Hong Kong, China

What simply began as a protest against a new law in Hong Kong, China, quickly escalated into mass chaos, riots, and violence. The people of Hong Kong have taken to the streets to protest the law. The police have begun to fire against the crowd by throwing tear gas into the crowd to drive the protestors away. The people who have been protesting have worn face masks to hide their identity. The Chinese government has released a statement recently forbidding face masks from being worn. Along the border of Hong Kong, the Chinese have lined up military tanks ready to strike if necessary.

The origins of this conflict date back to when Hong Kong was originally a British Colony. In the year 1997, Britain handed Hong Kong back over to China with a few rules. China had to give Hong Kong the same freedoms and rights that they had while being apart of the British Colony. China, however, began to strip away the rights of the citizens. This most recent extradition bill has made the people of Hong Kong wary of what is to come. Their response to the bill is to protest the government to stay with the system of 1 country, 2 systems.

People around the world are facing serious backlash from what is happening in Hong Kong.  China is a very sensitive country, and anything that “offends them” will result with consequences.  Although the United States’ first amendment protects the freedom of speech, people have gotten some backfire from voicing their opinions. The general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey,  posted a tweet siding with the people of Hong Kong, wishing them the best of luck in their protests and to regain their freedom. China said that due to this tweet going against what they believe, that they will no longer be broadcasting  NBA games, e

Hong Kong has not backed down since the protests began, and neither has the government. As both sides become more desperate to end the standoff, the fate of the people of Hong Kong becomes increasingly uncertain.

Trump vs Ukraine phone call backlash 

Donald Trump recently made a phone call to the Ukrainien                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               president, Volodymyr Zelensky. In the phone call he asked Zelensky to investigate the son of former vice president and democratic candidate, Joe Biden. There has been a backlash against this call because he was asking a foreign leader to investigate a political rival. Which is basically asking a foreign country to interfere in a U.S. election. Asking a foreign country to interfere in an election is collusion. Collusion is a secret illegal agreement between a group of people to cheat.

After a whistleblower alerted the government that the call was made, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced an impeachment inquiry on Donald Trump. The house will start an investigation into the  Ukraine phone call. The reason why the house is ordering an investigation is because when Trump asked Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, the military aid to Ukraine suddenly stopped. They think that Trump may have ordered to stop giving military aid until they dig up dirt on Joe Biden.

However, Trump has been stating that it was a “perfect phone call” and nothing was wrong with it. Trump says the whistleblower is lying and nothing was wrong about the phone call. Republicans are staying by Trump by saying that it is a witch hunt. A new poll recently came out stating that 58% of Americans support an impeachment inquiry. Which means that they support an investigation into Trump about his phone call with Ukraine. Now 49% support impeachment Trump, which means they support the removal of Trump from office. Before he can be removed from office the house needs a majority vote which will impeach him in the house. Then, to be removed from office he will be put on trial in the senate and will need a 2/3rds of the Senate to be removed.

Recently, Trump and the House sent a letter to the House of Representatives. Which states that they will not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry investigation. In the letter he accuses the Democrats of violating the constitution and saying they have wanted him out of office since he got elected. Trump thinks that this is their attempt to overturn the results from the 2016 election. Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has also been involved with the Ukraine scandal. By pressuring Ukraine officials to investigate Joe Biden months leading up to the phone call. Now Giuliani’s two former associates were arrested on criminal charges for violating campaign finance rules. They were involved in the efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden.

On Monday October 14 Trump’s former adviser Fiona Hill testified in front of three House panels. Sources say Hill was expected to tell congress that she wasn’t aware about some aspects involving the Ukraine phone call. The Republican congressman Matt Gaetz who is apart of the Judiciary committee was kicked out when Hill was testifying. He was kicked out by House Intelligence Chair Adam Schiff because he is not apart of the three committees that are conducting the impeachment investigation.

Now Republicans are stating that Democrats should  release the interview transcripts and allow them to have power to subpoena. 3 Trump administration officials have subpoena deadlines. Vice President Mike Pence has a deadline to turn over Ukraine related documents which were sent earlier in the month. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and acting director of the Office of Management and Budget Russ Vought have subpoena requesting documents related to the impeachment inquiry.

Amazon Wildfires

Brazilian farmers and people who wanted to clear land in the Amazon Rainforest decided that the easiest way to clear the forest would be to burn the forest. However, the fires quickly escalated into wildfires that are ripping through the rainforest. Due to the density of the forest, the fires are spreading quicker and causing more damage. Countries around the world have noticed this to be an issue and are pressuring Brazil to take precautions in preventing fires from spreading. The Amazon Rainforest supplies anywhere from 20-30% of our world’s oxygen due to the quantity of trees there. The Amazons have been burning for more than three weeks straight with no signs of stopping.