Today marks former South African President Nelson Mandela's 94th birthday. It's a date many are observing around the world. Mandela spent 27 years in political imprisonment under the apartheid regime before his release in 1990. He was later the first democratically elected president of South Africa and served from 1994 to 1999. He received the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize.

Putting social media networks in terms we can all understand. Donuts.

So what's your favorite social media network?

Canadian newspaper, National Post, compiled information from 2011's U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center Report into a very interesting infographic on the scope of Mexican drug cartels. For years, Mexico has been plagued with violence as a result of competing cartels and government inefficiency.

Today’s world news round-up. An independent breakdown of notable global developments in a news update.

Top Story: Blast in Syria kills the al-Assad regime's minister of defense, as well as al-Assad's brother-in-law.

The Texas senate race will come down to the winner of the July 31st GOP runoff election between Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz. We are seeing a tight battle between big money and an expanded grassroots effort. Dewhurst's personal wealth gives him a huge advantage over the grassroots Cruz. But it may not be enough to win the runoff election.

By Lucy Ma, Independent Voter Network California Capitol Correspondent

Here are a few buzz worthy items making the rounds right now:

New research reported by BBC News says global weight gain is more of an environmental threat than increased population.

Americans' confidence in television news has fallen to a new low. According to a newly-published Gallup survey, just 21% of adults state that they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in television news. That is down from 46% when the polling organization first began asking respondents their views on TV news back in 1993.