Turkey's Ban on Insults against Erdogan

 Since 2005 Turkey has had a law against insults against Erdogan known as Article 299. The article declares that citizens can be imprisoned from 1-4 years. If done publicly it can be increased.   

                                                Turkey's current president, Recep Erdogan

       https://www.thedefensepost.com/2021/10/12/erdogan-military-push-syria/

                                   

This has recently drawn international news when the European Court of Human Rights  condemned the Turkish law banning insults against its incumbent President Erdogan. The Court said, the laws does not "keep with the spirit of the European Convention." Judges pointed out that the law was a violation upon the right of expression.    

Turkey and particularly Erdogan has been under a lot of pressure in recent years and this has been one of the more recent developments. Turkey has been playing a huge role in the Middle East in particular in Syria and Iraq and has committed questionable acts in these conflicts. This in combination with its laws at home such as article 299 have brought Turkey closer and closer to authoritarianism however the EU seems to be trying to do more to combat that in recent days by bringing this unjust law to Court. To complicate things further Turkey is a member of NATO so it will be interesting to see in the future how the international community will continue or maybe not continue with dealing with the rise of authoritarianism in Turkish government. 

European court condemns Turkish law banning insults of Erdogan | Euronews

Turkey_CC_2004_am2016_en.pdf (legislationline.org)

Alarming rates in Japan

     Suicide has always been an issue present since the beginning of time and has risen with the awareness of mental illnesses. Specifically looking at Japan, the rates of suicide have always been alarming for the country, especially for the rates revolving children. The main issue is that with the rise of COVID and countries going into forced quarantine, these rates increased by a large amount. Japan recorded 415 suicides among schoolchildren aged 6 to 18 during the 2020 school year -- the highest number since records began in 1974 (CNN). The simple fact that the suicide rates amongst adolescents have increased by more than 100 numbers shows that there is an unspoken issue with suicide rates and COVID.
     In a figure provided by CNN, it was shown that the rates were “31% higher than the previous school year, when 317 school children died” (CNN). Additionally, in another report it was stated that “more than 190,000 elementary and junior high school students were out of class for 30 days or more last school year, NHK said. That's a record high -- and about 8% higher than the previous year” (CNN). In a country where education is extremely important, students not being able to go to school and achieve these educational goals would cause stress amongst the students and parents. It was even stated by a doctor that "the results show that the pandemic has caused changes in the school and family environment and had an impact on children's behavior," Eguchi said” (CNN). 

Not only did the rates increase amongst children, but they also increased amongst women. Based on a report from BBC, “in one month, October, the female suicide rate in Japan went up by more than 70%, compared with the same month in the previous year” (BBC). These rates were also related to COVID and quarantine because most of the women who are going through something have also come out saying that they experience abuse at home. Within this article a suicide telephone operator stated “a girl I talked to the other day said she is getting sexually harassed by her father," Ms Tachibana tells me. "But because of Covid her father is not working so much and is at home a lot, so there is no escape from him.” (BBC). Adding on to that, the fact that people are now forced to stay at home due to COVID, it increases the chances of women experiencing abuse or worse which could increase the rates of depression between the women and then go on to increase the rates of suicide. 

    Despite this issue being talked about in articles and local newspapers, it is still a major problem because “in Japan, it's still not common to speak about mental health problems. "We're sending a message to students that it's perfectly OK to talk about mental health issues by using this device, and finding a way to save young lives" (NHK). The topic at hand is that students are being put under immense stress and going through situations that are affecting them mentally, physically, and emotionally without having anyone to feel free to talk to. When children, especially, feel as though they aren’t being listened to and they have no other solution, they make a solution that is the worst outcome. In order to combat this, the country would need to have a safe discussion about mental health or provide more safe spaces for people to talk about any issues that the are going through at home.

Jozuka, E. (2021, October 14). Child suicides in Japan are at a record high. CNN. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/14/asia/suicide-children-japan-intl-hnk/index.html. 

Saori, Y. (2021, July 27). Japan's child suicide crisis: NHK World-Japan News. NHK WORLD. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/1672/.

Tanaka, T., & Okamoto, S. (2021, January 15). Increase in suicide following an initial decline during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan. Nature News. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-01042-z.

Wingfield-Hayes, R. (2021, February 18). Covid and suicide: Japan's rise a warning to the world? BBC News. Retrieved October 19, 2021, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55837160.

What is going on in Myanmar?

   Mynamar is a country in Southeast Asia, formerly known as Burma, and has been going through several crises amid the COVID-19 crisis. They were a British Colony up until 1948 (extremely recent) .Mynamar is very populated, housing 54 million people and has been subjected to a plethora of scrutiny due to current governance choices.  Mynamar's government has been experiencing a political stalemate in which passing laws that priortize those that are being governed is becoming an extremely tedious process. 

