Syria Battles Rage And An Attack In Ohio

PNUT GALLERY

For our next installment of #BlanchedNuts, the series that explores the far right phenomenon, we look at Golden Dawn in Greece and their flair for drama.  

 IN A NUTSHELL: MUST READ

Rebel-Held Aleppo Continues To Shrink

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad stormed east Aleppo and managed to seize one-third of the rebel-held area. Assad’s successes have been coming at a rapid rate lately, and we know that sounds bizarre since the battle for Aleppo has been central to the fate of Syria’s six year war. But constant bombardment – and the destruction of east Aleppo’s last functioning hospital – destroyed hope in most opposition-held districts. In addition to the Syrian army’s involvement, Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraqi militias loyal to Assad all played a role. It’s reported that tens of thousands of civilians are now scrambling for ways to escape.

Pnut Read: The Origins of the Syrian War

Ohio State Quickly Contains An Attack On Campus

Ohio State University is still shaken after a student attacked his classmates in the middle of campus on Monday. A student rammed a car into pedestrians on a crowded campus sidewalk and then left the vehicle only to begin slashing at more students with a butcher knife. The chaos only lasted for a minute – police fatally shot the suspect within 60 seconds of the attack – but the confusion and panic set in for the rest of the nation throughout the day. The campus in Columbus, Ohio remained on lockdown for two hours as people ran for cover, many of whom believed there was a possible shooter. Eleven students were sent to the hospital but only the suspect, Adbul Artan, was killed. Authorities are still unclear on motive, but we know Artan was a permanent US resident of Somali descent and a logistics management major at Ohio State.

NUTS AND BOLTS: SHOULD READ

McDonalds Added To Naughty List (Of Labor Exploiters)

If the McDonalds’ mistreatment of animals doesn’t bother you, it’s exploitation of workers should. Nepalese workers at McDonalds in Malaysia had their passports stolen and were denied promised wages according to an investigation by the Guardian. That investigation also found similar labor exploitation at Samsung and Panasonic factories in Malaysia. In both cases, the employees were hired by third party “labor supply” firms, not the larger corporations themselves. McDonalds has since cut ties with the firm, which means that the labor supply firm will either send the workers back to Nepal or reassign them to another job where the cycle of abuse can continue absent effective government intervention.

Climate Change Moves From ‘Chinese Hoax’ To Full International Conspiracy

If climate change really is a “hoax” perpetuated by the Chinese, it’s officially escalated into an international conspiracy. Australia joined the fray declaring that the Great Barrier Reef is dying due to environmental changes undoubtedly caused by our “pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” A recent report found that the Great Barrier Reef suffered its worst bleaching on record this year, adding one more to the tally of things we hate about 2016. The report, conducted by the ARC Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, indicates there is evidence to support the implication that greenhouse gas pollution is the cause of coral bleaching and death. Continued greenhouse gas emission is resulting in ever increasing sea temperatures – up to 1 degree celsius warmer than the average in some months of 2016 – which causes mass bleaching events.

PNUT READ: The Great Barrier Reef Is Not Dead, It’s Dying

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 KEEPING OUR EYE ON

Cuba: Tens of thousands of Cubans came out in Havana to pay their final respects to Fidel Castro. Meanwhile, US President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to remind people that he intends to scrap America’s “deal” with Cuba if the government in Havana did not reciprocate with “a better deal for the Cuban people.”

Zika: Health officials announced the first case of local transmission of the Zika virus in Texas. This is the second state in the US where the virus was transmitted from person to person by mosquitoes. The woman who contracted the virus had not travelled to any country or region that was fighting the virus.

South Africa: In the wake of the latest corruption probe, three ministers are now calling on President Jacob Zuma to resign. While Zuma is now facing mounting pressure from within the African National Congress, the 74-year-old politician retains popularity among smaller ANC branches and even grassroots activists.

LOOSE NUTS: FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT

NASA Desperately Needs Your Ideas On Pooping

You would think that in-space bowel movements was a problem solved decades ago, but no, NASA is still looking for ideas. The “Space Poop Challenge” – and we wish we were making this up but we’re not – is inviting members of the public to submit their own ideas or solutions for helping astronauts poop in their spacesuits. So if you can create “in-suit waste management system” that can handle six days’ worth of literal crap, NASA will pay you $30,000. We guess this is what happens when your space program gets defunded.

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