Every week, GPII Interns and Fellows scour the global news to write about what is happening in a specific issue area or region. Each post includes multiple sources and gives a brief recount of a timely event. Check back regularly to see what GPII Interns and Fellows have written.
A relentless hail of gunfire outside the Guinean presidential palace announced the beginning of the violent military coup on Sunday, September 5, 2021. The capture of President Alpha Condé, now detained by his formerly trusted soldier, Colonel Mamady Doumbouya, was met with shocked reactions and demands for his release from within Africa and around the […]
Posted October 8, 2021
The imprisonment of former South African President Jacob Zuma has started the greatest surge of violence in the country since the introduction of democracy in 1994. Riots have rocked the streets of Johannesburg as Zuma’s supporters protest his arrest for contempt of court, and the fragile economy, already threatened by staggering COVID-19 infections and unemployment, […]
Posted August 24, 2021
The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise on July 7, 2021 has ignited a spark fire of political unrest in the Caribbean country over the past month. His funeral occurred on July 23 and was preceded by protests against the murder. Citizens lit fires and demanded justice for their fallen leader, as the vacuum left […]
Posted August 3, 2021
Hong Kong has begun to tighten restrictions as coronavirus cases hit record highs (Reuters). Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam reported that more than 100 cases were reported on Sunday, the most since the pandemic began in late January (Reuters). The government has increased testing especially for individuals in high-risk areas (NYT). Social gatherings are now […]
Posted July 31, 2020
The Turkish parliament approved a controversial law on Wednesday which gives authorities greater power in regulating social media (AP). The adoption of such a law raised the concern of growing censorship on dissenting voices on social media platforms (Reuters). The law requires foreign social media sites to appoint Turkish representatives to address authorities’ concerns over […]
Posted July 31, 2020
Monday, July 27th, Papua New Guinean President, James Marape, ordered the lockdown of the capital city of Port Moresby (Asian Age). The lockdown came after the small nation’s first COVID-19 death and a rapid spike in confirmed cases (Asian Age). Within a day, Marape announced the discovery of twenty-three new positive cases (Asian Age). Before […]
Posted July 31, 2020
A new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW) details sexual violence against gay and bisexual men, transgender women, and non-binary people in Syria (HRW). The Syrian state and non-state actors have targeted people based on their perceived or known sexual orientation or gender identity, people they saw as “soft” (HRW). HRW conducted 40 interviews in […]
Posted July 31, 2020
Due to climate change, polar bears have been listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (BBC). According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), there are an estimated 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears left in the wild (NBC). A new study, published in Nature Climate Change, puts a timeline […]
Posted July 30, 2020
Poland’s right-wing government is officially planning to leave the Istanbul Convention, a European treaty against domestic violence. Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro stated he will formally ask the Ministry of Family on Monday to start the process to leave the treaty (AP). Ziobro stated the treaty is “harmful” because it forces schools to teach about gender, […]
Posted July 30, 2020
Ecuadorian Defense Minister Oswaldo Jarrin told reporters last week that the country was monitoring a fleet of Chinese fishing vessels off the Galapagos Islands (Reuters). Vessels like these pose a threat to the marine life of the Galapagos Islands, and species such as sharks, manta rays and tuna (El Universo). Patrols are currently surrounding the […]
Posted July 30, 2020