 Feburary 1st, 2021, Mynamar's turmoil begun. Aung San Suu Kyi is a political icon for Mynamar in which she advocated for human rights and believed in democratic values that would help sustain Mynamar for the long run. She ran for office and led the NLD to victory in Mynamar's first openly contested election in 25 years. She was loved by the majority Buddist population. Democratically elected members of Mynamar's ruiling party, National League for Democracry (NLD) was deposed by the Tatmadaw which is Mynamar's government. Aung San Suu Kyi won political majority from the election, but the military believed that the election was rigged and placed her under house arrest as well as removed her from her office physically. This is a sign of stratocracy in which the power lies in the military hands and not the people. 

    This event was know as the Mynamar coup and the power dynamics shifted on Feb. 1st in which Mynamar was placed on a year long state of emergency due to the government seizing human rights as well as forcefully trying to dictate the atmosphere of its country. Mynamar has been controlled by a military coup since 1962 which crushed any opposition from the people. The military promised elections in the future, but the people feared returning to the dark days of junta, where power is taken by force by the military and continued to protest, not allowing themselves to be silenced by their government like once before. The military commander-in-chief, Min Aung Hlaing, has taken power and is adament on keeping the Tatmadaw in power.

    The protests over the coup have been the largest since the Saffron Revolution in 2007, when thousands of monks rose up against the military regime. These were a series of economic and political protests due to the government removing subsidies from the sales price of fuel. With that being said, Mynamar would need substantial amounts of help from diplomatic initiatives in order for their country to be restored back to their former glory. 

Citations: 

Yeung, Jessie. “Myanmar to Release 5,600 Prisoners Held for Anti-Junta Protests.” CNN. Cable News Network, October 19, 2021. https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/18/asia/myanmar-junta-prisoner-release-intl-hnk/index.html.

Cuddy, Alice. “Myanmar Coup: What Is Happening and Why?” BBC News. BBC, April 1, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55902070.

Dr Gareth Price Senior Research Fellow. “Myanmar Faces Perfect Storm as Political Stalemate Deepens.” Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank, July 7, 2021. https://www.chathamhouse.org/2021/06/myanmar-faces-perfect-storm-political-stalemate-deepens?

“Aung San Suu Kyi: Myanmar Democracy Icon Who Fell from Grace.” BBC News. BBC, March 5, 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-11685977.

 

Incoming Transmission: China’s New Technology Ban Sends Underage Gamers to the Gulag

10/19, James Z

The gulag? Are gamers getting sent to prison? While the answer is no, the potential deprivation of individual rights may give many the same bitter taste in their mouths. In the latest step in China’s long battle for gaming censoring, China seems to be pushing for new regulations restricting underage gamers from playing video games extensively with the use of a face recognition system. Tencent, a major corporation in China, is responsible for a majority of the revenue that China makes in the videogame industry yearly. However, Tencent is also well known as the spearhead influencer that Chinese lawmakers target in order to control the gaming market. By heavily investing in the company, the Chinese government is able to manipulate Tencent and thereby ensure that new regulations and expectations are conveyed swiftly. This is a tactic which many critics point out as the Chinese government's invisible hand in ensuring an authoritarian rule by using proxies to enact the will of the ruling party. While Tencent has successfully helped many requirements such as the implementation of a personal identification number verifier into gaming registration, the backlash from this new regulation seems to have been more than Tencent and the Chinese government had prepared for.



Many may be familiar with games such as Genshin Impact or PUBG mobile. The gaming industry in China can massively influence the gaming industry of other countries as well considering that "China's domestic video gaming revenue in 2020 rose to 278.7 billion yuan (around 41.82 billion USD) with almost half of the county now playing video games" This was around the same amount of money that was used to manufacture covid-19 vaccines globally this year and it appears that the gaming industry has only been growing in size.

China's gaming industry isn't something to brush off the table. With such a big influence on the gaming market, China's gaming regulations could likely influence the gaming regulations of other countries including the United States. However, why would the Chinese government want to hinder the development of such a promising market? A possible explanation may be that from a traditional Chinese view, video games and leisure lead to laziness and failure. By preventing the younger generation from integrating gaming into their schedules, they are also controlling the generation's unconscious mind by hinting at the idea that video games are bad. This way, when the generation grows up, they will use less time for relaxation and more time for production. Even so, with China's development, an increasing number of the Chinese population are slowly changing their more strict and traditional Chinese views towards a more accepting western view when it comes to privacy and individual rights as they slowly realize the ghost hand in play and are trying to stop it.



