INTERNATIONAL

North Korea

North Korea conducted a nuclear missile test on Dec. 12 in which an Unha-3 long range rocket-satellite was launched successfully. Ever since the test, North Korea has made  countless threats, creating a nervous South Korea, Japan and America.

According to an April Washington Post article, North Korea has created successful bombs that have a radius of up to 3,000 km. North Korea is also developing the Taepodong-2 which has a possible radius of 6,700 km, making Australia, Russia and Alaska possible targets.

According to a March New York Times article, the Pentagon will spend approximately $1 billion to deploy additional ballistic missile interceptors along the Pacific Coast to try and rule out any threat of destruction to Japan, South Korea or any nearby country.

DOMESTIC

Gun Control

Maryland is adopting some of the United States’ strictest gun laws, including a ban on assault weapons and a limit on gun magazines.

According to an April 4 Washington Post article, the legislation passed with a 28-19 vote, and it is expected that Gov. Martin O’ Malley will sign this bill into law.

The law is scheduled to go into effect by Oct. 1 and will title Maryland as one the states with the most restrictive gun measures.

According to the Washington Post article, the state will ban magazines that contain more than 10 bullets and will prohibit more than 45 types of rifles, classifying them as assault weapons.

According to an April 4 CNN article, this law will require first-time gun users to train before shooting and will ban some individuals with mental illnesses from owning a gun.

Maryland will join Massachusetts, New Jersey, Hawaii and New York in demanding gun owners to be fingerprinted, licensed and to have passed classroom training.

HEALTH

Bird Flu

The new bird flu in China, H7N9, is still dominating the country’s newspaper headlines as the disease continues to spread.

According to an April 5 BBC article, the Beijing News is reminding the citizens not to panic but is also urging authorities to be timelier in releasing information to calm public fears.

Many have questioned why it took so long for the government to announce the new cases, especially since the two victims fell ill in February.

According to an April 9 Fox News article, authorities have said they needed time to identify the virus with cases that have spread between eastern Zhejiang, Jiangsu, and Anhui.

According to the BBC article, the concern over bird flu is growing, but health authorities have made it clear that there are no human-to-human transmission of the disease.