The Caravel | Volume IX, Issue I

V O LU M E 9 | I S S U E 1

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S E P T E M B E R 2 0 19

Human Rights Abuses Continue in Kashmir

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Neha Malik

Egyptian President Adbel Fattah el-Sisi faces accusations of corruption from protesters.

Indian-administered Kashmir has been under strict government lockdown for more than 50 days. The Indian government has blocked communications, including phone service and working access to internet, according to Slate. Places of worship are closed and the streets remain bare, save for the presence of 38,000 deployed Indian troops—in addition to the 500,000 already present, Foreign Policy reports.

The lockdown comes in conjunction with the Indian government’s decision to revoke Article 370, which gave Kashmir special autonomy. Before the revocation, India allowed Kashmir to have significant independence, such as having its own constitution, lawmakers, and flag due to residual tensions after the partition of 1947, according to Slate.

Now, BBC reports that the Indian gov-

ernment is working towards forcibly integrating Indian-administered regions of Kashmir into greater India.

The history of the conflict over Kashmir goes back to 1947 when the British partitioned British India into India and Pakistan, leaving the status of Kashmir unresolved. Neither India nor Pakistan fully integrated the province and both rejected Kashmiri independence. This limbo allowed both powers to stake their own claims to the territory, leading to the modern-day dispute.

Currently, India controls the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and Jammu, while Pakistan controls Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Balistan. Both countries granted their respective territories special autonomy, which makes India’s revocation of autonomy a point of contrast—and even a source of major tension—with Pakistan.

See ABUSES CONTINUE IN KASHMIR on p. 10

Protests Against el-Sisi Rattle Egypt Netanyahu Struggles to Protests erupted in multiple cities against Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on September 20 after whistleblower Muhamad Aly shed light on the country’s economic situation. As of September 27, at least 2,041 protesters have been arrested according to the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights.

Security forces clashed with protesters in Suez, throwing gas bombs and firing bullets at the hundreds who gathered for the second consecutive night in a rare show of dissatisfaction with the el-Sisi regime. According to Al Jazeera, protests also occurred in Giza, Mahalla, Mansoura, and Alexandria.

Mada Masr reported an unusually

strong police presence in Cairo that prevented the return of protesters to Tahrir Square, the center of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.

El-Sisi came to power in 2014 following a military coup, and has since altered the constitution to remain in power until 2030. Discontent with the regime has been widespread but suppressed by the government through arbitrary arrests of political dissidents, mysterious disappearances, and dozens of imprisoned journalists, according to Amnesty International.

Egypt has banned the entry of over 500 activists, and Freedom House reports that two newly-ratified laws, the Anti-Cyber and Information Technology Crimes Law and the Media Regulation Law, greatly expanded the

regime’s ability to shut down websites in the name of protecting the people from harmful information.

According to Telesur, discontent spiked recently due to economic frustration. The government imposed unprecedented austerity measures.

Austerity has raised the cost of living for the lower and middle classes most.

Inflaming this frustration, Aly, an actor and construction contractor, has posted accusatory videos on Facebook and YouTube since September 2 from his self-imposed exile in Barcelona. In his videos, he exposes misconduct and corruption in the military and accused the government of squandering public funds on luxury projects.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 2-3

W. EUROPE & CANADA, 6-7

LAT. AM. & THE CARIBBEAN, 8-9

General Motors Lays Off 1,200 Workers, p. 3

BBC Responds to Claims of Indifference to Racism, p. 6

E. EUROPE & RUSSIA, 4-5 Romanian President Blamed For Murder, p. 4

Gucci Tax Scandal Envelops the Company, p. 7

Karen Samy

See PROTESTS RATTLE EGYPT on p. 14

Form a Government Amanda Feldman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inability to form a coalition government after an election on September 17 calls into question his chances of serving another term, especially with the rising support for rival parties.

In Israel’s parliamentary democracy, voters vote not for a specific candidate but rather for a party. In the event that no party wins an absolute majority, the president, currently Reuven Rivlin, can freely appoint a lawmaker to form a government. A coalition government requires an alliance of parties with 61 or more of the 120 seats in the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

The April 9 election broke from the longstanding tradition of Israeli politics. Al Jazeera reports that the election, which gave a slight lead to Netanyahu’s Likud Party, gave him the mandate to form a coalition government but that he was unable to do so, resulting in another general election on September 17.

Reuters reports that the September election put the Blue and White Party, headed by Benny Gantz, slightly ahead of the Likud Party. Though the two parties won the most votes, neither received enough seats to guarantee an outright majority, with the Blue and White securing 33 seats to Likud’s 31.

See NETANYAHU GOVERNMENT on p. 12

MIDDLE EAST & C. ASIA, 12-13

AFRICA, 14-15

Obstruction in Franco Murder Under Review, p. 8

Central Asian States Sign Energy Declaration, p. 12

Tanzania Denies Suspected Ebola Cases, p. 14

INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC, 10-11 Australian Capital Sets Renewable Energy Goals, p. 10

Anti-China Protests Spread Through Kazakhstan, p. 13

Egypt, Ethiopia Disagree Over Proposed Dam, p. 15

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Top Intelligence Official Testifies to Congress Joseph Maguire, the acting director of national intelligence, testified to Congress on September 26 amid an explosive whistle-blower complaint alleging that President Donald Trump abused his power for personal political gain, according to the New York Times.

The whistle-blower’s complaint concerns a July telephone call where Trump sought to implicitly pressure newly elected Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate the activities of presidential candidate and former-Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, by withholding military assistance to Ukraine.

The whistle-blower, who the New York Times reports is a career CIA official with significant knowledge of Ukrainian politics, filed a report with the Intelligence Community Inspector General. He delivered the report to Maguire just days after Maguire assumed the position of director.

After consulting with the Department of Justice and the Office

of the White House Counsel, Maguire declined to share the complaint with Congress. However, the inspector general appeared in front of Congress in a closed session in mid-September, and the White House has since declassified both the whistle-blower’s complaint and the reconstructed transcript of the July telephone call.

Maguire declined to share the complaint with Congress.

While the transcript, which is not a word-for-word record of the phone call, does not explicitly mention U.S. security assistance in exchange for performing an investigation into Biden, Trump did ask Zelenskiy to “do us a favor” and look into the matter.

The president also mentioned Rudy Giuliani and Attorney General William Barr by name, asking Zelenskiy to speak to them about the investigation.

According to the whistle-blower, White House staff ordered the

Theodore Fairfield FLICKR

Caleb Yip

Juul Labs CEO Kevin Burns to Step Down President Donald Trump accuses the whistleblower of committing treason.

reconstructed call transcript uploaded to a separate system used for sensitive national security information. The whistle-blower suggested that this action shows the White House “understood the gravity” of the call.

Senior Democrats have seized on this as evidence of a “cover-up,” according to Politico.

CNN reported on September 24 that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump’s conduct in the wake of the complaint, saying that “actions taken to date by the President have seriously violated the Constitution.”

As details about the whistle-blower

complaint became public, a Politico/ Morning Consult poll found that 43 percent of voters are for Trump’s impeachment and an equal number against.

One Republican Congressman, Representative Mark Amodei (R-NV) has backed impeachment inquiry so far. Politico reports that Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) also called the president’s behavior “troubling” and “inappropriate.”

Trump lashed out at the claims on September 26, accusing the whistleblower of being “almost a spy,” and suggested that there should be a way of “stopping [impeachment], maybe legally through the courts.”

Republican Challengers Debate Sam Hoag

Christopher Stein Felipe Lobo Koerich Jackson Gillette Claire Hazbun

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Two Republican presidential candidates, former-Governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld and formerRepresentative Joe Walsh, participated in an ad hoc live debate, hosted by Business Insider on September 24.

Republican presidential primary challengers have expressed one thing in common with Democrats: stern calls for President Donald Trump’s impeachment.

Unsanctioned by the official Republican National Committee (RNC), Business Insider extended invitations to all primary candidates for 2020. Weld and Walsh are two of the three primary challengers to incumbent Trump, along with formerGovernor Mark Sanford, who was unable to attend.

Trump has said that he will not entertain primary challengers and declined the invitation to debate on September 24, according to the Hill.

He stated that he is not “looking to give them any credibility” and applauded Arizona, Kansas, South Carolina,

and Alaska’s decisions to cancel their Republican primaries in an effort to save money.

Weld and Walsh railed against Trump and decried his brand of Republican populism, though Trump was not present. The debate was very loosely related to policy, Vox reports, as Walsh said, “It’s not about issues. It’s about Trump,” while showing respect for his primary opponent Weld.

Walsh and Weld are members of the dwindling minority of Republicans willing to challenge Trump. The current administration represents a marked departure from the staunch anti-spending dogma of previous Republican presidents, instead focusing on immigration and trade policy. These primary challengers hope that they can build support around a return to normalcy for the Republican Party.

The base that Walsh and Weld are courting may be nonexistent.

Despite an overall approval rating of just 43 percent, Trump enjoys an approval rating of 91 percent among Republicans.

Juul Labs announced on September 25 that CEO Kevin Burns will step down, according to the Wall Street Journal. The same day, Altria Group, which owns a 35 percent stake in Juul, ended talks with Philip Morris International about a potential merger between the two tobacco giants.

Juul cited its need to address proposed e-cigarette regulations as the reason for its leadership change. However, Juul has said that it will not lobby against the Trump administration’s ban on non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes.

The blockbuster merger would have created a global corporation worth almost $200 billion. Phillip Morris became increasingly wary of a deal as the threat of increased government regulation grew, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Increased regulation stems from recent revelations about the negative health impacts of e-cigarettes. On September 19, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention cited 530 cases of lung injuries and eight confirmed deaths in the U.S. due to e-cigarettes.

A day later, the Food and Drug Administration proposed new rules that force e-cigarette manufacturers to maintain records of their legal marketing status, Reuters reports.

Juul has gradually dominated the e-cigarette market, gaining notoriety for its popularity among teenagers.

According to the Wall Street Journal, youth use of e-cigarettes increased by 78 percent from 2017 to 2018. This spike in young people vaping has caused many to question whether the advertising practices of Juul and other e-cigarette companies target youth.

Juul has denied allegations that it’s social-media marketing targets teenagers, but it has not done so without controversy. According to the Wall Street Journal, Juul formerly paid influencers to advertise its products, a policy which ended after huge backlash. On September 23, federal prosecutors in California commenced a criminal probe into Juul to investigate the corporation’s advertising practices.

S E P. 2019 | 3

Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Faced with thousands of lawsuits from state and local governments over its role in the opioid crisis, Purdue Pharma officially declared bankruptcy on September 16, according to the Associated Press.

Purdue Pharma manufactures OxyTocin, and the company aggressively marketed its product as a painkiller while downplaying its addictive qualities, worsening the national crisis, NPR reports.

As part of a settlement, the Sackler

family, the founders and owners of Purdue Pharma, agreed to file for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, announcing the decision soon after investigators discovered that Purdue wiretransferred nearly $1 billion to Swiss bank accounts in order to protect the Sackler family fortune from more litigation.

The Sackler family agreed to give up control of the company and pay approximately $3 billion to assist the communities most affected by the opioid crisis.

Steve Miller, chairman of Purdue’s

Purdue Pharma is accused of fueling Opioid Crisis with its painkiller, OxyTocin.

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Saahithi Dantuluri

board of directors, said, “This settlement framework avoids wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and years on protracted litigation, and instead will provide billions of dollars and critical resources to communities across the country trying to cope with the opioid crisis,” NPR says.

Purdue wiretransferred nearly $1 billion to Swiss bank accounts.

Filing for bankruptcy does not necessarily mean that the company will not be found liable in the court system, nor will this maneuver protect Purdue from lawsuits.

Furthermore, many states are reluctant to agree to the settlement, according to the Associated Press, as the company’s misdeeds allegedly cost thousands of people their lives in the ongoing crisis, especially in the Midwest.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh has gone on record as saying, “We don’t think that this $3 billion guarantee is sufficient. They’ve left

a trail of addiction and death in Maryland and all over the country,” according to WTOP. Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers is calling for further investigations into Purdue Pharma practices, and he plans to introduce a joint resolution to investigate the Purdue Pharma settlement further, signaling that the company’s troubles are far from over, reports WKYT. Still, the Sackler family is trying to convince other states to accept this settlement, in an attempt to avoid potentially worse consequences that could result from a lawsuit, saying, “We are hopeful that in time, those parties who are not yet supportive will ultimately shift their focus to the critical resources that the settlement provides to people and problems that need them.”

