March 4, 2019

Yesterday, March 3, was World Wildlife Day, an international celebration of the Earth’s flora and fauna sponsored by the United Nations (UN). This year’s theme, “Life Below Water: For People and Planet,” singled out the crucial ecosystems and marine life of the world’s oceans. Life on Earth depends on the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans.

In 2019, the theme of World Wildlife Day is “Life Below Water: For People and Planet.” Credit: © World Wildlife Day

The first UN World Wildlife Day was celebrated on March 3, 2013, the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1973. The treaty—which went into effect in 1975—aims to control trade in wild animals and plants, their parts, and products derived from them. Over 170 countries around the world have joined the treaty. CITES forbids commercial international trade in certain endangered species, and it regulates trade in other species that might otherwise become endangered. Nevertheless, international wildlife trade continues to put many species at risk.

This year’s World Wildlife Day theme drew particular attention to the diverse animal and plant species that inhabit the world’s oceans. It also highlighted the importance of the oceans themselves, which—aside from providing energy, food, livelihoods, medicines, natural resources, recreation, sediments, and transportation—also absorb about 30 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.

Unfortunately, many ocean waters are polluted, and plastic marine debris in particular is poisoning the world’s waters and killing marine wildlife. Overfishing and other forms of exploitation are also reducing marine wildlife populations, as are the losses of coastal habitats and the effects of climate change. The goal of “Life Below Water: For People and Planet” was to raise awareness of the importance of marine life and to instruct people on responsible and sustainable behavior that can limit the many perils facing the world’s oceans.

Last Friday, November 30, George Herbert Walker Bush, the 41st president of the United States, died in Houston at the age of 94. He served one term as president, from 1989 to 1993. He and his son George W. Bush, who became president in 2001, were the second father and son to serve as president. The only other father and son who both became president were John Adams and John Quincy Adams, who held office from 1797 to 1801 and from 1825 to 1829, respectively.

George H. W. Bush, 41st president of the United States, served from 1989 to 1993.
Credit: White House

As president, George H. W. Bush led the nation during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, in which the United States and its allies defeated Iraq, whose forces had invaded Kuwait. He also signed important arms-control agreements with the Soviet Union and, after it broke apart in 1991, with Russia and other former Soviet republics. Prior to his election as president, Bush had been a successful oil company executive and had served a long career in government service.

Bush was born on June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts. Bush served as a U.S. Navy pilot during World War II (1939-1945). On Sept. 2, 1944, Bush’s plane was shot down during an attack on a Japanese-held island. Before parachuting from his plane, Bush scored damaging hits on his target, a radio station. Bush was rescued from the ocean, but his two crew members did not survive. Bush received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroism in the incident. He returned to flying after being shot down.

George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush.
Credit: Joyce N. Boghosian, White House Photo Office

On Jan. 6, 1945, Bush and Barbara Pierce were married. They were to become the longest-wedded couple in the history of the U.S. presidency, celebrating their 73rd wedding anniversary in January 2018. The couple had six children—George; Robin, who died of leukemia; John, called Jeb; Neil; Marvin; and Dorothy. Their son George was governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000 before serving as U.S. president from 2001 to 2009. Jeb Bush was governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007.

In 1945, Bush graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He then worked in the oil industry, becoming president of the Zapata Off-Shore Oil Company in 1954. Bush’s career as an independent oilman made him wealthy.

Bush became interested in politics in the late 1950’s. A Republican, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1966 and was reelected in 1968. In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon  appointed Bush U.S. ambassador to the United Nations (UN). He served until 1973. He was the U.S. envoy to Communist China in 1974 and 1975 and head of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)  in 1976 and 1977.

In 1980, Ronald Reagan, the Republican Party candidate for president of the United States, chose Bush as his running mate. Reagan and Bush defeated their Democratic opponents, President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale. In the 1984 presidential election, Reagan and Bush won a landslide victory over their Democratic opponents, former Vice President Walter Mondale and Representative Geraldine Ferraro.

