On May 8th, 2019, individuals from the SEBIN (Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional) intelligence agency in Venezuela surrounded the car of Edgar Zambrano at the Democratic Action party headquarters and towed the vehicle to the El Helicoide prison. Zambrano, an aide of opposition leader Juan Guaidó and Vice President of the
The African National Congress (ANC) has won the South African parliamentary election, but with a significantly reduced majority. The ballot on 8 May left the ANC with a 57% share of the vote, the Democratic Alliance (DA) with 21% and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) with 11%. Whilst the result
In the most comprehensive report of its kind to date, the United Nations has detailed the unprecedented current rate of decline in biodiversity – tens to hundreds of times higher than in the past 10 million years. Compiled over the last three years by more than 450 scientists and diplomats, and
Over the past week, continuous airstrikes have been carried out by the regime of Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies in North-Western Syria. The U.N. has called for an urgent de-escalation of the conflict, asking for a truce, to spare the lives of civilians. Assad claims they are fighting the
The Saudi Arabia government recently announced the mass execution of 37 men on 23 April. According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW), 33 of the men were Shia Muslims, the maligned minority Muslim community within Saudi Arabia. One of the executed Sunni men received the most horrific punishment under Islamic
Domestic violence has been an ongoing issue in Turkey. Turkey, a democratic nation by name, claims adherence to equality and to the rule of law. However, Turkey’s social, economic and political culture remains devastatingly masculine. Despite its claims to being a progressive nation, Turkey is a male-led country which directly
On May 2000 in Bogotá, when journalist Jineth Bedoya was heading to jail for an interview with paramilitary leader Mario Jaimes Mejía, she was intercepted before reaching prison and was tortured and sexually abused. Bedoya was held in captivity for 16 hours and was left on the outskirts of Bogotá
Peaceful protest underlies the importance of democracy. Recently in New Zealand, there has been a trend for protests to call on the government to make fundamental changes to legislation. On 11 April, the Postgraduate Students Association led a peaceful protest to call for the government to reintroduce postgraduate student allowances.