Some states are open to the settlement, believing that it may be the only path to receiving some financial compensation instead of undergoing the long and expensive process of filing a class-action lawsuits. Others contend that the Sacklers are still obligated to cover the financial damage they have caused in the opioid crisis.

General Motors Lays Off 1,200 Workers Steele Schoeberl General Motors (GM) laid off 1,200 employees due to an ongoing United Auto Workers (UAW) strike on September 23, CNBC reports. The UAW strike, now entering its second week, forced the GM plant to halt production and cut workers. 46,000 workers are picketing across America, and negotiations have ground to a halt.

The current strike is the longest since 1970. GM and the UAW are negotiating the next four-year labor contract for workers. Despite eight days of negotiations, the UAW has not reached an agreement with GM. The last contract expired on September 15, and they scrambled to reach a deal in the weeks leading up to the deadline.

According to the Detroit News, GM stock dropped five percent since the September 15 deadline. GM signaled last week that continued strikes would force layoffs.

The effects are rippling through the industry. GM stopped production of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado at a plant in Moraine, Ohio, CBS reports. The layoff affected 500 people at the plant. The workers are

not union members, so they do not get strike pay. However, they still suffer financially from the layoffs.

Magna International Inc. and Nexteer Automotive, GM suppliers, also had to lay off employees during the strike, reports the Detroit News.

Tensions remain high as both sides bunker down. Union members are distributing strike pay and employers are issuing layoffs. Lamont Young, chaplain at UAW Local 22, told the Detroit News, “We know how important this is. You haven’t seen a real strike in a long time, and now you know what this is about.”

More confrontations are happening at strikes. According to the Tennessean, police arrested nine workers at a plant in Springhill, Tennessee on September 18 for blocking an entrance. GM accused picketers of leaving nails on the road and harassing motorists. A judge issued a court order for picketers to stop blocking the entrance on September 23.

“UAW members are peacefully exercising their right to picket in support of the Union’s strike for better wages, quality affordable health care, and job security,” UAW representative

Brian Rothenburg said in a statement, “we are committed to conducting all strike-related activities safely and lawfully.”

GM signaled last week that continued strikes would force layoffs.

The UAW wants better benefits for members, but the working conditions of temporary workers remain one of the biggest issues on the table as the automotive industry requires grueling physical labor. Temp workers, who are union members, want better wages and paths to permanent employment.

The UAW is defending temporary workers as a part of their national strategy. Unions have been declining for decades and aim to increase membership in new areas. Defending temp workers could extend the UAW’s influence to booming auto-industry centers like the South, where working in temporary positions is common.

The auto industry will not give in easily. According to the Detroit Free Press, companies have used

temporary workers heavily since the 2008 Recession. In labor negotiations during the financial crash, the UAW conceded to letting companies use temporary workers because it allowed companies to cut costs and stay afloat.

Now, temporary workers comprise a much larger portion of workers.

The strike’s outcome will have profound consequences for labor unions and the future of American industry. Although GM dealerships reported to have enough inventory for the following 77 days at the end of August, some dealers had to recently turn away their customers as they lacked spare body parts, reports the Detroit News.

The strike also has ripple effects on local businesses, but the workers are ready for the long haul. According to the UAW’s Young, “Right now, we can’t do anything but keep the faith and hope everything is going well.”

Yet, as the strike persists without a ratified deal, people who are not on strike but have been temporarily laid off are considering taking new jobs, not because they want to but they have to, in order to support their families, per CBS.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Suzie Kim

P

resident Donald Trump announced on September 10 that he no longer needed the services of his national security adviser John Bolton, says the New York Times. Bolton contradicted the announcement 12 minutes later saying that he had offered to resign.

Regardless of the circumstances of Bolton’s termination, the evident fallout has serious foreign policy implications. Bolton had been the “leading foreign policy hawk” in the administration whose advice often conflicted with the president’s determination to put American interests above others, reports Al Jazeera.

The last major disagreement was over the president’s proposal to invite the Taliban to Camp David to seek a peace deal, according to Politico. The president has advocated ending U.S. involvement in Afghanistan since he took office.

However, Foreign Policy reports that Bolton strongly disapproved of the meeting, refusing to “set a terrible precedent” by inviting a designated terrorist organization to the camp.

The on-going tension between Trump and Bolton heightened when Trump decided to cancel a proposed retaliatory airstrike on Iran after a U.S. surveillance drone was shot down. Trump has shown more willingness to meet with Iran’s leaders than Bolton did, but Trump shares Bolton’s skepticism toward Iran.

Waqas Adenwala from the Economist Intelligence Unit suspects that U.S. is unlikely to radically soften on Iran as it would on North Korea, according to the Washington Post. Bolton’s permanent absence is expected to bring resumed talks between Washington and Pyongyang in the upcoming weeks and most likely result in softening of the U.S. stance on North Korea, reports CNBC. Trump’s new national security advisor, Robert O’Brien, seems to be “less resistant to following the president’s orders than his predecessor,” in the eyes of several officials, says the Washington Post.

The president can choose his staff at his discretion, but whether removing domestic opposition will indeed serve America’s best interests is questionable.

4 | S E P. 2019

EASTERN EUROPE & RUSSIA Max Dunat

L

ast week, the Caravel covered the case of an Udmurt professor and activist in Russia who self-immolated in protest of a new language law that would further Russify the indigenous population. Although tragic, this story is just the latest in a regional trend of ignoring key minority issues.

This week, Ukrinform revealed that the number of raids and searches against Crimean Tatars in occupied Crimea has more than doubled in the last year. According to a UN Human Rights report, 79 percent of raids carried out in 2019 affected Crimean Tatars, though they comprise only 10 percent of the population per the 2014 census.

Although both of these stories come from the periphery of the region, many EU states are pursuing similar, albeit less drastic policies.

For instance, Estonia has targeted its minority Russian population for assimilation by eliminating Russian as an instructional language, reports ERR. According to NPR, Latvia has implemented a similar law dictating that the last three years of secondary education occur entirely in Latvian.

Governments have also failed to uphold the interests of Eastern Europe’s dispersed Hungarian populations. In Romania, the curriculum requires that all students pass the same Romanian exams. Because of this, Hungary Today reports, Hungarian-majority counties perform significantly poorer than the rest of the country on standardized tests—in Hargita County, only 50.3% of students passed this year. Meanwhile, Slovakia, home to half a million Hungarians, banned the singing of Hungary’s national anthem, according to Hungary Today.

Although these developments vary in intensity and scope across the region, they reflect a greater force in a region the Wall Street Journal described as Europe’s “nationalist hotbed,” where populist parties dominate the region’s most powerful states. Nonetheless, the trend could reverse soon: in Russia, Putin’s approval rating is on the decline, and upcoming elections in Romania, Poland, and elsewhere could bring about a rise in support for liberal, pro-Europe parties.

Serbia Enlists Chinese Officers in Joint Patrols

Jacob Cohen

Serbian Interior Minister Nebojša Stefanović launched Serbian-Chinese joint police patrols on September 18 in Belgrade, Novi Sad, and Smederevo as part of an agreement with Chinese Public Security Minister Zhao Khezi, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. The incorporation of unarmed Chinese police into select Serbian cities is meant to accommodate the growing number of Chinese tourists and workers in Serbia and the Balkans.

The two ministers met in Belgrade last May, signing a three point memorandum between their countries’ security programs sanctioning these joint police exercises as well as a partnership against cyber crime, per Reuters.

But Belgrade plans to broaden Chinese involvement in Serbia beyond policing by bringing in numerous Chinese corporations for security and infrastructure projects as well. Chinese technology giant Huawei agreed with Serbian officials to implement facial-recognition

surveillance cameras as part of their joint SafeCity project in Belgrade, says Reuters. Furthermore, Forbes reports that Serbia contracted the state-run Chinese engineering company PowerChina to construct a Belgrade metro system beginning in 2020. The Serbian Innovation Minister also enlisted the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) to construct a Serbian-Chinese joint industrial center in Borča.

These Serbian inroads, however, represent just one prong of China’s Balkan-focused integration into Eastern Europe. Since 2018, Chinese police have conducted joint patrols in Serbian neighbor Croatia, and the Dubrovnik Times reports that many of the proposed ventures in Belgrade have already been underway in Dubrovnik, Split, and Plitvice.

As Chinese officer in Croatia Lili Long told the Dubrovnik Times, “This joint patrol program . . can enhance the collaboration between the Croatian and Chinese police forces. I think this is a positive start of the collaboration between the two countries.”

Albania Rocked by Earthquake Aftermath Eric Schichlein

A 5.6 magnitude earthquake struck Albania in the late afternoon on September 21, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The epicenter was near the port city of Durres, Albania’s second largest city. Across the country, the quake damaged infrastructure and injured 105, according to the Associated Press (AP).

Aftershocks continue to rock Albania, reports the Albanian Institute of Geosciences, Energy, Water and Environment. The AP notes that the Institute has registered more than 340 aftershocks, none of which have posed a significant threat to buildings or individuals, but locals still fear more damage.

Though inspectors deemed few structures unsafe, many locals slept in shelters the night after the quake.

The army set up tents in a stadium allowing Durres residents to stay for

several nights. Out of 98 damaged schools, inspectors declared two unsafe. The government canceled classes for Monday, according to the AP. Albanian police questioned two journalists the day after the quake.

The reporters had allegedly incited panic by falsely reporting a second, stronger quake would occur the day after the initial earthquake, according to the AP. Hundreds of Albanians fled their homes after hearing this false report, arriving at the local soccer stadium with suitcases in hand.

Albanian Defense Minister warned in a press conference that “anyone who has spread this fake news has committed a serious criminal offense which is punishable by the criminal code,” Voice of America reports. In order to handle the crisis, Prime Minister Edi Rama canceled a trip to the UN and returned home from Frankfurt, reports Deutsche Welle.

Collaboration between China and economically developing countries like Serbia, however, can result in a contentious partnership.

While the immediate effects of Chinese investment, such as the Steel Group’s job-saving purchase of the Železara Smederevo steel mill, can appear immensely positive, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn points out that, “China never cares how and if a country is able to pay its loans,” per Forbes.

Often accused of practicing debt-

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EDITOR’S NOTE:

trap diplomacy through foreign investment programs like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has earned a reputation for manipulating smaller nations into undertaking excessive debt to force exploitative repayment deals, reports Forbes.

As China begins to invest in Serbia through its joint police initiative and state contractors, Belgrade must now decide whether to hand over the keys to the city, following the example of Dubrovnik Mayor Mata Franković, or whether to maintain a measured distance.

Chinese police began their patrol in Belgrade on September 18.

S E P. 2019 | 5

Moldova Announces Open Policy Toward Russia Vilnius Wary of Moldova will extend an open policy toward Russian investors and journalists, President Igor Dodon announced in an interview with Kommersant on September 23.

Dodon confirmed to Kommersant that Moldova’s governing coalition had reached an agreement to “ no longer take a systematic anti-Russian approach.”

Dodon’s pro-Russia Socialist Party hastily formed the coalition last June with the pro-EU NOW bloc, led in part by Prime Minister Maia Sandu.

Moldova’s relations with Russia initially soured after the ratification of an association agreement with the European Union in 2014 under the leadership of the pro-EU Democratic Party, according to UrduPoint. The situation worsened in 2017 when Moldova’s parliament cut off relations with Russia’s government and expelled several Russian public figures. Balkan Insight reports that 10 Russian journalists were prevented from entering Moldova between June 2017 and March 2018.

However, Dodon has long supported increasing the nation’s ties with Russia, according to Balkan

Insight. Since his election in 2016, Dodon has paid several visits to Moscow, despite the two governments’ suspension of contact. The ousting of the Democratic party in June brought fresh hope for Moldovan-Russian cooperation, with Dodon stating on the Russian television program Vesti Nedeli, “I am sure we will have very good relations with Russia under the new government.”

Moldova’s relations with Russia initially soured.

An essential component of Dodon’s pro-Russia policy is Transnistria, the Russian-speaking breakaway region that remains a contentious arena in the struggle between the East and West for influence in Moldova, according to Balkan Insight. Dodon has advocated for a so-called “special status” for Transnistria, a plan that Romanian MP Matei Dobrovie likened to a euphemism for federalization in an interview with Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty. Infotag reported Moldovan Prime Minister Maia Sandu’s response to Dodon’s bold

statements: “Politically, we haven’t discussed any proposals or concepts on Transnistria, so I do not know what Igor Dodon speaks about.”

