Around the World in 500 Words

On December 1, suspected Islamic radicals killed fourteen Christians attending church in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. While traditionally a peaceful country, religious conflict has been increasing in the last year, according to the New York Times. Many northern parts of the country have been in contention as Islamic insurgency attempts to gain control. 39 mineworkers were killed in an attack on buses earlier this year on November 9.

The attack was decried as “barbaric” on Twitter by Burkina Faso’s President, Roch Marc Christian Kabore who went on to give “deepest condolences to the bereaved families and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”

Marine archeologists around the Falkland Islands have recently uncovered the remains of a German cruiser, the SMS Scharnhorst, which was sunk on December 8, 1914, during World War I. German Vice-Admiral Maximillian Graf von Spee and 800 other sailors were killed when the British sunk the ship.

Archeologists have been searching for the wreckage of the German ship for the past five years, according to the BBC. Before being sunk, the ship had been involved in fighting off the coast of Chile during the Battle of Coronel.

“Suddenly she just came out of the gloom with great guns poking in every direction," archeologist Mensun Bound said. "As a Falkland Islander and a marine archaeologist, a discovery of this significance is an unforgettable, poignant moment in my life.”

Four suspects in a high profile, multiple perpetrator rape and murder case were shot dead by police in India on December 6. The week before, the burned body of a missing 27-year-old woman was found under a bridge in Hyderabad. It was while police were attempting to reconstruct the crime scenes in Shadnagar that the conflict broke out. With one suspect attempting to take a weapon from one of the police officers, the investigation turned violent and the four suspects were shot according to an anonymous police witness.

India had experienced large protests against the crime prior to the shooting of the suspects. In response to the shooting, flowers were given to police officers by about 300 people in Shadnagar. They also chanted, “Long live the police,” according to the AP.

Just off the coast of Mauritania, a migrant boat capsized on December 4, leading to the death of 63 people so far. The incident occurred near the city of Nouadhibou where members of the coast guard and other rescue workers are still searching for people.

Of the nearly 150 African migrants who had been on board the boat, eighty-three of them swam to shore. Spain’s Canary Islands was the original destination for the boat which was primarily composed of people from Gambia and several from Senegal. The migrant boat had been running low on supplies around the time of its capsizing.

"Many drowned. The ones who survived swam up to the Mauritanian coast close to the city of Nouadhibou," said Laura Lungarotti of the U.N. to the AP. "The Mauritanian authorities are very efficiently coordinating the response with the agencies currently present.”

Around the World in 500 Words

Political unrest continues in Hong Kong as police and civilian clashes continued on November 11. One protestor was shot as a Chinese policeman wrestled with a white-hooded protestor at an intersection. A black-hooded protestor then came up seemingly to help the other protestor and was shot by the policeman. The protestor who was shot is now in stable condition according to the Hong Kong hospital authority.

Another violent incident that put another individual in critical condition took place in the Ma On Shan neighborhood. A man was lit on fire after being covered in a flammable liquid by another individual. Police are still investigating whether this burning incident is connected to the political protests that have been taking place over the past several months.

Another protest incident occurred the same day, as police used tear gas and water cannons against students protesting at the Chinese University.

“I do not want to go into details,” said Hong Kong Executive Carrie Lam, “but I just want to make it very clear that we will spare no effort in finding ways and means that could end the violence in Hong Kong as soon as possible.”

The President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, has resigned following several weeks of pressure from the army and other protestors. An election to determine the next president will be scheduled, but for now Bolivia’s interim president will be the deputy head of the Senate.

Morales, the first indigenous leader of Bolivia, had served as Bolivia’s president for three terms beginning in 2006. Last October, he garnered much criticism by running for a fourth term which is technically illegal in Bolivia’s Constitution.

The Bolivian people have been polarized by Morales’s resignation. Some celebrated while Morales’s supporters took to the streets in protest. Several buses have been destroyed, and politicians’ homes have been targeted in the wake of the resignation.

In the Middle East, there is growing international concern about the increase in Iran’s uranium stores. Iran’s accumulation of low-enriched uranium is greater than what the Joint Comprehension Action Plan (JCPOA) allows them to have, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran had about 172 more kilograms of low-enriched uranium than they were supposed to. This increase in uranium caused concern among many nations, as it could allow Iran to continue to develop its nuclear program and eventually nuclear weapons.

In a recent attempt to stabilize and secure the northeast state of Borno, Nigerian forces have killed many Boko Haram militants, according to Ghana News. The Nigerian army’s increased attempts to eliminate the Islamic terrorist group from the region have yielded put increasing pressure on the insurgent terror group.

Speaking to reporters, Nigerian army spokesman Aminu Iliyasu claimed that the army was identifying more Boko Haram hideouts and therefore raiding and bombarding them with their better weapons. The Nigerian army has been systematically going after Boko Haram and hopes to eliminate as many militants as it can and to establish safer areas in northern Nigeria. 

The Daily Post has also reported that two individuals who had been hostages of Boko Haram have been recently released. Moses Oyeleke, pastor of Living Faith Church, and science teacher Ndagilaya Umar have both been released.

Around the World in 500 Words

On September 14th, several Saudi Arabian oil facilities were attacked, leading to an increase in global oil prices. On September 23, Britain, France, and Germany placed the responsibility with Iran at the U.N. General Assembly. The Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, said to reporters in New York, “Those who make the allegations must provide the needed proof. What is your evidence?”