Bush won the Republican presidential nomination in 1988. He chose as his running mate Senator Dan Quayle of Indiana. In his acceptance speech at the Republican convention in August, Bush called on the United States to become a “kinder, gentler nation.” In November, Bush and Quayle defeated their Democratic opponents, Governor Mike Dukakis and Senator Lloyd Bentsen.

Bush and Quayle ran for reelection in 1992 but lost to their Democratic opponents, Governor Bill Clinton and Senator Al Gore.

After leaving the White House, Bush became active with charitable organizations and helped raise several million dollars for various causes. In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed his father and former President Bill Clinton to lead relief efforts for victims of natural disasters in the United States and other parts of the world.

In his later years, George H. W. Bush often used a wheelchair. Even so, in 2014 he celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving!

December 7, 2017

On Nov. 22, 2017, the United Nations (UN) International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia convicted former Bosnian Serb army leader Ratko Mladić of genocide and other crimes committed during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). The focal point of Mladić’s trial was the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre of thousands of Bosniaks (sometimes called Bosnian Muslims) by Bosnian Serb forces. Mladić was sentenced to life in prison.

Supporters of Ratko Mladić wave flags and a banner with his likeness during a rally in Belgrade, Serbia, where many consider him a hero. Mladić was sentenced to life in prison for genocide and other war crimes on Nov. 22, 2017. Credit: © Darko Vojinovic, AP Photo

The Bosnian War was a conflict between ethnic groups mainly in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Through most of the 1900’s, Bosnia-Herzegovina (often simply called Bosnia) had been part of Yugoslavia. Yugoslavia began to break into smaller countries in the early 1990’s, and Bosnia became independent in March 1992. Following independence, Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian forces fought for control of the new country. The war, which often saw violence inflicted upon opposing civilian populations, ended in December 1995.

In July 1995, Serb troops captured the disputed city of Srebrenica. A group of about 15,000 Bosniaks attempted to flee the area, but the Serbs captured most of them. The Serbs claimed that the Bosniak civilians under their control would be transferred to safe areas. The Serbs sent the Bosniak women and children away on buses and trucks. But most of the Bosniak men were executed.

In 2015, Bosniak women weep over the remains of men killed in the 1995 Srebrenica Massacre during the Bosnian War (1992-1995). Many years after the massacre, bodies were exhumed from mass graves for identification. Credit: © Amel Emric, AP Photo

Investigators later found evidence that the Serbs killed over 7,000 Bosniaks at Srebrenica. The UN convicted several Bosnian Serb military leaders for their roles in the massacre. The UN also charged Mladić, then head of the Bosnian Serb army, and Radovan Karadžić, then leader of the Bosnian Serbs, with war crimes. Karadžić was captured in 2008. His trial began in 2009 at a UN criminal court in The Hague, the Netherlands. Mladić was arrested in 2011. His trial began in 2012. In 2016, Karadžić was found guilty of genocide and other war crimes and sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In 2017, a Serbian court dealt with the issue for the first time as eight former Bosnian Serb police officers accused of participating in the massacre went on trial in Belgrade. On November 22, the UN convicted Mladić on two charges of genocide, five charges of crimes against humanity, and four counts of war crimes. A week later, on November 29, Slobodan Praljak, a Bosnian Croat military commander during the Bosnian War, died after drinking poison in a UN courtroom upon the confirmation of his 20-year prison sentence for war crimes.

February 21, 2017

Yesterday, February 20, the United Nations (UN) declared a famine in parts of South Sudan, a nation in eastern Africa. Famine is a prolonged food shortage that causes widespread hunger and death. The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said that war and a collapsing economy have left 100,000 people facing starvation in South Sudan, and a further 1 million people are on the brink of famine. The WFP called for urgent and immediate humanitarian aid to slow or reverse “an escalating catastrophe.” Nearly 5 million people—more than 40 percent of South Sudan’s population—are in need of agriculture, food, and nutrition assistance.