Moldovans who hope to see their country become closer to the EU fear a federal system because of the potential for Transnistria’s largely pro-Russia population to influence future elections, Balkan Insight reports. Dodon denied political motivations when a Kommersant reporter suggested that Transnistria’s reincorporation would lead to Dodon holding onto power in future elections, claiming that his sole priority is to strengthen the Moldovan state.

Members of the international community expressed concern over Moldova’s eastward swing. Former U.S. Ambassador to the UN Ned Siegel told American Security News, “I fear for the good people of Moldova who deserve the chance to be prosperous and free from Russian oppression.”

However, Prime Minister Sandu does not intend to let Dodon take control so easily, announcing in a statement to the press, “No matter what high post Mr. Dodon may hold, the destiny of Moldova and the settlement of such problems are not decided by one person.”

Romanian President Blamed for Murder Brooke Tanner

Mihai Fifor, general secretary of Romania’s governing Social Democratic Party (PSD), declared Romanian President Klaus Iohannis indirectly responsible for the suspected murder of an 11-year-old girl due to the understaffing of the Ministry of the Interior. Digi24 reports that the child, Mihaela Adrianna Fieraru, was found dead on September 22, after being reported missing two days prior.

The alleged perpetrator is a 47year old Dutch man who worked for an IT company and traveled to Romania frequently, according to the NL Times. His car was caught on video surveillance near where the victim was abducted.

His ex-fiancée told the NL Times that he held a previous record of multiple sex crimes and was institutionalized for mandatory psychiatric counseling after his sentence. The Public Prosecution Service would not comment on the man’s criminal record.

Following the crime, the perpetrator reportedly committed suicide by swerving his car into oncoming traffic, although some locals question the police’s account of the event.

According to the NL Times, the mayor of the city where the murder occurred commented, “Everyone is terrified. People do not believe that the Dutch man is now dead.”

The Romanian president is being held accountable for the murder by his political rivals due to his failure to appoint a new minister of the interior following the previous minister’s resignation.

Public perception of the president reflects his high poll numbers.

“The president’s refusal to appoint a new Minister of the Interior has disrupted the activity of the Romanian Police,” Fifor wrote in a Facebook post. After only a few days in office, the previous minister of the interior resigned due to political pressure following the murder of two teenage girls in July, Romania Insider reports.

According to G4Media, Iohannis has yet to approve any of the prime minister’s nominated replacements.

These accusations arose ahead of the November elections, in which President Iohannis and PSD Prime

Minister Viorica Dancila are the two favored candidates. In an early Europa FM poll, the incumbent president held a commanding lead of 44.6 percent, while Dancila received only 8.4 percent support. Without 10 percent of the votes, Dancila could be the first prime minister excluded from the second round of elections, according to Business Review.

In response to Fifor’s allegations, G4Media writes, the vice president called Fifor “delirious” and a coward, blaming the PSD’s parliament for understaffing the Ministry of Internal Affairs and passing legislation that released over 14,000 detainees from prisons.

Despite local security concerns and the general secretary’s comments, public perception of the president reflects his high poll numbers. He is popular on Twitter, where supporters have rallied to his defense. One user commented, “My President!

Not perfect [because he’s a] human being but number one choice [for] Romania!”

It is unclear where the political blame will fall for this murder, and the impact it will have on the upcoming presidential election. Despite the ongoing investigation, the minister of internal affairs has yet to be replaced.

Belorussian Nuclear Radiation Threat Sarah Keisler Vilnius officials have tentatively canceled city-wide drills, initially planned for early September, to prepare for a potential nuclear radiation leak from the Astravyets Power Plant in Belarus. Despite claims

by Lithuanian authorities that the plant does not meet international safety standards, Lithuanian National Radio (LRT) reports that the plant will begin launching nuclear reactors this fall.

The Astravyets Power Plant is a Russian-built plant in western Belarus, just 25 miles from the Lithuanian capital. In a statement released at the beginning of the plant’s construction, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised questions about the quality and safety of the plant.

A major concern is location, as the Astravyets plant is built on land with seismic risks. An earthquake in that area of Belarus could cause disaster in the nuclear plant.

In addition, several accidents occurred during construction, culminating in the deaths of three workers. For instance, according to TIME, a 330-ton casing fell from a crane during construction. Lithuania flagged Belarus’s initial failure to disclose some of these accidents as particularly troubling.

Other concerns stem from the facility’s builders, the Russian staterun company Rosatom Corp. TIME reports that Rosatom recently oversaw a missile test in northern Russia in which a reactor exploded and five scientists died. Following the incident, scientists detected high radiation levels on the White Sea near the site.

Despite Lithuanian concerns, Belarus has continued to partner with Rosatom for the construction of the nuclear plant.

Vilnius initially planned a drill to prepare its citizens for what officials perceive as a looming disaster.

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Claire Beezley

However, LRT reports that the government called the drill off in late August. The former interior minister, Eimutis Misiūnas, explained that the drills “would have disclosed a lot of drawbacks and problems in the whole system” and caused “unnecessary” panic among the population. The Lithuanian government has instead scheduled a country-wide exercise in October and purchased $1 million in iodine pills, according to Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe (RFE/RL).

Furthermore, Lithuanian authorities have established evacuation routes and are testing emergency sirens.

The standoff between Lithuania and Belarus has entangled a variety of other countries. Lithuania has increased the pressure on Belarus to drop the project by introducing a law that would ban the sale of nuclear energy produced in Astravyets, according to RFE/ RL. Many neighboring Scandinavian and Baltic states, as well as Poland, have backed the law which implies huge potential revenue losses for Belarus. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has also recommended that the construction in Astravyets be suspended.

While Minsk has responded by claiming that nuclear energy is an outlet that will allow Belarus to wean off Russian oil dependency, Lithuanian officials pointed out that Russia constructed the plant on Belorussian soil.

“The Astravyets nuclear power plant is a Russian geopolitical project, directed against Lithuania,” said Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite, a harsh critic of Russia, per RFE/RL. As the feud between the two nations continues, the EU and Russia have played an increasingly larger role, leading observers to wonder if this struggle between two small Eastern European nations signifies a larger power struggle at play.

Construction of the Astravyets power plant continues in Belarus.

6 | S E P T. 2019

WESTERN EUROPE & CANADA Kyle Wang

B

ritain’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously on September 24 that Prime Minister Boris Johnson overstepped his bounds in suspending Parliament. This setback was only the latest for Johnson’s aspirations of achieving Brexit by the deadline of October 31, even without a deal.

Queen Elizabeth II, on the advice of the Prime Minister, ordered Parliament suspended from September 9 to October 14, according to the Guardian.

Members of Parliament and the general public protested the move, seeing it as an attempt to silence debate and an abuse of executive power, given the proximity to the deadline.

The Court, traditionally avoiding such political questions, rebuked Johnson and declared his advice to the Queen “unlawful, void and of no effect”, according to the New York Times. Parliament reconvened on September 25.

Johnson has met a string of defeats since assuming office on July 24, many stemming from his stubborn insistence on not delaying the October deadline.

The Conservative Party lost its working majority on September 3 after a Conservative MP defected to the Liberal Democrats over the government’s handling of Brexit, the Irish Times reported. Following that, 21 Conservative MPs were effectively expelled from the party after opposing a no-deal Brexit, the New York Times wrote. This further weakened the government’s position in Parliament in an apparent act of self-sabotage.

Efforts by Johnson to call an early election were blocked after the majority of Labour MPs abstained, denying the government a two-thirds majority needed for the vote, according to BBC. Labour, however, is still holding off on calling a vote of no confidence until another extension to the deadline is requested, Financial Times reported. Johnson himself refuses to resign, nor ask for an extension.

If Johnson does resign before October 31, he would still make history for being the shortestserving prime minister in British history, beating George Canning’s 118-day premiership in 1827.

BBC Responds to Claims of Indifference to Racism

Andi Kamyab

BBC responded to claims of indifference to racism after it upheld complaints toward a newsreader who expressed personal views towards President Donald Trump.

On July 17, in an interview with a supporter of the president on daytime television, presenter Naga Munchetty criticized Trump’s treatment of Representatives Alexandria OcasioCortez (D-NY14), Ilhan Omar (DMN5), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI13), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA7), saying that she was “Furious. Absolutely furious” over the president’s words, adding that “every time I have been told, as a woman of color, to go back to where I came from, that was embedded in racism,” BBC reports.

On September 25, BBC’s Editorial Complaints Unit found that Munchetty breached the corporation’s guidelines, which “do not allow for journalists to give their opinions about the individual making the remarks or their motives for doing so—in this case President Trump.” Officials noted that

“judgments of that kind are for the audience to make, and the exchange fell short of due impartiality in that respect.” According to the Telegraph, despite upholding the complaint, no official disciplinary action will be taken against Munchetty.

Since then, various groups and individuals have criticized the BBC’s upholding of the complaint.

According to BBC, on September 27, 44 well-known public figures published an open letter to BBC advising its management to “issue their support for journalists and acknowledge there can be no expectation of ‘impartiality’ over expressions and experiences of racism.” Writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch, who helped organize the letter, said that it is “ludicrous to say it’s fine for a presenter to express her own experience of racism but she shouldn’t cast judgment on the person being racist.”

British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid tweeted, “This is ridiculous. It’s perfectly understandable why she said what she did,” while Labour Party leader

U.K. Supreme Court Ruling Disrupts British Politics Talin Antarkar

After succeeding Theresa May as Britain’s prime minister in June 2019, Boris Johnson made the controversial decision of advising Queen Elizabeth II in August to suspend the country’s parliament—advice she accepted.

According to HuffPost, during the prorogation, members of Parliament cease work on all parliamentary matters, and political parties convene in nation-wide conferences. At the end of the prorogation, the Queen makes a speech to Parliament, written by the government, that sets out the new agendas. Despite this being an annual occurrence in British politics, Johnson’s calls to prorogue Parliament were met with significant controversy.

While Johnson maintained that his only motive was for the new government to set its “ambitious domestic legislative agenda,” according to HuffPost, many MPs believed that this move was an effort

to avoid scrutiny about his Brexit strategy. In addition to these concerns, the unusual length of Johnson’s proposed prorogation, five weeks, contributed to the controversy.

On September 24, the U.K.’s Supreme Court issued a ruling concluding that Johnson’s “decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament was unlawful,” BBC reported. The Court argued that it had the “effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.”

Although Johnson has agreed to fully “respect” the ruling, numerous members of Parliament, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have called for his resignation, according to BBC. This ruling could not only have significant consequences for Johnson’s political legitimacy domestically, but also on Brexit negotiations with the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn insisted that BBC must “explain this astonishing decision,” the Independent reports.

In light of the criticism, the BBC’s director-general, Tony Hall, attempted to clarify recent events in an email on September 27. According to the Guardian, Hall wrote, “BBC is not impartial on racism. Racism is not an opinion and it is not a matter for debate. Racism is racism.” Hall voiced support for the premise of Munchetty’s grievance, saying, “we completely back her in saying, ‘as a woman of color, to go back to where

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I came from, that was embedded in racism,’” though he also explains that “the very limited finding was not about Naga’s comments on racism. That part of the complaint was rejected,” suggesting that it was Munchetty’s singling out of Trump that was subject to sanction.

Britain’s Office of Communications (Ofcom) has announced its intention to review the situation. If it finds that Munchetty has breached Ofcom rules during the assessment, it will launch a formal investigation, the Independent notes.

Afua Hirsch helped organize a letter criticizing BBC for its upholding of the complaint.

S E P T. 2019 | 7

French Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters Italy Gets French The Parisian police fired tear gas at protesters from the Yellow Vest movement, climate change activists, and far-left trade unionists on September 21. They fired the gas in an attempt to disperse anti-government protesters who were becoming violent, France 24 reported.

The protests started as a nonviolent march by climate change activists in accordance with the global marches and strikes for climate change that occurred on September 20-22, according to DW. The protesters wanted greater governmental action in decreasing carbon emissions, preventing the melting of the Arctic, and stopping the burning of the Amazon rainforest.

A major far-left trade union, Workers’ Force, also organized separate protests against retirement reforms, according to CBS News.

The union fears that the reforms will increase working hours and decrease pensions.

However, the protests took a violent turn when anti-government protesters who sought to revive the Yellow Vest movement appeared on the scene.

