Mueller Investigation Issues Report

After two whole years, the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller issued its final report to Attorney General William Barr. The report is said to span hundreds of pages- Hundreds of pages that Barr summarized to the Congress in four pages. One line of Barr’s summary drew most of the attention, where he stated that Mueller had not found sufficient evidence of collusion in the Trump 2016 campaign and was unable to reach a conclusion exonerating or deeming Trump guilty of obstruction of justice by firing Director James Comey of the FBI. The summary drew sharp criticism from Democrats while Republicans revealed in the apparent victory, with numerous Democrats demanding that Barr release the full, unredacted Mueller report to the public by April 2, unconvinced that it could be summarized in so few pages.

US-Russia standoff in Venezuela draws on

Four months after Juan Guaido of Venezuela declared himself president and began his bid to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, the US-backed Guaido and Russia/China-backed Maduro have dug in their heels, both sides emboldened by the world’s superpowers standing behind them. Lacking support in the military, Guaido is unable to make a decisive move on Caracas, which has been calling his bluff for some months now. While this conflict deepens tensions between the US, Russia, China, and Venezuela, the clear advantage Maduro wields serves to give China and Russia a strong foothold in South America and strengthens their contest of US influence in the region.

Trump takes aim at Obamacare

Following a disastrous midterm for President Trump, the president spent months fighting off a rising threat in the form of the Democratic party’s newfound confidence, emboldened by a strong victory based on national support for their healthcare ideals. The evident favor of the Democratic push for healthcare as a human right led Trump to initiate his own push to put the Republican party on the healthcare ballot in the runup to his 2020 challenge by big-name Democrats like Joe Biden, Beto O’Rourke and Bernie Sanders. However, Trump’s method drew confusion and dismay from Republican congressmen when he announced a push to repeal Obamacare, Barack Obama’s widely-popular healthcare program that formed the staple of his administration, with no clear plan to replace it, which would effectively leave Americans reliant on Obamacare to fend for themselves.

Japanese Emperor’s reigning era is named

As the reign of Emperor Akihito draws to a close and the monarch prepares to abdicate his throne, the title of his ruling era has finally been decided; The name of an imperial era is usually chosen near the end of the ruling period to correspond with the emperor’s title- For instance, Akihito’s father and immediate predecessor, Hirohito, held the era title “Showa”, and thus his title was just that. Akihito’s ruling era has been dubbed “Reiwa”- The first in Japanese history to be based solely on Japanese literature instead of the usual draw on Chinese culture.