BY SARAH LOFSTROM ’19 AND GABBY RAYMOND ’20
Iraq
Iraqi forces took over a Kurdish held territory in the center of Kirkuk City on Monday, Oct. 16. According to Al Jazeera, the operation was part of an incentive to take oil-rich provinces. Kurdish forces defend Kirkuk City for three days against the Iraqi forces. Thousands of Arab, Kurds, and Turkman civilians have fled the conflict. It took around 15 hours for Iraqi forces to successfully claim the area.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM ’19
Norway’s Erna Solberg, of the centre-right conservative Party, was re-elected as prime minister on Monday, Sept. 11. According to Al Jazeera, Solberg’s platform rested largely on her anti-immigration policy, proposed continued oil drilling in the Arctic and retaining close ties with the EU, of which Norway is not a part. Solberg and her primary coalition partner, the Progress Party, will control 89 of the 169 seat Parliament house. Her re-election is historically significant because Solberg is now the first centre-right Prime Minister to be re-elected in 30 years, as reported by BBC.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM '19
On Friday, March 25, the Russian and Eurasian Studies department coordinated with the Russian Club to host their annual Blini Bash celebrating the end of winter. The event is referred to in Russia as the Spring Carnival or Maslenitsa. It features the pan-frying and eating of blini, Russian pancakes, before ceremonially burning an effigy of the witch of winter.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM ’19
GLOBAL EDITOR
On January 27, President Trump issued Executive Order 13764 prohibiting travelers from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Yemen and Sudan from entering the United States for 90 days and suspending all refugee admission for 120 days. The Executive Order is entitled "Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the U.S." as reported by CNN.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM '19
Following the devastation of last month’s Hurricane Matthew, Haiti is facing its worst food crisis since 2001. According to the BBC, he United Nations World Food Program is spearheading a $120 million appeal in order to help curb the high levels of malnutrition and fund the restoration of valuable crop acreage and agriculture in Haiti. Hurricane Matthew was the strongest hurricane to hit the Caribbean in a decade and has affected 2.1 million people, 1.5 million of whom are in need of immediate aid. The country is now in need of substantial international aid, without which the food shortages will inevitably worsen.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM '19
Mount Holyoke College is known for being home to a diverse body of students who embrace many different cultures from around the world. On Sept. 29, the Language Resource Center celebrated these cultures and the languages associated with them at the World Language Festival held in Blanchard Great Room.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM '19
On Sept. 20, the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives hosted the International Fair, which aimed to bring together a variety of Mount Holyoke associated study abroad programs and a myriad of study abroad representatives from other countries and schools. Dean Picard, the Dean of International Studies, was there to answer questions relating to scholarships, internships, research opportunities and MHC supported exchange programs. The fair was set up in a style similar to the org and academic fairs. Rows of tables were set up in Chapin Auditorium with representatives along each table.
BY SARAH LOFSTROM '19
This past week, over ten thousand people took to the streets in Guadalajara, Mexico to protest legislation that would allow for same sex marriage in Mexico. The legislation proposed by President Enrique Peña Nieto on May 17, Mexico’s National Day Against Homophobia, would allow for same-sex marriages across all thirty-one states of Mexico, as it is currently only allowed in ten states.