Britain, France, and Germany expressed their desire for Iran to engage in peaceful dialogue and to stop disrupting the Middle East. The U.S. has continued its sanctions on Iran.

“Today, the U.S. imposed new sanctions against Chinese companies that transport Iranian oil contrary to U.S. sanctions. Denying the Iran regime revenues for destabilizing conduct at the expense of the Iranian people, ” said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a tweet on September 25. 

Nearby, the United Arab Emirates celebrates as its first astronaut prepares to go to space. Set to travel to the International Space Station (ISS), Hazzaa Al Mansoori, age 35, will be only the third astronaut from an Arab country to go to space. Mansoori came out of an applicant field of over 1000, according to the BBC.

“This mission is a great milestone for me personally and for the United Arab Emirates," Mansoori told reporters in July.

The former fighter pilot will work alongside other astronauts on several experiments and take part in an Arabic language broadcast on his mission to the ISS.

A UAE flag and a family picture, among other small objects, will be brought by Mansoori on his eight-day mission. The UAE space program, partially motivated by the Apollo missions, plans to send unmanned spacecraft to Mars by 2021.

On September 23, Philippine police forces arrested six individuals with suspected links to ISIS. Police believe that these individuals were involved in the Isulan market bombing on September 7th which left seven injured.

According to Benar News, one of the arrested suspects, Hassan Akgun, is a Swedish national, while the others are Filipino.

An ISIS flag, bomb making supplies, and multiple firearms were confiscated by the police during the arrests. The arrests happened in Bagumbayan, a town in the southern province of Sultan Kudarat.   

Westmincom (a division of the Philippine Military) commander Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana praised the involved intelligence agencies for their successful collaboration.

“Let us remain vigilant for there are still enemies out there who will always try to inflict havoc in the communities,” he said.

On September 24, China Tribunal, a human rights group, presented evidence to the U.N. Human Rights Council accusing the Chinese government of harvesting organs from religious minorities. Organs harvested include hearts, kidneys, lungs, and skin for medical and scientific purposes.

Business Insider noted that two groups, Uighur Muslims and adherents to the Falun Gong religious community, have been particularly targeted. 

“Victim for victim and death for death, cutting out the hearts and other organs from living, blameless, harmless, peaceable people,” said China Tribunal lawyer Hamid Sabi, “constitutes one of the worst mass atrocities of this century.”

Sabi believes that there are hundreds of thousands of victims and urged the U.N. to investigate further in China’s treatment of religious minorities.

International Column - Around the World in 600 words

A report indicating that ISIS has begun reconsolidating its power was released by the Department of Defense in August. The report, looking at U.S. efforts of stabilization in Iraq and Syria, implies that President Trump’s declaration of victory over ISIS in December 2018 was premature.

It states that while ISIS has lost much of the territory it once held, it still has established cells with the ability to train ISIS fighters. ISIS is also allegedly “reestablishing financial networks in both countries.”

This global unrest expands beyond the Middle East to China, where videos circulating online show Hong Kong police beating up civilians on a local metro. Pro-democracy activists have been staging protests against the Chinese government in Hong Kong.

A law giving the Chinese government the power to remove Hong Kong residents for trial on mainland China in June spurred the original protests. 

They continue to march against the socialist structure of the Chinese government and for the expansion of democracy.

Joshua Wong, leader of the pro-democracy group Demosisto, hopes to enlist help against the Chinese government from nearby Taiwan.

In a meeting with reporters, Wong pushed back against the narrative that China’s power over Hong Kong will increase and that it would soon hold Taiwan as well.

“Hong Kong can be like Taiwan,” he said, “A place for freedom and democracy.”

Democracy has also been a controversial topic in Britain as new Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, hopes to ensure that Britain leaves the European Union, per the results of the Brexit election in 2016.

“The referendum results must be respected,” Johnson tweeted on August 30, “We will leave the EU on 31st October.”

He faces opposition from many members of parliament, and on September 3 the BBC reported that “Tory rebels and opposition MPs have defeated the government in the first stage of their attempt to pass a law designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit.”

Johnson has lost two bids for a snap or general election. This election could have given him enough votes to complete the Brexit process if more Conservatives were elected.

Over the months of June, July, and August, over 150 Eritrean Christians have been detained in underground tunnels by Eritrea’s government. 

According to the International Catholic News, these Christians, in order to accommodate more prisoners, are forced to expand the tunnels by digging. The imprisoned Christians come from the Faith Mission of Christ Church in Keren. 

Christian hospitals have also been targeted recently by the Eritrean government. On July 8, the latest of twenty-one Catholic-run hospitals and clinics was shut down.

Daniela Kravetz, a reporter on Human Rights in Eritrea criticized the government for its actions. 

“The seizure of these health facilities will negatively impact the right to health of the affected population,” she said, “In particular those in remote rural areas.”

Refusing to renounce Christianity at the behest of the government, six former Eritrean governmental workers also await their fate.

Uncertainty dominates international headlines. Will there be an ISIS resurgence? Will the Hong Kong protests be resolved peacefully or violently? Will Brexit procede or be blocked? Will Eritrea yield to international pressure and release the imprisoned Christians? The answers to these questions will have major ramifications for the international political and economic climate.