Category: International

300 years ago, a Spanish ship laden with treasure was sunk by the British army off the coast of Columbia. The ship was the ‘San Jose galleon’, and the Colombian government has been searching for it for years. The ship was laden with gold, silver, gems and jewelry, which according to BBC news was worth at least one billion dollars. Last week, the Colombian government announced that they had discovered the sunken ship and were going to begin excavation.

The location of the wreck has not yet been released, but the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos, said in an interview with BBC that the find “constitutes one of the greatest – if not the biggest, as some say – discoveries of submerged patrimony in the history of mankind.” Santos said that the government intends to build a museum in Cartagena to house the ship’s treasure.

Fox News said the find may be the largest sunken treasure site in the world. Nothing is completely certain yet, as no one has physically reached the site of the wreckage. Thus far, according to Fox News, the government has only sent down “autonomous underwater vehicles… [which] brought back photos of dolphin-stamped bronze cannons in a well-preserved state that leave no doubt to the ship’s identity.”

Despite the immense cultural and historical significance that the wreckage brings, Wall Street Journal said that the find may spark legal battles. A U.S. based salvage company called Sea Search Armada (SSA) has laid claim to the wreckage, and claims that they were the ones who located the ship originally. The SSA sued the Colombian government for billions of dollars for a breach of contract. However, according to BBC News, an American court ruled that the galleon was property of the Colombian state.

According to the Wall Street Journal, tne main reason for the country’s legal victory over the SSA was that in 2013 the Colombian government passed legislation to protect “the cargo of shipwrecks in it waters as cultural heritage to prevent private search firms from claiming valuable historic coins and other materials.”

The few sonar images that have been released show a wealth of ceramics, bronze cannons and weapons. It seems that the immense depth of the waters where the boat sank allowed for a cold enough temperature to preserve certain vital parts of the boat. Entire flanks of the boat’s wood and even clothing could have been preserved in the wreck.

The wreck has been rightly called the holy grail of shipwrecks by many historians and treasure-hunters, and the president has expressed his sincere excitement over the find. It could be extremely valuable for the Colombian government, not only culturally and historically, but financially. The wealth of the valuables found therein offer the country a very bright future, and a wonderful image of early Spanish colonial culture.

Three cities, three attacks, one perpetrator—last week Europe and the Middle East experienced a new form of “reign of terror.” From car bombings to gunpoint, the cities of Beirut, Baghdad, and Paris were no short of escape. The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, formally known as ISIS, has officially claimed responsibility for these attacks.

On Thursday night, Beirut, Lebanon went up in flames after a double suicide bombing occurred in the streets of a suburban shopping district. Over 200 were wounded in the attack and at least 41 reported as dead. BBC news remarks this bombing as the “deadliest the capital has seen with the end of Lebanon’s civil war in 1990. “

Witnesses described their experience of the attack, “I’d just arrived at the shops when the blast went off. I carried four bodies with my own hands, three women and a man, a friend of mine,” a civilian, Zein al-Abideen Khaddam, told his local television.

In response to this attack, Prime Minister Tammam Salam sent a statement to the country by which he declared the attacks “unjustifiable.” He encouraged Lebanon to take up unity amidst the attempts to bring discord to the country. U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, also urged peace for those attending the Syrian peace talks that would occur later that weekend.

Just hours after the Beirut attack, two other suicide bombings occurred in the city of Baghdad, Iraq. The first explosion went off at a funeral held for a Shia fighter in the Al-Ashara al-Mubashareen mosque, in south Baghdad. A total of 21 were killed, in addition to 41 others who were critically wounded. Later that day, a roadside bomb also went off at a Shia shrine that killed at least five and wounded 15 others. ISIS has taken responsibility for both of these occurrences.

A statement distributed on a pro-ISIS social media account claimed that the aim of Friday’s attacks was “revenge for our monotheist brothers in al-Fallujah, al-Anbar, and Salahaldin,” referring to the Iraqi military operations to retrieve land they had lost to ISIS.

In closing the symphony of terror, ISIS militants conducted six last gun and bomb attacks across Paris, France on Friday night. It was the deadliest terrorist attack that Europe has seen since the Madrid train bombings in 2004. Paris prosecutor, Francois Molins, reported a death toll of at least 129 people, in addition to the other 352 wounded in the entirety of the attacks. According to CNN, seven terrorists were killed in the bombing. However, ISIS claimed eight perpetrators were involved in the operation. This led Mollins to release a statement cautioning the nation that the “threat may still be on.”

The first and deadliest attack occurred in the Bataclan concert hall, which totaled 89  

causalities.  It was reported that three attackers with assault rifles entered the concert and opened fired. They then proceeded to take the audience hostage and systematically shoot them in front of the stage, after delivering a brief address on ISIS.

