Week of 18 January 2021

EGYPT: Scandal and arrests over ‘immoral’ cakes, generating debate – a pastry chef in Cairo has been arrested over cakes which were decorated with icing in the shape of genitals. Images from the birthday celebrations at the Gezira Sporting Club were shared widely across social media and blurred versions featured in tabloid newspapers. BBC Arabic dedicated a segment of their ‘Trending’ programme to discussing the debate that had sprung up on social media about the cakes. There have been a number of prominent stories concerning arrests in Egypt over the past few years for violating family values and immorality, including the story of two TikTokers who were arrested but later acquitted earlier this month.

ITALY: Earlier this week, the Italian Government led by Giuseppe Conte barely managed to weather a crisis following a split in the parliamentary coalition supporting it. Italia Viva, the centrist party led by former PM Matteo Renzi, left the coalition apparently due to disagreements on the post-Covid economic strategy. In separate confidence votes, PM Conte secured a slim majority in the Chamber of Deputies (321 out of 630) but only a plurality in the Senate (156 for, 140 against, 16 abstaining out of 321 senators). While winning a plurality allowed Conte to avoid an outright crisis, it will be hard for him to get significant pieces of legislation through, and some observers think a snap election may eventually be triggered before the current Parliament expires in 2023.

RUSSIA: Arrests in the face of opposition protests – top aides of Alexei Navalny, the man described by BBC News as ‘the most prominent face of Russian opposition to President Vladimir Putin’, have been arrested ahead of a large demonstration planned for Saturday. Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent last August and nearly died, but returned to Russia this week, where he was immediately arrested. The protests are aimed at influencing Navalny’s release or the length of any sentence he is handed. The Guardian has reported, though, that even in prison, Navalny represents a threat to Putin. This week Navalny’s team released a massive-scale investigation into Putin’s wealth. The video, called ‘Putin’s Palace’ and published on YouTube on Tuesday 19th, is just under two hours long and has amassed almost 60 million views.

UNITED STATES: On Wednesday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States. It was a historic inauguration from several points of view. Biden is the oldest sitting president and the first former vice president to ascend to the presidency since George H.W. Bush; Harris is the first woman, first Asian American and first African American to become vice president. Upon taking office, Biden immediately signed 17 executive orders aimed at undoing some of Trump’s legacy – measures ranged from rejoining the Paris Agreement to stopping the construction of the wall on the Mexican border.

Week of 7 December 2020

AUSTRALIA: Wildfire season is off to a dramatic start in Australia, as Fraser Island, a popular getaway near Brisbane, was severely damaged by fires in the last few days. The fire on Fraser Island reminded many of the tragic 2019–20 wildfire season, which made headlines across the world before Covid-19 and caused hundreds of casualties and an estimated A$100 billion worth of damages. The current season has been quieter so far, but experts argue that climate change is making Australia more fire-prone by the year due to the higher incidence of droughts and heatwaves. 

ITALY & EGYPT: Italian prosecutors are going to charge four senior members of the Egyptian security services over their alleged participation in the disappearance and murder of Cambridge PhD student Giulio Regeni, in early 2016. Regeni was tortured and killed in unknown circumstances while he was living in Cairo to work on his doctoral project about Egypt’s labour movement. The latest developments mark a further delicate moment in the already tense relations between Italy and Egypt following the murder. 

LEBANON: Hassan Diab, the acting prime minister of Lebanon, has been charged with negligence alongside three former ministers over the blast that destroyed a large part of the city on 4 August. Including the latest four charges, 37 people have now been declared ‘suspects’ in the case. The catastrophic explosion, which killed over 200 people, was triggered by the combustion of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate and has been widely chalked up to the country’s long history of corruption. 

USA: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of more than 40 states have formally accused Facebook of taking illegal actions to out-compete and buy its rivals. The lawsuit focuses on Facebook’s acquisition of former rivals Instagram (in 2012) and WhatsApp (in 2014), which have helped the social network cement its global dominance and for which it paid sums that appear minuscule in hindsight. Facebook officials have replied that the accusations are unfounded, since regulators approved the acquisitions when they took place. This lawsuit represents the U.S. government’s most forceful and hostile action against Big Tech to date. 

