Author: Harjyot Banwait

Aid Shortfall In Mozambique In The Aftermath Of Cyclone Idai

In Mozambique, in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, cholera cases among survivors have increased to 271 in Beira alone. Despite aid efforts already underway, including Can$3.5 million pledged by Canada’s government, the amount of aid that has been either delivered or promised is widely viewed as falling far short of

Read More »

Algerian President Not Seeking Another Term

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika promised to not seek a fifth term in office after being in power for 20 years. In a message that was carried by the official Algeria Press Agency (APS) news agency, it was stated that there would not be a presidential election on April 18, and

Read More »

Bitter Cold Leaves Children Dead In Syrian Camp

In the Al-Hol refugee camp in northeastern Syria, it has been reported by the World Health Organization (WHO) that at least 29 children, including newborns, have died over the past two months, primarily due to hypothermia. Approximately 23,000 people have arrived in this camp, located in the Al-Hasakeh province in

Read More »

Unaccompanied Minor Refugees in Canada

In 2016 Canada received 287 unaccompanied minor refugee claimants, a number which later increased to 492 in 2017, according to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. Unaccompanied minors are those who arrive to the country under the age of 18 and without a legal guardian. In Canada, refugees arriving

Read More »

7 Convicted In Connection To Murder Of Honduran Activist

Berta Cáceres, indigenous environmentalist and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize, was shot dead on March 2nd, 2016, days before she was to turn 45. On November 29th, 2018, seven men were found guilty of her murder, while an eighth defendant was cleared of charges. The seven men accused will

Read More »

Bolsonaro And The Future Of The Amazon

On Sunday, October 28th 2018, Jair Bolsonaro, of the PSL (Social Liberal Party), won Brazil’s general election in the second round with approximately 55 percent of the popular vote, defeating Fernando Haddad of the PT (Worker’s Party). Immediately, concerns have been raised regarding the impact that Brazil’s new president-elect will have

Read More »

Palu Tsunami Leaves A Trail Of Destruction In Indonesia

On Friday, September 28 2018, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. The earthquake created a tsunami with a wall of water reaching as high as 6 meters. Currently, the reported death toll stands at 832 but is expected to rise dramatically, as the

Read More »

The Elections In Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe

On Monday 30 July, Zimbabweans went to the polls for Zimbabwe’s general elections. They hope for free and fair elections, as these are the first ones since the resignation of Robert Mugabe, now 94, as President of Zimbabwe, following the successful November 2017 coup. According to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission,

Read More »

Italy’s Populist Government

On Thursday, May 31, 2018 in Italy, the Five-Star Movement, a young anti-establishment party, and the Northern League, a far-right party, successfully formed a government in the aftermath of March 4, 2018 elections, which propelled these parties to an unprecedented level of significance and power. There were many setbacks and

Read More »

Amber Rudd Out And Sajid Javid In During Windrush Scandal

Amber Rudd resigned as United Kingdom (U.K.) Home Secretary on April 29, 2018. U.K. Prime Minister Teresa May, of the Conservative Party, subsequently appointed Sajid Javid to the position. Rudd struggled with explaining her role in the mistreatment of Windrush generation migrants. Rudd had claimed that her department did not

Read More »

Toughest Sentences For Mauritanian Slave Owners

In Mauritania, 10-year and 20-year sentences have been given to two slave owners. A court in Nouadhibou a northwestern town in Mauritania, gave a 20-year prison sentence to Hamoudi Ould Saleck, which was also given posthumously to his father, who passed away prior to the end of the trial. Revea

Read More »

Haiti Suspends Oxfam Operations

Great Britain’s humanitarian operations in Haiti, Oxfam GB, have been suspended by the Haitian government. The temporary two-month suspension will coincide with Haiti’s investigation of Oxfam GB’s handling of allegations of staff members paying for sex workers during Oxfam’s humanitarian work following the disastrous 2010 earthquake in Haiti. According to

Read More »

Children In Conflict Zones Face Shocking Scale Of Attacks

According to a new UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) report, in 2017, there was an extensive and blatant disregard for international laws designed to protect children. The scale of attacks on children over the course of the year were deemed to have reached shocking levels. Conflict zones, specifically, across the

Read More »

Rising Islamophobia In Myanmar Amidst The Rohingya Crisis

Myanmar is accused of ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in its Rakhine state, while 600,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to Bangladesh since August. For the Rohingya in Myanmar, there is a significant lack of public sympathy, such that governmental authorities have labeled them as illegal immigrants and denied citizenship. The

Read More »

Robert Mugabe’s WHO Goodwill Ambassador Role Cancelled

Following widespread global public opposition on Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) revoked the appointment of Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador. Mugabe was named by the WHO head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, to the largely ceremonial position on Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017, during a meeting in Uruguay

Read More »

Canada’s Opioid Crisis In Smaller Cities

During 2016 and 2017 in Canada, approximately 16 Canadians were sent to hospitals per day due to opioid abuse. The highest rates of opioid abuse-related hospitalizations in Canada were found to be in cities with populations under 225,000, including nine of the top ten Canadian cities. In 2016, the Canadian

Read More »

Families Affected By 2013 India Riots Still Not Compensated

An Amnesty International report has found that over 190 families displaced because of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots in India have not received compensation. The report found that inconsistent definitions were applied to the term family to deny compensation to families. These families, in many cases, are continuing to live in

Read More »

President Trump Pardons Controversial Joe Arpaio

The President of the U.S., Donald Trump, on Friday, August 25, 2017, pardoned Joe Arpaio, who was the former Republican sheriff of Maricopa County, in Arizona, from 1993 until January 1, 2017, following his defeat in his November 2016 bid for re-election. Arpaio had recently been convicted of criminal contempt

Read More »

The Online Abuse Of Malaysian Muslim Women

In Malaysia, the online abuse of women is considered to be highly problematic. Particularly, Muslim women, face abuse online due to societal expectations placed on them. In a specific case, a 15-year-old Malaysian Muslim girl, who had shared her dream of becoming Malaysia’s first female prime minister on Twitter earlier

Read More »