Focus on Territorial Disputes: South China Sea
The contested areas named in the case include Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands, known as the Nansha Islands in China and the Kalayaan (meaning “freedom”) Islands in the Philippines.
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March 2016
Focus on Territorial Dispute: Crimea and Donbass
BBC News has called this the “worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.”
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Focus on Territorial Disputes: Jammu and Kashmir
Pakistan has said that they should get the territory due to Kashmir’s Muslim majority. India has said that Kashmir is an integral part of its country, and the harsh terrain that must be passed to enter the Kashmir Valley is more accessible from Jammu, located in India, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
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Focus on Territorial Disputes: Western Sahara
The Western Sahara, a region south of Morocco bordered by Algeria and Mauritania, is home to the Sahrawi people, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group. Although the territory was once a Spanish colony, Morocco has asserted control over the region since 1975, when 350,000 Moroccans crossed the border to lay claim to the Western Sahara.
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Syrian Ceasefire Begins, A Shaky Peace Holds
The peace was a welcome sign for many in the war-torn country. Key rebel cities like Aleppo and Homs hosted new protests against the Assad regime, with the slogan, “The Revolution Continues.”
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Italian Senate Approves Civil Unions, Upholds Ban on Adoptions
The passage of the bill in the lower legislature would no longer make Italy the only country in Western Europe to not recognize civil unions, but it would still remain the only country that fails to recognize adoptions, according to CNN.
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Venezuela-Guyana Border Dispute Escalates
Although Venezuela towers over Guyana in both size and military stature, the clash between the two nations has restarted upon the recent discovery of oil sources in the waters near Guyana’s borders.
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Kremlin Seeks to Compete with Washington for Global Leadership
After several instances of cooperation with the United States in Afghanistan, the Russian government has decided to withdraw any further assistance to the United States or the U.S.-backed Afghan government, according to the New York Times.
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Caste Protests in India Lead to Deaths, Water Shortages
The Jat community, an agricultural caste group, has been protesting in the north Indian state of Haryana against exclusion from caste-based quota systems.
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Uganda’s President Museveni Wins Fifth Election in 30 Years
The U.S. Department of State reported “delays in the delivery of voting materials, reports of pre-checked ballots and vote buying, ongoing blockage of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp, and excessive use of force by the police.”
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