In response to the terror, French president, Francois Hollande, declared a state of emergency across France in hopes of both limiting mobility and implementing zones of security and protection. The French government also responded with airstrikes to bomb Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold in Syria. However, there was much backlash towards the government on this rash decision.

The situation took another complex turn when one of the terrorist’s was found to be a Syrian refugee. This not only unveiled a new set of debates in the Syrian Refugee Crisis, but also gave way to increased ill-tempered feelings amongst local civilians towards the marginalized group, though the terrorist was only a diminutive representation of the entire refugee population. But the opposing argument lies with the issue of hopelessness. Due to their vulnerability, the idea of thousands of hopeless, refuged, young men makes for an easy opportunity to attain “cheap recruits.” Whether this is true in the case of Syria, the disagreement lies more with the response to it.  While some believe this calls for resettlement, others see as a chance for internal progressive projects.
Continual Group Twenty (G20) meetings will be held in Turkey to discuss plausible action plans for all three terror attacks. As for the U.S., President Obama has agreed to expand intelligence sharing with France in an effort to better combat terrorism. The discussion will continue into the week until an agreement is met.

Last Saturday, Russian Flight 9268 broke apart in the air and crashed in a remote location in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, reported CNN. Of the 224 passengers and crew on board, none survived.

Suspicion of terrorist involvement grew early in the week, due to statements from the Deputy Director for Aviation of the airline, Kogalymavia. Director Alexander Smirnov said to a press conference in Moscow, “[the] only reason that could explain the plane’s breaking up in the mid-air can be a certain impact, purely mechanical (and/or) physical impact on (the) flying vessel.” Though some translators advised CNN that the statement was vague and difficult to translate, other news outlets such as the Wall Street Journal interpreted Smirnov’s statement  to mean that “only an impact on the plane in flight could have caused the tragedy.” According to CNN, Smirnov was quick to rule out technical failure of the aircraft, noting he had recently flew the plane himself and it was in “pristine” condition.

The aircraft landed in pieces in Hasana, Egypt, which the New York Times reports to be a military zone closed to the public due to the presence of a local branch of ISIS. United States and European air-safety officials have warned in the past of the potential existence of anti-aircraft technology in the area, yet Russian aviation experts informed the New York Times that they believed the plane was flying high enough to avoid such dangers.

Other aviation experts are concerned, with expert Les Abend reporting to CNN that the data showing the aircraft’s dramatic altitude changes and significant increase in ground speed disturbed him, yet he advised caution as the data is still preliminary. Peter Golez, a former managing director of US National Transportation Safety Board noted that terrorism had not been ruled out as of Monday, but there are multiple other factors to consider first.

While ISIS claimed responsibility for the crash on Twitter and other online venues, the New York Times reports Russian and Egyptian officials dismissing the claims, citing little to no evidence of a terrorist attack as well as ISIS possessing anti-aircraft weaponry. Further, the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency dismissed Smirnov’s ruling out of technical failure or pilot error in favor of an external factor, calling his comments “completely premature.”

Still, anonymous aviation experts reported to the Russian newspaper Kommersant that the damage to the plane “suggests explosive decompression to the fuselage.” The UK based news source, The Telegraph, stated that according to experts, this damage could be caused by some kind of on board explosion, stress cracks in the fuselage, or an external impact.

Nonetheless, the Egyptian Civil Aviation Minister Hossam Kamel urged those observing the unfolding events to avoid hasty conclusions, saying, “There was nothing abnormal before the plane crash…It suddenly disappeared from the radar,” according to CNN.

CNN reports Russian President

On Friday, October 24, the strongest hurricane in the history of the Western hemisphere hit the coast of Mexico. The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned that “life-threatening flash floods and mudslides” were likely to occur in rural areas, but the Mexican people were well prepared to react. Hurricane Patricia made headlines as the strongest storm to hit the west coast of the Americas, climbing up to a category five storm. The Weather Channel reported the storm was unprecedented among Pacific hurricanes, dropping ten millibars lower in pressure than any previously recorded storm.

According to BBC news, the storm lessened to a category four by the time it hit the Mexican coast and the results were not as catastrophic as they might have been, helping the government of Mexico go into the natural disaster well prepared. The Los Angeles Times suggested that the president of Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto, “benefited from what appears to have been a successful emergency response and extraordinary good luck.” Therefore, what might have ended in a major loss of human life has been nothing more than an indicator of the Mexican government’s ability to handle such natural disasters well.

The government initiated a mass evacuation of the area that could possibly be affected by the storm. More than 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes, and 1,200 shelters were set up to house the evacuees. Ricardo Aleman of El Universal newspaper said “the hurricane put to the test the reaction of all three levels of government – and unlike many other occasions, the coordination [this time around] was almost perfect.”