According to NPR, the Yellow Vest

movement started as a march against the rising price of fuel, but it quickly expanded into a movement against high living prices, taxes, and the French government, specifically the French president Emmanuel Macron.

Dozens of anti-government protesters, reportedly dressed in black, interrupted the peaceful protests by setting fire to one of the barricades, breaking bank windows, and by carrying out other violent acts. The Parisian police then used tear gas to disperse protesters around the Champs-Élysée, Saint-Lazare and Place de la Madeleine. Protests were banned in these locations.

The protests started as a non-violent march by climate change activists.

After the tear gas, the climate rally disbanded with Greenpeace advising climate change protesters to “take no risks” and “leave the march.” Youth for Climate also advised protesters to return home.

According to France 24, over 7,000

police officers took to the streets of Paris to manage the protests. French authorities prohibited protests in many parts of the city, including many governmental buildings, the ChampsÉlysée, the Eiffel Tower, and the Notre Dame cathedral. Police arrested over 150 people, and almost 400 received a fine for protesting in prohibited areas of the city.

In the midst of all this commotion, France’s annual heritage weekend took place. The weekend offers exclusive opportunities to visit sites usually closed to the public such as the Champs-Élysée palace. In addition, a variety of events and celebrations took place, including food trucks and a run from Paris to Versailles. Many Parisians and tourists lined up all over Paris to celebrate and visit landmarks, which only added to the fear and chaos the protesters caused.

In anticipation of further violence, Macron issued a statement urging “calm” during the demonstrations, and that people should be able to “express themselves” without disrupting the heritage weekend. The president has already made concessions with the Yellow Vests on taxes and wages.

Despite these precautions, protests still turned violent.

Gucci Tax Scandal Envelops the Company Matthew Lee Kering S.A., a Paris-based French luxury goods group and owner of luxury brand Gucci, agreed to hand over 1.15 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in unpaid taxes to the Italian government in May, according to Bloomberg.

The payout was supposed to conclude a seven-year investigation, lasting from 2011 to 2017, into whether Kering conducted illegal business through a Swiss subsidiary business in order to avoid paying taxes on the Gucci brand in Italy.

However, the probe into Kering has uncovered additional potentially fraudulent business practices, which are now being investigated by Guardia di Finanzia, Italy’s law enforcement agency dedicated to the investigation of financial crimes.

Kering is an international conglomerate of luxury and designer fashion brands, including Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Boucheron, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen.

The company, which was originally founded as Établissements Pinault by François Pinault in 1963, was initially designed as a timber trading company.

However, as the company grew, Pinault started acquiring luxury

retail companies, beginning with the purchase of a 42 percent stake in Gucci in 1999, according to CNN. Recently, the company launched partnerships with other multinational organizations such as Apple in an effort to expand the realm of luxury brands in other industries.

The Gucci tax scandal taints the company’s ethical reputation.

In 2011, Italian tax authorities initiated an audit into Kering’s subsidiary company Gucci for failing to pay taxes to the Italian government. Gucci, which is based in Florence, siphoned revenue from its company to a subsidiary, Luxury Goods International, based in Lugano, Switzerland, in order to avoid paying high Italian taxes on its revenue.

Many large corporations utilize Switzerland in order to conduct business due to its lack of corporate tax laws. According to estimates, Gucci saved over 1.15 billion euros in taxes

thanks to its fiscal maneuvering.

Kering has routinely averaged billions of euros in sales for more than the past decade. In addition, it has been widely praised as a leader in ethical, social, and environmental conduct in the high luxury industry.

In fact, Kering has been named one of the most sustainable corporations in the world and an industry leader for ethical treatment of workers and the upholding of their rights.

However, the Gucci tax scandal taints the company’s ethical reputation and may make investors uneasy about the company’s future. Additionally, the Italian tax police are investigating dozens of high-ranking executives at Gucci, who may potentially face criminal charges as a result of the scandal.

The Gucci probe by the Italian government highlights a larger effort by the European Union to crack down on corporate corruption due to mounting public pressures from the European sovereign debt crisis.

While no individual employees of Gucci have been found guilty yet, the magnitude of this tax scandal may play a vital role in the company’s future and could possibly implicate high-level company employees.

Support on Immigration Reform After Salvini Exit Ayushman Ghosh French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte endorsed a new system of receiving migrants to the EU and called for a revamp of the Dublin Accords in a joint-press conference on September 18, according to Reuters.

Conte stated that he and Macron agreed on a plan to automatically resettle migrants arriving by sea across the European Union and to financially punish states who do not support this measure.

The reform plan came a few weeks after the Italian Senate approved a new ruling coalition between Italy’s antiestablishment Five Star Movement (M5S) and the center-left Democratic Party (PD), leaving the right-wing Lega Nord, M5S’s former coalition partner, out of power, Politico reported.

The deal assured Conte would stay Prime Minister, but triggered the exit of former Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, Lega Nord’s leader.

Salvini’s immigration policies were controversial in Italy, especially those involving the handling of migrants coming in through the ports, according to Politico. He also issued security decrees criminalizing NGO operations working with migrants and refugees.

Salvini also fell out with Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli after an argument on control over Italian ports.

Salvini responded to his own forced departure from the Italian government by tweeting that the new government would, “reopen ports and borders.”

Even before Salvini’s tenure, Italy’s government had been at odds with other EU members over the handling of migrants arriving by sea, claiming that Italy shouldered the majority of

the migrant burden. This criticism was directed especially at France, with Italy under the previous government claiming that the French government was not helping Italy sufficiently in the management of the immigration burden, Reuters reported.

Macron said that he was pleased that a pro-European government was attempting to resolve the differences in immigration policy. During the press conference with Conte, Macron said, “I do not underestimate what Italy has been experiencing since 2015. It has also suffered many misunderstandings and injustice,” according to EURACTIV.com. After the meeting, he added, “the European Union hasn’t shown enough solidarity with countries handling first arrivals, notably Italy.”

Since Salvini’s departure, Italy has been aiming to reform its own immigration policies regarding migrants arriving at its ports. His replacement as interior minister, Luciana Lamorgese, reportedly wants to ease the restrictions introduced by Salvini, DW reported.

The Italian government demonstrated this intention by allowing a ship carrying 82 migrants, operated by the charities SOS Mediterranee and Doctors Without Borders, to dock on Lampedusa, an Italian island south of Sicily where many migrants have arrived over the past decade, Politico said.

Foreign Minister Luigi De Maio maintained the move was not a sign of resorting to open borders, but rather it signaled a shift away from Salvini’s immigration restrictions.

Many, including Italy’s Culture Minister Dario Franceschini and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, showed their support for the move through tweets.

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Madeline Hart

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte addresses the European Parliament.

8 | S E P. 2019

LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN Juliana Albuquerque

E

duardo Bolsonaro, son of controversial Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, shared a digitally manipulated picture of 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg on September 26, according to O Globo. The fake photo depicts Thunberg eating a bountiful dinner while starving children look at her longingly through a train window.

Such immature conduct continues to raise severe doubts about his already tenuous qualifications for the post of the Brazilian ambassador to the United States, to which he has been nominated by his father.

Before he assumes his post, the Brazilian Senate must first approve his nomination as ambassador.

His latest tweets have generated severe criticism from several of the senators who will vote on his appointment.

Bolsonaro’s official Twitter account has shared several memes mocking Thunberg; the fake image was simply the last straw needed for many to call him out for his “childishness.” Senator Eliziane Gama, for one, shamed him for what she considers to be “great irresponsibility.’’

The Intercept confirms that this is not the first time he has publicly shared fake news. However, it is still incredibly disappointing to see how seemingly unprepared Bolsonaro is to potentially assume such an important international position.

While the Senate has yet to approve the nomination, the fact that his father nominated him for the position in the first place has left many Brazilians confused and furious.

It’s puzzling that a man who built his entire presidential campaign on “ending corruption” in the Brazilian government nominated a direct member of his family with questionable credentials for a critical role.

President Bolsonaro should handle this carefully, as a September poll showed that 38 percent of Brazilians believe that his administration is “bad or horrible.” As such, a quiet rejection of his son’s appointment might actually improve his image with the nation.

Obstruction in Franco Murder Under Review Catalina Llorente

As her last act in office, Brazil’s Attorney General, Raquel Dodge, initiated another investigation into the murder of Marielle Franco.

Franco was a prominent human rights activist and politician who was murdered in March 2018.

A black, openly bisexual, single mother from the Maré favela, Franco worked to become the voice of the people, especially the most marginalized. As Amnesty International reported, “For more than ten years, she served as a political activist and as coordinator of the Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro, where she helped dozens of victims.”

In fact, according to BBC, on the night of her death, March 14 2018, Franco was returning home from an event in Rio titled “Young Black Women Who Are Changing Power Structures,” when a car pulled up next to hers, from which the perpetrators fired nine shots. Franco was shot in the head four times.

Although the motive behind

her murder remains unknown, the federal prosecutor’s office in Rio managed to link the evidence to two corrupt police officers, who were arrested for the crime in March 2019.

This was unsurprising to many, as according to the Guardian, Franco’s master’s thesis criticized police brutality in primarily Afro-Brazilian favelas in Rio. A photo of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro with one of the police officers gained popularity on social media in March. After learning that one of Bolsonaro’s sons dated the other man’s daughter, Senator Humberto Costa of Pernambuco told the Guardian, “These relations between paramilitaries and the president of the republic must be explained.”.

In a turn of events made public

by Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, on her last day in office, Prosecutor General Dodge suggested that federal investigators take over the case to avoid tampering.

According to BBC, she substantiated her claim by accusing five people of obstruction of justice.

Domingos Brazão, a former board

Nicaraguan Protesters Attacked by Police Forces Adriana Salem

Two more anti-government protesters were injured by Nicaraguan police forces last Saturday, as the movement against President Daniel Ortega continues to grow.

These protests started as a movement against social security reforms put in place by the Ortega administration. Now, as Ortega serves his third consecutive presidential term, the protesters call for an end to his leadership and new elections.

According to BBC, constitutional changes were made in both 2009 and 2016 to allow him to remain in power, a move critics have deemed illegal.

Ortega claims these changes were necessary to maintain stability.

The anti-government movement in Nicaragua has taken a bloody turn since it began. According to Televisa, the government claims that about 200 people have been killed as a consequence of protesters’ “terrorist”

actions in what they have claimed is a coup allegedly fueled by the United States.

While the current death toll of these protests is inaccessible, RPP reported in July 2018 that since April, there have been over 448 casualties.

In the latest protests, demonstrators who took to the streets of Managua were met with police forces firing stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets.

In a video released by Al Jazeera, protester and former political prisoner Pedro Estrada can be seen with bloody gauze wrapped around his head as he describes the attacks: “One of their senior commanders grabbed one of those flash bangs and threw it directly on my forehead, and it exploded, and that got me disoriented and I passed out,’’ he said.

Despite Ortega outlawing antigovernment protests in September 2018, as reported by El Pais, demands for an end to his presidency do not appear to be dying out.

member of the Rio de Janeiro Auditors Court, is named by a federal police investigation shared with the DA’s office as the prime suspect behind the murders.

Besides him, Gilberto Ribeiro da Costa, Brazão’s subordinate, Hélio Khristian Cunha de Almeida, a federal police officer, Rodrigo Jorge Ferreira, a Rio police officer, and Camila Moreira Lima Nogueira, a lawyer, are also implicated.

Dodge claimed to have ordered their indictments along with the request for the transfer of the investigation to federal authorities,

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both of which are yet to be approved by the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

As reported by TIME Magazine, if Franco’s murderers intended to silence her, their efforts backfired: her murder mobilized tens of thousands of Brazilians and people around the world to demand justice.

On September 22, the city of Paris inaugurated a garden bearing her name. Marielle’s fight against repression lives, even a year and a half after her death and on the other side of the world from the small Favela where she grew up.

A crowd of protesters chants in honor of Marielle Franco in Rio de Janeiro.

S E P. 2019 | 9

Emily Sullivan The Supreme Court of Peru ruled to cut Peruvian politician Keiko Fujimori’s pre-trial detention period in half on September 12. While Fujimori has not yet been charged with any crime, she has been in preventive detention since November 2018. Her detention period was diminished from 36 months to 18 months.

Keiko Fujimori is the daughter of former-President Alberto Fujimori and the leader of Peru’s right-wing party, Fuerza Popular. Fujimori served as a member of the Congress of Peru from 2006 until 2011. Most recently, she has been her party’s nominee for president in both 2011 and 2016, although she lost both times.

