Argentina came to a virtual standstill on Tuesday, 25 September 2018, due to a nationwide strike. The strike was organised by The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), The Argentine Workers’ Central Union (CTA), and The Trade Union Front for a National Model. The country’s top seven workers’ unions, including all
The perilous Mediterranean crossing between North Africa and Europe has been without NGO search and rescue ships since August 26. Anti-migration policies put forward by the Italian and Maltese governments have succeeded in frustrating the efforts of NGO workers and restricting the number of rescue vessels in the Central Mediterranean
A leading candidate in Brazil’s presidential election, Jair Bolsonaro, was stabbed last Thursday at a campaign event. His attacker has been detained and claimed he was “on a mission from God,” reports the BBC. Bolsonaro, a former army captain and far-right politician whose popularity is on the rise, suffered a
Women’s rights took centre-stage in Argentina this August, as the Senate debated whether to legalize abortion. In March 2018, and for the seventh consecutive year, the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy (IVE) bill was presented to the Chamber of Deputies. The bill, drafted by the National Campaign for the Right to
Brazil will send army troops to patrol its northern border after violence erupted between locals and Venezuelan migrants. With thousands of Venezuelans fleeing their country each week, neighbouring states are struggling to cope with the influx. The BBC reports there are more than a million Venezuelans in Colombia, more than
Around 170 rescued migrants are being refused entry to an Italian port, under the government’s “zero-landing” policy. The Italian Coast Guard vessel Diciotti, carrying the rescued migrants and refugees, has been waiting a week for official authorisation to disembark its passengers at the Sicilian port of Catania. The policy places
Last week, states bordering the Caspian Sea signed a deal agreeing upon a legal framework for sharing the contested body of water. After twenty years of negotiations, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan have taken a landmark step towards regional peace. Under the agreement, the Caspian partners settled on 15
The outgoing Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos has granted two-year temporary residency permits to 440,000 Venezuelan refugees. The emergency residency scheme will allow refugees to work, study and receive medical care. Colombia is the main destination for Venezuelans fleeing political and economic instability at home. Over 1.5 million Venezuelans have
A joint declaration of “peace and friendship” between Eritrea and Ethiopia has brought an end to over two decades of hostilities and war. The agreement was signed on Monday, 9 July in Eritrea’s capital of Asmara by the Eritrean President, Isaias Afwerki, and the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed. The landmark
Following months of political squabbling, European leaders have reached a controversial agreement on Europe-bound migration and refugee flows. The measures were agreed to on June 27, in Brussels, as part of a wider summit on vital issues affecting the European Union. Topping the summit’s agenda was the question of migration
The fate of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, a vital lifeline to the outside world, hangs in the balance. Over the past week, Yemen’s “forgotten war” has returned to the headlines. Attention has focused on the Saudi coalition’s offensive against Iran-backed Houthis in the port city of Hodeidah. Diplomatic and
