Week in Review: Germany Builds an Airbase in Turkey, Islamic State in Mexico, Canada to Legalize Weed, and More

Week in Review: Germany Builds an Airbase in Turkey, Islamic State in Mexico, Canada to Legalize Weed, and More

Drew Angerer/TOBIAS SCHWARZ/SAFIN HAMED/CHRIS ROUSSAKIS/AFP/Getty Images

Week in Review: Germany Builds an Airbase in Turkey, Islamic State in Mexico, Canada to Legalize Weed, and More

All you need to know about everything in the news this week

April 30, 2016

Get all the important news from April 23–29 by downloading the Trumpet Weekly. Click here to receive it by e-mail every week.

Highlights:

Germany to build a military base in Turkey

  • Spiegel magazine reported that Germany is spending $73.7 million to build a new air base in Turkey.
  • It will be built at the site in Incirlik where the Bundeswehr (German Army) is currently flying reconnaissance and refueling missions into Syria.
  • The German Ministry of Defense expects its military campaign against the Islamic State will drag on, and therefore believes it needs to provide some more permanent solutions.
  • One politician expressed surprise at how quickly Germany has been able to turn Europe’s initial reaction to the Paris attacks into a long-term military presence in Turkey.
  • Is this part of Germany’s whirlwind strategy?

    • Islamic State and Hezbollah in Latin America

  • Mexican drug traffickers are helping Islamic terrorists cross the Rio Grande into the United States to explore targets for future attacks.
  • According to Judicial Watch, among these jihadists is an Islamic State operative named Shaykh Mahmood Omar Khabir, who trained hundreds of al Qaeda fighters in the Middle East. He now trains thousands of men—mostly Syrians and Yemenis—to fight in an Islamic State base situated in the Mexico-U.S. border region near Ciudad Juárez.
  • Khabir bragged in an Italian newspaper article that the border region is so open that he “could get in with a handful of men, and kill thousands of people in Texas or in Arizona in the space of a few hours.”
  • The alliance between Mexican cartels and Islamic terrorists is one of the most underreported dangers to America.

    • Thailand won’t return to a democracy any time soon

  • Thailand has been run by military rule since a coup d’état in 2014.
  • Despite promises from the ruling junta, it appears unlikely to return to a true democracy anytime in the near term.
  • Recent events suggest that Prayuth and his allies actually are digging in for the long haul.
  • A new draft charter, if accepted, would give more power to unelected officials in parliament. It also contains a clause that could allow for an unelected prime minister, potentially another avenue for the armed forces to continue wielding power even after an election for the lower house next year.
  • Thailand’s trajectory represents another blow to democracy, and could eventually threaten the close relationship the United States has enjoyed with Thailand since the 1800s.

    • Canada to legalize marijuana

  • On April 20, Canadian Health Minister Jane Philpott announced new legislation for the legalization of marijuana by next spring.
  • The same day, around 25,000 people attended Vancouver, Canada’s annual pot rally to celebrate “National Weed Day.”
  • Angus Reid Institute revealed that 68 percent of Canadians support the legalization of marijuana.
  • Philpott told her audience that the new legislation is intended to “keep marijuana out of the hands of children and profits out of the hands of criminals.”

    • Other news:

  • Austria’s far-right, anti-immigration Freedom Party stunned Europe after it claimed 35.3 percent of the votes in presidential elections on Sunday. Austria could soon have a president outside the two main parties for the first time since 1945.
  • U.S. President Barack Obama announced he would send an additional 250 U.S. personnel, including special forces, to help fight the Islamic State in Syria.
  • A 29-year study of Chinese children shows that Chinese obesity rates are rapidly expanding. Income rises in Chinese households have seen staple diets of rice and steamed vegetables turned to more sugar-rich Western-style diets.

    • Get more details on these stories and more by subscribing to the Trumpet Weekly!

    Sidebar
    𝕏