Election Drama Update

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you know that the 2016 presidential elections have been a little tense. Between the accusations and cringe-worthy moments, this has easily been one of the most sensational elections to date. The drama continues as both candidate Donald Trump and candidate Hillary Clinton swept the most recent primaries in the northeastern states. This puts Clinton at 1521 delegates and Trump at 950 delegates. This means that Clinton only needs 18% of the remaining delegates while Trump needs 46%.

This has not deterred candidate Ted Cruz as he just named Carly Fiorina (a former presidential candidate herself) as his vice presidential (VP) pick. Why he would name his VP before being nominated is up for debate but it can be assumed that he is trying to change the race in his favor or get one more chance in the spotlight before the Indiana primary.

Candidate Bernie Sanders has also changed his running strategies in order to take on California. He has recently laid off hundreds of staff members, cutting the number from a thousand to around three hundred. Sanders says that he is doing this because he no longer needs staff in states he has already lost, but others say that it is because he is accepting his losses and is moving on.   

New Street Drug

New street drugs are introduced every day but few pack a punch as powerful as this one. This synthetic opioid, called W-18, is said to be 100 times more potent than fentanyl and 10,000 times stronger than morphine and is appearing on the streets of America and Canada.

W-18 was first developed in Canada as a pain reliever and was promised to be less addictive than other opioids. The drug was patented in the United States and Canada in 1984 but no pharmaceutical company would pick it up until a Chinese chemist developed it to make a cheap drug that has a strong high.   

W-18 is not illegal in the U.S. but the risks are numerous. There are currently no blood tests available to doctors to test for W-18. This means that it would be very difficult to diagnose an overdose on this drug. W-18 has also never been tested on humans, only on lab rats. This makes the effects of the drug on humans unknown.

Authorities are not sure to what extent the drug has infiltrated the U.S. but there is evidence that it is being mixed with heroin and cocaine. If this information is accurate then W-18 could make the growing heroin epidemic even worse.

Panama Papers

Does anyone remember Wikileaks? Snowden? Well another information leak has happened again but this time it is the Panama Papers. On April 3, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published several (try over eleven million) documents that reveal a business network involving current and former world leaders and their associates. This includes associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin (though he is never mentioned by name), the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), the prime minister of Iceland Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson and his wife and Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri. The documents imply that they are connected to several shell companies and offshore accounts, all tied to a Panama law firm called Mossack Fonseca. Gerard Ryle, the director of ICIJ, told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour: “These documents, if nothing else, raise an awful lot of questions.”

Some of the officials mentioned in the documents have responded to the allegations. The Kremlin has denounced the papers as a series of lies that are attempting to hurt President Putin in the upcoming elections. The Icelandic prime minister’s office said that the holding company was for his wife’s assets, enjoyed no tax advantages and was created to avoid conflicts of interest in Iceland. A spokesman for President Macri denied any connection to the law firm. FIFA’s ethics committee said that they have launched an investigation into the matter.

The law firm itself has responded to the conflict. Mossack Fonseca released a statement on April 4 saying that it was the victim of a data breach and that nothing in the illegally obtained documents actually breaks the law. The firm’s cofounder Ramon Fonseca Mora told CNN that the published information is false and full of inaccuracies. No matter which side is right, Ryle is correct. These Panama papers raise questions about the world’s bureaucracy and where the money is going.

North Korean Missile Testing

Tensions continue to rise between North Korea and the rest of the world as North Korea reports that it has successfully tested a submarine-launched missile. This could pose an issue if North Korea ever tries to use these weapons in future attacks. Missiles fired from under the water are harder to detect and can give North Korea the element of surprise.

It has been confirmed by South Korea and the United States that there was a missile fired but it only traveled 19 miles (as opposed to the typical 186 miles) and will not pose a threat to North America. Despite these assurances the U.S. State Department stated that it intends to limit the travel of North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong and his delegation to U.N. functions in New York.

However, Foreign Minister Ri has said that North Korea would halt its military tests if the U.S. stops its annual military exercises with South Korea. He said that North Korea only developed nuclear weapons in self-defense and suspending the military exercises would lessen tensions and open diplomatic relations. The Foreign Ministry of South Korea said that it will not be considering the offer so there will likely be no friendly relations between the U.S. and North Korea anytime soon.