Week of 9 November 2020

AUSTRALIA: Australia Post to encourage optional use of Aboriginal place names – following a grassroots campaign, Australia Post has announced that they will support the optional inclusion of Aboriginal place names in addresses. Rachael McPhail is the woman behind the campaign – she is of Gomeroi heritage and has been encouraging the wider acceptance of First Nations place names in addresses across Australian institutions and businesses that operate in the country, such as Uber. It is a step in the right direction with regards to decolonising important aspects of Australian society, such as the recognition and awareness of the First Nation Country in which Australians themselves live, or likewise the Country to which they’re sending their post.

CENTRAL AMERICA: Second storm on track to batter the region – following in the path of Hurricane Eta, which killed 200 people earlier this month (read the CLC News Round-up from week commencing 2/11 for more), Hurricane Iota is expected to make landfall in Honduras and Nicaragua on Monday. Forecasters have said the storm is growing rapidly stronger and the National Hurricane Center has warned that the recent effects of Hurricane Eta could worsen any flooding and mudslides. People in the region have been told to expect ‘life-threatening’ flooding. This would be the thirtieth storm to sweep across the region this year, a record-breaking figure. The Guatemalan president has accused industrialised nations of being ultimately responsible for the increased number and intensity of hurricanes. He highlighted that the effects of climate change are felt strongly in his country’s region, among the most impoverished in the world, and that industrialised nations provide very little in the way of aid and support.

GERMANY AND UNITED STATES: Covid vaccine found to be highly effective – one of the only good-news stories of the past months has been Pfizer and BioNTech’s announcement this week of a Covid-19 vaccine with astounding 90% efficacy. However, the big name of the American multinational pharmaceutical company which has made it to the headlines, in fact, overshadows the other half of the story. The vaccine has actually been produced through a collaboration of Pfizer and a lesser-known German biotech company, BioNTech, which had been working on a mRNA-based flu vaccine before the arrival of the Coronavirus pandemic, but noted its potential with regards to providing immunity from Covid-19. The company is based in Mainz and was founded by a Turkish German husband-wife duo; BioNTech is leading the breakthrough scientific research and development of the vaccine, whereas Pfizer is lending its weight as a huge multinational to run trials, clear the relevant regulatory hurdles and, in the process, garner much of the immediate media attention. Although, BBC News is reporting, as one of its leading stories this weekend, that BioNTech CEO Prof Ugur Sahin affirms normal life will be back by next winter. Reading deeper into the story of BioNTech, however, helps us to understand just how pioneering this new technology is and the exciting future it may have ahead of it.

UNITED STATES: Election drama drags on as Trump refuses to concede – Election Day may feel a somewhat distant memory in a world of ephemeral news cycles. However, the aftermath – despite a now clear Biden win – is, as predicted, still only beginning to play out. Legal challenges have been launched by the Trump campaign across the US, although few, if any, are expected to see much success in the courts. Thousands also descended on Washington DC this Saturday 14 in support of Donald Trump at the Million MAGA March. Nevertheless, Trump’s long game is beginning to become clear: maintain support among his base, potentially for another presidential run in 2024. No doubt, however, that the sowing of doubt surrounding the integrity of democratic processes will serve to only weaken the foundations of American democracy, which, after four years of a Trump White House, already finds itself on increasingly unstable ground.

Week of 2 November 2020

AUSTRIA: Vienna terrorist attack – terrorists launched a gun attack on the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Monday night. Four were killed and 23 others were left wounded, many seriously. The 20-year-old attacker was shot dead by police nine minutes into the attack. In the days following the attack, it has come to light that the attacker had travelled to neighbouring Slovakia to attempt to buy ammunition for an AK-47 assault rifle. The Slovakian authorities informed their Austrian counterparts of this fact, although the Austrian Interior Minister has admitted that there were failings in communication. A commission will be set up to investigate. 