Mandatory face recognition is different than the kind of face recognition that we use on our mobile devices' home screens. The function is mandatory whereas we always have the option of unlocking our phone with a password or another method. Additionally, Tencent is notorious for being known as a company which supposedly sells information from its clients. Therefore, the collection of facial scans is something that a lot of the people in China- gamers and non gamers alike- are speaking up against.

China has 12 fundamental values for three different aspects: a national level, a social level, and an individual level. On a national level, China values prosperity, democracy, civility, and harmony. The social values include freedom, equality, justice, and the rule of law. Finally, the individual values mention patriotism, dedication, integrity, and friendship. Surprisingly, many of these values sound similar to American ideals but perhaps the most unexpected of them all is the mentioning of freedom in an authoritarian state. The idea of freedom is similar to the Western idea of freedom in that freedom means the ability for individuals to pursue their goals within the boundaries of the law. However, when it comes to China, law restrictions prevent Chinese citizens in far more ways than many countries and many of our generation are starting to realize this situation and appear to be trying to make a change. By pushing back against these regulations, there are signs that the Chinese population may be slowly straying away from following an authoritarian rule.



If this movement against the mandatory face scan succeeds, it may be the largest victory in Chinese history for individual rights in gaming history which may also be a signal of how China's views have been changing over the years. The ability for bottom-up change to occur in the face of strict regulations is something that is quite rare in authoritarian states. This may force the leaders of the gaming industry and even the Chinese government to reconsider the guidelines they will implement in the future for individual rights and freedom. Overall, the decision of when and how to relax is a choice that should be given to underage gamers to help them realize the responsibilities that come with their decisions. While the eruption of the call for individual rights and more individual freedom seems to be causing waves on China's traditional views and methods, it remains to be seen if or to what extent this movement may influence future policy making for the Chinese market.





Sources:

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/9/22567029/tencent-china-facial-recognition-honor-of-kings-game-for-peace

https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3146437/chinas-video-game-industry-stormy-waters-country-grapples-its-love

https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/31/tech/china-ban-video-games-minor-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2018-05-08-chinas-games-market-expected-to-reach-usd42-billion-by-2022

China Makes a Complete U-Turn!!

 

In the past, China has been known as a country with a fast-growing population due to the high birth rate. In relation to their growing population, they already had one of the highest total populations in the world. Due to China’s immense population, the government had concluded that it would be a good idea to put in a law that stated you could only have one child, the “one-child policy.” Along with the law they were known for decades to force women to have abortions when pregnancies were “deemed illegal by the state.” Alongside the one-child policy that had been implemented in 1979, there had been a “traditional preference for sons also led to sex-selective abortions.” As of 2015, China’s one-child policy had diminished somewhat to whereas, in 2021, China made some different decisions. The country was facing a significantly lower birth rate and decided to ban abortions, making a stand in the opposite direction. The government put out a policy referred to as a 10-year plan in order to further women's rights over the next decade which included the new abortion policy. Spiking a considerable reaction from the public by their decision China has been under a tremendous amount of scrutiny. According to government officials, the restrictions on abortions referred to “non-medical” abortions and promote gender equality for women. 

The recent policy sparked a controversial outrage from many of the Chinese population because of its lack of specifics and reasoning. Over the years in China, women’s rights have been a topic that has held a lot of weight in the fact that women aren’t seen equally to their counterparts. China’s government official's reasoning on why they implemented the abortion policy was to create gender equality and hold men accountable for their actions of impregnating women. When in reality they are only contributing to the problem at hand, women shouldn’t be told what to do with their own body especially by an entity that has nothing to do with any aspect of it. The decision to implement the abortion policy wasn’t to create gender equality it was to increase birth rates in a country that over the past couple of years had a dwindling population due to lower birth rates. In 2015 the “one-child policy” was uplifted and in May of this year, the government announced that families would be allowed to now have three children. Unlike other countries, China controls the number of children you may have which is a total red flag. How are you trying to promote gender equality if women can’t make their own decisions based on their personal wants and needs? Another point that was made by the government was that abortions could affect the harmony and happiness of a family due to the risk of infertility from abortions. Again here is an instance in which the government is interfering in a position that has nothing to do with them or the country of China. The happiness and harmony of one’s family should not be a countries main point in the explanation and reasoning for the implementation of a policy. Personally, I believe the women in China should take a strong stand against this policy. It’s the 21st-century women should be able to make decisions based on their own situation. In order to enforce this policy, it would have to be implemented to all women and every women has a different situation and reason why they would like to have an abortion.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/01/china/non-medical-abortions-mic-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/sep/27/china-to-limit-abortions-for-non-medical-purposes

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/world/asia/china-abortion-limits.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/china-is-finally-ending-the-one-child-policy-it-cant-happen-soon-enough/2018/06/11/5dde684c-6b4b-11e8-9e38-24e693b38637_story.html

Does India Tune in to Watch the News or Propaganda?