France 24 reports that she was arrested just a week after her father’s presidential pardon for crimes against humanity was revoked. That week Fujimori tweeted: “Persecution has been disguised as justice in our country.”

The current case against Fujimori is part of an ongoing corruption investigation against the Brazilian company Odebrecht. According to Channel News Asia, the firm has admitted to paying at least $29 million

USD in bribes to Peruvian government officials since 2004. Fuerza Popular has been accused of accepting $1.2 million USD to fund Fujimori’s 2011 presidential campaign. Three former Peruvian presidents are also under investigation for their involvement with Odebrecht.

The case against Fujimori is part of an ongoing corruption investigation.

The appeal for the recent reduction of Fujimori’s detention period was brought by her attorney, Guiuliana Loza, who argued that Fujimori did not pose a flight risk or a threat to ongoing investigations, reports Peruvian Times. Fuerza Popular’s legal advisors have been working to secure her release since she was first imprisoned and expected a majority of the magistrates presiding over the Supreme Court to approve Fujimori’s immediate release when the appeal was filed. Loza remarked that it was unjust and disappointing that not a single magistrate voted for immediate

release when the case came before the court.

El Comercio reports that a tiebreaking judge would be called in to rule if Fujimori’s sentence were to be shortened at all, showing that Fuerza Popular’s current influence in the judicial system may not be as strong as it was.

The official ruling sets Fujimori’s new release date as April 2020, allowing her to campaign for the presidential election in 2021. While Fuerza Popular still holds the majority in Congress and wields significant power within the political system, it is unclear how viable of a candidate Fujimori would be after this scandal. Fujimori, once one of the most popular politicians in the country, has an estimated approval rating of around nine percent.

In recent weeks, the special prosecuting team investigating the Odebrecht case has claimed to have obtained documents from the company that proves successful direct money transfer to the 2011 Fujimori campaign. If these documents exist and do, in fact, implicate Fujimori’s participation, they could trigger a reevaluation of her detention period and have tremendous effects on her future political prospects.

Honduras Limits Women’s Reproductive Rights Shaily Acharya Women seeking reproductive healthcare in Honduras have limited options—the country has fully criminalized abortion in all cases.

This includes instances of rape and incest, when the pregnant woman is in danger, and when the fetus is not viable.

Honduran law defines abortion as “the death of a human being at any moment during pregnancy or birth.”

Al Jazeera reports that the penalty for having an abortion is 3 to 6 years in prison. Furthermore, the penalty for performing an abortion is up to 10 years in prison, though the government can increase the punishment depending on their evaluation of the severity of the crime.

The law has drawn domestic and international criticism. Margaret Wurth, a senior official at the Human Rights Watch, told Reuters: “Honduras’ draconian law is leading to enormous suffering among women and girls and their families.”

This sentiment is shared by the majority of Honduran people.

According to a 2017 survey directed by public opinion firm Le Vote, “60 percent of Honduran men and 64

percent of Honduran women were in favor of approving abortion in cases of rape, an unviable fetus, or danger to the mother’s life.”

This law has drawn domestic and international criticism.

United Nations experts have also urged the government to reform the abortion laws to meet the international standards for reproductive healthcare.

In a document released by the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, the office describes the total ban on abortion as “the most blatant form of instrumentalization of women’s bodies and denial of their autonomy.”

Furthermore, the organization declared that “criminalizing termination of pregnancy does not reduce abortion rates; on the contrary, more women will likely resort to clandestine and dangerous solutions.”

For this reason, it is impossible to know the exact amount of abortions that have been performed in Honduras.

However, according to an independent research paper titled “Secreto a

voces: una reseña sobre el aborto en Honduras” by the Honduran nongovernmental organization Centro de Derechos de Mujeres, there are between 50,000 to 80,000 abortions each year in Honduras.

Since 2009, Honduras has been the only country in Latin America to ban emergency contraception. There has been a recent push to reform the law to allow for the use of the “morningafter pill,” a pill designed to block the fertilization of an egg and prematurely terminate a pregnancy.

In 2019, advocates for reproductive rights in Honduras have launched a campaign called Hablemos Lo Que Es, which serves to demystify misconceptions about emergency contraceptives. The efforts of this group are mainly concentrated in rural regions, where women are often not educated about their reproductive healthcare options.

Honduras is 1 of 7 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean to fully ban and criminalize abortions.

BBC reports that a recent bill to allow for abortion in certain cases in Ecuador has also been blocked by the Ecuadorian parliament, indicating a trend in reproductive rights policy in Latin America.

Climate Change Intensifies Immigration Crisis in Central America Martin Hiti

Crop shortages, natural disasters, and droughts caused by climate change have caused many rural farmers in Central America to flee their countries.

These climate disasters have created food and wage insecurity, and along with corruption, gang violence, and political unrest, have forced wide-scale emigration from the region.

The United States Agency for International Development has categorized the region as one of the most susceptible to the immediate effects of climate change. Interestingly enough, these countries are largely not responsible for the greenhouse gas emissions heating the planet.

An internal report circulated to officials in the Department of Homeland Security and the White House suggested that climate irregularities caused a recent surge in migration from Guatemala, according to NBC News. Data from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) shows that Guatemala is the single largest contributor to illegal immigration across the U.S. border in 2019. Climate change and resulting food insecurity from irregular crop production have directly contributed to this rise.

Despite the report, which NBC News gained access to in September, US policy towards Guatemalan and Central American immigration continues to focus on investing in drug control and violence prevention rather than agricultural concerns. Moreover, the Trump administration has cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to affected areas. Some of this aid was designated to alleviate the impact of climate change on small farms.

“Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador were not able to do the job of stopping people from leaving their

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Jail Time Reduced For Peruvian Politician Fujimori

country and coming illegally to the U.S.,” Donald Trump tweeted. “We will now begin cutting off, or substantially reducing, the massive foreign aid routinely given to them.”

The issue is not confined to Guatemala. Many flee Honduras for similar climate-related reasons, according to InsideClimate News.

Global warming has driven away seasonal rains in Honduras that rural farmers relied on for sustenance.

Nearly one third of the Honduran population is employed within the agricultural industry. Moreover, NBC reported that commercial logging has destroyed pine forests in the countryside, diminishing freshwater streams and skyrocketing temperatures in small rural villages.

Emigration from Central America has received much media attention for the large groups of asylum seekers traveling to the United States.

Reporting on these groups focuses on issues such as political upheaval, corruption, and gang violence, but have noticeably left out climate and agricultural reasons, despite the fact that in many rural areas, ecological crises have been the driving factor for poverty according to PBS. “It doesn’t come out right,” said Ruben, a Salvadoran farmer in an interview with anthropologist Miranda Hallett, “it just doesn’t pay any more to work the land. I take out a loan for seed, and then I can’t count on making it back to pay off my debt.”

Experts at the World Bank predict that nearly 2 million people will be forced to emigrate from Central America by the year 2050 due to factors related to climate change.

Without great change, millions of people will be forced to choose between a perilous migration journey or insecure livelihoods.

Crop shortages caused by climate change have greatly impacted Honduran farmers.

1 0 | S E P. 2019

INDO-ASIA-PACIFIC Australian Capital Sets Renewable Energy Goals The Australian capital city Canberra hurtles towards transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy to source its energy needs. A new report by the Australian Institute (TAI)’s Climate and Energy Program finds the Australian Capital Territory’s (ACT) energy supply is on track to be 100 percent renewable by January 1, 2020 or earlier. Renewable energy sources include geothermal, solar, wind, biomass, and hydroelectric forms.

The conversion hinges on an October 1 deadline with South Australia’s Hornsdale Wind Farm to bring 35 more wind turbines into the grid. In total, the ACT’s Environment Directorate looks to make use of 192 wind turbines and over 159,000 solar panels to sustain the energy needs of its nearly 400,000 inhabitants.

Renewable energy is a largely local affair: several of Australia’s largest solar and wind farms are situated within a 30-minute drive to the capital city, including the 83,000-panel Royalla solar farm, according to the Australian

Broadcasting Corporation.

Because they are climate-based, wind and solar energy present challenges with dependability and consistency in the electrical grid. To stabilize the network, the ACT will also obtain large batteries capable of powering thousands of homes at a time. Battery implementation permits storage of excess energy generated by renewable sources and ensures a much more stable electrical network.

Just a decade ago, Canberra’s electricity came from coal-based sources.

Canberra began its transition to renewable sources in 2013 with the development of three solar farms with a collective capacity to power roughly 10,000 homes. Two years later, the ACT government pledged to go 100-percent renewable by 2025, a goal that would be amended in 2016 to an ambitious earlier deadline of 2020,

Genevieve Domenico

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Max Zhang

Australian Students Claim Free Speech Violations All energy supplies in Canberra will come from renewable sources by 2020.

Business Insider reports.

Just a decade ago, Canberra derived 90 percent of its electricity supply from coal-based sources, according to Axios. According to the Guardian, added together, Australia is the world’s third-largest exporter of fossil carbon in the world, after only Saudi Arabia and Russia.

The World Economic Forum identified Australia as the fourthlargest coal producer in the world.

Canberra’s shift to strictly renewable energy sourcing for the ACT’s electrical grid, then, substantially differs from national policies.

PV Magazine reports that the Australian capital joins seven

jurisdictions in Germany, Spain, and Austria in the tally of 100-percent renewable-dependent regions with populations over 100,000.

The movement to only source renewable-energy has been dramatic in recent years. The TAI report identifies over a hundred regions globally that maintain 100-percent renewable targets, including 52 countries and 42 cities. Skåne, Sweden (pop. 1.3 million), Kasese, Uganda (pop.

775,000), Oslo, Norway (pop. 600,000), and Flevoland, the Netherlands (pop.

400,000) are among the municipalities that maintain the most ambitious goals as they look to join Canberra in 2020 as fossil-fuel free.

Abuses Continue in Kashmir From p.1 The majority party in India, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is the architect of the current lockdown.

According to the Indo-Asian News Service, the party claims that the overarching goal of the move is to work toward the promise of development, opportunity, and enhanced livelihood for the people of Kashmir, while also combating terrorism (for which separatist groups are largely responsible).

However, Kashmiris currently living under lockdown present a very different account, describing a life of mass paranoia, police raids, military violence, and mass arrests, according to Al Jazeera. Among testimonies of human rights abuses, one man recounted his own experience of a midnight raid, saying, “I was beaten with sticks, rifle butts and they kept asking me why I went for a protest march. I kept telling them that I didn’t, but they didn’t stop. After I fainted, they used electric shocks to revive me.”

Additionally, troops have arrested thousands of protesters, local

politicians, and civilians. According to Reuters, this number is approximately 3,800 people—most held without opportunities for trial or bail.

The tactics used in this lockdown point to it as an attempt to limit rebellion as the region is forcibly integrated, according to the Hindu.

Writers have theorized that the lockdown is the manifestation of the BJP’s nationalistic ideal for a united, Hindu India. These human rights violations suggest that the BJP views the Kashmiri/Muslim identity as a threat to their nationalistic Hindu politics.

Kashmir has been a historic epicenter of Indo-Pakistani conflict.

According to BBC, a war between India and Pakistan broke out in 1947 when the Kashmiri prince signed a treaty of accession with India. Two more wars broke out in 1965 and 1971.

Pakistani defeat in the third military conflict led to the Simla Agreement, which established lines of control.

China has established de facto control over the Aksai Chin region of Kashmir since the 1960s.

The University of Queensland in Australia is facing accusations of free speech suppression made by an organizer of the Hong Kong sympathy rallies in Australia, according to the Economist.

The sympathy rallies started as a result of anti-government protests in Hong Kong. During the Australian rally held in July, Chinese nationalists violently disrupted the demonstrators.

Relative to population, Australia hosts the most international students in the world, with a third of them coming from China, as reported by the Economist.

Moreover, the Economist reports that 13 campuses in Australia, including the University of Queensland, have a Confucius Institute, a Chinese language school, which is funded by the Chinese government. Some academics and activists have accused these Confucius Institutes of limiting discussions on sensitive topics regarding China.

Concerns over free speech limitations began to grow when Federal Parliament Member Andrew Hastie claimed that Australian freedoms were at stake.

Australian universities tend to deny any attempts at limiting free speech.

South China Morning Post reports that Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sydney Michael Spence said that it was “kind of dumb” that students were arguing that supporters of the Chinese government shouldn’t be on campus.

