Arwa Gunja

Super Tuesday results aren't just about state-by-state winners and losers -- or about securing delegates. They're also a crucial barometer of what matters to voters and why. Detailed exit polls results from contests around the country paint a complex picture about what issues voters of different demographics are most passionate about and who they believe will be represent their interests.  

Jefferson County in Alabama filed for bankruptcy last November, with approximately four billion dollars in debt. Since November, creditors have argued that Alabama law prevents Jefferson County from filing for bankruptcy. Now, a federal judge has ruled that Jefferson County’s bankruptcy is legal, allowing officials to begin drawing up plans which will address the county’s debt.

As voters from 10 states across the country head to the polls on Tuesday, Republican candidates will be hoping to secure as many of the 437 delegates as possible. To win the party nomination, a candidate must obtain more than half of the total 2,286 delegates at the Republican National Convention. That means that what happens today could change the entire course of the primary season. Mitt Romney may be leading the pack, but he’s still far from acquiring enough delegates to become the nominee. The last race that was this close was in 2008 between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

With high unemployment numbers, a slowly recovering economy, protest movements like Occupy and the Tea Party, the economy has been a hot topic for this election cycle. And for some politicians, the most important economic indicator is the price at the gas pump: last week Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich released a 30-minute ad that faults the Obama administration for rising gas prices.

The fallout continues after reports this week that the NYPD launched a massive surveillance program targeting Muslim students on college campuses across throughout the Northeast. The story was first broken earlier this week by the Associated Press which reported that the NYPD has kept a close watch on Muslim student groups — including tracking which websites they visited, monitoring speakers at events, and sending an undercover officer on a whitewater rafting trip attended by Muslim students. 

Nearly 4.5 million people in the United States have developmental disabilities, and more so than ever, these individuals are living longer lives. With a death of a parent, siblings often take over as the primary caregivers for those with mental disabilities. The HBO documentary, "Raising Renee" follows the journey of Beverly McIver, an artist who is put to the test in raising her sister who is mentally disabled. 

In response to the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill that sought to end collective bargaining, thousands of people throughout Wisconsin protested Governor Scott Walker and what they saw as a violation of their rights. At its peak, 100,000 people had congregated at the State Capitol in opposition. Though the bill eventually passed the state legislature, seemingly overnight, a movement was born. And it didn't end in Wisconsin — the critical mass that began in the Midwest quickly spread to nearly every state in the country, taking the form of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

In August, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta began a billboard and television ads to raise awareness about childhood obesity, modeled after a successful anti-meth campaign. However, some health officials are concerned that the images and text in these ads are unnecessarily aggressive, and add to the stigma overweight children already face. In addition to sparking a month-long online protest in January, this controversial campaign has also inaugurated a discussion over whose "fault" childhood obesity is. 

The Federal Reserve announced its plan on Wednesday to keep short-term interest rates near zero through late 2014. The move signals that the Fed does not expect the economy to fully recover over the next three years. With unemployment still running high, the Fed expects the economy to expand between 2.2 and 2.7 percent over this year, instead of at 2.9 percent as originally projected.

The remaining Republican presidential candidates — Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum — will debate in Florida on Thursday evening. A new CNN poll shows the two frontrunners, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, are in a dead heat, with Romney leading Gingrich 36 percent to 34 percent. The primary is less than a week away, and the stakes are high.  The winner-takes-all state has 50 delegates — more than Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina combined.  

Most college students don’t find much time in between classes, studying, and planning their own futures to solve major problems in their local communities. But when Harrisburg, Pennsylvania found itself on the brink of bankruptcy, a college student saved the day. The 23-year-old John Campbell is also the city’s treasurer. He was elected to the post on January 3 and has a step-by-step plan to save the state capital from financial collapse.

With Texas Governor Rick Perry dropping out of the race and Rick Santorum declaring a belated victory in the Iowa caucuses, Thursday marked a day of big game changers in the GOP presidential contest. With one day left until the South Carolina primary, frontrunner Mitt Romney is slipping in the polls as Gingrich picks up more support, including an endorsement from Perry. As the Republican race gets tighter and attacks become even more brutal, how is President Barack Obama preparing for his campaign for 2012? 

Acclaimed director Wim Wenders, of past successes like "The Buena Vista Social Club," and "Wings of Desire," talks about the process of creating "Pina," his new film about the legendary choreographer Pina Bausch. Wenders was first inspired by Bausch 25 years ago when he watched her perform an emotional double-bill that made him cry. As a result, Wenders collaborated with Bausch for twenty years to develop the concept for the movie, but unfortunately the choreographer died before he ever began filming.

This past Saturday, Tunisians returned to the streets to celebrate the first anniversary of the ouster of President Ben Ali. Tunisia's current, democratically-elected leader, President Marzouki, declared January 14 a national holiday and granted pardons to 9,000 prisoners and commuted 122 death sentences. The series of protests that ended Ben Ali's 23-year reign, largely motivated by widespread unemployment and large gaps between the rich and poor, also inaugurated the Arab Revolution.

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, people across the country will honor the civil rights leader's memory and legacy in myriad ways. However, this is the first year when crowds seeking to give tribute can gather around the new Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in the National Mall. The 30-foot tall statue has been controversial because of the labor used to construct it and for its use of a paraphrased quote from Dr. King.

To citizens around the world, what goes on above the 38th parallel is largely a mystery. Though there are no questions about the numerous human rights abuses that go on in North Korea — extreme food rationing and hunger, arbitrary violence by the state, the impossibility of traveling past the country's borders — the daily reality of living through them have gone undocumented. Through years of research, Adam Johnson attempts to convey the very real and existential crises North Koreans face with his new novel.

Former journalist and human rights activist Sherry Rehman has been named as Pakistan's new ambassador to the United States. Rehman will replace Husain Haqqani, who resigned amid accusations he was involved in an effort to engage the U.S. to curb the Army's powers in Pakistan. Haqqani allegedly sent an anonymous memo sent to Admiral Mike Mullen after the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistani in May. The memo requested Washington’s help in diminishing the power of the Pakistani army. In recent days, a Pakistani-American businessman has said he was instructed to write the memo by Haqqani. 

In Libya today there are conflicting reports over the capture of Moammar Gaddafi's son, Mutassim Gaddafi. Figures from the National Transitional Council told reporters they had captured Mutassim, in the family's hometown of Sirte, but a military commander denied their claims. If the news is true, it would be a major breakthrough for the National Transitional Council. Meanwhile, an Amnesty International report expresses concerns over the Transitional National Council's treatment of suspected Gaddafi loyalists whom the group has captured and attempted to torture into making confessions.

Blogger Seth Godin wanted to help his friend and colleague Amit Gupta, who has leukemia, so he offered up a challenge to his readers: the first bone marrow donor match to Gupta who would donate stem cells would receive $10,000. But under the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, better known as NOTA, it’s a federal crime to give or receive "valuable consideration" for any transplantable organ or tissue, specifically including bone marrow. And beyond the legal aspects, some people may find Godin's gesture ethically questionable.

Mexico's War on Drugs, which President Felipe Calderón declared in January of 2007, has already resulted in the deaths of some 40,000 Mexicans, according to the Congressional Research Service. The epicenter of the violence is Ciudad Juárez, a city in northern Mexico less than five miles from El Paso, Texas. Last year, over 4,500 federal police began patrolling there, replacing army units that had been stationed there previously. Today, those police will leave the city.