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Weekly Summaries

22nd of March – 28th of March

Container Ship Gets Stuck in the Suez Canal

By now you may have seen the pictures that are spreading all over the Internet. The ship, which is about as long as the Empire State Building in New York City is high, has been stuck in the Suez Canal since Tuesday evening. It seems as if exceptionally strong winds forced the ship aground one of the Suez Canal’s banks. Because of its tremendous length, this meant that the container ship is now effectively blocking the passageway of one of the most important canals in the world, connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. Over 100 ships are now stuck at either end of the canal, carrying oil and different goods destined for ports around the world. Delays in the transportation of materials from Asia to Europe are being expected. Unfortunately, it does not seem like the container ship will be dislodged any time soon—some suspect that it may take weeks or maybe even months.

Elections in Israel

This past Tuesday, Israel saw the country’s fourth elections in two years. Netanyahu, who is the current Prime Minister, is currently facing corruption charges, but hopes that his policies dealing with the coronavirus outbreak will help him win. Israel has put a vaccination program in place that is far superior to other countries and has been able to successfully vaccinate a large number of people. Recent counts suggest, however, that Netanyahu will have to form a coalition as he only received 52 of the required 61 seats to form a majority. Several parties which jointly hold 57 seats have already announced that they will form a block against Netanyahu, while some parties collectively holding 11 seats have not yet published their decision.*

Other News

  • Indian farmers have camped outside New Delhi for four months now, protesting against the subsidy system that is considered to be “broken” by many
  • An attack by gunmen left 137 people dead in Niger

*according to the news distributor Haaretz

Categories
Weekly Summaries

4th of January – 10th of January

Storm on U.S. Capitol

Pro-Trump rioters overwhelmed the security forces present on Wednesday. The aim was to interrupt the counting of electoral votes to confirm Joe Biden as the 46th U.S. President. Chaos and violence followed, with one person shot and more dying later from their injuries. After more than three hours, the police, with support from the F.B.I. and National Guard members were able to regain control. Since, several social media platforms have banned President Trump’s accounts, including Twitter and Facebook. 

Other news

  • 100 civilians were reported dead in Niger on Monday after gunmen carried out a revenge attack in an area controlled by militants.
  • Saudi Arabia agreed to reopen its border and airspace to Qatar, after a boycott was first put in place in 2017.
  • In Hong Kong, the police arrested 53 pro-democracy officials and activists. It was the largest roundup since the introduction of the new national security law by Peking.
  • Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla replaced Jeff Bezos as the richest man in the world on Thursday.