WORLD & NATION
NEWS IN
April 13, 2012
Stories by Becca Heller
Graphic by Daniel Vasiles
UNITED
KINGDOM
A THREE-YEAR-OLD BOY HAS BROKEN
HEALTH RECORDS IN THE U.K., AFTER
HAVING SURVIVED OVER EIGHT MONTHS
ON AN ARTIFICIAL HEART. Joe Skiratt,
who was diagnosed with dilated
cardiomyopathy at the age of two, was
first fitted with a "Berlin heart" before
his heart transplant last year. After his
transplant, his chest could not be closed
for four days. "Seeing his new heart —
a normal size and thumping away in
his chest — was incredible," said
his mom Rachel Skiratt. "We
are eternally grateful to the
donor family."
UNITED
STATES
On April 10, Rick Santorum
SURPRISED MANY BY ABRUPTLY
ANNOUNCING HIS WITHDRAWAL
FROM THE Republican Primaries. His
decision to end his campaign has cleared the way
for Mitt Romney, who is expected to be the presidential
candidate for the Republican party in the coming elections.
"This has been a good day for me," Romney said to the
New York Times. "Senator Santorum has decided not to
proceed with his campaign, and I had the chance to speak
with him this morning. We exchanged our thoughts about
going forward, and we both have a great deal of interest in
seeing the country taken on a very different path." Santorum
has yet to fully endorse Romney, and there are some who
remain skeptical that Romney will be able to win over many
of Santorum's supporters. "After having destroyed every
conservative that came on the scene, you can't say 'You have
to line up behind me.' No, no, no," said Santorum supporter
Richard Viguerie of Romney's campaign. "Conservatives are
not going to jump until they hear where Governor Romney
wants to take everybody."
SUDAN
SOUTH SUDAN
On April 11, Sudan announced that it would mobilize
ITS ARMY TO DEFEND AND RETRIEVE AN OILFIELD IN HeGLIG,
NEAR ITS BORDER, WHICH SOUTH SUDAN HAS INVADED AND
CURRENTLY OCCUPIES. South Sudan, in turn, claims that
Sudan responsible for bombing a village on the border, BBC
reports. After the tenuous split between Sudan and South
Sudan, the countries' relations have been characterized
by tensions over territory and resources. As each country
continues to push the boundaries and borders to the limit,
the global community fears this could escalate into full-
out war. The African Union has called for South Sudan's
immediate withdrawal and is pushing for dialogue between
the two countries.
HINA
In what China identifies as "the biggest scandal we
CAN THINK OF" IN THE LAST 30 YEARS, CHINESE OFFICIAL Bo
XlLAI WAS DISMISSED FROM THE COMMUNIST PARTY, AFTER
EVIDENCE IMPLICATED HIS WIFE IN THE DEATH OF A UK BUSINESS
MAN. Once pegged as China's next big leader, Xilai is now
being universally renounced by Chinese officials. "Bo has
seriously violated the party discipline, causing damage to
the cause and the image of the party and state," said an
announcement by state news agency Xinhua. "Whoever has
broken the law will be handled in accordance with law and
will not be tolerated, no matter who is involved." According
to BBC, China's Internet censorship has ramped up since the
event and is filtering all queries and posts containing the
words ""Bo Xilai."
Escalation in the Syrian rebellion: United States and other countries come to aid
By Alex Lindberg
Staff Writer
"The world must judge Assad by what he
does, not what he says, and we cannot sit
back and wait any longer," said Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton at the Friends of Syria
conference.
Shortly afterwards, she armounced the
United States' intention of donating $12
million to the Syrian rebels cause. Despite
the ceasefire agreement that comes into effect
April 10, it seems that both sides are readying
for a civil war.
The promised support to the rebels coupled
with a U.N. ultimatum for President Bashar
al-Assad to withdraw troops seems to have
escalated the violence.
Just a few days ago, Assad ordered
troops to fire on any protesters in the city of
Damascus and Homs. Thousands are now
trying to flee the country for nearby Lebanon
and the hope of safety.
"With an increase in the bombardment of
Homs in the past three days, our figures have
now exceeded 27,000 refugees" said Hassan
A1 Sabeh, country director for Islamic Relief,
to The Independent. "We're getting new cases
in continually — 34 families just came across
the border in the past half an hour."
Many suspect that the increased violence
is because Assad wants an advantage when
the ceasefire starts. According to CNN, he
is currently trying to focus on areas where
rebels are known to be hiding; the issue is
that there are also many civilians residing
in the targeted zones. Already the U.N.-
Arab League has reported a staggering 9,000
civilians Wiled since the start of this conflict,
reports Gulf News.
Already several rebel leaders have asked
for support from several allied nations, with
little to no results.
"You know, we have a real revolution
in Syria. And no support," said Abdullah
Awdeh, a former lieutenant of the Syrian
army before joining the rebel cause, at the
conference. "We communicate with walkie-
talkies. The regular army can monitor us, but
we are lucky because we stay one step ahead
of the regime."
Despite issuing the ceasefire ultimatum.
the U.N. has been hesitant in siding against
President Assad and has taken little action
to stop the conflict. Many countries have
expressed criticism over the way the U.N.
has handled mattere, and talk about military
action has begun as analysts continue to
predict that Assad will not back down.
"If the U.N. Security Council fails once
again to bring about its historic responsibility,
there will be no other choice than to support
the Syrian people's right to self-defense,"
said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan to CBS.
However, not everyone believes that there
should be involvement in the Syrian rebellion.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
believes that arming the Syrian rebels will
only lead to more violence and an escalation
in the rebellion.
"If the opposition is armed to the teeth, it
will not defeat the Syrian army," said Lavrov
to BBC news. "Instead, there will be slaughter
for many, many years — mutual destruction."
Many agree that Lavrov has a point, and
that arming the Syrian rebels may show
Assad that there is no peaceful option. The
question then is should the U.S. assist in a
rebellion if it comes to that?
"The tension will continue whether the
U.S. is involved or not," said Max Carter,
director of Friends Center and campus
ministry coordinator. "Our history of
involvement in the Middle East is one of
constant 'unintended consequences.' We are
already deeply involved in the Middle East
— too often for the wrong reasons; this will
certainly maintain our record there."
"We are talking about a dictator who is
slaughtering his people," said senior Peace
and Conflict Studies major Ben Heide. "It
is our responsibility as humans to stop this.
Should this become an open civil war, there
is no reason why [the U.S. and other allied
countries] shouldn't assist in the rebellion."
Right now, it is just a matter of whether
President Assad will withdraw his troops
out of the cities by the deadline. If he does
not, a new civil war in the Middle East is a
possibility. But, for now, only time will tell.
"He has shown no willingness to 'back
down' yet, and I doubt this will be the final
push," said Carter. "Dictators go down hard."