Week of 15 February

MYANMAR: Protests continue following coup – protesters have used broken down cars to block roads in the capital, Yangon, in an effort to limit the movement of security forces and civil servants. Hackers have also targeted the military online, forming part a large-scale civil disobedience campaign in response to the 1 February coup which overthrew the country’s democratically elected government and leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

SPAIN: Anger erupts on the streets following the arrest of rapper Pablo Hasél – the little-known Catalan rapper Pablo Hasél has been arrested over the content of his public comments, prompting violent protests across Spain in defence of freedom of speech and against the monarchy. Hasél is accused of glorifying terrorism and of slandering the Crown, accusing the insitution of corruption, and the police.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Concern over well-being of princess grows – concern for Princess Latifa of Dubai grew this week after a video made by the princess was shared with the BBC in which she explains her current situation, accusing her father of holding her ‘hostage’. In the video, Princess Latifa relayed the ordeal she reports suffering when she was intercepted while trying to flee abroad, after which she was forcibly brought back to Dubai, where she has been living under house arrest since.

UNITED STATES: Donald Trump survives second impeachment conviction – ex-US President Donald Trump has been acquitted for a second time after being impeached over the violent storming of the capital in his final weeks as president. The Democrat-led Senate voted 57-43 to convict Trump, short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution for a conviction. However, what was notable was the significantly higher number of Republican Senators voting to convict the former president than the singular Republican, Mitt Romney, who did so in his first impeachment trial.

Week of 1 February 2021

EUROPE: Full-scale Eurovision Song Contest ruled out – the competition’s organisers have said that Eurovision will not take place as it would normally under any circumstances, leaving three scenarios being planned for with varying reductions for events and capacities. The event, due to be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands in May, was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The organisers say they are focusing their planning on ‘Option B’, currently the least restrictive of the remaining options, however they are keeping the option to scale down on the table. 

MYANMAR: Coup sees democratically elected leaders arrested – the army have placed several of Myanmar’s leaders under arrest, including democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and have taken control of ruling the country. Around 80% of the population had voted for Aung San Suu Kyi and her party in the most recent elections, although the democratic government has fallen out of favour with the army, who were demanding a rerun of the elections, alleging unproven fraud. A state of emergency has been declared in the country. 

PORTUGAL: Emergency aid flown in from Germany – a Luftwaffe plane landed at Lisbon airport bringing doctors, extra beds and ventilator equipment to the urgent aid of a Portuguese health system at breaking point. Portugal is experiencing a recent surge in cases which places it as the worst-hit country in the world in terms of numbers of case compared to the size of the population.

RUSSIA: Navalny sentenced to three years and six months in prison – a Russian court has sentenced opposition leader Alexei Navalny to three-and-a-half years in prison for violating parole in relation to a sentence handed to him in 2014, despite widespread protests which led to arrests across the country. Sarah Rainsford at the BBC has written that these tough tactics may end up backfiring for the Kremlin.