The International Monetary Fund recently announced that inflation in Venezuela is predicted to hit one million percent by the end of this year, a startling figure despite the ongoing socioeconomic crisis that has already crippled the economy and caused widespread hunger, malnutrition, and frustration with a government that refuses to
A New York Times report recently revealed that at a United Nations-affiliated World Health Assembly, convened in May to pass a resolution encouraging mothers to breastfeed and limiting baby formula misinformation and inaccuracies, was blocked by the U.S. and almost did not pass. This followed after they threatened Ecuador (who
At midnight on June 24th 2018, Saudi Arabia lifted its longtime ban that forbade women from driving, nine months after the announcement was first made by King Salman, and decades after the “Women to Drive” movement first began campaigning for change. Women took to the streets in the driver’s seat
The United States recently announced their decision to henceforth reject asylum applications asking for refuge from domestic violence and gang violence, reversing a 2014 Obama-era policy that could potentially endanger tens of thousands and which only further cements the U.S.’s hardline stance on immigration, reinforced in recent weeks by the
Amidst the beginning of the fifth year of the country’s civil war, millions of people in South Sudan continue to suffer the effects of a “Never-Ending Hunger Season” that has caused widespread malnutrition and brought the nation to the brink of famine once again, spurring a humanitarian crisis, needing to
Nicolás Maduro won his second term as President of Venezuela earlier this week, despite low voter turnout due to a boycott of what many believed to be a rigged election and disillusionment with Maduro’s government from citizens living through the worst socio-economic crisis in the country’s history. Maduro won 68%
A new report published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) has claimed that global air quality has declined exponentially in the past three decades, to the point where today, an estimated 95% of the global population is currently breathing unhealthy air (according to the World Health Organization’s acceptable air quality
Nineteen-year-old teenager Noura Hussein was earlier this week sentenced to the death penalty for killing her husband after she stabbed him to death while he raped her. The decision has been condemned by rights groups, activists, and Hussein’s supporters, prompting a national and international outcry, as well as highlighting the
The abduction of ten aid workers in South Sudan – one of many over the past five years – has highlighted the risks and dangers humanitarian workers routinely face in the country. South Sudan has been mired in civil war since 2013, just two years after it first gained independence from
Hungarians in Budapest, and other cities across the country, have taken to the streets in thousands to protest the election of a right-wing government and the re-election of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán has won his third consecutive term (fourth overall) and protests come despite his tightening grip on state
After performing an autopsy on a young sperm whale that washed onto Spanish shores in February, scientists have confirmed that the whale likely died after consuming too much plastic waste and other rubbish that prohibited digestion and caused inflammation, urgently highlighting the devastating effect human trash is having on the
For the second time in as many years, thousands of Polish women took to the streets in Warsaw to protest proposed changes in abortion laws. These changes would ban abortions in cases of fatal fetal abnormalities, defects, or congenital disorders – a change which human rights groups are arguing counter
Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh are bracing for the upcoming monsoon season that is due to bring heavy rains, flash floods, landslides, and cyclones to the vulnerable refugee community who have already struggled with ethnic violence in Myanmar that forced them to flee to the neighbouring country of Bangladesh. The
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced his resignation following a domino effect of government resignations, corruption investigations, and protests, after Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiance, Martina Kusnirova, were found murdered in their home, with heavy suspicions the motives were related to Kuciak’s investigations into possible connections
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under fire and fierce criticism last week, after telling a young girl that she would be honored as a martyr if she were to die in battle for her country. That was mentioned at a rally that Erdogan was leading to raise Turkish support
Teodora del Carmen Vásquez has finally been released from prison after serving ten years of her 30-year prison sentence and losing an appeal of her case only last December. She was incarcerated under an aggravated homicide charge for delivering a stillborn baby, as a result of El Salvador’s harsh abortion
A prominent Malaysian newspaper has come under fierce criticism from international activists, after publishing an article that essentially informs readers about vague, generalized, and stereotyped mannerisms and characteristics to look out for in men and women, in order to “spot gays” in public. The article appeared in the newspaper Sinar
The Trump Administration last week announced they would be cutting funding to the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) which provides essential food, education, health, and social services to the estimated five million Palestinian refugees located in and around Israel and Palestinian territories. The decision to withhold $65 million of
An oil spill off the coast of China has steadily been growing since 6 January 2018, and has now reportedly grown to be the size of Paris. This is sparking fears of a potential environmental disaster, due to the possible effects of the spill on both birdlife and marine life
Protests have erupted in Tunisia over the past week, following announcements of a new government budget that has increased taxes on a number of goods and services in a country that is already suffering from rising unemployment, poverty, and inflation, despite being one of the only stable democracies to emerge