Displaced people prepare food provided by humanitarian aid in a temporary camp near Juba, the capital of South Sudan. Credit: © Vlad Karavaev, Shutterstock

South Sudan broke away from the rest of Sudan to form the Republic of South Sudan in 2011. In late 2013, however, disagreements between ethnic groups led to civil war in the new nation. Fighting killed thousands of people until the warring sides signed a peace agreement in August 2015. Sporadic fighting resumed in July 2016, however, forcing many people from their homes and disrupting the nation’s agriculture, economy, and transportation. Crops have been ruined or left unharvested, and livestock populations have declined rapidly. Many people cannot afford the nation’s ever-rising food prices, and others are unable to reach camps that have food, water, and medical supplies.

Relief operations have been underway across South Sudan since early 2014. Aid programs have stemmed the severity of the food crisis in some areas, but they could not prevent famine in the nation’s northern Unity state, scene of the worst of the fighting. Famine struck the same area during an earlier civil conflict in 1998.

Throughout history, famine has struck at least one area of the world every few years. The famine in South Sudan is the first to be declared since 2011 when some 250,000 people died of hunger in nearby Somalia. Famine is again threatening areas of Somalia this year, and parts of Nigeria and Yemen are also currently at risk. The UN declares a famine when at least 20 percent of households face extreme food shortages, 30 percent of people are suffering from acute malnutrition, and the daily death rate from hunger exceeds 2 in every 10,000 people.

January 3, 2017

On January 1, Portuguese politician and diplomat António Guterres officially became the ninth secretary-general of the United Nations (UN). Guterres replaced Ban Ki-moon, who served two five-year terms from 2007 through 2016. The UN General Assembly elected Guterres in October 2016, and he took the oath of office as secretary-general in December. He previously served as prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002 and as the UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees from 2005 to 2015. Guterres is the first former head of state to lead the United Nations.

António Guterres became secretary-general of the United Nations on Jan. 1, 2017. Credit: Eric Bridiers, United States Mission Geneva (licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0)

As secretary-general, Guterres must steer the United Nations through major challenges such as civil wars and unrest, particularly in parts of the Middle East, international refugee crises, and the ongoing global problems of terrorism, climate change, and gender inequality.

António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres was born on April 30, 1949, in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1971, he graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), an elite engineering school. The institute is now part of the University of Lisbon. In addition to speaking Portuguese, Guterres is fluent in English, French, and Spanish.

Guterres launched his political career in 1974, when he joined the Socialist Party. He was elected to Portugal’s Assembly of the Republic (parliament) in 1976 in the country’s first democratic elections after more than 50 years of dictatorial rule. He served in parliament until 1983 and again from 1985 to 1995. In 1991, Guterres founded the Portuguese Refugee Council. He became the leader of the Socialist Party in 1992 and was elected prime minister in 1995, serving two terms.

July 25, 2014

Palestinian protests planned as a “day of rage” in the West Bank erupted this morning in violence, with at least five Palestinians killed by Israeli security guards. Palestinians took to the streets, chanting “with our soul and blood, we will redeem Gaza,” to demonstrate their anger at the deaths of more than 800 Palestinians since the latest Israeli-Hamas conflict began on July 8. Sporadic disturbances also broke out in East Jerusalem following prayers on this the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Following an international outcry over yesterday’s missile strike on a United Nations (UN) school in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has increased efforts to broker a cease-fire.

The strike on the UN school, which was being used as a displaced persons shelter in northern Gaza, left 16 people dead and dozens more injured. “Many have been killed–including women and children, as well as UN staff,” declared UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a statement issued to the media. It is yet unclear who was behind the strike. A spokesperson for Hamas condemned it as “Israeli brutal aggression that targeted” Palestinians left homeless by Israeli strikes. The Israeli military suggested that the hit was self-inflicted, noting that rockets from Gaza sometimes fall and explode within Gaza.

A Hamas supporter waves Islamic flags on the roof of the Palestinian Parliament building in the West Bank town of Ramallah. Today in the West Bank, thousands of Palestinians protested Israel's strikes on Gaza. (AP/Wide World)

Simmering tensions among Palestinians in the West Bank have raised the specter of a third intifada, or Palestinian uprising. Middle East experts note, however, that such uprisings, by their nature, are not planned. “The intifada does not start by a decision and end by a decision,” stated Othman Abu Gharbiya, a member of the Palestinian Authority’s Fatah central committee. Nevertheless, he noted, “no doubt we are passing through a dangerous time.”

