On September 10, Greek forces attacked The Anatolian, a Turkish cargo ship, just 11 miles off the coast of Bozcaada, further straining relations between the two countries. According to the National Interest, the Greek ship assessed the Turkish cargo as “moving suspiciously,” which served as justification for their attack.
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.
Read moreUN officials, the High Commission for Refugees, the World Food Programme, and the Ethiopian government have agreed to expand access to humanitarian relief and ”scale up” efforts to reduce food insecurities in Ethiopia’s war-torn Tigray region, according to a statement by the World Food Programme (WFP). VOA reports that this agreement comes after the UN criticized Ethiopian authorities for blocking humanitarian aid from reaching the state’s rural population.
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Farmers in India began protesting the new farming regulations instituted under the Modi government in early November. Protests escalated in both size and scale in the months that followed, culminating in violent confrontations with police at Red Fort in New Delhi on January 26. Reuters reports that the protests continued February 5, with thousands of farmers across India blocking off roads with their tractors, tents, and boulders.
Read moreTo protest a newly proposed media tax, dozens of independent media outlets in Poland decided to suspend new coverage and other programming on Wednesday, February 10, with various television screens, web portals, and front pages blank or blacked out for over 24 hours.
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After a turbulent take-off, the South African government has finally started vaccinating its people against the COVID-19 virus. The country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, was among the first six people to receive the jab, according to VOA. Earlier in the month, the South African government halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine on frontline workers after a study found it not to be effective enough against the variant prevalent in that country.
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Somalia failed to pick a new president by the February 8 deadline after negotiations between the central government and the federal states broke down in the days leading up to the election, states Africa News.
Read moreCNBC reports that Russian opposition leader and Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison following his return to Russia in January. Navalny has been on a wanted list since 2014 for allegedly violating the terms of a suspended sentence. Upon his arrival at the airport in Moscow, Russian authorities arrested him before he could even get his passport stamped.
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On February 7, 2021, a massive glacier in the Himalayan mountain range collapsed, leaving at least 32 dead and almost 200 missing in the state of Uttarakhand. Part of a glacier near the Nanda Devi mountain broke off into a river, breaking dams, sweeping away bridges, and destroying hydroelectric projects in the Alaknanda and Dhauliganga rivers. Numerous towns had to be evacuated, and 13 villages are still being resupplied by air after being cut off by the flood waters, according to Reuters.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest serving prime minister, has been charged with three counts of corruption. According to BBC News, Netanyahu is accused of fraud and a breach of trust. His opponents allege that he accepted expensive gifts, such as cigars and wines, from billionaire businessmen.
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