USA Today suggested it was not only the proper governance of the storm situation, but the natural landscape of the Mexican coast that slowed the storm and lessened damage. The area that the storm struck was a sparsely populated area, with an occasional fishing village on the coast. Immediately to the left and right of the area are the dense populated centers of Puerto Vallarta and Manzanillo, which were just missed by the storm. Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist with the U.S. National Hurricane Center, said the storm “could have been far worse. A little jog to the left, a little jog to the right and we’d be having a different conservation.”

Another factor that affected the progress of the hurricane was its collision with the Sierra Madre mountain range. Over the course of Friday night, the mountains broke the storm apart until it dropped from a category five, to a category one by 4 a.m.

According to USA Today, the death toll, as of Sunday, had reached six citizens. Despite such a low death toll for such a massive storm, coastal Mexican infrastructure and agriculture were heavily affected. The Los Angeles Times reported as many as 3,500 homes were destroyed or damaged, and that 19,000 acres of crops were ruined by flooding and storm winds. The federal authorities are still working to assess the gravitude of the damage caused, but it is clear that in the months to come efforts must be made to restore the coastline and the livelihoods of the Mexican people.

On Saturday, October 3, airstrikes destroyed an Afghan Doctors Without Borders hospital in the city of Kunduz, Afghanistan. Casualties were numbered at 22—three of whom were children—in addition to 37 others who were injured.

Doctors Without Borders, or Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as it is known internationally, is a non-profit, humanitarian organization designed to deliver emergency aid to people of all race, ethnicity, and color around the world. After hearing of the airstrike, president of the organization, Meinie Nicolai, stated in an interview with the Guardian that “this attack is abhorrent and a grave violation of international humanitarian law.” She further stated how they “demand total transparency from coalition forces” and “cannot accept that this horrific loss of life will simply be dismissed as ‘collateral damage’.”

At the exact time of the hospital attack, the U.S. military was supposedly conducting an airstrike in Kunduz. President Obama immediately released a statement on the matter promising “the Department of Defense has launched a full investigation, and we will await the results of that inquiry before making a definitive judgment as to the circumstances of this tragedy.” He ended by stating that they should “expect a full accounting of the facts and circumstances.”

A week prior to the airstrike, the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist political movement, overthrew the city through means of force.  The Afghan government fought back and regained power for a short while thereafter, but as of Sunday morning, the Taliban recaptured it once again. Al Jazeera reported over 100 deaths as a result of this political overthrow.

It was also reported the MSF hospital was unknowingly an epicenter for Taliban negotiations and attacks.  The now acting governor, Hamdullah Danishi, suggested this would give warrant to the attack. Danishi further supported the attack by stating how “the hospital campus was 100 percent used by the Taliban,” and how the “hospital has a vast garden, and the Taliban were there…” according to Washington Post.

The United Nations viewed this event differently and responded with backlash towards the U.S. military. “I condemn in the strongest terms the tragic and devastating air strike on the Médecins sans Frontières hospital in Kunduz early this morning, which resulted in the deaths and injury of medical personnel, patients and other civilians,” said Nicholas Haysom, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

Though it is still unclear whether the U.S. military is responsible for the attack, the majority has directed  their accusations toward  the U.S., whether accurate or not. A witness of the attack describes the event in an interview with the Guardian news, “I was inside my office. Around 2 a.m., the plane started bombing the main building of MSF. It lasted one and a half hours. After 3.30 a.m., I came out from my office and saw all of the hospital was on fire.”

Those injured in the event have since been evacuated to a town adjacent to Kunduz. However, the death toll is still rising. MSF has also fully withdrawn from the city, and is unsure about their future in Kunduz. They stated the hospital is beyond repair from the airstrike damage, and would thus need time and finances before the thought of reinstituting.
U.S. Department of Defense and Afghan government will continue investigations until further notice.

Wednesday morning marked the first Russian airstrike on ISIS in Syria. The attacks, according to the New York Times, came mere hours after Russian president, Vladimir Putin pushed the issue through the upper house of the Russian Parliament early that morning. The airstrikes, however, have caused concerns within the United States regarding Russia’s motives due to the location of their target.

According to CNN, earlier that morning a Russian official in Baghdad went to the U.S. Embassy and informed personnel Russia would be having their airstrike that morning and the U.S. should avoid Syrian skies. Russia did not, however, give the U.S. any information regarding the geographic location of where they were planning airstrikes.

Despite the U.S. denying their leave, Russia’s airstrikes bombed several cities within Syria located in the provinces of Homs and Hama. The cities affected were Zafaraneh, Rastan, Talbiseh.  None of these cities, according to BBC news, have been or are currently under ISIS control or home to any ISIS operations. These cities are instead said to have been home to anti-Assad movements.

