On Monday, 24th of May, the European Union (EU) paused its three billion Euro investment package for Belarus, after the forced diversion of a commercial airliner and arrest of an opposition figure on board, and will remain on hold until the country turns democratic. The EU agreed to impose further
On Monday 26th of April, at a trial of members belonging to Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party, defence lawyers walked out of court after alleging unfair treatment at the start of the trial. Reuters reports that defence lawyers stated some of their colleagues had not been allowed in the courtroom for
Since November 2020, the fighting amongst Ethiopian government forces and the ruling faction of the country’s Tigray region, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have wreaked havoc on Ethiopia. Thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands are displaced, there is widespread destruction and increased reports of indiscriminate and targeted attacks against civilians. The attacks include the
Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup more than a month ago―with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators captured protesting against the coup, escalating military and police violence, and failure to set a date to restore election and release democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi―capturing international attention and concern. World
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (U.N.H.C.R) and other humanitarian agencies have expressed growing concern for those in need as 2020 marked the lowest number of safe refugee resettlements in nearly two decades. Not only have recipient countries lowered their refugee admission quotas, but the coronavirus pandemic also introduced
On Monday, February 1st, Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup against the democratically elected government, declaring a one-year state of emergency, and detaining several government leaders. While individual leaders expressed concern and condemned the coup, the United Nations (UN) Security Council failed to condemn the coup after meeting for
On Monday, 11th of January, Chinese authorities announced that a team of international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) would arrive on the 14th in China to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. As Voice of America (VOA) reports, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian stated that the
On the 5th of January, an agreement was signed between Saudi Arabia and three other Arab countries that marks the restoration of diplomatic ties and the end of a three-and-a-half-year embargo with Qatar. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) imposed the diplomatic, trade, and travel embargo
On Monday 28th of December 2020, Burkina Faso’s President Roch Marc Kaboré promised to make reconciliation, stability, and security his priority focus for his second and final term as the country descends into violence and economic crisis. The violent security crisis Burkina Faso (BF) faces is due to the rise
On Tuesday 15 December 2020, the United Nations (UN) Security Council approved the proposal by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint a new envoy to Libya, marking another attempt to resolve the nearly decade-long conflict in the country. Guterres proposed Nickolay Mladenov of Bulgaria as the new Libya special envoy to
On Monday 21st of December, a Turkish court sentenced former Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Guven to more than twenty-two years in jail for three separate terrorism charges. The sentencing of Guven highlighted a growing concern over Turkey’s violations of fundamental freedoms and rights. In June, Guven of the Peoples’ Democratic Party
An agreement was signed on the 30th of November, between Saudi Arabia (SA) and Israel, that would allow Israeli airliners to cross Saudi airspace en route to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This open agreement comes after years of covert contact and diplomacy between the two nations. Reuters reports that
After more than a year of meetings and negotiations, on November 9th, Polish President Andrzej Duda ratified the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (E.D.C.A.), a defense deal with the United States that would increase U.S. military presence in Poland and strengthen U.S.-Poland relations. Military presence would increase by an additional 1,000
In Uganda, tensions are running high as the 2021 January presidential elections approach. Not only has the country been campaigning and planning to operate the election under COVID-19 restrictions, but there have been increased reports of political tensions and riots. Additionally, the European Union announced on Monday, November 16th that
After more than a year on the run for sedition charges and just six days from the 2020 Myanmar general election, Buddhist monk, Ashin Wirathu, handed himself over to police on Monday, November 2nd. According to Tricycle, a Myanmar court issued a warrant for Wirathu’s arrest in May of last
With worldwide restrictions, more confirmed cases of infections and increasing deaths due to COVID-19, everyone wonders when or if there will be a return to normalcy. As of October 19th, John Hopkins University shows 40,346,078 confirmed global coronavirus cases, and 8,213,035 of these are in the United States alone. Experts
