Over the past summer there have been numerous headlines which have captured the attention of the people. However, many have been overshadowed by salacious celebrity news or fluff pieces *cough* Royal baby *cough*. Despite what many media outlets would have you believe, there were many important events during the summer.
Syria, as well as other countries, has been prominent in the news as of late. However, few may have a good idea of what is going on there. In June of this year, Syrian troops as well as guerillas of Lebanon’s Hezbollah seized the village of Buwayda in order to end resistance around Quasar. Later that same month, Syria used chemical weapons which killed around 1,300 people, according to the France 24, an international news site. A similar event supposedly occurred on the 21st of August; Syrian rebels claimed the government gassed people (including women and children while they had been sleeping). Secretary of state John Kerry and President Obama have both condemned the events taken place in Syria. The president stated that, “We cannot accept a world where women and children and innocent civilians are gassed on a terrible scale.” At the time this article was written, he has also authorized military force to be used against Syria and is looking to congress for support. We will wait to see what action will be taken.
Egypt was also a topic for recent discussion. On July 3rd Egypt’s armed forces effectively removed Mursi, the first democratically elected Egyptian President, from his position. Shortly after, fifty people were killed when the Egyptian army fired on the former president’s supporters. Two more violent events triggered a self-imposed state of emergency. The state of emergency is predicted to last about a month according to Yahoo news.
Another controversy that has taken place here at home involves the NSA or National Security of America. ACLU or American Civil Liberties Union filed a case against the NSA. This was preceded by Edward Snoden’s discloser of the “mass surveillance of American citizens.” He also provided documentation to support his claims. Government officials have been stressing the fact that they do not collect the content of the call, just the numbers and duration. However, the debate rages on. Does this violate our rights? Is it worth it? These questions have been thrown around along with much fear and outrage.
As you can see, this past summer has been memorable in a number of ways.  Unfortunately, the majority of publicized international events have been largely focused on controversy and tragedy.  Hopefully next summer will breed more optimistic situations.