Figure 1: 2020 World Press Freedom Index rankings for Southasia. Himal Southasain

Press freedom is a key factor for any well functioning democracy. This factor was an essential tool for India during the struggle of independence from the British Raj. However, since 2014, we have seen a drastic change in the kind of journalism presented to the citizens. The perspective and quality of the news supplied by the mainstream media has changed radically and the voices of independent journalists and news agencies have been suppressed. These could very well be the reasons that India hit an all time low in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index with a rank of 142 out of 180. So, let’s get to the important questions - 

Who is responsible for this? And why is the press of the country which stood up to the tyranny of the colonial masters converting itself into one where news is simply advertisement for the ruling government?

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right-wing Hindu Nationalist Party, was elected to power in 2014 and again in 2019. It’s safe to say that a large section of the Indian media has become the lap dog of this government. In 2019, a sting operation was conducted by Cobrapost, which showed video proof of how some two dozen news organizations were willing to not only cause communal disharmony among the citizens but also tilt the electoral outcome in favor of a particular party for a price. A major reason for news organizations to go completely pro-government is because the BJP regularly uses government machinery like the Income Tax Department and Enforcement Directorate to keep in check the mainstream media and independent organizations who dare to criticize the government. The BJP has tried to systematically weaken the news and media organizations and create division along communal lines which has now polarized the majority of the population in India. The ruling party has also stopped running ads on TV channels which don’t toe its line, hence denying them an important source of revenue. This pressure also extends to other companies who now don't want to run ads or support news organizations who don’t buckle under the pressure of the government. 

Recently, the government has come under fire for passing Farm Reform Laws which have been opposed by a large section of farmers and protests have been going on in different parts of India. The government has used the media to try to discredit and demonize the farmers. This vilification reached another level in October.

Figure 2: A vehicle set ablaze after violence broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri on 3 October 2021 . Photo Courtesy - PTI

On October 3rd, 2021, four farmers were mowed down by three SUVs, one of them allegedly driven by the son of the Union Minister, Ajay Kumar Mishra,  in the Lakhimpur Kheri District of Uttar Pradesh. This led to further violence resulting in the lynching and death of four BJP workers. The coverage that this incident got is just another nail in the coffin of the credibility of mainstream media. At first, the violence was overshadowed with a huge distraction of a Bollywood superstar’s son being involved in a drugs scandal and was later subjected to shoddy and false reporting. Dainik Jagran, the largest selling newspaper in the country, took the cake with its best, misleading headline: “Uttar Pradesh me arajak kisano ka upadrav, 6 ki jaan gayi” [Unruly farmers on rampage in Uttar Pradesh, 6 lost lives]. Other channels played along the same lines. This proves how the media can go above and beyond to protect the government’s image and play along with their narrative, even when the government abuses its power in the most gruesome ways. The fact that the mainstream media will not project public opinion makes India question its credibility and creates a disconnect which can only be bad news for a democracy.

https://theprint.in/opinion/one-more-death-in-lakhimpur-kheri-shouldnt-go-unnoticed-indian-media-credibility/745682/

https://thewire.in/media/cobrapost-sting-big-media-houses-say-yes-to-hindutva-black-money-paid-news

China Genocide = “Re-Education” Camps?

China Genocide = “Re-Education” Camps?

Who are the Uyghurs?

The Uyghurs are a Turkic ethnic group originating and culturally unified from the Central and East Asia region. The Uyghurs are recognized as native to the Xinjiang Region in Northwest China. There are about 12 million Uyghurs, mostly Muslim, living in Xinjiang and they speak their own language. There's been a huge migration of the Chinese ethnic majority group into Xinjiang, allegedly pointed by the state to push down the minority residents in the region. Many Uyghur activists are worried about the group's culture, and how it could be under a major threat of elimination. The Uyghurs group have no religious rights and believe their ancestors were indigenous to the area, relating to the crimes that are being done to these groups of humans.





Committing Crimes Against Humanity

Human rights groups believe China has confined one million-plus Uyghurs against their drive over the last few years in a large network of what the state calls "re-education camps". There has been evidence that the Uyghurs are also being used as forced labor, while also being tortured and sexually abused. These disgraceful humans are creating specific jobs, including step-by-step procedures to remove clothes from women and make sure they cannot move. The BBC

interviewed a woman from Xinjiang who was detained for 18 months in the camp system. ​​"My job was to remove their clothes above the waist and handcuff them so they cannot move," said Gulzira Auelkhan, crossing her wrists behind her head to demonstrate. "Then I would leave the women in the room and a man would enter - some Chinese man from outside. I sat silently next to the door, and when the man left the room I took the woman for a shower." (BBC News: Matthew Hill, David Campanale and Joel Gunter) To add to this sickening situation, Auelkhan also stated that the Chinese men "would pay money to have their pick of the prettiest young inmates" (BBC News: Matthew Hill, David Campanale, and Joel Gunter).