The current Israeli-Hamas hostilities began when a Palestinian boy was murdered on July 2 in an apparent reprisal for the murder of three Israeli teenage boys, whose bodies were found in the West Bank on June 30. Besides the Palestinian death toll, 33 Israelis–30 soldiers and 3 civilians, have been killed so far in the conflict.

Additional World Book article:

• Israel 1987 (a Back in Time article)
• Israel 2000 (a Back in Time article)
• Middle East 2007 (a Back in Time article)

September 16, 2013

The United States and Russia agreed on September 14 on the framework for a plan to secure and destroy Syria’s stock of chemical weapons by mid-2014. The deal puts on hold the threat of a U.S. military strike against Syria for allegedly using chemical agents in an attack on Aug. 21, 2013, that left more than 1,400 Syrians dead, including hundreds of children.

This morning, the authors of a United Nations (UN) report on the chemical attack in Syria wrote that inspectors had found “clear and convincing evidence that surface to surface rockets containing the nerve gas sarin” were launched into suburbs around Damascus, the Syrian capital. However, the report stopped short of assigning blame for the attack. The United States has accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of carrying out the attack. Syria and its close ally Russia contend that rebel forces fighting to overthrow Assad were responsible.

The deal brokered by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov specifies that Syria has until September 21 to submit a “comprehensive listing, including names, types, and quantities of its chemical weapons agents . . .” Among other provisions, Syria must also give UN inspectors, scheduled to be on the ground by November, “immediate and unfettered” access to all chemical weapons storage, production, research, and development sites.

A United Nations inspector examines dismantled equipment used during the 1980′s and 1990′s in Iraq’s chemical weapons program. (Reuters/Getty Images)

The final agreement needs to be backed by a resolution by the UN Security Council, which must approve any action against Syria if it fails to comply with the agreement. However, two of the five members of the council–Russia and China–have consistently opposed any efforts to impose sanctions on Syria for the brutality rained down on Syria’s civilians during the current civil war.

International affairs experts note the implementation of the agreement faces many challenges. Syria has not yet signed off on it. In addition, Russia and the United States have not agreed on the amount and location of Syria’s chemical stockpile. Moreover, the already difficult task of destroying the weapons will be greatly complicated by the country’s ongoing civil war. And no operation of this extent has ever been carried out by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which would have technical authority over the process.

In a nationally televised address last week, President Barack Obama argued that the United States has a moral obligation to consider a military strike against Syria for the alleged chemical attack. “Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria,” the president declared.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria: The Roots of Rebellion (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)

September 11, 2013

In a nationally televised address last evening, President Barack Obama argued that the United States has a moral obligation to consider a military strike against Syria for allegedly killing more than 1,400 of its citizens in a chemical weapons attack on August 21. “Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria,” the president declared. He acknowledged that “we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Nevertheless, he argued, failing to act against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would erode an international ban against the use of chemical weapons and increase the likelihood that American troops “would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. And it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons, and to use them to attack civilians.”

President Obama, who faces widespread public and congressional opposition to military action against Syria, also said he was willing to postpone action to pursue a diplomatic initiative advanced earlier in the day by Russia. The initiative followed remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at a news conference in Europe. Asked whether there was anything Assad could do to avoid military action, Kerry declared that the Syrian president could surrender his entire stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week. In talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov then asked Syria to put its chemical weapons stockpile under “international control.” Lavrov noted that the weapons would be destroyed, presumably under the supervision of United Nations weapons inspectors. In response, Syria publicly acknowledged for the first time that it possesses chemical weapons and offered to sign the international treaty governing their use. Muallem also said Syria would identify chemical arms facilities to international observers and agree to dispose of the weapons.

