegraph. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is due to be released Friday the 18th in America. The sequel of the original trilogy is upon release expected to beat the opening week revenue record set by Jurassic World earlier this year.

 

In Spain, a teenager punched the Spanish prime minister in the face! That is all, just thought you should know.

 

Malala, the teenage symbol of hope in the Middle East takes the fight to Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Trump proposed a travel ban on all Muslims, going as far as suggesting deportation. As you would expect the backlash from this comment was huge, but who better to lead the offensive than Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who has been granted a Nobel Peace Prize after her brush with the Taliban, where she sustained a bullet wound to the head. Miraculously, she was revived by doctors, and after making a full recovery she began speaking out for the necessity to educate women. So, in essence, the polar opposite of a racist, sextist, rich and old Trump. “I can just highlight one thing. The more you speak about Islam and against all Muslims, the more terrorists we create,” Yousafzai said in an interview with UK’s channel 4 news.

 

The Arctic air temperature set records as it reached the highest it had in recorded history. The air temperature has risen 5.4 degrees above the average temperature in the beginning of the 20th century, according to the University of Minnesota Duluth. But the Arctic may not be our only environmental concern. The American Geophysical Union announced that lakes and other freshwater bodies are being affected by the rising temperatures, more than other bodies of water. The University of Minnesota Duluth reported that the average temperature of lakes had risen 4.5 degrees since 1979. These temperatures are expected to create an increase in algae, reports the UMD analysis, this algae can increase by 20 percent in the next century and absorb the oxygen, making the water toxic for wildlife.

 

Congress: while toiling with a new budget, now lead by Paul Ryan, shot down a bill that would deny guns to suspected terrorists.

 

Iran fired a practice warhead capable of delivering a nuclear payload earlier this month. This of course violated the UN security council’s deal with Iran. This put the US in an uncomfortable position, because Iran implied that sanctions from America would jeopardize the nuclear deal made in July. If the US imposes sanctions with the rest of the security council, the Iran deal with probably fall through, but if the US sides with Iran, they will look all the weaker.

 

Ted Talks about his main opponent Marco Rubio, and actually came off as affluent, speaking in the last GOP debate. Many of his supporters and donators are rallying around him, and it is extremely likely that he will overrun Rubio by the end of this week.

Cease Dire; the ceasefire in Yemen ended the Houthi, and the Arab Coalition’s nerves are running thin. Each group accuses the other of violating the ceasefire. The Arab Coalition accuses the Houthi of 150 documented violations of the treaty. The Yemen civil war has lasted nine months, killed 6,000 people and caused millions to be displaced. Currently talks are being held in Switzerland, currently but the Arab Coalition is prepared for fighting to resume before a conclusion has been reached.