Decades-old tensions are flaring in Bosnia and Herzegovina as the leader of one of the country’s three dominant groups moves toward secession. The Balkan nation is governed by an ethnicity-based system of government featuring three presidents: one Bosniak, one Croat, and one Serb.
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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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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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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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On Sunday October 31, a man dressed in a Joker costume stabbed passengers riding a train in Tokyo, injuring 17, reports NHK World-Japan.
Read MoreAt the G20 Summit in Rome on October 30, leaders of the world’s foremost economic powers agreed on a global corporate minimum tax rate of 15 percent, potentially making it more challenging for large corporations to collect tax benefits by relocating abroad, The Associated Press reports.
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Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries have announced the removal of Lebanese envoys, following statements made by the Lebanese Minister about the Saudi-led intervention in Yemen. The Gulf nations have also enacted a blanket ban on all imports from Lebanon, according to BBC News.
Read MoreOn October 26, Hindu nationalist mobs attacked Muslim-owned businesses, homes, and a mosque in the small northeast Indian state of Tripura, reports BBC News. Viral videos show Muslims being attacked and the mosque being set on fire. Videos also show members of the Hindu nationalist group Vishwa Hindu Parishad marching through Muslim neighborhoods and chanting insults against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad.
Read MorePrime Minister of North Macedonia Zoran Zaev has resigned after his party suffered a historic defeat in local elections on October 31, according to the Associated Press.
Read MoreSudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok and governmental officials were arrested in the capital city of Khartoum, halting the military and civilian power-sharing government that the country has utilized since late 2019 after President Omar al-Bashir was overthrown. As of Monday, October 25, 2021, Sudan is in a state of emergency, as thousands of pro-democracy protestors gather in the streets to oppose the military coup and the prime minister’s arrest, according to The New York Times.
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