Author: Trainee Reporter

Myawaddy: Around 200 Myanmar soldiers have retreated to the Friendship Bridge that connects the border town of Myawaddy to Thailand, as they face continuous attacks from anti-coup forces. This withdrawal is a clear indication of the mounting tension among the military generals who took over the government in a coup in February 2021. The coup sparked an armed insurgency after protection powers started using violence to suppress delicate anti-coup protests. The Karen National Union (KNU), an ethnic armed group, announced on Facebook that they defeated the 275 battalion, the remaining major military force in the town, in their attack on…

Poland: Legislators in Poland are currently discussing changes to the country’s strict abortion laws, which become more stringent over the past eight years under conservative nationalist governments. Prime Minister Donald Tusk and his Civic Coalition, who won the October elections with a high turnout partly due to women’s rights issues, promised to liberalise access to abortion. Poland currently encloses some of the toughest abortion laws in the European Union, permitting abortion only in cases of rape, incest, or when the life or health of the mother is at risk. Alliance parties presented multiple bills that legislators are anticipated to discuss. Some…

Russia: Angara A5, a space rocket of Russia, has successfully launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, located in the Amur region bordering China. The launch held to be postponed for two days due to technical glitches. This mission is an attempt to showcase Russia’s post-Soviet space ambitions and the growing significance of the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, announced that two previous attempts to launch a rocket were cancelled due to issues with the pressurising system in an oxidizer tank and the engine control system. However, the recent launch was successful, and minutes after takeoff, the rocket entered orbit, travelling at…

Seoul: In South Korean general election, the liberal opposition party has won a sweeping majority to maintain control of parliament. The Democratic Party (DPK) and other opposition parties jointly secured 192 out of 300 seats in the National Assembly. The election is seen as an interim assessment of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who still owns three years left in office. Following the defeat, his party leader Han Dong-hoon resigned, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo proposed stepping down. The recent election resulted in a significant defeat for Yoon and his People Power Party (PPP). They were stumbling to advance their agenda…

Washington: US President Joe Biden has met with Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House, where they discussed strengthening defence ties between the two countries. This is Biden’s fifth official state visit since becoming President, with these events usually reserved for the most significant US allies. The state visits also highlight the strategic priorities of the administration, with the previous four state dinners, South Korea, India, and Australia, mainly focusing on the Indo-Pacific region to counter China’s increasing military and economic assertiveness, as described by the US officials. Beijing was a significant topic of discussion as Biden welcomed…

Europe: The Parliament of Europe has approved a significant reform that tightens the EU’s migration and asylum rules after several years of negotiations. The EU Asylum and Migration Pact is in development since 2015 and will take two years to come into effect. Its primary goal is to expedite the asylum process and improve the return of irregular migrants to their respective home countries. It will also mandate EU member states to share the responsibility of asylum seekers. In 2020, a record number of around 380,000 people illegally crossed the EU’s borders, the highest figure since 2016. The European Union announced…

Seoul: The vote-counting process for the parliamentary elections is currently underway in South Korea. The results of this election are highly anticipated, as it is widely considered to be a midterm referendum on the current government of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The People Power Party (PPP) of Yoon faced challenges in implementing its agenda due to the opposition Democratic Party (DPK) overpowering the legislature. President Yoon Suk Yeol still holds three more years left in office. The South Korean leader is currently facing mounting pressure to address several issues including rising food prices, an ageing population, and an ongoing doctor’s strike.…

Sudan: Save The Children, an organisation based in UK, has issued a report stating that over 10 million children in Sudan are living in an active war zone. The charity called on political leaders to take immediate action to end the conflict. The report also highlights that about half of Sudan’s children are either presently on or within a five-kilometre radius of the front lines of combat. This puts them at risk of being exposed to gunfire, shelling, air strikes, and other forms of brutality. The organisation collaborated with the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) to produce…

Australia: Penny Wong, Australia’s foreign minister, has offered that Australia could acknowledge Palestinian statehood to boost the pace towards peace. However, Wong emphasised that Hamas should carry no part in the governance of the new state. The Zionist Federation of Australia and opposition groups criticised the proposal as impulsive. According to Canberra, Palestinian recognition will only come as part of a two-state solution. Wong’s statements reflect the speech given by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron earlier this year, where he suggested that the UK might recognise Palestinian statehood without Israel’s support. Recently, the Australian government expressed concerns about the battle with Hamas…

United Kingdom: The National Health Service (NHS) in England has executed a review, which found that long-term gender care for youth is quite weak. Some doctors were observed departing from standard clinical approaches and prescribing hormones to teenagers. The study stated that the long-term health effects of feminising and masculinising hormones on teenagers are not well understood and need to be researched further. As a result, such interventions should only be used with the utmost caution. Puberty blockers are medicines that are given to pre-teens to delay puberty. However, a four-year review led by Hilary Cass, a paediatrician at St Thomas…