Author: Trainee Reporter

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…

United States: Arizona’s Supreme Court has issued a ruling that reinstates the state’s nearly total abortion ban law passed in 1864. Founded 160 years ago, this law punishes anyone who performs an abortion with two to five years in prison, except when it is necessary to save the mother’s life. This ruling sparked concerns that all abortion clinics in the state may be forced to shut down, impacting women’s healthcare and potentially affecting the upcoming election. However, there is a possibility that Arizona voters could overturn the ruling in a referendum scheduled for November. The verdict comes after a series of…

South Africa: Jacob Zuma, Ex-President of South Africa, has won a court case that allows him to run for office in the upcoming general election. This overturns a previous decision that prevented him from contesting the polls. The Electoral Court’s verdict clears the way for Zuma to stand as a presidential candidate for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK), a political organisation he joined last year after denouncing the governing African National Congress (ANC) party that he once led. The Electoral Commission previously disqualified Zuma from running for office because of his criminal record after receiving an objection to his candidacy. However,…

Ireland: Simon Harris has been elected by the Irish Parliament to succeed Leo Varadkar and become the country’s youngest Prime Minister. Members of parliament cheered as the nomination of Harris was confirmed by a vote of 88-69. Harris secured support from independent lawmakers, as well as his coalition partners Fianna Fail and the Green Party. Last month, days after Varadkar’s surprise exit from the party, Harris was elected unopposed as the new leader of the centre-right Fine Gael party. He is best known for steering Ireland’s initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Simon Harris said that, “I do accept this nomination to…

United States: Elon Musk has claimed that superhuman artificial intelligence (AI) which is smarter than any human on Earth could be created by next year. However, this would depend on whether the power and computing demands of the industry become unsustainable before then. Previously, Musk predicted that superintelligent AI would be invented by 2029. The term ‘superhuman’ refers to intelligence that is greater than any individual human for an exact assignment, while ‘superintelligent’ refers to intelligence that surpasses the combined abilities of all humans for any task. Elon Musk said that, “My guess is that we’ll have AI that is…

Belgian researchers have discovered ‘fecal transplants’ could help improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease by transferring healthy bacteria. The study was published in eClinicalMedicine. In a recent clinical trial, fecal microbiota transplants (FMTs) were performed on early-stage Parkinson’s patients using healthy donor samples. After a year, the trial revealed that FMTs resulted in a mild but significant improvement in motoric symptoms, such as tremors and balance problems. Researchers in Belgium believe that treatments related to Parkinson’s could slow or reverse the disease’s progression. Arnout Bruggeman, a neurologist from Ghent University, said that, “Our results are really encouraging. After twelve months, participants…

United Kingdom: David Cameron, the UK Foreign Secretary, is planning to visit Washington DC to encourage US partners to provide additional funding for Ukraine. This funding will provide them with the necessary tools to win the war against Russia. During the visit, the Foreign Secretary will hold talks with Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, to discuss the UK’s continued support for Ukraine against Russian aggression. The goal of this aggression is to redraw European borders by force. Cameron will engage with key figures across Congress to call for a change in the narrative on Ukraine this year. He…

Russia: The Ural Mountains in Russia have been hit by the worst flooding ever recorded due to rapidly melting snow. This caused several of Europe’s largest rivers to reach their maximum capacity and overflow. Thousands of people are forced to evacuate their homes as a result. The Orenburg region near Kazakhstan was proclaimed an emergency zone by the Russian government. The Ural River, which is Europe’s third longest river, rose several meters within hours and caused a dam barricade in the city of Orsk to break. The river, which originates from the Ural Mountains and flows into the Caspian Sea, is…

Vatican: Pope Francis has approved a new Vatican document claiming gender-affirming surgery and surrogacy are grave human rights violations. These practices are considered by the Vatican to be on par with abortion and euthanasia, as they go against God’s plan for human life. The Vatican’s doctrine office released a 20-page declaration titled ‘Infinite Dignity’ that was in the works for five years. After significant revisions in recent months, it was endorsed by Pope Francis and he ordered its publication in March. The document argues that the sex a person is born with is an ‘irrevocable gift’ from God, and any sex-change…