CENTRAL AMERICA: Tropical storm batters the region – Hurricane Eta swept through the Caribbean and Central America earlier this week, killing three in Nicaragua and Honduras. When the storm made landfall in Nicaragua on Tuesday, it was categorised as a Category Four hurricane with winds of up to 140mph. Torrential rains have led to significant flooding in many areas. The storm has since been downgraded, although the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in the US warns that life-threatening flash flooding is still possible in the, albeit weakened, storm’s path.

FRANCE: Macron calls boycott ‘shameful’ and ‘unacceptable’ – President Macron has stood firm in his rhetoric on radical Islamism and his calls to protect of the values of the République, despite the sharp backlash in many Muslim countries and communities in past weeks. Anger towards France among Muslims has surged in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice, with old tensions surrounding the caricaturing of the Prophet Muhammad once again at the fore. Many Muslims are boycotting French products, the scale of which has alarmed the French government. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also weighed in, seemingly suggesting that Macron seek medical help. In an interview with Al Jazeera, the French president defended a free press and strongly criticised the boycott of French products. This protest has been called in a number of countries in response to some of Macron’s earlier comments, seen by many as an attack on Islam.

UNITED STATES: Biden leads in an unprecedented election – Americans have elected their next president, all that’s left to do is count the votes to discover who that is: former Vice President Joe Biden or President Donald Trump. Counting the votes is, however, proving to be the most controversial aspect of this election. Donald Trump has been tweeting misinformation about unproven voter fraud in an apparent attempt to undermine the democratic process. Meanwhile, Joe Biden has expressed confidence that he will win the key, remaining battleground states and, consequently, the presidency. However, the former vice president has notably not claimed any election victory as of yet, unlike his opponent. The reason the election has not yet been called lies in both the unexpected closeness of this race and the historically high levels of absentee voting, given the Covid-19 pandemic. Biden has importantly flipped the states of Michigan and Wisconsin; some networks have also projected a Biden win in Arizona. With only a handful of states left to finish their counts, Trump’s path back to the White House now seems extremely complicated. The Trump campaign have, however, already launched legal challenges in a number of states, so the results of this election could be far from decided for weeks to come. 

Week of 26 October 2020

ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN: On Friday, representatives from the two warring countries arrived in Geneva for a round of peace talks. Representatives from France, Russia and the U.S. will also participate in this latest attempt to solve the largest military confrontation in the area since the Nagorno-Karabakh War of 1991–94. In a potential breakthrough, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would accept a return of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region (currently occupied by Armenia) to Azerbaijan, recognising that ‘there are no simple solutions’ in sight. 

FRANCE: It’s been quite a difficult week for France. On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron announced a new nationwide lockdown to last at least until the end of November, hoping to curb the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the country. Under the new rules, all non-essential businesses will close but factories and schools will remain open. This is in addition to the curfews which have already been in force in most French cities since last week. Then, on Thursday, a man killed three people with a knife in the city of Nice in what has been described as a terrorist incident, prompting Mr Macron to raise the terror alert level to ‘maximum’. 

GERMANY: On Saturday, Berlin’s long-awaited new international airport will finally open its doors to travellers. The delays and ballooning costs of the project have caused ample debate in Germany over the years: the airport was first scheduled to open in 2011 and construction costs have exceeded initial estimates by over €4bn. It is believed that the decrease in traffic due to the pandemic will make the opening easier: when fully operative, the airport will be able to handle 58 million passengers per year, but currently Berlin’s other two airports are serving as few as 2,500 passengers per day. 

NIGERIA: The Financial Times has published a detailed special report to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. Nigeria became an independent state on 1 October 1960, as had been agreed with the British government two years prior, and underwent long periods of ethnic tension and military rule in the following decades before emerging as a stable (if flawed) democracy. Its booming economy is Africa’s biggest, having overtaken South Africa in recent years, and its growing population – now exceeding 200 million – is the seventh-largest in the world. The Financial Times’s report sheds an interesting light on the African superpower’s strengths and challenges going forward. 

