Compiled by Nathan Whiteman
UNITED STATES AND GERMANY
German agricultural giant Bayer has offered a takeover bid for Monsanto. While the dollar value of the bid is unknown, the combined revenue of the two companies would be $67 billion. Monsanto has said only that its board would review the proposal.
JAPAN
An American Marine has been arrested and has confessed to raping and killing a 20-year-old Japanese girl who went missing in late April. This crime is the latest in the long series of criminal activities committed by U.S. soldiers since American bases opened in Japan seventy years ago. News of the marine’s arrest was accompanied by protests across Japan.
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFRICA
El Niño has triggered major droughts this year that threaten the food sources of up to fifty million Africans. The weather pattern has continued longer than expected forcing the nations of Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Madagascar, Angola and Swaziland to declare national emergencies or disasters.
GERMANY
Adidas is planning to bring its shoe manufacturing business back to Germany after a 20-year hiatus, but will employ very few workers due to high levels of automation.
CUBA
The Cuban government has announced that it will legalize small and medium sized business. Currently, private citizens are able to engage in commerce as individuals, but every type of larger-scale operation is government run.