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International News

2021International NewsAfrica
Chimdi Chukwukere

African Nations Push Back Against Omicron Travel Bans

Several African nations are pushing back against what they call a discriminatory imposition of travel bans on countries in Southern Africa following the emergence of the Omicron COVID-19 variant. The protests come amidst the fact that despite cases of the new variant being discovered in several countries, including Israel, Hong Kong, The United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, and The Czech Republic, travel bans have only been placed against countries in Africa, reports CNN.

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2021International News
Katherine Dorrer

Emergence of Omicron Variant Provokes Global Fears

On November 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) distinguished the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.529, or Omicron. Although South Africa was the first nation to report the Omicron variant to WHO on November 24, scientists are unsure of where and when it originated. According to The Washington Post, the variant has been detected all over the world, including in the United States, UK, EU, Israel, Hong Kong, and Botswana.

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2021November 2021International NewsEurope
Alejandro Ramirez

Belarus Accused of Inciting Border Crisis

Belarus has come under fire from the European community for what is seen as an orchestrated attempt to destabilize Poland and Lithuania and pressure the EU to relax sanctions on President Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime in Belarus. These tensions stem from an ongoing border crisis, in which migrants are being systematically pressured, in part by Belarusian officials, to enter Europe through Belarus’s border with Poland and Lithuania.

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2021November 2021Climate ChangeInternational News
Katherine Dorrer

A Summary of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference

On November 12, The United Nations Climate Change Summit, known this year as COP26, came to an end in Glasgow, Scotland. The conference, which started on October 31, saw roughly 20,000 heads of state, diplomats, and activists meet in person after being delayed from last year due to COVID-19. Following two weeks of climate change negotiations, world leaders of the Conference of the Parties discussed topics such as climate impacts, fossil fuel policy, and climate finance.

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2021November 2021International News
Anna Thibodeau

Northern Ireland Protocol threatens EU-UK trade deal

BBC News says The Northern Ireland Protocol, a clause of the Brexit deal, was designed to prevent border checks between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, which is part of the European Union. This was done to help keep open trade along the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and to protect the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998. For this to happen, Northern Ireland must continue to follow EU product standards rather than UK product standards, resulting in the need for customs checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.

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2021November 2021International News
Kaila Engle

Arab League Representatives Hopeful About Lebanese Peace Negotiations

General Hossam Zaki, secretary of the Arab League, arrived in Beirut on November 8 to hold talks with the Lebanese government. Al Jazeera reports that the talks were meant to resolve the current rift between the Saudi Arabian government and Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi. Kordahi previously criticized Saudi Arabia’s actions in Yemen against Houthi rebels in a pre-recorded interview released on October 26. Al Jazeera continues that Kordahi sympathized with the Houthi rebels, an Iran-backed group fighting in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, claiming that they were “defending themselves… against an external aggression.”

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