Syrian President, Bashar al-Assad, has faced criticism and many demands to leave office from the U.S. and its allies. Russia, however, has continually backed Assad remaining in power. Assad has held the position of Syrian president over the four-year-long war that, according to the New York Times, has cost over 200,000 Syrians their lives. According to the Washington Post, Assad, along with his security forces, is being blamed for the attacks and crackdowns that have displaced around 4 million people. The U.S., along with several of their allies, remain adamant peace cannot be achieved until Assad resigns from office. Putin, however, defended Assad today by saying he hoped Assad would make “compromises in the name of his country and his people.”

A New York Times article attempted to justify the attacks by stating, “Russian officials and analysts portrayed the move as an attempt both to fight Islamic State militants and to try to ensure the survival of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia’s main ally in the Middle East.” The airstrikes caused the deaths of 36 people, and according to BBC, a number of the deceased were children.

BBC also stated the U.S. was welcome to Russian military action within Syria, but if it was directed towards ISIS and groups linked to al-Qaeda. Putin, however, defended the attacks in a televised address by saying “The attacks were targeting Islamic militants, including Russian citizens, who have taken over large parts of Iraq and Syria.” Putin also confirmed that Russia will not be sending troops into Syria and stated Russia’s role in Syria would be limited.

However, it is said that Putin has both international and domestic reasons for involving the country in the Syrian conflict. The New York Times said, Putin not only wants Russia to be seen as a global power and maintain control of Russia’s naval station at Tartus in Syria, but also wants to draw attention away from the conflict with Ukraine and the country’s current troubled economy.
Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the U.S. would increase efforts in the coalition to stop ISIS and the U.S. was prepared to hold talks with Russia about avoiding future accidental conflicts between the two air raid campaigns  “as soon as possible.”

On Saturday, September 12, members of Egypt’s government resigned as a result of state corruption probe. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, former general and political activist, accepted these resignations on the condition of continued service until reappointment. El-Sissi tasked Petroleum Minister, Sherif Ismail, with forming a new cabinet within the next week, according to Huffington Post.

Among the those who resigned were Prime Minister, Ibrahim Mehleb, and his cabinet. Just prior to his resignation, Mehleb provided a detailed report on the performance of the government. However, according to two presidential officials, el-Sissi found this report to be rather “unsatisfying.”

Additionally, last Monday Agriculture Minister, Salah el-Din Helal, was arrested over corruption allegations. It was said Helal allegedly accepted bribes in order to help businessmen acquire state territory. These bribes amounted to around one million in U.S. currency. Middle East News Agency (MENA) commented, “He was arrested as part of an investigation into a major case of corruption in his ministry.” Helal was also a part of Mehleb’s appointed cabinet.

According to CNN news, Mehleb failed to pressure his ministers into following through on memorandums of “understanding that el-Sissi signed during a much publicized economic summit in March.” However, when asked about these allegations in a Tunisian press conference, Mehleb walked out of the room.

In an interview with Houghton’s Egyptian-native, John Khalaf, a personal testament was shared on the current crisis in his country’s government.

When asked about his opinion on the current political situation, Khalaf shared both positive and negative effects of the change. Though under terrible circumstances, he stated how “there is hope for change now that we started to fight against people who break the law.” Khalaf’s statement was explicitly directed at the arrest of Helal last week. Khalaf believed the act of arrest was a sign of justice reclaiming its place within political authority. In the past, Khalaf explained, leaders got away with panhandling and corruption. However, this recent arrest has changed everything.

Khalaf further explained how his view was not the only interpretation across the Egyptian state. As a Cairo native, Khalaf shared about the dissension between the current government and Muslim Brotherhood—a radical sect of Muslims founded in Egypt in 1928.

The tension rose out of a political regime two years prior when general el-Sissi overthrew the Islamic president, Mohammed Morsi. El-Sissi was seen as a freedom figure to some, however, others, including the Muslim Brotherhood, saw it otherwise and responded with heightened discord and violence. Since then, multiple riots have occurred, including burnings of over a hundred of churches.

As a Christian, Khalaf recalls planning an escape from the back of his church in case of an attack. However, when asked his view on the future of Christians in Egypt, Khalaf replied on a positive note, “We forgive anyone who does this.” Khalaf also explained how Christians have started to support the government in the past year, which has fostered more political ties.  He explained that because of that, they can “now build churches” once again. Cairo received its first land grant to rebuild a church after the destruction this past summer.
Parliamentary elections for a new cabinet will be held in October and continue throughout the month of November. Results will be announced shortly thereafter.