Beijing has increased its naval presence in the South China Sea, fueling regional tensions. The islands of the South China Sea have been disputed between China and other Southeast Asian states since Vietnam’s 2009 reclamation of occupied islands due to overlapping claims of sovereignty.
Read MoreAn eight-car passenger train in Eastern Taiwan derailed on April 3, killing at least 50, including the train driver and a French citizen, and injuring hundreds. The Taitung-bound train was north of Hualien when it derailed in a tunnel, which caused further damage as the cars collided with the tunnel walls, reports CNN. Authorities confirmed they removed all the passengers from the wreckage, although some of the dead have yet to be identified.
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“It is really changing Israel and the Middle East,” said Israeli Consul for Public Diplomacy Adva Vilchinski, who spoke at the School of Diplomacy about the significance of the Abraham Accord and its implications on March 25.
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People across the United States protested in support of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders following a series of fatal shootings in Atlanta, Georgia, which left eight dead, reports NBC News.
Read MoreTurkey announced in late March that it has withdrawn from the 2011 Istanbul Convention on women’s rights. The convention was held to promote the protection of women against domestic violence and promote gender equality by signatory states, reports Reuters. Notably, Turkey was the first country to sign on to the convention, which was forged in and is named after the country’s largest city.
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Associated Press journalist Thein Zaw and BBC journalist Aung Thura, among other media personnel, were released recently from detention in Myanmar. Their release comes after mounting pressure from the international community to release all journalists and cease the media crackdown. Since the February 1 coup that saw the overthrow of its democratically-elected government, a military government controls Myanmar which has cracked down on independent press coverage of protests resisting the new government, ABC News reports.
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A crowd of diplomats gathered outside a court in the northern Chinese city of Dandong to protest the trials of two Canadian citizens accused of espionage by the Chinese government.
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A young transgender woman opened the first transgender-only madrasa in Islamabad, Pakistan. A madrasa is an Islamic religious school where students can pray, learn the teachings of the Qur’an, and discuss other Islamic subjects. Rani Khan, the founder of the school, explained to Reuters that in a dream, her transgender friend who passed away was in a great state of agony, begging her to do something for the transgender community. The dream changed her life and inspired her to use her life savings towards creating this two-room school.
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Authorities in Jammu detained over 200 Rohingya refugees in early March and are threatening to deport them to Myanmar, the state from which they are fleeing. India claims that the refugees are considered “illegal immigrants” and explains they are in the process of deporting the detainees back to their home country, despite the continued severe violence against Rohingya Muslims in the region.
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The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been using humanitarian action, policy, and diplomacy to combat the impacts of contemporary warfare, according to Gilles Carbonnier, the vice president of the ICRC at a School of Diplomacy event on March 18.
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