United States president Joe Biden voiced his support for temporarily waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines on May 5, 2021, according to Reuters. This represents a reversal of the U.S.’s previous stance on vaccine patent wavers as the Biden administration gave in to mounting pressure from Democratic lawmakers and
Lovingly described as “the Titanic minus the orchestra” by French Foreign Minister Le Drian, Lebanon’s failure to form a new administration almost a year after the dissolution of its last, has drawn international ire—and sharp one-liners. During a recent visit by Le Drian to Beirut, he commented that Lebanon’s political
Over the weekend of the 9th of May a ransomware cyber attack shut the Colonial Pipeline in the Eastern United States. According to BBC News the pipeline carries 45% of the fuel for the Eastern United States, including petrol, diesel and jet fuel. The ransomware attack was carried out by
In a press statement released on May 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of State announced that Richard Norland will serve as the special envoy for Libya. As the December 24, 2021 elections are nearing and foreign forces continue to occupy Libya, the U.S. is recognizing that these political processes will
As neighboring India is experiencing a second COVID-19 wave, the number of cases in Nepal have also surged, raising significant concerns. Daily cases hit a high of 9,070 on Thursday, May 6 2021. This represents a massive increase over the 298 daily cases from a month ago. Cumulative deaths from
The Sackler family and its company Purdue Pharma are facing over 2,500 lawsuits related to the opioid crisis. The Sackler family is attempting to negotiate a rare bankruptcy procedure known as non-consensual third-part release. Through this procedure the Sackler family would pay $4.2 billion in exchange for complete immunity from
On May 8, 2021, the Rio police launched a shootout which took the lives of 28 people in the favela of Jacarezinho, with two civilians left brutally injured by stray bullets. Given the colossal number of deaths, the tragic event has started being referred to as the Jacarezinho Massacre. Despite
The people of Colombia have taken their disapproval of a new tax hike to the streets. The tax increase was introduced amid the pandemic and would have severely affected citizens, as the existence of a declining economy and surging unemployment continues to thrive. Those changes triggered Colombians to leave their
On 3rd May 2021, Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi allowed government armed forces and national police control over North Kivu and Ituri’s provincial governments. The decision is in response to the two eastern provinces previously declared under a state of siege on April 30th, a constitutional authority the
The United Nations has called for an independent, in-depth investigation into police violence and operation in the Jacarezinho neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. The statement, published on 7th May 2021, was created in response to police within the city firing bullets throughout the neighbourhood at citizens. Police agencies stated that
On 6th May the Scottish parliament elections took place, with the results announced two days later, confirming Nicola Sturgeon’s reign as Scotland’s first minister for the next five years. These results affirm the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) dominance in Scottish elections as the SNP enters a fourth term in office,
On 19th April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report claiming that the Chinese government is committing crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims in the Northwest Region of Xinjiang. The crimes involve systematic policies of mass detention, torture, and cultural persecution, among other offenses, that the Chinese
Public holidays in a country say more about its national identity than we might think. Sometimes these dates are inherited from old colonial times; others are a reminder of heroic feats; occasionally they are meant to commemorate an instance of grief and, on many occasions, they are a symbol of
