CORNELL RECAP OF THE WORLD

UNA USA CORNELL

AFRICA

The Ethiopian government declared a state of emergency

for the first time in twenty-five years after violent protests
have seen a rise in tensions between various ethnic groups
within the nation. Members of the Oromo ethnic group are a
large part of the protests, as they push back against
oppressive government policies that have been recently
implemented. Read More

Student protests in South Africa for

free education have been denounced
by government officials; the protests in
recent weeks have been violent and
have caused much damage around
universities across the nation. Behind
the passions of the protests also lays a
desire to lash back at inequalities
within the educational system directed
towards black students. Read More

ASIA
In Myanmars Rakhine State, a series of violent attack
by ethnic armed organizations against the soldiers and
police broke out. Shortly afterwards, the United Nations
called for maximum restraint, advising civilians in the
area not to provoke further unrest or attack members of
other religious or community groups. Home to lots of
Rohingya Muslims, the region has been facing ethnic
discrimination, violence and unrest. Read More
King Bhumibol Adulyadej of
Thailand, one of the worlds
longest-reigning monarchs,
passed away. The head of
Thailands Privy Council is
currently acting as regent after
Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn
said he is not ready to take the
thrown. Read More

Burundi has taken steps to withdraw from the International

Criminal Court (ICC), as its parliament voted in favor of
leaving. In order to officially leave, the upper house of its
legislature and the president must approve the motion. The
attempt to leave the ICC is seen by many leaders as an
effort to escape investigations of crimes against humanity
committed against political opposition. Burundis leaders,
however, argue that the ICC unfairly targets African
nations, a claim that has also been made by other African
leaders. Read More

President of China Xi Jingping declared to Chinas

biggest companies that the Chinese Communist Party
has total control over state-companies, which could lead
to serious job cuts and worker benefits but could
stimulate economic reform. The government
also dismissed the scholar Ilham Tohtis hard-won
Martin Ennals Award and a building collapse in
Wenzhou killed 22 people; the cause of the collapse
is still unknown. Read More

On Thursday, Boko Haram released twenty-one of the

over two hundred girls taken hostage two years ago in
Nigeria. The deal between the Nigerian government and
the terrorist organization resulting in the release of
hostages was mediated by the Red Cross and Swiss
government officials and included the release of four
Nigerian prisoners loyal to Boko Haram, although the
Nigerian government denies such an exchange. Read
More

Typhoon Sarika is heading towards Philippines. At least

one person was killed and three others were still missing.
Officials claimed that more than four hundred people
have been evacuated from areas that are going to be
affected most severely. Reports indicate that it is going
to be the most damaging typhoon this year. Read More

In Colombia, skepticism has very

clearly replaced optimism, but there is
hope for a peace deal between the
government
and FARC.
The
government tirelessly negotiated with
the rebels to end a 52-year civil war.
President Santos was awarded the
Nobel Peace Prize for these actions,
even though the Colombian people
voted No in their referendum on the
peace deal. For a background
guide on the conflict, read here.
For the peace deal, read here.

A former employee leveled a claim

against the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia for its reluctance toward
fulfilling the employees insurance
claim this week in Australia. This
comes as the Australian government
is currently investigating, some of the
largest
banks
for
exploiting
Australia's interest rates for larger
profits. The public has been raising
issues regarding the four largest
banks influence and power by
claiming they attempt to sell people
products they dont need. Read
More

Hurricane Matthew ravaged the

Caribbean region and the Southeast
United States, causing over a
thousand deaths and billions
of dollars in damage; read more on
the statistics. Haiti was hit hardest,
with the highest death toll due to a
lack of emergency preparation and
funding. If you want to help Haiti,
read here.

AMERICAS

OCEANIA
In Australia, gay marriage may not
be legalized until the next general
elections are held in 2019 as the
Labor party declared it would not
support the plebiscite to legalize gay
marriage the party instead wants
parliament to directly pass samesex marriage legislation. Read
More

In the USA, the Presidential Election

has taken many twists and turns
through the numerous debates,
and
endorsements.
accusations,
Clinton and Trump went head to head
in two debates and their VPs (Kaine
and Pence) also squared off in a
debate. Catch up on the first debate
here. If you want to be up to date on
the second debate, click here. For
the vice presidential debate, catch up
here.

On Monday, New Zealand began

trade discussions with Great Britain.
Great Britain is looking for trade
partners outside the European Union
as they prepare to formalize their
leave from the EU. The New Zealand
trade minister Liam Fox said New
Zealand is interested in a free trade
agreement with Great Britain when it
gains the ability to make trade deals.
Read More

EUROPE

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

A planned terrorist attack on a major airport in Germany

was foiled on Monday when German authorities found
1.5 kg of explosives in the home of Jaber Albakr.
Albakr entered Germany in February 2015 as a Syrian
refugee and was granted asylum status; he was reported
to the authorities by other asylum-seekers. New
investigative reports show that he may have met with an
IS contact in Germany to plan out the attack. He was
found dead in his prison cell on Wednesday: authorities
say he had committed suicide. Read More

On Friday night, an attempted coup took place in Libya.

Armed militants stormed the Tripoli headquarters of the
internationally-recognized Government of National
Accord and clashed with security forces, eventually
leaving at least 14 dead and 20 wounded. The partys
Presidential Council, which was on a visit in Tunisia at the
time of the attack, condemned the violence, and
ordered the perpetrators arrested. Read More

The French government is in the process of finalizing

plans to dismantle the migrant camp in Calais. "The
Jungle," as it is called, is home to approximately 10,000
migrants, of which 1,300 are unaccompanied minors.
Read More
Russia faces widespread accusations about its military
involvement in Syria. Its siege of the Syrian city of
Aleppo has been called a war crime by some Western
governments. Angela Merkel has proposed increased
sanctions against the Russian government in response
to Russia's continued military aggression. Read More

Off the west coast of Yemen, US Navy ships have come

under rocket fire from Houthi rebels fighting the Yemeni
government. The Houthis, thought to be supplied and
supported by Iran, have launched attacks against American
ships in the Red Sea three times in the past week. On
Thursday, the US successfully destroyed three mobile
radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory, claiming selfdefense. The Houthis have denied being behind the
attacks. Read More
Intense fighting continues in Aleppo, Syria, with almost
one hundred civilians reported dead or wounded just
within the past week. Recently, the United States and
United Kingdom have threatened to increase economic
sanctions on the Russian and Syrian governments if their
shelling of the city continues. Boris Johnson, the Foreign
Secretary of the United Kingdom, called for the bombings
to end and to show mercy towards residents of
Aleppo. Read More

Editor-in-Chief: Sabrina Rivers

Research Team:
Tarannum Sarwat Sahar, Aerin Brown, Ashley Davila, Jack Roscoe,
Aneil Gill, Sun Shen, Katarina Schwartzman, Alina Krauff
The mission of the UNA USA Cornell is to raise discourse and awareness of global issues and the importance of international
cooperation, particularly through the role that the United Nations and the National UNA USA (The United Nations Association of
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