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Welcome to Current Events !

 

Issue 23 News Updates

  • The Olympic torch relay started on March 31, and protesters angry about China's treatment of the Tibetan people came out by the thousands. In Paris, the situation became so threatening that security officials snuffed out the Olympic torch and put it on a bus five times, according to The Associated Press. Police in San Francisco, the relay’s next stop after Paris, ratcheted up the security. Read more about the relay disruptions and hear what three young Tibetans have to say at the Current Events news blog, cenewsblog.com.

  • Zimbabwe’s government finally released its presidential election results on May 2, more than a month after the votes were cast. Election officials said that President Robert Mugabe lost to challenger Morgan Tsvangirai (pronounced CHANG-guh-rye), but that the vote was close enough to require a runoff. Tsvangirai got 47.9 percent of the vote, less than the 50 percent he needed; Mugabe got 43.2 percent, The Associated Press reported. Tsvangirai's supporters have faced violence and arrests since the election. They argue that Mugabe dragged out the votes to gain time to intimidate voters. To read more, click here.
  • A new government report shows unemployment continued to rise in the U.S. in March. The economy lost 80,000 jobs that month, and the unemployment rate rose from 4.8 percent to 5.1 percent. Jared Bernstein of the Economics Policy Institute tells The New York Times: “Three months in a row of payroll job losses and a sizable negative revision: these are clear signs that the job market is in recession.” That’s not good news for families already struggling with the rising cost of gasoline and food.


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