Experts say Xinjiang has switched over to more of a surveillance state that counts on innovative technology to look over all of the people in the community. Different parts of Xinjiang are split into these so-called “squares” and most of these cities have a police station every 100 yards. The public security in Xinjiang almost tripled from 2016 to 2017. In 2016, there was a total of a little over 30,000 job advertisements for security, while in 2017, it jumped to almost 80,000. There are leading human rights groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, who have presented reports going against China, emphasizing their crime against humanity. China continues to deny all of the allegations of human rights abuses. China states the clampdown in Xinjiang is necessary to avert terrorism and the camps are an effective instrument for re-educating inmates. Now there is a new report titled “China forcing birth control on Uyghurs to suppress the population.” Hmmm, wonder why?!










https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uyghurs-xinjiang



https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/04/china/xinjiang-detective-torture-intl-hnk-dst/index.html



https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/7/8/uighurs-timeline



https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-55794071

What is really going on in Yemen?

     Yemen, as of 2014 been going through a civil war. This all started from the failure of political transition from Ali Abdullah Saleh to Abdabbah Mansour Hadi. Hadi struggled with various problems such as corruption, attacks by Jihadisit (a militant Islamic movement that is looked at as threatening), and unemployment and food insecurity. With that said, the Houthi movement took advantage of the new president weakness and took control of the capital of Yemen Sanaa in 2014. This war mainly consisted of Houthis and Hadi-led military supported by Saudi Arabia.


    The Houthis movement started in the late 1980's and was primarily people from northern Yemen. Houthis became politically motivated under Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi. He started making the group politically motivated since he was against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Ironically, Yemen's previous president had an alliance with Houthis which happened to fall through in 2017 and the Houthi's ended up killing President Saleh in order to take full control of the capital.



    As shown above most of Yemen is occupied by the Houthi forces which is possibly means they can expand to eastern Yemen. Also the red is labeled as the conflict zones meaning this is were most of crimes are most likely to occur.

    Throughout the war there’s been lots of attacks on Yemen soil. In November 2017, there was a launch of a ballistic missile towards Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Then in 2019 Saudi Arabia oil fields were attacked by Houthis but Saudi Arabia and the U.S. accused Iran for that. Attacks like this caused Yemen had worsen the humanitarian crisis. The US-based Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project claimed in October 2019 that there's been over 100,000 fatalities and by the end of 2019 more than 23,000 fatalities was recored making it the second most lethal war so far. Then the UN had verified the deaths of 7,700 civilians by March 2020. With that said, is classified as one of the poorest Arab countries with a $824 GDP per capita.




    Even for the civilians that do survive the attacks in the war still suffer. The Charity Save the Children estimated that 85,000 children with severe acute malnutrition might of died between April 2015 to October 2018. About 80% of the population needs humanitarian assistance. An estimated 2 million children are acutely malnourished along with 360,000 children under five are struggling to survive. An example of the civilians struggles during this war is expressed by Abdullah al-Ibbi. Abdullah is a local citizen of Yemen and one day he was going to have a late night meal with his wife and children however, he lost his loved ones that day. The family lived in Saada which is the Houthi territory. During this time there was intense aerial attacks by Saudi led coalition. There was an air strike that killed his wife and some of his children in just a matter of seconds. The air strike killed 27 of his family member however, luckily three of his oldest children survived. This a prime example of the injustices and struggles the Yemeni civilians are going through during this horrific war.

Citations:

Bakhsh, Sumaya. “Yemen: The Man Who Lost 27 Family Members in an Air Strike.” BBC News. BBC, November 4, 2016. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37791211.

“GDP per Capita (Current US$) - Yemen, Rep.” Data. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=YE.

“Who Are Yemen's Houthis?” Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/interview/who-are-yemens-houthis.

“Yemen Crisis: Why Is There a War?” BBC News. BBC, June 19, 2020. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-29319423.

“Yemen's Tragedy: War, Stalemate, and Suffering.” Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/yemen-crisis?gclid=Cj0KCQjwnoqLBhD4ARIsAL5JedIUDDCIqDvHK4X-8phvX3T5LEyEoEAIRFOp-5tSxqRhSevK1ZrENA8aAgHsEALw_wcB.

