Tag: Switzerland

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Weekly Summaries

20th of September – 26th of September

Elections in Germany

In Germany, elections took place this past Sunday. In Berlin, the marathon took place on the same day, which led to many disruptions and some people only being able to vote after the first results had already been published. The Social Democrats (SPD) ended up winning the election, winning 25.7% of the votes, earning just 1.6% more than the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which is Angela Merkel’s party. Because no party earned more than 50% of the votes, they have to form a coalition. At the moment, there are three possibilities, but the negotiation talks could take months. It is also still unclear who will become Chancellor now that Angela Merkel’s 16-year long chancellorship has ended.

Elections in Canada

After the current prime minister Trudeau called elections early this summer in the hopes of gaining a majority, the people decided last week that he should stay in power. Overall, Trudeau’s party the Liberals won 158 seats, 12 seats short of the 170 seats required to have a majority. The Conservatives, meanwhile, won 119 seats. However, voter turnout was the lowest in more than a decade, with just 59% of Canadians who are eligible to vote giving their poll.

Other News

  • Meng Wanzhou, the executive of Huawei, has been released and returned to China last week
  • Thousands of residents of the island La Palma had to be evacuated by Spanish authorities last week because a volcano spewed lava and smoke. The eruption was later called the “most powerful eruption in half a century,” according to the New York Times
  • The U.S. lifted its travel ban on foreign travelers who have been fully vaccinated from 33 countries, which include E.U. countries, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India
  • Same-sex marriages are now legal in Switzerland after many people voted for the legalisation in the vote
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Weekly Summaries

12th of July – 18th of July

Protests in Cuba

Last week, Cuba saw some of the biggest protests in decades. Thousands of Cubans went to the streets to protest against power outages and food and medicine shortages, which were caused by the country’s economic crisis. The New York Times describes scenes in which people have to wait for hours to buy food. Although Cuba had already been suffering from an economic crisis before the pandemic hit, lockdowns have meant that the valuable income from the tourism industry has also been cut.

Floods in Western Europe

Violent storms caused floods in Western Europe last week. So far, the number of deaths is over 180 but more than a thousand people still remain missing. Germany and Belgium were hit the worst but Switzerland and the Netherlands have also been affected.

Other News

  • The Death Valley in California reached a temperature of 54 degrees Celsius (130 degrees Fahrenheit) last weekend. This is one of the highest temperatures to ever be recorded.
  • After protests in South Africa connected to the arrest of the former president Jacob Zuma turned violent, the South African military has been deployed by the government. Alone 117 people died last week due to looting and vandalism. 
  • According to the New York Times more than 77% of New Mexico is “in severe drought”.
  • The designated prime minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, has resigned after months of trying to form a new government.