Several Latin American nations have experienced protests within recent months. Chile — the “first laboratory of neoliberal policy,” according to Pintetta — witnessed immense national solidarity movements sparked by the increased price of public transportation and centered around the country’s drastic wealth disparity.
After a five-month election dispute, Afghanistan’s election commission declared incumbent Ashraf Ghani the winner of the 2019 presidential elections on Feb. 18. Ghani won with 50.64 percent of the popular vote. Ghani’s main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, claimed that the results were unlawful. Abdullah declared himself the winner and announced that he plans to form his own parallel government.
On Jan. 28, President Trump proposed his plan for resolving Israeli-Palestininan conflict. He called it the “Deal of the Century.” According to The New York Times, the plan would give control of Jerusalem to Israel as its capital “and not require it to uproot any of the settlements in the West Bank that have provoked Palestinian outrage and alienated much of the world.”
he Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, announced their plan to seek more independence from the British crown on Wednesday, Jan. 8. This change is immensely controversial, as the couple is making a historic attempt at becoming partially self-exiled royal leaders for the first time in the empire’s history, according to the BBC.
Pakistani students, activists and supporters of the Student Action Committee (SAC) took to the streets of Lahore and other cities in Pakistan on Friday, Nov. 29 as part of the Student Solidarity March. The demonstrators’ list of demands called for the restoration of student unions and the improvement of educational facilities.
Following months of citizen protest, Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi announced his plans for resignation on Friday, Nov. 29. Protesters — made up largely of the country’s young and poor — have criticized the country’s political party system and failing infrastructure. These demands came just months after the initiation of a new Iraqi government in May which followed the eradication of ISIS in the region.
An installation by Pakistani artist Adeela Suleman, “The Killing Fields of Karachi,” was put on display in a park outside Frere Hall as a part of Karachi’s Biennale art show on Oct. 27. According to The New York Times, “the exhibit comprised of 444 concrete tombstones that symbolized the alleged extra-judicial killings by an ex-policeman.” Shortly after its opening, the city’s authorities immediately closed it down due to its controversial nature.
Four months into my semester and amidst major political turbulence over the ever-looming Brexit deadline, journalist Lyra McKee was killed by paramilitary gunfire in the city of Derry. McKee, a young, gay, female reporter, wrote extensively about the country’s restrictive laws regarding abortion and same-sex marriage. Citizens on either side of the conflict erupted into debate, eventually culminating in the British Parliament’s July decision to legalize both same-sex marriage and abortion.
