According to Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, “Israel has created in the occupied West Bank a working prototype for a total surveillance regime.” The justification for this extensive surveillance is national security, a response to the threats Israel has faced since its formation in 1948. However, the surveillance regime has
On March 25th, Canada’s Supreme Court handed out a big win for the climate by declaring the federal government’s proposed carbon price constitutional. The proposed carbon price, the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, was implemented in 2019 as a central component of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate plan. With this
In early 2020, COVID-19 swept the world, halting economies and bringing life to a standstill. Many were quick to notice the environmental benefits this brought – fish were returning to the Venice Canal and greenhouse gas emissions had dropped to record lows. However, beneath these silver linings was the realization
The COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, impacting almost every aspect of our lives. Few areas have escaped these impacts, least of all the environment. Over the past couple of months, mixed reports over the environmental effects of COVID-19 have emerged. On the one hand, the halt to economic
On Friday, September 25, Komi Selom Kassou, the Prime Minister of Togo since 2015, resigned and passed the baton to Victoire Tomegah Dogbé, making her the first female Prime Minister in the West African nation’s history. This historic event was celebrated across the country by human rights activists as it
On September 15th, 2020, diplomats from the two Gulf states of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed a deal with Israel agreeing to diplomatic and economic ties. With this agreement, dubbed the Abraham Accords by The White House, commercial air travel will begin between Israel and the Gulf states
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant challenges across the globe but particularly for developing countries. According to a World Bank estimate, 71 million people could be pushed into poverty as a result of COVID-19. It is the poor and near-poor in developing countries who are the most vulnerable to these
In a tweet on July 30th, President Trump suggested postponing the November 3rd election. The tweet read, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good) 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the [U.S.A.] Delay the Election
Less than two months after their massive oil spill in the Arctic, Russian company Norilsk Nickel has once again caused environmental devastation with an oil leak. The first spill on May 29, was so extensive that the Russian President Putin declared it a national emergency. This time, the mining company
Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, a process that was expected to begin on July 1st, has been delayed. Under the coalition agreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former military chief of staff Benny Gantz, Mr. Netanyahu was allowed to start annexation as long as the move had the
In a report published by the UNHCR on 18 June, it was revealed that the number of global refugees had reached an all time high of 79.5 million for the year 2019. Despite the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has on travelling across borders, this figure is still an almost nine
One of the groups most vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus are the indigenous communities around the world. This vulnerability is not a new phenomenon, as indigenous peoples suffered smallpox, influenza, measles, and whooping cough epidemics after making first-contact with Europeans. Due to their small communities and hunter-gatherer lifestyles, Indigenous communities
Earlier this year, the 26th Conference of the Parties climate summit (COP26), initially scheduled to take place in November 2020, was postponed until early 2021 in an announcement made by the UNFCCC COP Bureau. On May 28th, a request by the United Kingdom to reschedule the conference to November 1-12,
On Friday, May 22, the National People’s Congress (NPC) in China bypassed local legislature and revealed plans for a new national security and anti-sedition law in Hong Kong. The South China Morning Post explains that this law would “ban secessionist and subversive activity as well as foreign interference and terrorism”
Latest Developments Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel on May 13th for a brief eight hour visit. Despite Israel’s strict lockdown, Pompeo met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new governing partner, Benjamin Gantz to discuss President Trump’s Peace to Prosperity