Some university students have reported threats, including one incident in which Chinese officials went to a student’s home in China to warn his family of the consequences they could face for dissenting Australian universities claim they are working with the Australian government to “safeguard security.”

However, there have been no efforts to limit universities’ current financial dependence on China. Federal officials may eventually get involved if the government determines the issue to be a security risk.

S E P. 2019 |11

At Least 38 Dead, 700 Injured in Pakistan Earthquake A 5.6-magnitude earthquake hit northeast Pakistan, killing at least 38 people and injuring 700 on September 24. The quake struck about two miles southeast of the Mirpur district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, but much of northern Pakistan also experienced the quake. Authorities say that rescue searches are complete, but they are still assessing the damage.

According to the Japan Times, Pakistan is located between the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates, making the country susceptible to earthquakes.

The earthquake’s magnitude was 5.6, which rates as “moderate” on the Richter scale (which ranges from 0 to 10+); however, seismologists have never recorded a 10-magnitude earthquake. However, because the epicenter was shallow, the earthquake caused significant damage to homes, bridges, mobile towers, and electricity poles. Giant cracks have opened in the roads. In particular, the damage to a main road near Mirpur caused several vehicular accidents, according to the Weather Channel.

Additionally, the buildings in the area were vulnerable to earthquakes

A 5.6-magnitude earthquake struck two miles away from Mirpur in Pakistan.

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which contributed to the severity of the damage. Pakistan’s chief meteorologist, Muhammad Riaz, said that the construction industry often did not follow building codes in the area. Jatlan, a village near a fault line on the outskirts of Mirpur, experienced considerable damage due to poorly constructed houses and unenforced building codes.

“The moment I came out of my shop, its roof caved in.” —Unknown shop owner The earthquake badly damaged Jatlan’s homes and stone fences.

Pakistani geologists blamed poor house construction standards in the area. As the Pakistan military continues to assess damage and lead search operations, the death toll will very likely continue to rise.

After spending the rest of the night in heavy rain, hundreds of survivors joined to hold funerals for the residents who were killed near Mirpur, a city 80 miles from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad.

Standing in a street lined with damaged stores, an unidentified shop owner told Pakistan’s Geo News, “I was sitting in my shop when suddenly the walls started swaying. I knew that it is a strong earthquake. The moment I came out of my shop, its roof caved in.”

Doctors have arrived in the area, along with food, tents, and water.

A hospital near Mirpur treated 700 people, later transferring some of the patients to the district’s main hospital.

Lieutenant General Mohammad Afzal of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said that ambassadors of three countries offered assistance, but the Pakistani government had the situation under control.

Pakistani Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan said that survivors would be offered compensation.

However, relief efforts face logistical obstacles as many roads are damaged.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports that many had to sleep in open areas several nights immediately after the quake as tents were not set up.

The last major earthquake in Pakistan occurred in the Kashmiri town of Azad in 2005, claiming 87000 lives and leaving 2.8 million displaced.

Modi Draws Tens of Thousands to Houston Rally Ishaan Rai Over 50,000 cheering spectators welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alongside President Donald Trump, to Houston’s NRG Stadium on September 22. The event, called “Howdy, Modi” by its organizers, the Texas India Forum, was a reunion between two nations with a long and complex history. It was additionally a celebration of a prime minister who is popular both at home and abroad.

Upon Modi’s raucous entrance, he greeted the crowd, “Howdy, friends!” and then proceeded through the rest of his speech in Hindi. “Here today, we are looking at the creation of a new history and a new chemistry,” he said, speaking positively about the relationship between the United States and India and the future strengthening of ties.

The Guardian reported that Modi also touched on the growing escalation with India’s neighbor Pakistan, accusing the country of “hatred towards India.”

“Whether it is the 9/11 attack in America or the 26/11 attack in Mumbai, where are its conspirators

found? … The time has come for a decisive fight against terrorism and those who support terrorism,” Modi said, referring to Pakistan’s alleged harboring of Islamic terrorists within its borders.

Over 50,000 cheering spectators welcomed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Once Modi finished his speech, Trump took the stage next, reiterating the United States’ friendship with India. “Today we honor all the brave American and Indian service members who work to safeguard our freedom.

We stand proudly in defense of liberty and we are committed to protecting innocent civilians from the threat of radical Islamic terrorism,” Trump said, receiving a standing ovation from much of the crowd.

The event was aimed as being mutually beneficial: Trump wishes to extend his influence over the growing demographic of Indian-Americans,

who now number over 4 million people and are the fastest-growing ethnic group in the U.S., according to South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), a civil rights non-profit. The challenge for Trump is that IndianAmericans skew liberal: 77 percent of Indians who voted did so for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, USA Today points out. Appearing friendly with Modi, who has a 71 percent approval rating, may assist Trump’s election chances in Texas and around the country.

Modi, on the other hand, may seek a stronger alliance with the United States in India’s standoff with Pakistan. The Houston event occurred just a few days before the start of the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, where world leaders will assemble to discuss issues of importance. The New York Times reports that Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to introduce the issue of Kashmir on the floor, urging the UN to act against what he called India’s “irrationality.”

According to the Hindu, the Indian parliament dismantled the hotlycontested state’s partial autonomy in

August, gaining the ire of neighboring Pakistan, which, as BBC notes, claims control of the entire region due to its Muslim-majority population. Khan, along with human rights groups, has criticized India for its lockdown of Kashmir, which included a complete blackout on all communications and internet services, according to Al Jazeera.

Regardless, the audience’s response to “Howdy, Modi” shows that many Indian-Americans approve of the prime minister’s actions. When Modi ended his speech in English, the crowd greeted him with another round of applause as he proclaimed, “Thank you, Houston, thank you, America, and God bless you all.”

Two days later at the UN, however, Trump urged Modi to improve relations with Pakistan, reported Reuters.

Despite the warm images, over 15,000 protesters rallied outside the venue in Houston to voice their concerns over the ongoing situation in Kashmir, reported the Houston Chronicle.

Representatives from multiple rights organizations were present at the protest outside the rally.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Cristina Lopez

H

aze from fires in the Indonesian rainforest have spread past the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo, stoking diplomatic tensions with neighboring Malaysia and intensifying air pollution in Singapore, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries, Channel News Asia reports.

Slash-and-burn agriculture has caused many of the fires, says the Bangkok Post. Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Although illegal, setting fire to the trees is a cheap, swift method of clearing land to make room for plantations.

Demonstrating the smog’s negative health effects, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health reported that, in Indonesia alone, more than 850,000 people are experiencing “acute respiratory infections.”

According to the Bangkok Post, unhealthy air quality levels and low visibility have also caused both Indonesia and Malaysia to close thousands of schools and cancel hundreds of flights.

Many neighboring countries have expressed frustration at the recurring phenomenon of crossborder haze, as well as Indonesia’s attempts to deflect and deny responsibility for the problem.

In particular, as the Star reports, Malaysia sent a diplomatic note to Indonesia calling for immediate action to end the fires, yet the Jakarta Globe says that on September 10, Indonesia’s national weather bureau asserted that strong winds blocked smog from traveling from Indonesia to Malaysia, and Malaysian and Vietnamese fires were instead at fault.

The current situation exposes the weaknesses of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. As the Malay Mail points out, the goal of the 2002 document was to prevent a repeat of the severe 1997 cross-border haze crisis, yet smog has returned yearly to plague Southeast Asia.

Until ASEAN revises the agreement to hold signatories accountable for breaches and make it easier for other signatories to provide firefighting assistance, the agreement’s limits leave it powerless to truly eliminate smog.

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MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA Raising Awareness for a Missing Journalist Over 100 volunteers came to Washington D.C. on Monday, September 23, in an effort to raise awareness for Austin Tice, an American freelance journalist who has now entered his eighth year of captivity in Syria.

Tice, a Marine Corps veteran and graduate of the Georgetown School of Foreign Service, went to Syria in May 2012 to report on the escalating conflict and its impact on the lives of ordinary civilians. Tice intended to return to the United States after his 31st birthday, on August 11, to complete his final year at the Georgetown Law Center.

On August 14, he left for Lebanon by car from the Damascus suburb of Darayya, which was then in rebel hands. Shortly after embarking on his journey, he was detained at a checkpoint. Five weeks later, a video entitled “Austin Tice is Alive” emerged on a pro-government webpage, which showed Tice being held captive by a group of unidentified armed men.

Neither Tice nor his captors have been

heard from since.

In November 2018, Robert O’Brien, now the United States National Security Advisor, announced that U.S. officials have reason to believe that Tice is still alive. The U.S. State Department has been working through the Czech Embassy in Damascus to press the Syrian government for information.

Syrian government officials have denied any knowledge about Tice’s whereabouts and any involvement in his detention.

Syrian government officials have denied any knowledge about Austin’s whereabouts.

No other organization has taken public credit nor made any demands in exchange for his release. The FBI has offered a $1 million reward for information leading to his return, and organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and the National Press Club have joined the Tice family

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Central Asian States Sign Energy Declaration Debra Tice and FBI negotiator Gary Noesner discuss Austin Tice’s abduction

in their campaign to find their son.

Tice’s parents, Marc and Debra Tice, continue to persevere in their efforts to ensure his safe return. On Monday, in conjunction with the National Press Club Journalism Institute, volunteers gathered on Capitol Hill to join the Tice family in a congressional outreach effort to help gather legislative support to bring Tice home.

Throughout the day, volunteers circled the Capitol, urging members of Congress to send a letter to President Donald Trump pushing for continued efforts to free Tice and return him to his family. Members of Congress were

also given invitations to an upcoming exhibit of Tice’s photos from Syria.

The recent releases of Sam Goodwin, an American, and Kristian Baxer, a Canadian, from captivity in Syria are welcome news to those searching for Tice. The Tice family hopes that their son’s release will follow.

The Tices are visiting Washington, D.C., this month to meet with officials of the Trump administration and will continue to raise public awareness of their son’s captivity.

Netanyahu Government

From p.1 The Associated Press reports that, once again, Rivlin decided to grant Netanyahu the mandate to form a government after reported talks between Netanyahu and Gantz fell apart. Without a coalition between the Likud and Blue and White parties, the likelihood of Netanyahu securing a majority remains small.

Reuters reports that one way forward would be the formation of a national unity government composed of the Likud and Blue and White parties. According to BBC, Rivlin has initiated talks between Netanyahu and Gantz. The two party leaders issued a joint statement agreeing to negotiate on a unity government, though the composition of such a government remains unclear, given Gantz’s previous refusal to form a government with Netanyahu amid his possible indictment for corruption.

Though the election has yet to be fully resolved, its potential impact is huge. The future of Netanyahu’s tenure is at stake, and, if he loses his premiership, he could face charges on

three counts of corruption, according to the New York Times. Netanyahu and his allies’ conservative platform, which previously saw him win an election comfortably, did not strike the Israeli electorate this year with the same strength. BBC reported significant numbers of Arab voters turning out and a general shift of votes towards Gantz’s centrist party; they also reported that the Joint List, a bloc of Arab parties in Israel, endorsed Gantz for the premiership. This election marks the first time an Israeli Arab political group has endorsed anyone for prime minister.

Israel’s former defense minister Avigdor Lieberman leads the Yisrael Beitenu party, which Reuters reports won eight seats this election, making Lieberman a potential kingmaker and his party a spoiler in coalition negotiations. Reuters reports that Lieberman stated he desires a unity government of his party, Likud, and Blue and White - and not the ultra-Orthodox parties that have traditionally supported Netanyahu’s recent governing coalitions.

Nine countries in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) signed a declaration in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on September 20 pledging the creation of a regional energy market.

According to the Times of Central Asia, this declaration marks the first time that Central Asian leaders have jointly addressed regional energy challenges.

Diwakar Gupta, an Asian Development Bank (ADB) vice president, commented on the leaders’ historic move. “Today, they have strengthened their commitment to work together to deliver an electricity supply for the region that is reliable and affordable, develop modern energy markets, and embrace clean energy as a more efficient, sustainable source of power,” he said, according to the ADB. According to China’s state-owned Xinhua News Agency, the conference takes place as dangerous power shortages menace the region. The uneven administration of CAREC countries’ ample natural resources threatens to slow down Central Asia’s recent exponential economic growth.

The Times of Central Asia notes that CAREC has financed 196 energy and trade projects since 2001 to help create a sustainable energy market. Poor resource administration coupled with fast-growing economies and a lack of utilities now generates severe energy challenges.

