October 2021

October 2021OpinionClimate Change

Could a New Legal Approach Curb Deforestation?

The Brazilian Government is ignoring the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted through the combination of deforestation and agricultural exploitation practices in the Amazon Rainforest under President Bolsonaro’s administration. Officials are failing to acknowledge the climate imbalance of the Global South, wildlife extinction, and habitat loss the rainforest is currently facing.

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October 2021Frozen ConflictsConflict and Security

FOCUS on Frozen Conflicts: Israel-Palestine

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict made recent headlines in May after Israeli forces launched devastating airstrikes on Gaza. This latest Gaza war was sparked after Israeli Defense Forces raided one of the holiest sites in Islam, the Al Aqsa Mosque, during the holy month of Ramadan. Israeli forces dispersed worshippers with flashbangs and rubber bullets, wounding nearly 300 people, reports The Guardian.

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October 2021Frozen ConflictsConflict and Security

FOCUS on Frozen Conflicts: Ukraine-Russia

Seven years ago, Russia annexed Crimea in southern Ukraine, sparking the largest security crisis in Europe since the end of the Cold War. Today, this conflict continues to simmer, with over 10,000 killed and 24,000 injured, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Eastern Europe is no stranger to uncertainty, but the situation in Ukraine presents a serious obstacle to peace in the region and has left the country in a precarious state of limbo. 

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October 2021International NewsAfrica

ICJ Rules in Favor of Somalia in Maritime Dispute

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled in favor of Somalia in a maritime time dispute case instituted against Kenya over the delimitation of maritime spaces claimed by both states in the Indian Ocean. The judgement, which is binding and without appeal, was unanimous in its finding that there is no agreed maritime boundary between the two states, according to an ICJ press release.

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October 2021Eastern EuropeInternational News

Czech Prime Minister Andrez Babis loses election in surprise defeat

Czech voters gave Prime Minister Andrej Babiš a narrow surprise defeat on Saturday, October 9 during the country’s general election. Babiš and his party, ANO 2011, lost after the two partner parties in his coalition, the Communist and Social Democratic parties, failed to get elected according to the proportional representation system used to elect the lower chambers.

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October 2021Eastern EuropeInternational News

Prison Officials Designate Navalny as a “Terrorist” and an “Extremist”

On October 11, the officials of a Russian prison in Vladimirskaya Oblast, which is located about 60 miles east of Moscow, designated the opposition leader Alexei  Navalny as a “terrorist” and an “extremist” according to Reuters. He was given these designations after the same commission revoked his previous status as an “escape-risk,” a status which necessitated more tedious “accounting.”

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October 2021OpinionAsia

China’s Evergrande ‘Bites the Dust’

China’s Evergrande is facing a media crisis after missing several key payments in recent weeks, reports the New York Times. News outlets see the situation as paralleling the events that sparked Lehman Brother’s catastrophic default in 2008, a catalyst in the global financial meltdown. Despite the turbulence, Xi Jinping’s government may not bother to save the company from a fallout that has already sparked hysteria among investors. 

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October 2021Frozen ConflictsConflict and Security

FOCUS on Frozen Conflicts: Taiwan-China

Taiwan’s defense minister, former Taiwanese general Chiu Kuo-cheng, made headlines recently when he stood before the Legislature Yuan and predicted that China would launch a full-scale invasion of Taiwan by 2025. According to ABC News, the Chinese government in the past few weeks has sent more than 150 military aircraft to fly through Taiwan’s air defense zone in an attempt at intimidation.

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