Here’s what’s going on in the world for the week of June 19, 2022.
Global News
The World Health Organization is creating a vaccine-sharing program with nations in Africa and 30 countries outside the continent to combat Monkeypox. However, the program might draw away vaccines from the continent to richer countries where the cases of Monkeypox are mostly mild whereas the ailment is endemic in Central and Western Africa.
Explainer: The Russian war against Ukraine is causing a global food shortage and raising global food prices.
While not published last week, here is a guide for making one’s garden into a carbon sink.
Americas
Columbia has elected their first leftist president in former rebel Gustavo Petro. Several other Latin American countries have also elected more progressive and leftist presidents, but in Columbia there was a mood of who the electorate wanted least in power.
Puerto Rican politicians are pushing to hold a vote on the future of the island as either a commonwealth, independent or the 51st State of the United States of America.
Juneteenth celebration in America, commemorating the arrival of Union troops in Galveston, Texas June 19, 1865, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery in Texas.
Africa
Explainer: The tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo goes back decades and is currently flaring again.
Facebook moderators failed to remove extremist content from Jihadist groups such as Islamic State and al-Shabab according to a study by Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Explainer: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and “Farmgate”, which could see the president facing criminal charges.
Europe
Dutch authorities stopped a GRU operative from infiltrating the International Criminal Court in the Hauge. The ICC is currently investigating war crimes allegations against Russia in Ukraine.
The United Kingdom and European Union are in a row over a unilateral change to the Brexit agreement made by the UK government regarding trade on the Northern Ireland border.
The EU will fine tech companies that fail to consistently deal with deepfakes with fines up to 6% of global turnover.
Middle East
Israel and Egypt signed a deal with the EU to export natural gas and oil in exchange for the EU’s assistance with energy exploration in the two nations’ territorial waters.
The EU has unfrozen aid for the Palestinian Authority.
In Iraq, Muqtada al-Sadr, the head of the Sadrist movement and ordered 73 politicians from his movement to resign from the government.
Asia
Bank customers in Henan, China found their COVID tracker apps turning red when they entered the city to withdrawal money from troubled rural banks, denying them access to public services like trains and entry into buildings.
China launches the Type 003 “Fujian” carrier on Friday.
Islamic State launched an attack on the Sikh community in Afghanistan, killing one and wounding seven in Kabul.
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