The declaration not only encourages a significant increase in private investment but also pledges a stable supply of power and greater transit opportunities for natural resources through Turkey and Georgia, deepening regional alliances.

“I am deeply impressed by the CAREC countries’ strong commitments to reforms, which is the only way towards a more reliable, affordable, modern, and sustainable energy future,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Werner Liepach, according to the ADB.

S E P. 2019 | 13

U.S. Drone Strike Kills Afghan Nut Farmers American forces reportedly carried out a drone strike in Afghanistan on September 18, killing approximately 32 civilians and wounding over 40, according to Afghan officials.

The drone strike was targeting an Islamic State (ISIS) hideout in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province.

Reuters spoke to a Defense Department official, who claimed that the strike also killed ISIS fighters. No other source has yet confirmed this claim, but there is agreement among

Afghan officials, news sources, and human rights organizations that the drone strike led to the deaths of many pine nut farmers who were working in the area.

The strike comes at a time of regional tension after planned U.S.Taliban peace talks fell through.

Afghani civilians have borne the brunt of the recent violence, as Afghan and American forces try to combat the growth of ISIS and the continued strength of the Taliban.

Javed Mansur, a native of Jalalabad, conveyed his feelings to

U.S. troops stationed in Jalalabad enter Afghan national police headquarters (2014).

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Ali Taha Brown

the Guardian, saying, “Such mistakes cannot be justified. American forces must realize [they] will never win the war by killing innocent civilians.”

Rahmatullah Sardar, a dry fruit trader also from Jalalabad, expressed similar frustration: “We cannot even protest on a large scale because [ISIS] or [the] Taliban can target us easily, but the U.S. must admit they made a mistake.”

“The U.S. must admit they made a mistake.”­­— Rahmatullah Sardar The U.S. is not the only culprit in the deaths of innocent civilians in Afghanistan. Just a day after the drone strike on the pine nut farmers, the Taliban claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Zabul Province that killed over 20 civilians. Three days after the Taliban strike, on September 22, Afghan forces struck a wedding party in Helmand Province, killing 40 civilians and wounding 13 more.

The recent violence comes a month

after the United Nations released a wide-ranging report about civilian casualties in Afghanistan, which revealed that the first quarter of 2019 marked the first time on record that the Afghan government and international forces killed more civilians than insurgent groups did. The government and its allies killed 717 civilians, while insurgent groups killed 531.

The recent civilian killings may increase pressure on the Trump administration to find a peaceful solution to this conflict. Amnesty International, a human rights advocacy organization, spoke out after the bombing by U.S. forces, saying that the incident showed a “shocking disregard for civilian life” and that civilians “bear the brunt” of the conflict between the two parties. Fatigue over years of war in the country and elsewhere in the region only compounds international attention regarding civilian casualties.

As American politicians debate the merits of staying in Afghanistan, the Trump administration may decide that making efforts to resume previously stalled peace talks with the Taliban could distract the media from other domestic and international issues.

Anti-China Protests Spread Through Kazakhstan Noah Clarke Kazakh citizens protested against the role of the Chinese government and its influence in Kazakhstan for the past several weeks, arguing that China is manipulating the Kazakh people, according to bne intelliNews.

These protests were prompted by three issues: Chinese economic expansion in Kazakhstan, Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev’s visit to China on September 11, and the jailing of thousands of ethnic Kazakhs in China’s “reeducation camps” in the country’s western Xinjiang region. bne intelliNews reported that the protests against China began on September 3 as protesters demanded that Kazakhstan refuse loans from China that they claimed may damage Kazakh citizens’ well-being.

The protesters fear their country developing an excessive reliance on China, along with the corruption they believe will come from Chinese investments. The protesters also challenged their government’s agreement with China to construct 55 industrial facilities. Reuters reported that Kazakh citizens are protesting

Chinese, and also Western, companies that hire fewer domestic workers and pay foreign workers better.

Protests have affected major cities such as Almaty and the capital, Nur-Sultan, along with a number of smaller cities and coal mining towns. bne intelliNews said that although protests are widespread and garner public support from a populace that largely views China as an economically invasive power, the actual number of protesters has varied from the low dozens to several hundred.

The protesters fear their country developing an excessive reliance on China. bne intelliNews also reported that on September 23, the Interior Ministry detained 100 protesters, though most were released without being charged.

These economic concerns are compounded by China’s current policies in its own Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. China is running “re-education camps” there

for Muslim citizens despite widespread international condemnation. Between 1.25 and 1.5 million ethnic Kazakh’s live in Xinjiang, according to the Diplomat. As China targets ethnic Kazakhs along with Uighurs in Xinjiang, Kazakh citizens have called on their government to take a more forceful response in protecting its citizens. Instead, the Diplomat reports that authorities in Kazakhstan have previously arrested Xinjiang human rights activists for “inciting interethnic discord.”

Toqaev’s visit to China aimed to expand the ties between the two states.

The Diplomat points out that the two countries co-founded the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional security, political, and economic alliance. Kazakhstan is also pivotal to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a network of global infrastructure projects, as many BRI projects pass through it.

Oil, natural gas, minerals, and agriculture are particularly important to the two countries’ trade relationship.

Kazakhstan’s abundance of these items is critically important to China, according to the Diplomat.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh government views Chinese investment in their country as central to their own development needs and goals. While in China, Toqaev and Chinese President Xi Jinping elevated their relationship to a permanent comprehensive strategic partnership, according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Xinhua News Agency reported that, on September 24, Toqaev’s predecessor Nursultan Nazarbayev lauded the BRI as helpful to Kazakhstan’s economic development.

Nazarbayev was speaking at the Fourth Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments, which Xinhua News Agency noted was attended by 65 countries. The Astana Times corroborated this sentiment in an article from April, which discussed Nazabayev’s speech at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

Nazarbayev stated that Kazakhstan has supported the BRI from the beginning, and his successor Toqaev seems intent on continuing that support. Yet the Kazakh people have made it clear that such support should not be taken for granted.

EDITOR’S NOTE: April Artrip

B

ahrain’s legal system is designed to intimidate and persecute political dissidents. As Human Rights Watch describes, courts convict human rights defenders and the political opposition on trumpedup charges, even stripping some of citizenship and deporting them. Since August 2019, Bahrain has committed several more dire human rights violations—with impunity, as usual.

On September 3, Bahraini authorities refused to let prisoner Abdel-Jalil al-Singace access medical care. Authorities had arrested al-Singace on “unfounded charges” of “setting up terror groups,” according to Amnesty International. After complaining of chest pains, he was scheduled for an appointment with a heart specialist. However, when alSingace initially refused to wear shackles and a prison uniform to the appointment, the guards refused to take him to the hospital.

Later that month, the Washington Post reported that a Bahraini court refused to grant Nabeel Rajab, who has been imprisoned since 2016 for tweets critical of the government, a noncustodial sentence request, which would allow him to serve his sentence under house arrest.

On September 26, Asharq Al-Awsat reported that a Bahraini court convicted four men of terrorist financing and participating in the formation of a terrorist group. These arrests follow several similar convictions handed down in the past months. However, as Human Rights Watch explains, these trials are usually unfair, and security officers often extract confessions through torture.

Bahrain continues to crack down on dissent and opposition without consequence. Bahrain takes advantage of its alignment with the West to avoid heavy criticism of its domestic policies.

In fact, the Department of State boasts that its assistance to Bahrain “improves Bahrain’s ability to deny terrorist sponsorship, support, and sanctuary in a manner that respects the human rights of its residents.”

Such a statement is rather tone-deaf in light of the waves of arbitrary arrests and convictions in the name of alleged anti-terrorism.

1 4 | S E P. 2019

AFRICA Tanzania Denies Suspected Ebola Cases Tanzania formally notified the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 14 that there were no cases of the Ebola virus in the country, despite three suspected cases, according to the WHO. These suspected cases come less than ten weeks after the WHO declared the Ebola outbreak a public health emergency in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (D.R.C.) on July 17.

Ebola, a highly contagious virus that causes bleeding, organ failure, and often death has been a major health concern across Africa since its discovery in 1976, according to BBC. An outbreak in West Africa killed over 11,000 people between 2014 and 2016, and the current epidemic in the D.R.C. has killed more than 2,000 people since August 2018, making this the most deadly outbreak in the nation’s history.

According to the WHO, unofficial reports surfaced on September 10 that a woman died from Ebola in Dar es Salaam. The WHO became aware

that the Tanzanian National Health Laboratory had tested the patient positively for Ebola. The organization also learned that another suspected Ebola case had surfaced in the Mwanza region of northern Tanzania. While that patient allegedly tested negative for Ebola, the WHO discovered that another patient had been hospitalized for symptoms resembling Ebola in Dar es Salaam on September 12.

The current epidemic in the D.R.C. has killed more than 2,000 people since August 2018.

While Tanzania has denied any confirmed cases of Ebola within its borders, the Tanzanian government has not shared laboratory tests or carried out secondary testing for patients suspected to have Ebola, according to the WHO. The WHO claims that Tanzania may be in a high risk situation, given that the potential

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A deadly Ebola outbreak in the D.R.C. may be spreading into Tanzania.

Ebola victim had traveled throughout the country. Additionally, a patient who had contacted the first potential Ebola victim was hospitalized on September 19.

Tanzania relies on foreign tourism, meaning suspicions of an Ebola outbreak could hurt the country’s economy, according to BBC. Foreign tourism generates 14 percent of Tanzania’s gross domestic product, as reported by Tanzaniainvest.com.

According to the Guardian, the initial victim was a woman in her midthirties who had visited Uganda before showing symptoms resembling Ebola.

One of the following suspected cases

of Ebola was the first victim’s sister.

While Tanzania has never officially recorded a case of Ebola, several Congolese patients with Ebola have traveled into nearby Uganda, which also shares a border with the D.R.C., including three who died there.

In response to the WHO allegations, the Tanzanian government requested a meeting with the local representative of the WHO on September 24, according to Al Jazeera. Tanzanian government spokesperson Hassan Abbasi wrote on Twitter that the Tanzanian government had contacted the official “to seek indepth details on reports circulating in the media.”

Protests Rattle Egypt From p.1 According to the Middle East Eye, el-Sisi responded to these accusations at the National Youth Conference in New Cairo on September 8, claiming that he has “built presidential palaces, and will continue to do so. [He is] creating a new state, but nothing is registered with [his] name; it is built for Egypt.”

Aly’s videos called for mass protests against el-Sisi, and for the return of the dozens of unofficially exiled activists.

On September 20, he released a video expressing his desire for “respectable academia, intellectualism, and for everyone to speak freely.”

However, there is controversy over the intentions and backing of the protests, as state-run media, proSisi academics and activists, and many citizens believe that they were coordinated by Muslim Brotherhood members in response to theories over former Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi’s death in July. The Egyptian government recognizes the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization.

State media, including popular newspaper Al Ahram, ignored the protests on September 20 but have now described them as small, emphasizing police dispersal of protests and the president’s disapproval of critics. Statesponsored news anchor Amr Adib broadcast confessions of seven suspects arrested after the protests. They have been accused of being recruited by or taking part in the Muslim Brotherhood, or being members of foreign communist parties.

Adib described their mission as “a hostile plot to incite against the Egyptian state.” TV stations have broadcast an empty Tahrir square, claiming that videos found on social media were either fabricated or from 2011, despite the specific shouts against el-Sisi heard. The government has cut off access to many social media and news websites in an effort to prevent an upcoming protest, Amnesty International reports. el-Sisi will likely continue to crack down on dissidents, but the Washington Post writes that these protests have “rattled his regime unlike any moment in his presidency.”

Ambassador Tijjani MuhammadBande, Nigeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, assumed the presidency of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last week after being elected in June.

He is the second Nigerian to serve as UNGA president, the first being Joseph Nanven Garba, who served from 1989 to 1990.

Muhammad-Bande has a background in both academia and diplomacy. He earned a doctorate in political science and led Nigeria’s National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies until 2016, according to his UN profile. At the United Nations, he served as vice president to the General Assembly’s 71st summit in 2016. Since 2017, he has served as Nigeria’s permanent representative.

In his inaugural address after his election in June, MuhammadBande promised that he would work with the Security Council to address potential conflicts and explicitly called for council reform to make it more efficient and democratic, in light of its recent failure to pass resolutions addressing key issues. He also stressed the importance of early conflict prevention and adapting to the effects of global climate change.

