News article from the week of April 10
Article #1
Lila, Muhammad. "Raid Reunites Trafficked Tea Worker Sisters." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
In West Delhi, Guar had fallen victim to the deceptive and cruel ways of child trafficking. She began to work at a tea plantation at a very young age, being introduced to the agents at 14. The agents promised her a lot of income doing work for wealthy homeowners such as cooking, cleaning and babysitting. She was convinced very easily, as most of the girls were. She was kept in a house with other girls from where she lived, they were beaten and abused, all waiting to be sold into domestic labor. After being sold to a family, she worked there with no abuse but no money income. She worked and lived there for a year and eventually got up the courage to explain her situation to a neighbor of the family who gave enough money to buy a bus ticket. She traveled home without any trouble,but arrived home to another terrible problem, her sister had been taken by traffickers. She looked to the Banchao Bachpan Andolan, an organization that helps to fight child trafficking. With the BBA's help, Guar was able to locate the place that her sister was being held in and rescue not only her sister, but all of the girls being held there. The trafficker was arrested, and Guar was able to bring her sister home safely.

These girls work for such low wages that when an opportunity comes that sounds that promising, the girls take it without a second thought. They are all just trying to support their families and help them make ends meet. The police had said that sometimes even fathers sell their daughters to escape the poverty, which shows that these people are searching for a way to live a better life, and they will take whatever risks they have to in order to get there. The traffickers prey on the poor and weak, knowing they will be vulnerable. While the police were able to stop one trafficker, they are fully aware that the problem is far from gone, and this issue is still very real. This forces the more fortunate societies to reflect on the way we live such a carefree life, and the things we consider to be dangers to our safety compared to the risks these people are taking every day to stay alive.

Article #2
Castillo, Mariano. "Dominicans of Haitian Descent Tired of Voting Bias."CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
The elections in the Dominican Republic are coming up, and with a court ruling from 2013 declaring immigrants from Haiti's citizenship invalid, these people could be left without the ability to vote. They are fighting to have their citizenship restored, and while the government has said that all of these people will gain back full citizenship, that has yet to actually happen. Dominicans of Haitian descent have always noticed a difference in the way they are treated, having many cases of blatant discrimination pop up. People have been denied national ID cards, creating a situation where the government is claiming to allow all people to vote no matter their background or race,  but in reality there is a whole group of people not being allowed to get ID's to vote because of their race. This has created a great mess in Dominican society, putting the validity of the voting system into question. the Dominicans of Haitian descent are now awaiting a hearing that will clear up long running conflicts, and may provide some information to these people caught in the limbo between citizenship and statelessness.

This lack of resolution paints a clear picture of the way the government feels about the situation. This is a very important topic and an urgent matter, one that can have an impact on thousands of lives, but the Dominican government seems uninterested. These people are merely seeking a place where they are welcome, and in this situation they do not feel welcome in the country they have lived their entire lives. The election that is about to be held needs to be considered the governments final stance on the matter. If the government is just now declaring their citizenship invalid, it makes me wonder why they have been allowed to live in the Dominican Republic for their entire lives up until this point, and whether it has anything to do with the upcoming election? The bias should not be allowed to stay at the point it is currently in, and other countries should take note of a race of people being treated differently because of their background.

Article #3
Griffiths, James. "China Remains World's Top Executioner." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
China is the worlds top executioner, executing over 1,600 people in 2015. They sentence more people to the death penalty a year than all other countries combined, which has begun some discussion on the use of the death penalty as a method of punishment. While the numbers have dropped from 5,000 in the last five years, it is still a very high number. The coverage of these executions has been reduced recently, creating a stir of confusion and worry in the people of China. There is evidence that shows China's progress to slow down the number of executions, they have decreased the number of capital crimes recently, which should help to slow the number of people sentenced to death. This slow has been pushed by the public's response to false executions, in which they have executed the wrongly convicted person just to have the real perpetrator step forward in the future. This has sparked anger in the people of China.

The coverage of these deaths being reduced raises question to the motives of the Chinese government. Many people believe that if these deaths are trying to set an example, They would be public, so why are they not being reported on? As of late, the true number of deaths is coming to the attention of many people, which may be the true spark in the reform that is occurring. Overall real progress seems to be being made, and the voice of the public is being heard. By keeping it a secret, the government was able to make decisions unquestioned, putting into question the integrity of their decisions. Now that the public eye is aware of these numbers, they will have to make decisions knowing that there will be a response. the number of executions may be heightened compared to other countries due to the higher population in China for the size of the country.