USA: Hopefully, by the time you’ll read our next weekly digest, we’ll know the name of the winner of the U.S. presidential election. President Donald Trump currently trails former Vice President Joe Biden by about nine points and might become the first sitting president to lose re-election since 1992. At the time of writing, more than 82 million early votes had already been cast in what is on track to become the highest-turnout U.S. election in a century. 

Week of 12 October 2020

ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN: Last weekend, the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan struck a ceasefire to suspend fighting over the contended region of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, fighting has quickly resumed with both parties blaming the other for breaking the truce and launching attacks on civilians. Many countries around the world, including Russia and Turkey, have urged the two countries to respect the ceasefire and initiate talks, with little success so far. 

CHINA: A long article on The Atlantic investigates how milk tea has become a symbol of anti-China sentiment and pro-democracy activism in East Asia. It started when Thai actor Vachirawit Chirawee liked an Instagram post suggesting that Hong Kong was not China. This sparked a heated debate on identity and democracy, and Thai, Taiwanese and Hong Kongese activists began to use their respective signature drinks as symbols of identity – Thai tea (made with condensed milk), Taiwanese bubble tea and Hong Kong–style milk tea, all characterised by the use of milk as opposed to the Chinese habit of drinking tea without milk. The hashtag #milkteaalliance is now extremely popular on social media.

FRANCE: President Emmanuel Macron has announced a curfew in Paris and eight other major French cities, with a total population of nearly 20 million, to curb the rapid increase in COVID-19 cases in the country. The curfew will be in place from 9pm to 6am for a minimum of four weeks, starting at midnight on Friday. During curfew, people are generally expected not to leave their homes unless they have cogent reasons to do so, such as health or professional reasons; curfew breakers are subject to a €135 fine. France registered upwards of 30,000 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday and is the second hardest-hit European country so far after Spain, with a total of more than 800,000 registered cases. 

KYRGYZSTAN: President Sooronbay Jeenbekov resigned on Thursday, in a new dramatic development in the crisis following Kyrgyzstan’s 4 October general election. The election result was annulled on 6 October amid mass demonstrations and protests due to alleged electoral fraud. The annulment prompted the resignation of PM Kubatbek Boronov, who was replaced by nationalist activist Sadyr Japarov. Following Jeebenkov’s resignation, the new PM Sadyr Japarov became acting president as well. 

USA: The confirmation process of Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, is drawing to a close. Senate hearings began on Monday and Republican leaders, who can count on a 53–47 Senate majority, expect to complete this stage by the end of next week and get a final vote before the 3 November election. During the hearings, Judge Barrett has refrained from answering some questions about her political convictions, stating that as an ‘originalist’ she will bring no political agenda to the Supreme Court. According to some observers, a Justice Barrett could potentially be key in overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalised abortion in all 50 states. 

Week of 5 October 2020

FRANCE: Macron announces plan to outlaw ‘virginity tests’ – French President Emmanuel Macron is looking to introduce legislation which would impose jail terms and heavy fines on doctors who issue ‘virginity certificates’ for traditional religious marriages. The legislation forms part of Macron’s attempt to strengthen France’s secular values and his recent round of swipes at what he calls ‘Islamist separatism’, having controversially described Islam as being ‘in crisis all over the world’. The WHO deems the practice of virginity tests a human rights violation. However, ANCIC, a French organisation which provides support on contraception and abortions, while supporting the government’s intentions, has called for a different approach – namely, ensuring an educational provision. The fear is that the practice will continue within communities, although it’s existence will be denied, and this poses a real risk to certain women, the organisation explains. 

GREECE: Courts convict leaders of neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn – the Appeals Court in Athens convicted members of the neo-Nazi political party Golden Dawn of heading up a criminal organisation in an important ruling which provoked intense protests in the capital. The case centred on the murder of anti-fascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas, who was chased down and killed by thugs in 2013, as well as other violent attacks on migrants and left-wingers. The Greek president called the day an important one for democracy. 