Greece and the Economic Crisis

Greece’s economy is facing a debt crisis at the moment. In 2020, their national debt was around $430 billion USD and is predicted to continue growing in the years to come (Statista). When Greece first joined the European Union in 1981, their economy was sufficient. However, this changed when the Panhellenic Socialist Movement and the New Democracy parties came into power. To keep the people of Greece happy, these parties made a protectionist economy, meaning that they stayed away from international trade. Along with that, they created various liberal policies that were extremely costly, and put them in the situation they are in today.

The Greek government continuously adjusted their spending. Workers in public departments had their salary risen yearly, pensions were high, were entitled to additional months pay on holidays, and paid time off vacations. These factors led to debt piling up for Greece, which caused them to join the Eurozone in 2001. Being a part of the Eurozone means that the country has adopted the euro as their main currency, making it easier for Greece to borrow money from European countries. Due to this, Greece enjoyed economic growth until the financial crisis of 2007-2008, when investors started asking for more yields for debt. In the aftermath of the crisis, Greece’s debt skyrocketed. European figures and investors have even loaned Greece around $371 billion USD but their debt is still predicted to increase overtime. Even though Greece will have to face the consequences of their spending, they should restructure their government and policies so that this problem does not happen again.









Sources:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/061115/origins-greeces-debt-crisis.asp

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-the-greece-debt-crisis-3305525

https://www.statista.com/statistics/270409/national-debt-of-greece/

China Announces Building of New Coal-Burning Powerplants

Credit: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock in The Guardian

China is facing an energy crisis with costs increasing and outputs decreasing as flooding has forced many coal mines and plants to shut down (Axios). With the UN climate summit COP26 set to begin at the end of the month, China has recently announced that it will be building more coal-burning power plants in order to help ensure that its energy needs can be met (The Guardian). The Communist Party has also recently announced that they need to revisit their timetable for reaching peak emissions in light of the recent energy crisis. (The Guardian). These announcements seem to indicate setbacks to decreasing worldwide carbon emissions


Credit: Axios

China is a major contributor to coal emissions worldwide, burning more coal than every other member of the G20 combined (The Guardian). As such, ensuring their cooperation is essential when it comes to reducing world emissions and reaching the goals set forth by the Paris Accords. The decisions China’s government have made seem to put not only those goals at risk, but also the success of the upcoming COP26 summit in the UK.


Some experts, though, have claimed that there is not necessarily cause for concern. China’s decision to build more coal plants does not mean they will increase carbon production, merely carbon capacity, in case of emergencies such as the ones China is currently facing. Additionally, while China is building new domestic power plants, they have announced that they will stop funding foreign coal projects. Combined with China’s continued participation in climate summits, there seems to be hope that China will continue seeking to reduce its emissions (The Guardian).



Credit: Reuters

Despite those claims, there is still a need for China to step up its efforts to reduce emissions. China’s carbon emissions have been continually rising, tripling over the last thirty years (The Guardian). As such, it is imperative that they commit to reducing fossil fuel usage and switching to cleaner fuel sources, which currently make up only around 15% of energy consumption. When combined with the fact that, as mentioned above, China's coal emissions outnumber the combined output of every other G20 country, the need for cleaner energy is clear.



Sources:


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/13/will-chinas-plan-to-build-more-coal-plants-derail-cop26


https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-coal-prices-hit-record-high-floods-add-supply-woes-2021-10-13/


https://www.axios.com/china-energy-coal-threatens-climate-goals-9cbddf1e-6db7-4dee-9a6e-88df8bcfc66a.html


https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/oct/12/china-coal-fired-plants-uk-cop26-climate-summit-global-phase-out

How Many More Children?

There has always been a stigma when it comes to church and sexual abuse. France has gone and exceeded the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church. A report released this past Tuesday indicated that in the last seven decades more than 216,000 minors have been sexually abused by clergy members in the Roman Catholic Church. The 2,500 page document also detailed that 3,200 male clergy members were behind the majority of the abuse. First of all meaning, each targeted an absurd amount of victims, and lastly, this means there is likely irrefutable evidence of a cover-up. 

                           

    Candles line the floor of a Catholic Church in Central Paris 

Although France is indeed a first-world country with economic and political stability, issues regarding religion tend to slide under the radar. The problems are known but never addressed. Religion has always been a huge part of French culture, cathedrals line the streets making them a popular tourist attraction. 

2018 was when it all resurfaced again as Jean-Baptiste Sebe was accused of sexual assault, later committing suicide. Another priest, Pierre-Yves Fumery, hung himself after allegations of him sexually assaulting a child who was under the age of 15. Both incidents occurred within a month, and neither of the priests were charged by the police. Orleans Bishop Jacques Blaquart responded to the incident by saying it was a “moment of suffering and a tragic ordeal.” Blaquart also said how members of Yves’ parish came forward with concerns of “inappropriate behavior towards children aged 13,14, and 15 including a girl that he took in his arms and drove home several times.”

