After a long struggle for democracy, Libyans have finally gained their liberty. On Thursday, Oct. 20, Gaddafi’s death was reported by the National Transitional Council of Libya (NTC) and NATO. Libya is now, after 42 years of Gaddafi’s rule, in a transition period with Mahomoud Jibril, the current chairman of NTC at the head of the provisional council’s government.

Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya from 1969 until August of this year, was killed in a cross-fire between his men and anti-Gaddafi forces last Thursday, Oct. 20. Gaddafi, 69, was found hiding in a drain outside Sirte, his hometown in Libya, where he and his bodyguards had taken shelter after their convoy was hit by a NATO airstrike as it attempted to escape. A spokesman for the National Transitional Council (NTC), Libya’s current ruling body, said Gaddafi was alive when captured but died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, according to The Guardian.

The late Wangari Maathai, the first African female to be awarded with the Nobel Prize for her fight to conserve Kenya’s forests, was known for her rallying call: “Cut one, plant two.” It was ironically fitting that on a day when the world was preparing to bid farewell to Maathai that two more African women, Leymah Gbowee and Ellen Sirleaf were awarded the peace prize together with Yemeni activist Tawakul Karman.

“Our goal is to take the first step on the path to gaining our country’s freedom. And that’s to bring down this regime, to bring down this leader.” In a recent interview with Al Jazeera, 32-year-old Tawakel Karman explained her mission in ending the tyranny of Yemeni president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Liberia’s first female president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this month. Sirleaf became the first female elected head of the state in Africa in 2005 and the 24th President of Liberia.

Whenever sex scandals surrounding politicians are announced, the public and the social media thrive on speculations. It is then asked whether the political leaders responsible for starting the scandal should step down from their position because they are deemed unfit to govern. But where do we draw the line?

Exposing a crime or a scandal is a big step towards tackling that problem, however, bringing the guilty to justice is an even bigger step. Corruption and abuse are not only limited to large organizations or in small towns; they have reached such overwhelming levels where the big sheikhs of the world are involved in scandals and similar controversial issues.

The annual meeting of global leaders with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took place on Thursday, September 22, in Washington, D.C. The managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, declared that the crises of the European Union and the United States are threatening the world economy. She warned these economies that they are entering a “dangerous phase.”

The world economy is in a perilous state right now with major risks on the rise. While the problems stem largely from politics, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Christine Lagarde said that the solutions for the problems will be found in the political sphere.

In Somalia thousands of people are suffering everyday from the current drought and famine. Delivering humanitarian aid has become a challenge, especially because of security threats from Al-Shabaab, the terrorist organization that controls the majority of southern Somalia.