The Week in News
A brief overview of some of the key events that have happened around the world in the past week.
Brazilian ex-President Lula condemned to Prison
On January 24th Brazil’s former President was condemned to serving a prison sentence between 9 and 12 years for corruption charges. The ones who follow the events surrounding the upcoming Brazilian election predict that he will appeal to the court decision and walk away or even take part in the election despite the condemnation. Lula is one of the strongest candidates, as he is running first in the opinion poll. In the second place is Bolsonaro, who is dubbed "Brazilian Trump" for his racist, sexist and homophobic remarks, as well as for his strangely familiar election campaign title - “Brazil above everything, God above everyone”. On top of that, Bolsonaro compares himself with Trump.
The Brazilian election will take place on October 2018 and some hope it will bring positive change to the Brazilian government, which currently suffers from low credibility both among citizens and foreign spectators. Others fear that it will be a choice between two evils, and that it isn’t clear which one is worse.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Saturday 27th is a day of sorrow for many countries which were affected by World War II, as it is the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. This year it marked 43 years since USSR Red Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration and death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau back in 1945. Special ceremonies were held in Poland on that day to commemorate both the victims and the liberation of Poland from the Nazi occupation. As Yad Vashem, the world Holocaust Remembrance Centre writes: "The Holocaust, which established the standard for absolute evil, is the universal heritage of all civilized people", making it our collective duty not to forget this despicable evil, and not allow it to manifest again during our time.
Afghanistan mourns Kabul Bomb Attack
On Saturday 27th, Afghanistan suffered from a terrible bomb attack, which killed 103 people and injured 254 in country’s capital - Kabul. The Taliban already claimed responsibility for this attack, which took place in the considerably safest part of the city. The attack had a horribly misleading cover - the ambulance was used as the vessel for the explosives. This worsens the perceived safety in Kabul, as just a week ago the Taliban faced local authorities in a 12 hour standoff when Haqqani network affiliated attackers stormed the Intercontinental Hotel, killing more than 30 people. This was the third major attack in the past 7 days.
Alexei Navalny supporters go on “Voter’s Strike” in major cities of Russia
Bloomberg recently wrote that in Russia Putin has no real opposition at this point, as it is either orchestrated or eliminated. For the eliminated part - recently Alexei Navalny, the candidate who is named the “Opposition Leader” by many media outlets, was just irreversibly banned from running for president in March 2018. Initially, he was banned from running for president on December 30th 2017. His first appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Russia on January 6th , and the second and last appeal on the 26th.
As a result, on Sunday 28th many of Navalny’s supporters took it to the streets of many key Russian cities in order to protest the ban of their candidate of choice, chanting “Boycott” and “Putin is a Thief”. This protest received the name “Voters' Strike”. According to russian police official data, this protest unified 46 cities, 45 000 people, and resulted in mass arrests of the attendees, the official numbers of which are not yet disclosed. However according to the ovdinfo.org - an independent monitoring group focused on political persecution- more than 257 people were detained and Navalny himself was arrested.
North Korea’s Pop Star Diplomacy
Mentioned before in the Sports Section, the decision of South and North Korea to march under a unified flag, as well as to combine their women's hockey teams at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, is setting hopes for warming up between the two countries. But is it real? Recently, North Korea engaged in Pop-Star Diplomacy by inviting probably the biggest star of North Korea to attend the talks with South Korea regarding the Winter Games on January 17th. Now, spectators from all around the world are wondering: What is the purpose behind bringing the Pop Star to the political discussion?
Hyon Song-wol, head of the North Korea's Samjiyon Orchestra, isn’t just a Pop Star though. She is also the member of Workers' Party central committee, and is dubbed “one of the most influential North Korean Women”. Even though the true motivation behind her involvement is unclear, what is clear is that she will gain more international fame, and maybe even become an important political figure. She definitely familiarized the Western audience with some North Korean hits, as North Korea now promised to send 140-strong Samjiyon orchestra together with their leader to perform in South Korea as part of its delegation.
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