Hungary By Hal Conte New school textbooks sponsored by the nationalist government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban have stirred controversy for promoting anti-immigrant themes. The textbooks include quotes by Orban stating that, “we consider it a value that Hungary is a homogenous country.” Defenders of the textbooks say they inspire patriotic feelings in young […]

Honduras Bianca Taipe Following the first anniversary of President Juan Orlando Hernández’s inauguration, anti-government protests in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, raided the streets. During the 2017 election, Hernández’s opposer, former President, Manuel Zelaya accused Mr. Hernández of electoral fraud. The people of Honduras demand for President Hernández’s resignation, a conservative, pro-U.S. politician. He won the election by […]

Afghanistan By Alice Hakvaag United Stages envoy Zalmay Khalilzad made a series of tweets on Saturday saying that talks between the United States and the Afghan Taliban had been “more productive than they have been in the past.” The Taliban had refused to speak to the Afghan government to negotiate a ceasefire until the US […]

Iran By Alice Hakvaag Last Sunday a 6.3-magnitude earthquake hit Iran in the Kermanshah province. Over 700 people are reported injured, with one reported related death. Out of those 700, 18 had to be hospitalized. Morteza Salimi, a spokesperson for Iran’s Red Crescent Society, said that most of the extreme injuries were caused by the […]

India By Hal Conte Rural Indians are organizing a massive mobilization of around 1 million people to highlight the dire state of affairs for small farmers in the country, who represent more than one out of every ten people on Earth. Farmer suicides have been common in the country since 1997 and the introduction of […]

Ethiopia By Alice Hakvaag Last Thursday Ethiopia elected the country’s first female head of the federal supreme court. Meaza Ashenafi has worked as a human rights lawyer, served on the UN Economic Commission for Africa, and founded the Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers Association. Abiy Ahmed, the Prime Minister, has made it a point to put women […]

Europe/Japan By Alice Hakvaag BepiColombo, a joint space mission between Europe and Japan’s space agencies, blasted off last week on a mission to Mercury. The two probes are going to observe the planet’s iron core, which is oversized and creates a lack of rocks on the surface of the planet. It will take about seven […]

Australia By Alice Hakvaag Scott Morrison, Australia’s Prime Minister, recently expressed support of a bill that “no student of a non-state school should be expelled on the basis of their sexuality.” Currently, some states allow schools the option of turning away openly gay students, even in the wake of the legalization of gay marriage last […]

China In Xinjiang, an autonomous region within Western China, officials have legalized “vocational training centers” for Uighur Muslims in the area. Uighur Muslims, with a language and culture similar to Turkey, make up 45% of the population, but more Chinese have been immigrating to the area. Human rights groups around the globe have criticized the […]

France Last June, French police arrested two Iranians for attempting to set off explosives at a National Council of Resistance of Iran meeting in Paris, France. On October 2nd, French officials accused two senior members of Iran’s ministry of intelligence of being linked to the attempt, and has since frozen assets of the officials and […]

Guatemala By Alice Hakvaag A volcano in Guatemala surprised hundreds with a large eruption last Sunday, leaving little time for nearby villages to evacuate. The eruption sent tons of ash over 33,000 feet into the sky, before having it fall back down on the mountain, burying an entire village underneath ash and mud. The blast […]

Mexico By: Alex Voisine The second presidential debate took place in Tijuana, Mexico on Monday, indicating even further the tensions and high risks that will come with the Mexico’s July 1 elections. The focus during the debates, which, for the first time ever, allowed for questions from the public, was on the economy, security, and […]

North Korea By: Alex Voisine South Korea President Moon Jae-In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met last Friday at a historic summit in Panmunjom, South Korea, marking the first time a North Korean leader had set foot in South Korea. The purpose of the summit was to discuss denuclearization and the brokering of […]

Syria By: Alex Voisine On the eve of Friday, April 13, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a series of air strikes on alleged chemical weapons facilities in and around Damascus, in response to allegations that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against civilians in the province of Douma.  American forces were joined by the […]

Syria By: Alex Voisine On Saturday, the Syrian-American Medical Society reported over 500 admissions of patients suffering from what appears to have been the effects of a chemical attack by the Syrian government. Those brought to local hospitals had difficulty breathing, bluish skin, foaming mouths, burns on their corneas, and “the admission of a chlorine-like […]

Catalonia By: Alex Voisine Carles Puidgemont, the former president of Catalonia and the foremost leader in the movement towards secession from Spain, was arrested by German authorities on Sunday as he was crossing the border into Denmark. Puidgemont, who had been living in self-exile in Brussels since October, faces a number of charges in Spain […]

Russia By Rachel Elliott On Sunday, Russian President Vladmir Putin won the presidential election, granting him six more years in office. The president received three-quarters of the votes in his landslide victory. While turnout rate was high–around 67%–European election observers reported a lack of real competition and restriction on freedoms surrounding the voting. For instance, […]

North Korea By Rachel Elliott Last week, President Trump revealed that the he would meet with North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un in May to discuss denuclearization. The meeting will mark the first time any sitting American president has met with a North Korean leader in person. Chung Eui-yong, security advisor to the South Korean president, […]