3 things you must know this week…

1) On Monday, during a routine weekly meeting, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy, scheduled for the end of February. In the Pope’s prepared statement, he said […]

| UPDATED

1) On Monday, during a routine weekly meeting, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy, scheduled for the end of February. In the Pope’s prepared statement, he said his deteriorating health would prevent him from adequately fulfilling the ministry. The pontificate’s announcement shocked his closest advisors and the rest of the world, as he will become first pope to resign in over six hundred years. Signs of Benedict’s XVI’s age, 86, and his deteriorating health have been obvious: he appeared to doze off during Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and the Easter mass was moved from its traditional midnight hour to the early evening. According to the Vatican, the new pope will be elected by Easter.

2) On Tuesday night, President Obama made his annual State of the Union address. Obama emphasized that it’s our generation’s task to reignite the true engine of America’s economic growth, a thriving middle class. He urged Congress to act on gun violence, immigration, climate change, and budget negotiations. President Obama specifically called on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage from $7.24 to $9 dollars an hour in order to energize the economy. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, delivered the party’s official riposte, saying the President Obama’s belief in big government will only hold America back.

3) On Thursday, three men were arrested from three British meat farms in the horsemeat mislabelling investigation. Their respective farms, Farmbox Meats Ltd and Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse have denied wrongdoing. Nonetheless, the British government has temporarily suspended their operations in order to conduct a thorough investigation of their premises. The horsemeat scandal has widened as horsemeat DNA is being found in beef products across Europe. The Food Standards Agency has demanded food businesses to check for horsemeat in all processed beef products, the results of which will come out at the beginning of next week.

 

Image courtesy of politico.com