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.
Nigeria has officially nominated Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for the position of Director-General at the World Trade Organization (WTO) (CGTN). The current Director-General, Brazil’s Roberto Azevêdo, will step down in August (Reuters). So far, the West African regional group, ECOWAS, has endorsed Okonjo-Iweala, but Nigeria is having difficulty garnering the support of other African nations (Reuters). […]
Posted July 1, 2020
On Thursday, June 18, a landslide occurred on the northern outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Landslides and deadly floods often occur during the rainy season, which runs from April to October. Abidjan is home to around five million people, many of whom live in hazardous slums in flood-prone or dangerous areas (Al Jazeera). Defense Minister Hamed […]
Posted July 1, 2020
Human rights groups are growing increasingly concerned over Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “Commission on Unalienable Rights” (Al Jazeera). Pompeo is reexamining human rights in U.S. foreign policy, determining what human rights the U.S. will recognize and protect abroad (HRW). Over 160 human rights groups and advocates have publicly voiced fear over the commission’s work […]
Posted July 1, 2020
On June 19th, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed that several governmental organizations were the victim of a state-based cyber-attack (Al Jazeera). The cyber-attacks were not a single breach, but an aggregation of attacks on the federal, state, and territorial levels of government agencies (ABC). During a press conference, Morrison did not name a specific […]
Posted July 1, 2020
Beijing is currently experiencing a second wave of the Coronavirus outbreak, which began on June 11th, 2020 (South China Morning Post). The second wave brought an end to a 55-day streak without the transmission of any new Coronavirus cases (South China Morning Post). The new wave spread from the Xinfadi market, a major wholesale produce […]
Posted July 1, 2020
The escalation in fighting between Myanmar’s military and ethnic Rakhine rebels in recent months has triggered a surge in violence against children (Al Jazeera). Rakhine state is home to the Rohingya, a Muslim minority group that faced a brutal crackdown by the military in 2017 (Daily Sabah).Violence against children increased six fold in the first […]
Posted June 30, 2020
Chilean Health Minister Dr. Jaime Mañalich resigned Saturday amid criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic (NYT). Mañalich has come under fire over the Chilean Health Ministry’s inconsistent methodology for reporting the spread of COVID-19 (Al Jazeera). Mañalich’s resignation coincides with Cipher, an investigative website, reporting that virus deaths could be much higher in […]
Posted June 23, 2020
New Zealand’s Ministry of Health announced that the nation’s 24-day streak without new COVID-19 cases ended after confirming two new cases (NPR). On June 16th, Ashley Bloomfield, New Zealand’s director-general of health, announced the origin of the two cases (CNA). Bloomfield stated that two women arrived from the United Kingdom to Auckland and later tested […]
Posted June 23, 2020
Dominant Irish parties Fine Gael and Fianna Fail agreed to form a coalition to include the Green Party. The decision ends a political deadlock caused by inconclusive elections in February (Reuters). The February elections saw previous minority party Sinn Fein win the majority of the votes. The deal excluded Sinn Fein for its Irish unity […]
Posted June 23, 2020
Rohingya refugees, a Muslim minority group fleeing persecution in Myanmar, attempting to reach the shores of Malaysia are being held hostage by human traffickers (Reuters 1). Family members of these refugees living in Bangladesh say they have received calls from traffickers demanding money for the safe arrival of their loved ones (Reuters 1). Victims have […]
Posted June 22, 2020
