In a historic trip that has not been made by an active American president since Calvin Coolidge in 1928, President Barack Obama stepped foot on Cuban soil Sunday as part of a three-day visit to supplement his plans for better relations with Cuba. While there is still a trade embargo with the nation that can only be lifted by Congress, Obama has vastly relaxed travel sanctions to allow over 100 flights per day between the United States and Cuba. Obama will be accompanied by various American company executives looking to do business with Cuba and will meet with Cuban President Raul Castro in an effort to continue increased economic relations between the two nations.
After an almost six month campaign against Syrian rebels, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial pullout of Russian forces in the region last Tuesday. While Putin assured the Russian military would maintain a presence in Syria, the order called for the main bulk of Russian forces to withdraw. Syrian President Bashar Assad was quoted as saying the Russians helped the Syrian army reclaim valuable territory that had been lost to the rebels, according to a report by The Los Angeles Daily News that cited Syria’s state news agency. Russia and the United States helped broker a cease-fire in the region that began Feb. 27, but there have been accusations of violations coming from both sides of the conflict.
A devastating storm system wrecked Southeastern U.S. regions early last week, causing as much as two feet of rainfall in some areas and forcing thousands to evacuate due to flooding. Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi were hit the hardest, and nine different locations saw record-setting flooding, including the Sabine River which toppled a 1913 record. Six people reportedly died in the flooding, according to a report by The Weather Channel.
The main surviving suspect from the November 2015 Paris attacks was captured Friday in Molenbeek, Brussels after five months on the run. After a long and extensive manhunt, Salah Abdeslam was found in an apartment near his family home in Molenbeek before he was shot in the leg and arrested after a gunfight erupted. Abdeslam’s lawyer is currently fighting an extradition of the suspect to France, but Abdeslam has reportedly been cooperating with police. The suspect is believed to have rented a car and transported several suicide bombers to stadium where a soccer match was happening. Abdeslam reportedly said he also planned to be a suicide bomber, but in the end changed his mind, according to ABC News which cited a French prosecutor.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement Thursday accusing ISIS of genocide against Christians, Shiite Muslims and Yazidis in areas of Iraq and Syria under its control. The statement came as a response to a deadline set last year by Congress to determine whether or not ISIS is targeting religious and ethnic minorities for genocide. Kerry said there was extensive evidence leading to the conclusion and that “[ISIS] is genocidal by self-proclamation, by ideologies and by action,” according to The New York Times.
