BY SABRINA GARONE AND VICTORIA MESCALL
CO-NEWS EDITORS
U.S Labels North Korea a Sponsor of Terror
On Nov. 20, President Trump declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, prompting the United States Department of the Treasury to add sanctions on the country the following day.
“…Should have happened a long time ago, should have happened years ago,” said President Trump in a cabinet meeting. “In addition to threatening the world by nuclear devastation, North Korea has repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil.”
According to the Treasury, sanctions targeted third-country persons who have participated in trade worth millions of dollars with North Korea. These included sanctions targeting one Chinese businessman, 13 entities, and 20 vessels who have histories of millions of dollars worth of trade with North Korea.
“As North Korea continues to threaten international peace and security, we are steadfast in our determination to maximize economic pressure to isolate it from outside sources of trade and revenue while exposing its evasive tactics,” said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement.
Sexual Assault Allegations in D.C
Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and senatorial candidate Roy Moore, R-Ala., are among the growing list of politicians that have been accused of sexual harassment and misconduct within the last month.
“A lot of things are coming out, and I think that’s good for our society,” said President Trump in a press conference, “and I think it’s very good for women and I’m very happy that a lot of these things are coming out. I’m very happy it’s being exposed.”
Franken, who was photographed groping a sleeping woman and forcibly kissed her later on, has come forward and apologized for his actions. Conyers denied the allegations against him, and the Senate Ethics Committee has launched an investigation into the case.
Moore, accused of unwanted sexual advances on teenagers while he was in his thirties, has yet to respond to the claims. President Trump and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey have received tremendous backlash for their support of the candidate despite the allegations.
Zimbabwe
After a crisis during which the military staged a takeover and huge crowds demonstrated against Zimbabwean President Mugabe, the country has nearly returned to the ordinary.
Many Zimbabweans applauded the military for its role in Mugabe’s resignation after a 37-year presidency on Nov. 21, but resent the police for alleged corruption. At the new Preisdent Emmerson Mnangagwa’s inauguration on Friday, Nov. 24, military commander Gen. Constantino Chiwenga drew cheers from spectators while the police commissioner, Gen. Augustine Chihuri, was met with boos and disapproval.
President Mugabe was unable to control the terms of his exit after a lifetime of exercising the deft political skills and outright ruthlessness that kept him in power for so long. He had lost his grip on the ruling party, where factional feuding reached a boiling point with the dismissal of Mnangagwa and the open ambitions of Mugabe’s wife, Grace, to take over from her husband in a dynastic succession that many Zimbabweans found abhorrent.
Indonesia
Authorities ordered a mass evacuation on Monday from an expanded danger zone around an erupting volcano in Bali that has forced the Indonesian island’s international airport to close, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark gray ash about 9,800 feet into the atmosphere since this past weekend. The National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the alert to the highest level early Monday and expanded the danger zone to 6 miles in places from the previous maximum of approx. 4.6 miles.
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. He said about 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don’t want to abandon their livestock.
Egypt
On Friday, Nov. 24, nearly two dozen assailants carrying a black IS banner unleashed gunfire and bombs during a mass and prayer service at the Al-Rawdah Mosque in a small town near Bir al-Abd.
Egypt’s chief prosecutor, Nabil Sadeq, said the attackers, some masked, numbered between 25 and 30. Those with bare faces sported heavy beards and long hair, his statement added.
Dressed in military-style camouflage pants and black T-shirts, one of the attackers carried a black banner with the declaration of the Muslim faith.
There were approximately 500 people inside the mosque at the time of the attack. It is predicted that 305 people were killed, including 27 children. 158 people were also injured in the attack.
After the attack, the assailants checked their victims for signs of life, killed any other people that seemed to be alive after they were originally shot, and then proceeded to flee the scene.
“We knew that the mosque was under attack,” said Mansour, a 38-year-old worker in a nearby salt factory who had settled in Bir al-Abd three years ago to escape the bloodshed and fighting elsewhere in northern Sinai. He suffered two gunshot wounds to his legs on Friday. “Everyone laid down on the floor and kept their heads down. If you raised your head you got shot,” he said. “The shooting was random and hysterical at the beginning and then became more deliberate. Whoever they weren’t sure was dead or still breathing was shot dead.”
People who attended the mosque were Sufis, or members of a mystic movement within Islam. Islamic militants, including IS, consider the Sufis barbaric and heretic.
Despite the banner and the attackers’ shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” IS has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Egypt’s military has been responding to threats and violent acts for many months, and has been in a state of emergency since April.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
