On December 23rd, the Lipa Emergency Tent Camp was destroyed in a fire. Almost all of the infrastructure was subsequently ruined or badly damaged. The camp was closed immediately prior to the outbreak of the disaster as it was deemed unsafe. Located in the northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lipa housed
In the Bay of Bengal, authorities in Bangladesh relocated approximately 1,500 Rohingya refugees to a remote island, Bhasan Char. However, the relocation drew criticism from international human rights organizations. The Rohingya, a predominantly Muslim people, are highly persecuted and are stateless. The group is denied citizenship in their native Myanmar,
Following the recent crisis in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, an estimated 2.3 million children have been left without access to necessary humanitarian aid. Critical medical supplies provided by international organizations, including vaccines, emergency medications, and sanitation items, are likely running low, as communication and transportation into the region is
Thousands protested in Paris against a controversial “Global Security Bill.” The demonstrations held on the Trocadero Square in western Paris were attended by rights activists, trade unionists and journalists. Article 24 of the bill would effectively criminalize the publication of photos depicting the faces or identifying features of police officers
The Polish government has delayed the implementation of a recent court decision that would effectively ban abortion, following two weeks of widespread protesting. On October 22nd, the nation’s Constitutional Tribunal ruled that aborting fetuses with congenital defects should be illegal, even in cases of irreversible birth defects. Since the ruling,
New Zealand has officially declared a climate emergency. The government additionally launched an initiative that calls for the public sector to become carbon-neutral by 2025. Governing agencies will be required to measure and report emissions, and pay to offset carbon emissions that cannot be cut. The program is funded by
Hurricane Iota struck Nicaragua, making landfall on Monday, November 16th and is now considered the strongest storm in the nation’s history. Winds reached up to approximately 250 km/h. Surrounding countries including Honduras, El Salvador, Colombia and Panama, have also been affected. More than 400,000 Nicaraguan people were impacted by the
According to the British Foreign Office, the Falkland Islands will be free of landmines, for the first time since the 1982 conflict. Following the Falklands War, fought between the United Kingdom and Argentina over control of the archipelago, approximately 25,000 landmines remained. The clearing program has been ongoing since 2009,
The Greek government recently finalized plans for the construction of a wall along the northeast border shared with Turkey. The twenty-six kilometre wall will be added to the ten kilometres of the fence dividing the nations. The $74 million project is expected to be completed by the end of next
A staggering four million acres of California have been scorched by wildfires, effectively breaking the state record for the most land burned in a single year. The previous record, set in 2018, has more than doubled during the 2020 fire season. Already, 8,200 wildfires have damaged more than 8,400 homes
The new report, the “State of Climate Services,” asserts that over 11,000 natural disasters occurred due to weather, climate and water-related hazards between 1970 and 2019. Approximately two million people died as a result of such disasters, which ultimately cost $3.6 trillion in economic losses. Released by the World Meteorological
A new report published by the Jamestown Foundation presents evidence of mass transfers of Tibetans to military-style training centres. China seized control of Tibet in 1950, effectively threatening religious and cultural practices. Over 500,000 “rural surplus labourers” received retraining during the first seven months of 2020. The “surplus” is seemingly
