Tag: Ethiopia

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Weekly Summaries

28th of June – 4th of July

Civil War in Tigray, Ethiopia

Civil war has been raging in Tigray, a northern region in Ethiopia, for eight months. On Monday night, Tigrayan fighters entered Mekelle, the regional capital shortly after the Ethiopian government troops had withdrawn from Mekelle. Shortly after entering the city, the Tigrayan forces also gained control over the airport and the telecommunications network as residents celebrated. The attack on Mekelle by the Tigrayan forces, known formally as the Tigray Defense Forces, is part of a greater counterattack against the Ethiopian government troops. Ethiopian government troops then formally retreated from the Tigray region on Wednesday after it had occupied the Tigray region since November. More than two million people have been displaced and impending crises, including famine and a lack of water, bear grave prospects for the future of the Tigray region.

Other News

  • The Trump Organization was charged with “running a 15-year-tax fraud scheme” on Thursday, according to the New York Times
  • Western Canada and the northwestern US have experienced a huge heat wave, which has been deadly
  • The highest court in South Africa has ordered the imprisonment of South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma, for 15 months. Jacob Zuma previously failed to appear before court for a corruption inquiry
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Weekly Summaries

21st of June – 27th of June

Elections in Ethiopia

Last Monday, elections were finally held in Ethiopia after delays due to the outbreak of COVID-19. However, a number of people were not able to cast their vote. In fact, out of Ethiopia’s 547 constituencies, 102 constituencies were not able to participate in the elections due to war, civil unrest, or logistical issues. At the moment, official results are not out yet, but it is widely expected that Abiy Ahmed, the current Prime Minister, will win.

Elections in Armenia

Nikol Pashinyan and his party, Civil Contract, were able to pull off a win in last week’s elections in Armenia. In November, his unpopular peace settlement with Azerbaijan after six weeks of fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, caused some civil unrest. Now, however, the results of the election speak for themselves: showing the world that the Armenian people were willing to accept the terms of the peace settlement.

Other News

  • Tong Ying-kit has become the first person to face trial under the new “national security law” in Hong Kong.
  • The collapse of a condominium building in Florida has caused 99 people to be missing, with at least one person dead. Apparently, half of the building collapsed shortly after midnight when an earthquake hit.
  • Domestic viewers will be allowed to watch at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Categories
Weekly Summaries

7th of June – 13th of June

Canada and its history

Last month it was announced that on the grounds of the old Kamloops Indian Residential School, the bodies of 215 Indigenous children had been found. This discovery has led to a wider discussion in Canada about its past. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been working on enacting a list of 94 actions to commemorate the victims and improve the lives of Indigenous people in Canada today, Indigenous leaders insist that the government is still doing too little.

Other News

  • This Sunday a vote of confidence by the lawmakers in Israel was held, which will determine the fate of the new coalition government
  • A famine has afflicted at least 350,000 people in the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. The region is already conflict-ravaged and now at least 5.5. million people in total are facing food insecurity.
  • The finance ministers of the G7 countries agreed to “back a new global minimum tax rate,” which is supposed to prevent large multinational companies from taking advantage of tax havens, according to the New York Times
  • Twitter has been banned in Nigeria
  • Tensions in Northern Ireland have increased. Northern Ireland has been left in an awkward position, caught in between the trading system of the European Union and the UK thanks to Brexit
  • It has been announced that Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, will be on the first spaceflight of Blue Origin (his rocket company) that will carry humans. He will bring along his brother and one lucky fan
  • A train collision in Pakistan, which killed at least 33 people, has raised wider concerns over the safety of rail travel in Pakistan
Categories
Weekly Summaries

7th of December – 13th of December

Brexit Updates

Time is running out for the UK and the EU to reach a deal before the UK is supposed to leave the EU on the 31st of December this year. This past Monday the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that he would travel to Brussels in a final attempt to reach a trade agreement with the EU. On Wednesday the European Commission then published no-deal contingency measures in an attempt to prevent chaos on the 1st of January 2021 if no agreement is reached till then.

Vaccinations in Britain against the Coronavirus

In Britain the first people have now received a vaccine against the coronavirus, which was developed by two companies called Pfizer and BioNTech. However, two of the people who received the shot so far have had serious allergic reactions to the vaccine, but they both have a history of severe allergic reactions. The vaccine will be administered by health care workers, the military, volunteers, and even first-aid workers. The National Health Service is aiming to vaccinate tens of millions of people in a matter of months. Furthermore, Canada has now also approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for people older than 16 years.

Other News:

  • Morocco joined the ranks of Arab countries who have normalized relations with Israel
  • Almost 50,000 Ethiopians from the Tigray region have sought refuge in Sudan
  • European Union leaders agree on a $2.2 trillion stimulus package
Categories
Weekly Summaries

30th of November – 6th of December

Ethiopia declares victory in the Tigray Conflict

After days of attacks on the regional capital of Tigray, Mekelle, the Ethiopian government claimed it had “won” the conflict against the region of Tigray on the 28th of November, without killing a single civilian. However, local farmers tell a different story, describing dozens of deaths related to the conflict.

Egyptian Human Rights Workers Released

Although the Egyptian government did try to interfere with the freedom of human rights activists in the past by, for example, preventing them from travelling, only very few were arrested and sent to prison. This changed a few weeks ago when three employees from the human rights group Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights were arrested. However, the international public put pressure on Egypt as diplomats, politicians and even celebrities called for the release of the human rights workers. In response to the increasing pressure, the Egyptian authorities released the workers this past week.

Protest in France over new Security Bill

This past week, the streets of two cities in France, the capital Paris and Lyon, were filled with protestors against the new security bill. The bill would restrict the sharing of images of police officers, in addition to strengthening government surveillance tools. Since then, the French government has announced that it will make severe changes to the bill.

Categories
Weekly Summaries

23rd of November – 29th of November

Update on the situation in Ethiopia

This Thursday, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Aiby Ahmed ordered what he called a “final” military assault on Tigray’s capital. He also announced that the deadline for the leaders of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front to surrender had passed. The announcements come after Prime Minister Ahmed released his military forces on the northern region of Tigray. According to the United Nation, hundreds have since then been reported dead and 40,000 refugees have passed into Sudan.

Scottish Parliament takes action against period poverty

This past week. the Scottish Parliament voted unanimously to make sanitary products available to anyone who needs them. This will include making sanitary products available for everyone in public buildings, including schools and universities. This is a first in the world in the fight against period poverty.