His speech committed the UNGA to tackle problems hindering education access and gender equality across the world. In his address, he promised, “I will work to engender cooperation that will address drivers of conflicts such as poverty, exclusion, and illiteracy.”

UN Secretary General António Guterres commended the vision Muhammad-Bande described in his inaugural address, saying of him, “he also brings valuable insights into some of the pressing peace and security, human rights and sustainable development challenges facing this body, from the spread of violent extremism to the threat of the global climate crisis,” according to Africa News.

Muhammad-Bande succeeds Maria Fernanda Espinosa of Ecuador as president and will preside over the 94th General Assembly for one year.

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Protests in Algeria Despite New Elections Algeria is scheduled to hold elections on December 12 after more than six months of nationwide protests. Long-serving President Abdelaziz Bouteflika left office in April as a result of these protests. “Elections are the only democratic solution to the crisis,” Interim President Abdelkader Bensalah said on September 15, according to Al Jazeera.

The Algerian public reached a breaking point this winter after years of rising unemployment rates and

rampant corruption among the elite.

The mass protests began in February after the former president announced his bid for a fifth term in office, the Guardian reports. Bouteflika and his powerful circle of generals and businessmen, known as le pouvoir, or “the power,” had ruled the country since 1999.

Furthermore, Bouteflika appeared like a proxy leader to some given his debilitated state of health following a stroke in 2013 that left him unable to walk or talk. Because of this and the Algerian government’s rather opaque

Algerian people protest in the streets of Béjaïa, Algeria.

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functioning, Bouteflika himself was not the sole or even the main target of protests in the spring. This context helps to explain why people are still demonstrating today despite the developments in the country, according to BBC.

Bouteflika himself was not the sole or even the main target of protests in the spring.

Algerians continued to protest in the streets after Bouteflika withdrew his bid for reelection and are demanding a complete overhaul of the current political system. The armybacked government that took over after Bouteflika’s resignation canceled the elections previously set for July 4 due to a lack of candidates. Protesters are voicing their displeasure with the current government, calling for “a civilian, not military state,” according to France24.

Due to mixed signals from the current government, there is some concern that the upcoming elections

will not be as free as the public hopes.

Algerian authorities have been trying to calm protesters by prosecuting several of Bouteflika’s allies accused of corruption. However, to the dismay of many, the police have been cracking down on protesters and jailing dozens, including several prominent opposition leaders. Demonstrators are now calling for the removal of General Ahmed Gaid Salah over fears that he may hamper free and fair elections.

“The people want the fall of Gaid Salah,” the protesters chanted, according to Al Jazeera. “Take us all to prison, the people will not stop.”

Algeria’s youth in particular do not want another figurehead president.

They want a new generation to take over and accomplish real and badly needed political and economic reform, Reuters reports. A man’s attempt to self-immolate in Algiers reflects the urgency of the situation in the eyes of much of the country’s younger generation.

The size and duration of the protests in Algeria are unprecedented, and the Algerian people show no signs of being satisfied with recent efforts at reform.

Egypt, Ethiopia Disagree Over Proposed Dam Mark Agard Egypt and Ethiopia announced disagreement over technical aspects of the proposed Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) after talks held on September 15. Irrigation ministers from Sudan, Egypt, and Ethiopia met in Cairo to discuss details regarding water level and operational procedure of the dam. Egypt rejected Ethiopia’s plan to fill the dam in three years due to concerns over the dam’s effect on water levels in the Nile River.

The Ethiopian government announced the dam project in 2011 as reported by Deutsche Welle. The project is located on the Blue Nile in Ethiopia, a tributary of the Nile River. Reuters reports that the dam is expected to generate 6000 megawatts of electricity, roughly equal to ten coal plants. The dam became an immediate source of conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia.

The scientific journal Nature notes that the management of scarce water supplies has already presented challenges across Africa. Resolution of the conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia could provide a helpful

template as the region struggles with the effects of climate change.

On one hand, Ethiopia sees the proposed dam as a path to economic revitalization because it would make the nation Africa’s top energy exporter.

However, Egypt sees the dam as a threat to scarce water supplies because dams reduce the water flow of a river by creating a reservoir. As Al Jazeera noted, the Nile accounts for 90 percent of Egypt’s freshwater supply, so any reduction in water flow may have significant impacts.

The management of scarce water supplies has already presented challenges across Africa.

The disagreements that stalled the September 15 talks involve technical details about the dam’s operation. A report by Egypt Independent explains that Egypt advocated for “limiting the filling years of the reservoir from seven to ten years.” In other words, Egypt wants Ethiopia to fill the dam’s reservoir slowly so that the decline

in water flow per year is manageable.

Egypt believes that this “will mitigate the impact of the dam on Egypt and Sudan’s water share of the Nile.”

Ethiopia’s proposal, however, calls for a three-year filling period, which will have a more significant and immediate effect on water flow.

Ethiopia and Egypt also disagree over the optimal amount of water to be released from the dam. A report by the Addis Standard highlights Ethiopia’s refusal of Egypt’s request for a “minimum guaranteed release of 40 billion meter cubic (BMC) of water [per year.]” Egypt wants a guarantee that Ethiopia’s dam will not reduce the Nile’s water flow to below-average levels. Ethiopia refused to give this promise because it believes the request is unfair and unrealistic. Ethiopian officials propose that the minimum guaranteed release should be closer to 35 BMC. For comparison, it would take two million Olympic swimming pools to equal the disputed five BMC per year.

The intensification of rhetoric on both sides suggests that the conflict will be difficult to resolve. A report

by Al-Monitor details the Egyptian

Foreign Ministry’s response to Ethiopia’s proposal, claiming that Ethiopia has displayed “an insistence to impose a unilateral vision while disregarding the interests of others’ interests [sic] and without giving due diligence to avoiding damages to two estuary countries, especially Egypt.”

Likewise, the Washington Post reported that Ethiopia viewed Egyptian proposals as “against the sovereignty of Ethiopia.” Because both parties have conflicting interests with respect to the Nile, reconciling those differences will likely require difficult compromise.

As a part of the effort to negotiate details of the GERD’s operation, further talks are planned over the course of the next few weeks.

AllAfrica reports that an independent scientific group will hold an additional discussion in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum from September 30 to October 1. Afterward, the ministers of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia will meet again from October 4 to 5 to resolve technical disagreements. Reaching an agreement is crucial to promoting stability in an increasingly dry East Africa.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Kate Fin

T

roubling news came from the tiny central African country of Burundi on September 23. The head of communications for the country’s president announced that the government would not invite foreign representatives to monitor the upcoming presidential elections scheduled for May 2020, according to Anadolu Agency.

The announcement comes as cries from the international community grow increasingly louder, accusing President Pierre Nkurunziza’s regime of systematic human rights violations and terrorizing political opponents.

However, this week saw an even more impactful event than the regime’s disappointing but predictable announcement. On September 22, Burundian Catholic bishops released a powerful indictment of Nkurunziza’s presidency, condemning the rampant human rights violations and repression carried out under his leadership, according to APA. This development brings hope that the elections next year might not be a lost cause. Considering that most international organizations, including human rights advocates, in Burundi have left the country due to dangerous conditions and the United Nations itself has said that “the eight common risk factors for criminal atrocities are present in Burundi,” the situation for the country looks bleak. Human rights and the preservation of anything akin to a democratic system are in serious peril.

Under these extreme circumstances, in which the regime forcibly disappears opponents, the Catholic Church has taken a stand.

As human rights organizations have fled the country and the UN has called for the “greatest vigilance” in monitoring the situation, Burundian bishops made a brave, and undoubtedly frightening, choice to condemn injustice and present an alternative path forward.

So far, none of the Bishops responsible for the move has been reported missing. But, the Church demonstrated on September 22 that it will not tolerate the government’s impunity and that even when the international order is not up to the task, Burundians are.

1 6 | S E P. 2019

Climate change threatens not only livelihoods—but also lives.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change—a United Nations climate change forum—predicts drastic effects for all regions of the world. In Asia, coastal areas are at risk from increased flooding.

In North America, heat waves are expected to increase in duration and intensity. In Africa, rain-

Anthropogenic climate change accelerated in the mid-19th century as fossil fuel use increased.

Human-caused CO2 emissions led to the then-hottest year in recorded history in 2015.

dependent agriculture is predicted to decrease by up to 50 percent in certain areas by 2020. The science is solid, and it does not support Stein’s self-serving contention that “this is a political question, not a science question.”

The speakers at the GUCR event tried to cast doubt on solid science with dishonest arguments.

GUCR Vice President Rowan Saydlowski introduced the event with a disclaimer that the student group did not necessarily endorse the views presented by the speakers and claimed GUCR was merely making space for alternative viewpoints on climate change.

The matter of climate change is a matter of fact and science, not of debate or opinion. GUCR’s event created a false equivalence between scientists that have undergone rigorous peer review and skeptics that lack a factual and scientific foundation for their opinions.

Scientists base climate change facts on the scientific method, in which a pattern of similar results in recreated experiments confirms a hypothesis.

Countless scientists and scientific experiments over thousands of repetitions have confirmed the facts of climate change. Skeptics counter sciencebased fact—the closest thing our society has to truth—with rumors, threats, and fear. They cast doubt using hypothetical and unprovable

arguments based on fallacies and malicious use of falsehoods.

By inviting such speakers to campus, GUCR gives them a platform, legitimacy, and the space to undermine science, facts, and the truth in illegitimate ways. The only way to debate science and facts is with additional science and facts. Skeptics claim to do this, when in reality their main tactic is to undermine science instead of legitimately countering it. A series of sound experiments that contradicted the prevailing science would be a welcome force pushing forward the scientific debate. But, a scattershot collection of debunked studies and concerns is not sound science and is not an intellectually honest argument.

Climate change deniers do not perform their own repeated experiments to nullify hypotheses.

They use opinions and emotions to

NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER

On March 16, 2008, thenSecretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson appeared on FOX News to reassure the nation. “Our financial institutions are strong,” he told Chris Wallace. On September 15 of that year, Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy, throwing 25,000 employees out on the street.

On September 29, the New York Stock Exchange lost $1.2 trillion in value in a single day. Paulson was wrong, and people lost their jobs, life savings, and sense of financial security because of it.

Eleven years later, the CO2 Coalition’s Dr. Patrick Michaels told a room full of Georgetown students that “perhaps [a world after climate change] won’t be such a bad world after all.” He is just as wrong as Paulson was a decade ago. But, the consequences of his blindness will be even more catastrophic. There is a grey area in economic forecasting that simply does not exist in the dishonest attempt to debate settled science.

Climate change threatens not only livelihoods—but also lives.

It is both more global and more fundamental than instability in our financial system. It is instability in the foundation of our entire society. Those that deny its truth

will soon be exposed: they are as morally bankrupt as Lehman Brothers was in 2008.

Georgetown University College Republicans (GUCR) hosted Michaels and several other climate change deniers for Climate Forum: A Rebuttal on September 19. The speakers included the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow’s Marc Morano and Paul Driessen, the CO2 Coalition’s Dr. Caleb Rossiter and Dr. Patrick Michaels, and the Institute for Energy Research’s Kenny Stein.

Climate change denialism is dangerous because there is no time. Climate change is causing rising sea levels, destruction of marine ecosystems, and more extreme weather events, including wildfires, hurricanes, and precipitation. Conditions will continue to worsen in the future.

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

The views expressed herein represent the views of a majority of the members of the Caravel’s Editorial Board and are not reflective of the position of the newsroom staff or Georgetown University.

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

EDITORIAL BOARD There Are Not Two Sides to Every Argument undermine science as best they can subjectively, hoping individuals will ignore the objective value of science as fact. This mentality, serving to undermine the truth, advances dangerous narratives that many without the time, energy, or resources to reject them will be tricked into adopting themselves.

GUCR certainly has a right to invite such speakers, but doing so was irresponsible and damaging. GUCR could have hosted a productive counter-event about climate change. They could have and should have invited conservative and Republican voices to discuss their opinions on tackling the challenges climate change presents.

Such an event not only would have provided alternative viewpoints that actually engaged with the policies debated at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Policy’s Climate Forum, but would also have engaged with the science in a meaningful way.

GUCR could have hosted an event that questioned the feasibility of Democratic candidates’ climate change policies and offered alternatives grounded in a conservative vision for the country and the world. Instead, they opted to immaturely and irresponsibly undermine the science-based reality of our world. As a result, there was more than one clown in the room on September 19.

A man protests outside a climate change event in London.