Mother Teresa to be declared a saint in September
Pope Francis announced that the late Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who famously worked with the poor in Calcutta, India, will become canonized on Sept. 4. Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, and, in 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified her after she performed her first miracle: curing an Indian woman’s brain tumor. Beatification is the Catholic Church’s recognition of one’s entrance to heaven, and one miracle is required for this recognition. Sainthood requires two miracles, and Pope Francis confirmed Mother Teresa’s eligibility in December after she healed a Brazilian man with multiple brain abscesses, according to the Vatican. Born in 1910, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, which has established more than 130 locations around the world to shelter the needy. She died on Sept. 5, 1997 in Calcutta. For more information, visit usatoday.com.
Dutch parliament urges ban on weapon exports to Saudi Arabia
The Dutch parliament passed a bill urging the government of the Netherlands to cease weapon exports to Saudi Arabia because of human rights law violations in Yemen. Parliament seeks to enforce the earlier decision that the European Union was to impose an arms embargo on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital. According to the United Nations, since troops from Saudi Arabia engaged in the conflict in Yemen a year ago, approximately 6,000 people have been killed. For more information, visit uk.rueters.com.
Myanmar’s first civilian leader elected to presidency in more than 50 years
Htin Kyaw, a civilian in Myanmar, was elected to be the country’s president on March 15. Kyaw received 360 out of 652 votes in the country’s two house of parliament. This is the first civilian to be elected since the country was taken over by a military junta in 1962. The junta was boycotted by opposition groups, primarily Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which, despite its victory in a 1990 multi-party election, was not allowed to govern the country. For more information, visit bbc.com.
France vows to work harder against terrorist groups
On March 15, France stated they will increase efforts against terrorist groups after of Al-Qaeda militants in North Africa attacked a beach resort on the Ivory Coast on March 13. The attack resulted in 18 deaths, four of which were French nationals. In addition, 33 people were injured, some of which are still hospitalized. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb stated the attack was part of an ongoing operation to “target dens of espionage and conspiracies.” For more information, visit news.yahoo.com.
Venezuela issues week-long holiday as result of power crisis
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro issued a week-long holiday for workers on March 15 after it was announced that Venezuela’s largest dam, the Simon Bolivar Dam, experienced a drop in water levels that is 10 feet from the minimum level needed to operate. This dam, previously known as the Guri Dam, is a hydroelectric facility, and, along with two other facilities, provides nearly 70 percent of the country’s electricity. The low water supply is believed to be a result of the drought caused by El Nino. For more information, visit news.yahoo.com.
Nigeria oil company suspected of fraud
A state-owned oil company in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, failed to pay the government $16 billion and has yet to explain the reasoning, according to BBC. The company has not responded to the issue. Though the findings are under investigation, officials say the problem is not surprising, as officials from the previous president’s administration were alleged of assisting in the disappearance of billions of dollars in oil funds. Muhammadu Buhari, president of Nigeria, stated he will fight against corruption within the country upon his inauguration last May. For more information, visit BBC.com.
American tourist sentenced to prison in North Korea
A 21-year-old American, Otto Warmbier, was sentenced on March 16 to 15 years in a North Korean prison with hard labor for attempting to steal a propaganda banner in January. Although the North Korean government said the crime was a “tacit connivance of the U.S. government and under its manipulation,” The University of Virginia undergraduate allegedly stole the banner, which was in a restricted area of his hotel, for an acquaintance who wanted to hang the sign in her church. Warmbier was in North Korea with a New Year’s tour group at the time of his arrest. For more information, visit nbcnews.com.
