The World Briefly

September 09, 2022

Rules of Engagement

Israel

Israel rejected calls to review the army’s rules of engagement in the West Bank as part of taking accountability for the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the territory, Axios reported. The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) has come under intense scrutiny in recent months...

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The World Briefly

September 08, 2022

Closure, Sort Of

Germany

Germany delivered an official apology to Israel and the families of the 11 Israeli athletes slain by Palestinian militants at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, as both countries this week commemorated the 50th anniversary of the attack, the New York Times reported. German politicians, including...

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The World Briefly

September 08, 2022

Meaty Problems

Netherlands

The Dutch city of Haarlem will ban most meat ads from public spaces, the first city in the world to do so, the BBC reported. The new rules – drafted by GroenLinks, a green political party – will prohibit advertisements showing meat products in the city...

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The World Briefly

September 08, 2022

Help For The Vulnerable

Australia

Queensland is planning to decriminalize public intoxication, the last Australian state to do so in an effort to tackle discrimination against the Indigenous community and other minorities, a move service providers say is “long overdue,” the Guardian reported. During a recent parliamentary inquiry, human rights groups...

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The World Briefly

September 07, 2022

Speaking Up

China

China’s strict anti-coronavirus strategy is facing an intense backlash after video footage showed officials preventing residents in the country’s southwest from leaving their homes following a deadly earthquake this week, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. A 6.8-magnitude quake hit the Sichuan province Monday, killing more than...

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The World Briefly

September 07, 2022

The Time For Justice

France

Eight defendants went on trial this week over their involvement in the 2016 Bastille Day attack that killed 86 people in the French coastal city of Nice, one of the worst terrorist acts in the country’s history, the Wall Street Journal reported. Six years ago, Mohamed...

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The World Briefly

September 07, 2022

Codifying Reality

IsraelWest Bank

Israel amended a draft of controversial rules this week that would have imposed steep restrictions on foreigners wanting to live or visit the occupied West Bank, following widespread criticism of the rules, the Middle East Eye reported. The original draft was released by the Coordination of...

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The World Briefly

September 06, 2022

New Targets

Afghanistan

A suicide bomber killed at least six people outside the Russian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul Monday, the first attack to target a foreign diplomatic mission in Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover last year, the Associated Press reported. The explosion went off outside the embassy’s...

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The World Briefly

September 06, 2022

Making It Official

Kenya

Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld last month’s presidential election result that declared Deputy President William Ruto as the winner, a verdict that came days after opposition candidate Raila Odinga filed a petition over alleged electoral fraud, CNN reported Monday. In early August, the country’s electoral commission declared...

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The World Briefly

September 06, 2022

Changing of the Guard

United Kingdom

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will become the UK’s new prime minister after winning the leadership race within the ruling Conservative Party, CNBC reported Monday. From an 82 percent turnout of party members voting in the leadership ballot, Truss secured about 57 percent of the total vote,...

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The World Briefly

September 05, 2022

No, We Can’t

Chile

Chilean voters overwhelmingly rejected the country’s new leftist constitution Sunday, a highly-ambitious charter that aimed to transform the country into a more egalitarian society, the Washington Post reported. Chile held a referendum over the weekend asking voters to approve or reject a new constitution that would replace the 1980...

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The World Briefly

September 05, 2022

The Prodigal Son

Sri Lanka

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa returned to Sri Lanka over the weekend, less than two months after he fled the country following mass protests over the nation’s collapsing economy, Voice of America reported. Rajapaksa returned to the capital Colombo from Thailand, where he had been...

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The World Briefly

September 05, 2022

Going to Extremes

Argentina

Argentinian leftist Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirschner survived an assassination attempt this week, an incident that sent shockwaves across the Latin American nation amid political polarization and an economic crisis, Al Jazeera reported. On Thursday night, a gunman standing a few steps away from Kirschner...

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The World Briefly

September 02, 2022

Some Vindication

China

The United Nations Human Rights Office released a long-awaited report this week that accused Chinese authorities of being involved in “serious human rights violations” over their crackdown on ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province, the Washington Post reported Thursday. The damning report comes months after UN Human...

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The World Briefly

September 02, 2022

Reporting, the Enemy

United Kingdom

British police chiefs are ordering their officers to disclose whether they associate with any reporters, the same way they would with convicted criminals, a measure that has sparked criticism from journalist organizations in the country, the Guardian reported. The measure follows guidance from the College of...

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The World Briefly

September 02, 2022

A Luddite’s End

Japan

Japan will implement measures to get rid of floppy disks and other old-fashioned technology after the country’s digital affairs minister “declared war” on obsolete devices to push the government into the digital age, Sky News reported. Minister Taro Kono said that existing regulations will be updated...

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The World Briefly

September 01, 2022

Legacy’s End

World

World leaders gave their final farewells to Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union whose reformist national and international policies helped end the Cold War but also resulted in the collapse of the USSR, CBS News reported Wednesday. Russian media said the former leader...

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The World Briefly

September 01, 2022

An Inevitable Waterworld

Greenland

Greenland’s widespread ice loss will add 10 inches to global sea levels, according to a new study, a rise that can’t be stopped even if fossil-fuel burning came to an immediate end, CNN reported. Researchers from the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland observed the changes...

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The World Briefly

September 01, 2022

Row of Dominoes

St. Kitts and Nevis

A Caribbean regional court struck down a colonial-era law that prohibited gay sex in St. Kitts and Nevis, the latest ruling against such legislation that continues to exist in the region, the Associated Press reported. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court said the 1873 law was unconstitutional,...

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The World Briefly

August 31, 2022

On The Brink

Iraq

Influential Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr urged his supporters to immediately withdraw from the capital’s government district, following a day of violent unrest that killed more than 30 people, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Al-Sadr’s supporters stormed the presidential palace in Baghdad’s “Green Zone” on Monday after...

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