Monthly Archives: August 2022

Global Affairs Weekly Stories (Week of August 22, 2022)

Here’s what’s going on in the world for the week of August 22, 2022.

Global News

A team of researchers at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts are developing a targeted cancer vaccine based on mRNA technology.

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A research team from the University of Cambridge has developed a learning algorithm to help automated 3-D printers identify and correct errors and even print new materials.

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Five plants that could help the world’s food supply better adapt to climate change.

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Americas

Canada’s highest court may soon have the country’s first Indigenous court judge with the nomination of Michelle O’Bonsawin

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Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva holds a 12 percent lead on Jair Bolsonaro.

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Human traffickers are using Facebook and WhatsApp to spread misinformation and advertise in Latin America.

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Africa

The Ethiopian government has proposed a peace plan to end the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and end the violence in Tigray. But the TPLF does not trust the government to keep their word.

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More than 1,400 delegates from various political, civil and military groups met in N’Djamena on Saturday to debate a new government for the nation of Chad. However, two of the biggest rebel groups and a large political coalition did not participate in the talks.

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In Nigeria, a virus that infects 100,000 to 300,000 people in Africa a year, is raging. The Lassa virus could become a major threat outside of Africa and currently has no cure.

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Europe

Droughts in Europe could worsen the cost of living as water stress increases costs of shipping, food, water and sanitation with 60 percent of the continent affected.

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Russian-state communications watchdog organization Roskomnadzor is imposing fines and other punishment against foreign IT companies like TikTok and Pinterest for alleged violations of Russian law regarding the removal of “illegal” content.

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Explainer: What is causing the recent tensions between Serbia and Kosovo?

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Middle East

Israel and Turkey are reestablishing diplomatic relations with ambassadors to be exchanged.

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Explainer: The Iran nuclear deal maybe closer to agreement, but how close is it?

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Asia

Newly elected Philippine President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr is taking aim at critics in the media.

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Slavery allegations in Xinjiang, China, are credible according to a United Nations expert on the subject. In the cited report, other nations have been spotlighted for forced domestic servitude and forced and child marriages.

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After failing to curb resistance to military rule, Myanmar, military government chief Min Aung Hlaing is targeting government and business elites. Some analysts see this as consolidation of power by Hlaing and potentially a sign of fragile leadership.

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Global Affairs Weekly Stories (Week of August 8, 2022)

Here’s what’s going on in the world for the week of August 8, 2022.

Global News

The World Economic Forum has five stories on the environment including the world’s current energy mix, record heat waves in the UK due to climate change and a study on the world’s freshwater is now past it’s critical limit.

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Why OPEC won’t bring down oil prices.

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Americas

The Cristalino II State Park in Mato Grosso, Brazil will be dissolved after the state government refused to appeal a court decision claiming the park was set up illegally in 2001 without public consultation. This case was brought about by a company linked to Antonio José Rossi Junqueira Vilela, who has been responsible for thousands of hectares of land in the Amazon being deforested and stolen.

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Experts worry that the Ortega regime in Nicaragua is setting an example for other repressive regimes in Latin America.

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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres criticized the $100 billion profits of oil companies during the first quarter of 2022.

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Africa

According to the World Health Organization, life expectancy between 2000 and 2019 grew by an average of 10 years, while global life expectancy grew by five years.

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Senegal’s government and rebels from the southern Casamance region have signed a peace deal to help end more than 40 years of conflict in the region.

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The Nigerian government will be receiving 72 Benin Bronzes looted during the 19th Century, from The Horniman Museum and Gardens in London.

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Explainer: Kenya’s elections

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Europe

The Ukraine-Russian War at 165 days.

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Victims of Russia’s war in Georgia’s Abkhazia region are still waiting for justice.

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Explainer: Renewed tensions between Kosovo and Serbia.

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The U.S. Senate voted to ratify NATO membership for Finland and Sweden.

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Middle East

Negotiators over the Iran Nuclear Deal are optimistic about the deal’s odds of being passed.

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The protestors in Baghdad are drawing from the support base of Muqtada al-Sadr.

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According to reports, pro-Iranian government hackers launched a cyberattack against Albanian government sites in mid-July to disrupt an Iranian dissident group, Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, during a conference int eh capital Tirana.

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Asia

India and the United States will be holding annual bilateral military drills in the Indian state of Uttarakhand, about 95 kilometers from the Line of Actual Control, the border demarcating India and China.

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The government of the Solomon Islands is exerting more control over the state-owned Solomon Island Broadcasting Corporation, a move critics claim is censorship by the government.

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Explainer: Why China is staging drills over a visit by U.S. Senator Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.

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The Taliban claims they did not know that a chief of al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahri, was in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan.

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