A United Nations inspector examines dismantled equipment used during the 1980's and 1990's in Iraq's chemical weapons program. (Reuters/Getty Images)

In response, Kerry warned that the administration would not tolerate delays and avoidance tactics in implementing the plan. He also said the disarmament process must be “swift and verifiable.” Also on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said any agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons must include a promise by the United States and its allies not to threaten military action to enforce the agreement. The main rebel coalition fighting the Assad regime announced its opposition to the Russian plan. Coalition leaders said the plan was simply an effort to stall for time.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria: The Roots of Rebellion (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)

September 5, 2013

Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the G20 group of nations summit in Saint Petersburg, Russia, today, stating that Syria would be discussed at a dinner later tonight, despite the fact that Syria is not formally on the agenda. United States President Barack Obama is seeking international support for military strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to alleged chemical weapons attacks on Syrian civilians. Russia and China have warned the United States not to take action without the backing of the United Nations Security Council. However, Russia and China have consistently vetoed attempts to bring pressure on Assad by the Security Council. Both have insisted that any solution to the Syrian civil war must be political.

In a surprising development, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced today that military action against Syria would be one of the topics discussed at the opening G20 dinner in St. Petersburg (AP/Wide World).

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 10 to 7 in favor of granting the formal military authorization for the strikes in Syria requested by President Obama. The vote paves the way for a full vote on the floor of the Senate next week. Before the vote, the committee accepted amendments proposed by Senator John McCain (R., Arizona) that explicitly call for the United States to seek to “change the momentum of the battlefield” in ways that would force Assad to resign. The amendment reads in part: “It is the policy of the United States to . . . create favorable conditions for a negotiated settlement that ends the conflict and leads to a democratic government in Syria. A comprehensive U.S. strategy in Syria should aim . . .  to degrade the capabilities of the Assad regime to use weapons of mass destruction while upgrading the lethal and non-lethal military capabilities of vetted elements of Syrian opposition forces, including the Free Syrian Army.” (The Free Syrian Army is the most moderate of the armed rebel groups operating in Syria since the start of the civil war; among other groups, the terrorist organization al-Qa`idain Iraq is known to have moved forces into Syria.)

Arizona Senator John McCain added amendments to the Senate resolution granting President Obama authorization for military strikes in Syria. The amendments call for a "change in the momentum of the battlefield" to force Assad's resignation. (U.S. Senate).

Political experts note that the U.S. House of Representatives—with its deep and persistent divisions amongst legislators, both liberal and conservative—is unlikely to pass the resolution as amended by Senator McCain. Many liberal members are afraid that military strikes might lead to a greater involvement in the conflict. Many House conservatives are either isolationists or fear that any further military intervention in the Middle East would add to deficit spending, pushing up the national debt.

Additional World Book articles:

• Arab Spring
• Chemical Weapons Convention
• Celebrating the City of the Czars (a special report)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria: The Roots of Rebellion (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)

August 21, 2013

Syrian opposition activists have accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching rockets with toxic chemical weapons into suburbs east of Damascus this morning as part of a major bombardment on rebel forces. The main opposition alliance claims that more than 1,000 people were killed in the attacks. Amateur videos downloaded onto the Internet show people going into convulsions. Dozens of bodies, including those of small children, are shown laid out on the floor of a clinic with no visible signs of injuries.

While the claims have not been independently confirmed, a doctor treating the injured did inform a BBC correspondent that the cause of death appears to be suffocation, with signs of foaming at the mouth. “There are some kinds of symptoms that tell us that this is phosphorus, which is a chemical weapon. It may be sarin, most probably it’s sarin,” noted the doctor, Ghazwan Bwidany.

A Syrian army spokesperson denied the accusations. He accused the opposition of inventing the story in an attempt to divert attention from the huge losses rebel forces had suffered recently.

A United Nations weapons inspector. (Reuters/Getty Images)

British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French President Francois Hollande have asked that United Nations (UN) weapons inspectors be allowed access to the area. Both Hague and Hollande stated that their respective UN ambassadors would raise the issue of chemical weapon use in the Syrian Civil War in the Security Council. The Security Council responded by scheduling an emergency meeting today.

Additional World Book articles:

• Syria: The Roots of Rebellion (a special report)
• The Middle East: From Fall to Spring (a special report)
• Syria 2011 (a Back in Time article)
• Syria 2012 (a Back in Time article)