Glen Perspiratory where Yves served and died   Pierre-Yves Fumery and Bishop Jacques Blaquart

The majority of the abuse occurred in areas with a low level of religious practice which is extremely concerning. This shows that the clergy in these regions can get away with so much more. The spotlight is not on them as much as bigger regions. The main pattern to emerge from this report was the similarity in victims. The majority being pre-adolescent boys deriving from all different social backgrounds.

Commission president Jean-Marc Sauve handing copies of the report to Catholic Bishop Eric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the Bishops’ Conference of France (CEF).

France’s problem with sexual abuse is gaining attention is due to a commission that was formed to find all transgressions in the Catholic Church. This, also, explains why the report was only filed on Tuesday, October 5th. The commission spent two and a half years listening to victims through an open hotline. 

It’s happening in other countries too. In South Africa, 35 cases of clergy abuse towards minors have been reported, but only 7 have been investigated by police since 2003. In the Philippines, no priest has ever been convicted of child abuse until a the family of a victim, who was only 4 years old, pressed charges to Rv. Aron Buenacosa. “It’s a culture of cover-up, a culture of silence, a culture of self-protection,” said the Rev. Shay Cullen, an Irish priest who has spent decades in the Philippines and works with victims of child sexual abuse. (AmericaMagazine) 

The 4 year old girl who is pressing charges against Rv. Aron Buenacosa 

In Ireland, although thousands of children have been molested, only 100 priests have been convicted. The bishops, here, work to protest the priests instead of the victims. In Germany, a third of altar boys get sexually abused. Also, a report concluded that 3,667 people were abused by clergy members from 1946-2014. The report was drawn up in 2018. The United States has no official report for the number of victims but in 2019 there were 13,000 allegations (Center for Applied Research in Apostolate). According to CBS News 2,600 priests molested and abused children in the United States. Although, France has the highest number of victims revealed in reports and investigations worldwide. So far programs for compensation have been created in Germany, the USA, and France. 

These first-world countries may appear mighty but they have major domestic problems that get overlooked. Now that sexual abuse has gained media attention, there can only be hope for change in the Catholic Church system and a way to protect the youth. The problem is universal and has to be taken more seriously. Allegations should be immediately followed through and the justice system needs to be on top of it. These children deserve peace after the cruel acts placed upon them. The world is failing children. 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45938880 

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/384281-french-priest-commits-suicide-after-abuse-claims 

https://www.ciase.fr/rapport-final/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/05/world/europe/france-catholic-church-abuse.html 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/05/europe/france-catholic-church-abuse-report-intl/index.html 

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/03/europe/france-catholic-church-pedophilia-abuse-intl/index.html 

https://apnews.com/article/europe-france-sexual-abuse-by-clergy-sexual-abuse-religion-ee99d7921e5a1b8c45c770bf5af7ba38 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/major-report-to-expose-sex-abuse-in-frances-catholic-church/2021/10/05/a5f6fd02-2591-11ec-8739-5cb6aba30a30_story.html 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/06/23/philippines-child-alleges-abuse-by-catholic-priest-tests-vatican-promise-global-reckoning/ 

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/09/history-sex-abuse-allegations-reveals-culture-cover-philippine-church 

Opening Pandora's Box: How the Rich and Powerful Hide Their Money

Early in the morning on October 3rd, 11.9 million documents composing of 2.1 terabytes of data were leaked by The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) which is a joint collaboration between BBC Panorama, the Guardian, and other media partners. This is the latest in a string of leaks these news companies have released over the past seven years including Offshore Leaks (2013), Panama Papers (2016), and the Paradise Papers (2017).









The Pandora Papers expose over 30 former and current world leaders and over 100 more powerful people from around the world. These people include Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, one of Putin’s ex-lovers, King of Jordan, and former prime minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair. "Many of the power players who could help bring an end to the offshore system instead benefit from it — stashing assets in covert companies and trusts while their governments do little to slow a global stream of illicit money that enriches criminals and impoverishes nations," the ICIJ said in there introduction to the paper. Throughout the paper, there is a strong theme of not only using smaller countries to hide money but also using smaller regions within powerful countries. Now in Pandora’s Papers, it shows the extent of the U.S.’s involvement within the shady underbelly of tax evasion specifically through some very liberal laws in places like Alaska, South Dakota, Nevada, and Delaware have become go-to tax havens for global clients setting up multibillion-dollar trust companies in rural towns of midwestern states.

