National News
By Nahidah Khan, BA Development Studies and Politics The end of October saw Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson announce the reimposition of lockdown measures in England, lasting from 5 November to 2 December. This followed confirmation that the infection rate had reached one million Covid-19 cases in the UK. Amid
National News
By Samia Majid, MA History The National Audit Office (NAO) recently published a report on the UK government’s procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), highlighting chronic mismanagement of public funds. The report revealed that ‘high-priority’ suppliers with political connections were 10 times more likely to be awarded PPE contracts
National News
By Fakhriya M. Suleiman, MA Global Media and Postnational Communications Dominic Cummings, the now bygone Chief Adviser to Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson, resigned from his post on 13 November. According to the Financial Times (FT), Cummings’ premature departure followed a meeting of ‘intense exchanges’ with the PM. Therein, Johnson
News
By Frances Howe, LLB SOAS will not hold in-person classes for undergraduate students for the rest of the year. Interim director, Graham Upton, confirmed this information in a general SOAS announcement emailed to students on 2 November. Upton wrote ‘…for Term 2 and 3 we continue to plan as in
International News
By Nahidah Khan BA Development Studies and Politics On 3 November 2020, the USA is due to hold its Presidential Election. When coupled with the following 24 hours, an already consequential event transforms into one with environmental implications. The US is set to formally exit the Paris Agreement on 4
International News
By Marie Vandermeulen, B.A. International Relations and Law The Blue Nile river runs from Lake Tana in Ethiopia to meet the White Nile in Khartoum, before flowing north into Egypt. Since 2011, Ethiopia has worked to build one of its most extraordinary projects to date: the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance
International News
By Gustavo Giraldes, MSc Development Studies On 7 October 2020, prosecutors in Angola ordered the closure of three temples of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), a neo-charismatic evangelical congregation. With headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, it is currently the biggest group of its kind. The ruling
International News
By Haritha B., BA Global Liberal Arts Hostilities have escalated into violent warfare in Nagorno-Karabakh, the contested territory between Armenia and Azerbaijan. On 27 September 2020, clashes broke out along the Nagorno-Karabakh line-of-control resulting in the imposition of Martial Law in both countries. The violent clashes of the past month
International News
By Josh Mock, BA Arabic and Persian “The world bank projected that over half of the population would fall below the poverty line this year.“ Once admired as a beacon of stability in an increasingly unstable region, Lebanon is currently a nation in crisis. The country is facing its worst
National News
By Charlotte Paule, Msc Politics of Asia During the socially-distanced Foreign Affairs Select Committee on 5 October, Rt Hon Dominic Raab MP was the witness. When asked by Conservative MP Alicia Kearns about whether or not Britain should reconsider attending the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, Foreign Secretary Rabb
National News
By Maxine Betteridge-Moes, MA Media in Development While many minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK, there is no formal data collection when it comes to the infection and death rate among Britain’s Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers (GRT). As a result, the impact
National News
By Zanya Fechner, BA Social Anthropology and International Relations The first case of Covid-19 was confirmed in the UK nine months ago. After a brief period of stability, government policy and local restrictions are once again being changed every few weeks in response to the rising number of cases nationwide.