As Coronavirus spreads around the world, health experts and humanitarian groups warn that the disease could be especially devastating for individuals living in overcrowded refugee camps. While there are few confirmed cases of COVID-19 in refugee camps, testing is severely limited, and several doctors told the New York Times that
As coronavirus spreads across the United States, jails and prisons have reported an accelerated spread of the disease due to overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. According to a Reuters report, as of Saturday, 132 inmates and 104 staff at jails across New York City alone had tested positive for COVID-19 with
On Tuesday, South Sudan’s Minister of Agricultural and Forestry Betty Achan announced that swarms of locusts had begun destroying crops and grazing land across the country putting citizens at risk of widespread famine. South Sudan is not alone in battling this unprecedented number of locusts as several countries including Yemen,
On Friday, U.S. treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin and secretary of state Mike Pompeo announced that new tariffs will be imposed on Iran following Tehran’s attack on U.S. forces in Iraq. The new measures will target eight senior Iranian officials as well as individuals involved in the Iranian textile, construction, manufacturing,
On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Japan and South Korea agreed to hold formal peace talks between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Moon Jae-in. Japan Times reported that the talks are set to take place in China during the Japan-China-South Korea trilateral meeting scheduled for next month. The summit
On Thursday, a week after Trump decided to remove U.S. troops from Syria to clear the way for a Turkish military operation, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the U.S. and Turkey had agreed to a ceasefire in northeastern Syria. This announcement came after five hours of talks between Vice
On Friday, CBS reported that Judge George Daniels of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan issued a nationwide injunction prohibiting the Trump administration from enforcing the “public charge” rule, which was set to go into effect 15 October. Judge Rosanna Malouf Peterson, a federal judge in Washington state, and Judge
On Thursday, Cameroon’s President Paul Biya announced the release of 333 prisoners arrested for their participation in separatist uprisings. Biya made the announcement on Twitter saying, “I have ordered the discontinuance of proceedings pending before Military Tribunals against 333 persons arrested for misdemeanors, in connection with the crisis in the
On Friday, Al Jazeera reported that thousands of Algerian protestors had gathered in the capital of Algiers to demand the removal of the country’s powerful army chief, General Ahmed Gaid Salah, despite a heavy deployment of security forces in the city. This demonstration marked the 31st consecutive week of protests
On Friday, a senior Kremlin aide announced that the Russian government is ready to resume the stalled Ukrainian peace process with France, Germany, and Ukraine if “concrete steps” are taken before the meeting. These preconditions include separating rival armed forces in eastern Ukraine on either side of the line of
On Friday, Indonesian Chief Security Minister Wiranto announced that the police force had banned violent demonstrations and separatist speeches in Papua following two weeks of widespread demonstrations against racial and ethnic discrimination in the region. Some protestors have called for restored internet access and the removal of extra troops deployed
On Thursday, France, Germany, Ireland, Portugal, Luxembourg, and Romania agreed to take in 356 African refugees aboard the Ocean Viking, a Norwegian-flagged rescue ship that has been stranded near Malta for two weeks. The EU Migration Commissioner, Dimitris Avramopoulos, negotiated the deal between Malta and the six other EU countries
Last week, the governments of Myanmar and Bangladesh agreed to begin the process of repatriation of Rohingya Muslims from refugee camps in Bangladesh to the Rakhine State. According to Myint Thu, a spokesman for Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Abdul Hassan Mahmood Ali, a Bangladeshi foreign minister, 3,540 refugees
On Monday, July 29, the United States Senate failed to override three of Trump’s vetoes of Saudi arms sales legislation. The bipartisan coalition supporting the regulation of arms sales needed a two-thirds majority to overturn the vetoes, but they fell short with votes of 45-40, 45-39, and 46-41. Politico reports