ITALY: Outdoor mask law announced – Italy joins various other regions around the world, including Paris and a number of Spanish autonomous communities, in mandating the wearing of face masks in all public spaces, indoors or out. This new law comes as case numbers have been steadily on the rise for several weeks in the country. Although, the WHO does not currently recommend the mandated wearing of face coverings outdoors. Italy stands apart from most other places, as the outdoor mask law is effective nationwide; unlike in Spain, for example, where it is up to the regional governments to mandate the measure (although, only one autonomous community out of 17, Canarias, has not imposed this rule). In Italy, the fine for not wearing a face mask stands between €400 and €1000.

MIDDLE EAST: Growing numbers in the region want out – the recently conducted Arab Youth Survey 2020 shows that just under half of young Arabs want to emigrate from the region, with the sentiment most strongly felt in the Levant. A lack of economic opportunities – exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic – has prompted many to consider routes to emigrate. Also, the BBC are reporting that a number of expats in the UAE are leaving, or are considering leaving, because of the effects of Coronavirus. Many young people in the region are feeling exasperated with the widespread corruption and ineffectiveness of their governments to provide security and opportunities. Most would, however, struggle to emigrate, given the visa requirements in many destination countries.

USA: Coronavirus blazes through the White House – after announcing that he and the First Lady had tested positive for Coronavirus earlier in the week, The Guardian has reported that as many as 22 of President Trump’s close associates and advisers in the administration and the GOP have also come down with the virus. The president has been criticised for his recklessness since testing positive, including a trip out to wave to supporting onlookers and the risk his infection posed to White House staff upon his return. Trump has this week tweeted: ‘Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.’ This prompted a backlash from public health officials. 

I will be leaving the great Walter Reed Medical Center today at 6:30 P.M. Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life. We have developed, under the Trump Administration, some really great drugs & knowledge. I feel better than I did 20 years ago!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2020

Source: Twitter

Week of 28 September 2020

ARMENIA and AZERBAIJAN: Fighting has erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan for control over the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The region, largely Christian and ethnically Armenian, has been internationally recognised as part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan since 1994, but is de facto autonomous and closely allied with Armenia. The conflict could potentially escalate due to Turkey’s alleged intervention on the Azerbaijani side on Monday, which has reportedly attracted Russian attention.

GREECE: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has visited Greece in an attempt to ease the tensions between Greece and Turkey that have marked the past few months. Relations between the two countries have been historically fraught and reached a new low point over the summer, when the Turkish research vessel Oruç Reis undertook energy resource explorations in a maritime area which Greece claims as its own. Both Greece and Turkey are NATO members.

SOUTH SUDAN: The Government of South Sudan began rolling out an e-government programme on Tuesday, making services such as passport and visa applications accessible online. South Sudanese officials claim that the move will enhance transparency and help fight corruption while also delivering public services in a contactless, Covid-secure way. This project marks a new step in the process of normalisation in the fledgling state of South Sudan, which obtained independence from Sudan in 2011 but soon fell into a bloody civil war until a deal was struck last February.

UNITED STATES: Several political commentators have called Tuesday’s first U.S. presidential debate between President Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden ‘the worst presidential debate ever’. Trump interrupted Biden virtually every time he spoke and ‘demonstrated a willingness to lie, exaggerate and mislead’ according to The New York Times fact-checkers, prompting Biden to call him ‘the worst president America has ever had’. Trump is trailing Biden by about 7 points in the nationwide polling average, with the election scheduled for 3 November. The next debate (8 October) will see Vice President Pence facing Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris.

URUGUAY: The Economist has reported on the Uruguayan government’s recent attempts to make it easier for foreigners to take up residence in the country. The value of property a prospective citizen must buy has decreased from $1.7m to $380,000, and the minimum investment for business owners has been reduced from $5.5m to $1.7m. The move attempts to address the chronic demographic crisis of Uruguay, whose ageing population has stagnated for decades. The reform has proved particularly popular among Argentine citizens, who according to the Economist consider it a way to escape their country’s political instability and high taxation.