“Venezuela calls ‘mother of all protests’ as opposition and government supporters rally,” according to Deutsche Welle (April 19, 2017). As societal standards erode, poverty increases, inflation explodes, crime erupts, and a once-advanced society continues to decline, many Venezuelans are angry.
Over the last week, “60,000 Turkana pastoralists and 127,000 livestock have moved [from northwest Kenya] to Uganda’s Karamjoa sub-region” in search of vegetation for their livestock (Deutsche Welle, April 18, 2017). “The end of March was supposed to bring rains to Turkana, transforming barren plains into pasture. It still hasn’t happened.
In barely half a year, there have been terrorist attacks in London (March), Paris (February), Berlin (December), Hamburg (October), and last week in Stockholm. In 2016, terrorist attacks in Europe claimed the lives of 150 people (USA Today, April 7, 2017).
Just days after U.S. President Trump tweeted he would “‘solve the problem’ of North Korea” if China did not exert more pressure on its neighbor, North Korea warned there would be “catastrophic consequences” to any further provocations by the U.S. (Guardian, April 11, 2017). North Korea has threatened a nuclear response against the U.S. mainland should they feel threatened by U.S.
Major rains often bring severe flooding. Last month witnessed extreme flooding in Peru. Last Friday it was Colombia. As Deutsche Welle reported on April 2, “A total of 17 Mocoa districts have been affected. Many houses simply no longer exist: The people in them didn’t stand a chance. The ground literally gave way beneath their feet, washed away by the sudden, unexpected flood.