Tony Blair


In Tony Blair's case, the documents show why the stamp duty, the tax governments place on legal documents, usually in the transfer of assets or property, was not payable when the couple bought a £6.45m property. Using a Tax loophole the ex-prime minister bought the offshore parent company to the building. Although not directly illegal to do this in the United Kingdom it is an extremely bad look for the old prime minister especially because of his previous hypercritical viewpoints on using these special tax loopholes to avoid paying huge amounts to the government when buying larger purchases.



Countries Responses

-The United States has released a statement saying the state department is currently reviewing the findings within the Pandora papers and investigating the claims made against United States business within the document. They have declined to comment any further however because the investigation is still ongoing.

-The United Kingdom released a statement saying it is “cracking down on money laundering with tougher laws and enforcement, and that it will introduce a register of offshore companies owning UK property when parliamentary time allows.” although it is unknown how quickly they will move to prevent the rich elite from laundering and tax-evading in the UK.

-Jordan is yet another country whose monarch was named within the paper showing how the King of Jordan secretly amassed a property empire in the UK and the U.S. worth more than $100m. The royal palace said “king's property ownership was not unusual nor improper" and Abdullah himself told tribal leaders “the cost of the properties and related expenditures had been personally funded by himself, not by the state budget or treasury.” Although it is too early to tell how the people and tribal leaders of the country will side.








Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-58780465
https://www.reuters.com/business/state-department-says-us-is-reviewing-findings-pandora-papers-2021-10-04/
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/04/media/pandora-papers-five-takeaways/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2021/pandora-papers-offshore-finance/
https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cpsprodpb/E6DB/production/_120799095_pp_how_big_v3_2x640-nc.png
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtMKezDN8iM
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/4/pandora-papers-ukraine-leader-seeks-to-justify-offshore-accounts

Australia Won’t Let Tourists In Until 2022

 On Tuesday, October 5, Australia’s Prime Minister announced foreign tourists will not be allowed until 2022. Australia’s travel restrictions were said to be “one of the toughest and longest COVID-19 travel restrictions imposed by a democracy” (AP news). Australia lagged behind in the vaccine rollout initially due to low circulation of the virus since they had such heavy travel restrictions early on. On Tuesday October 5, Australia reached their goal of 80% of the population receiving the first dose of the vaccine. With the 80% goal reached, Australia now focuses on allowing skilled migrants and students to return to the country, but there has been no specifics on when those groups will actually be allowed back in. The severe travel restrictions have hurt Australian universities who depend on international students. Many businesses are getting hit hard, and there are frustrations over how there are no details on how travel will start up again. Even though it might not be a priority now, many Australians want to know when tourism will be part of the plan. Additionally, about 30% of the population of Australia was born overseas so this has proposed an “emotional burden” on them. The delta variant has hit Australia hard, and they are now shutting down some of their biggest cities.Victoria state reported a record 1,763 new infections (AP News). 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morriso

Coronavirus in the Past

Back in May, Australia was seen as a Covid success story with lower infection rates due to their border policies. Back in March 2020, Australia closed its borders, only allowing Australian citizens, immediate family members, and permanent residents to travel to Australia. Once they arrive from another country, they are put in a 14 day isolation. Their border policies have caused a divide between Australia and other countries. Australia’s conservative government hasn’t particularly welcomed immigration in the past 8 years. Back in May, Australia announced that anyone coming to Australia from India could spend up to five years in prison- the first time Australians faced criminalization for returning to their country (BBC). They have faced racial accusations due to the inconsistency in travel bans between India and the U.S or European countries. They were more stirct with travel from India than somewhere like the UK. This was also a human rights concern as international laws state citizens shouldn't be abruptly banned from returning to their country. 

US vs Australia

Australia's measures were among the strictest, but surprisingly polls report “75-80% approval ratings for keeping the door shut.” It is very doubtful that approval ratings that high would be seen in the U.S for such strict measures. I think that the attitudes over vaccination and travel restrictions in Australia versus the U.S tells a lot about the political differences in each country. 80% of the population received the first dose in Australia, and 57% of the population over 16 is fully vaccinated, compared with the U.S on October 5 with 65% receiving the first dose and 56% being fully vaccinated. Australia has a two party system like the U.S, however the vaccination rates show that the divide between political parties may be stronger in the U.S versus Australia. Australia lagged behind in vaccine rollout but reached 80% for the first dose, while the U.S is slowing down at 65%, and they have similar fully vaccinated percentages. 

Works Cited

https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-lifestyle-business-scott-morrison-travel-0e0dea481cefe0952e19f6315b6955ee

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-57224635

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56967520

Australia Vaccine Statistics

U.S Vaccine Statistics

Picture: https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/australasia/article/3151213/coronavirus-no-international-tourists-australia-until-2022?utm_source=copy_link&utm_medium=share_widget&utm_campaign=3151213