On September 15, North Korea successfully launched ballistic missiles off their east coast. In doing so, they violated various United Nations resolutions. According to Al Jazeera, the missiles traveled for over two hours before they reached their target 930 miles away. During their journey, the missiles demonstrated agility by circling around into different paths.
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Xinhua News Agency, the media arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), announced further restrictions on youth gaming last week, according to tech magazine Wired. The New York Times reports that the punitive new regulations limit gaming for people under 18 to between 8 and 9 p.m., with access only allowed on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and national holidays.
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Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that he will not seek reelection after serving in office for almost exactly a year, reports The New York Times. The decision came after numerous attempts to try to salvage an administration that has become highly unpopular.
Read MoreOn April 22, the UK Parliament unanimously declared that China has been committing genocide and crimes against humanity in the Xinjiang region, CNN reports. Xinjiang is home to the Uyghurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group, and other minorities.
Read MoreEvery four minutes, someone dies from COVID-19 in Delhi, India. Smoke from mass cremation sites covered the skies in a thick layer, as seen in CNN’s drone footage. On Friday, April 30, the country continued its streak of diagnosing over 300,000 new cases in a single day, the ninth consecutive day with over 200,000 total deaths. There is increasing evidence, however, that the death toll may be five to ten times higher than reported, partly due to the country’s large population of nearly 1.4 billion people. India faces a lack of vaccines, hospital beds, vaccines, and oxygen supplies; even crematoriums are struggling to keep up with the pandemic.
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On April 11, 2021, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Gao Fu, acknowledged that China’s domestically produced vaccines offer little protection against COVID-19, reports The Associated Press.
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Violence erupted in late 2020 between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed territory self-declared as the Republic of Artsakh by its majority Armenian population. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the region became a tinderbox waiting to erupt into conflict following the 1994 ceasefire.
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Ever since Taiwan separated itself from mainland China in 1949, relations between Beijing and Tapiei have been tenuous at best. At worst, the Taiwan Strait is a hotbed for diplomatic and military gridlock as Beijing and Taiwan vie for control of the region. On April 20, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army flew a squadron of 25 aircraft into Taiwan airspace, the South China Morning Post reports. While these exercises are not uncommon in the Taiwan Strait, the incursion comes at a time of great tension between China and the United States’ growing relationship with Taiwan.
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The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is on track to release over a million tons of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean as part of its cleanup efforts. The first release is anticipated to begin in 2023, with the total process expecting to last over a decade. The move comes as water continues to accumulate, despite the plant being decommissioned following a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Read MoreThe COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly disrupted nearly every aspect of global society, making the emergence of several vaccines a welcome development. The United States, along with the European Union, has prioritized the purchasing and distribution of vaccines since early December 2020.
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