🗺️ Picks of the Week — November 13
🗺️ Picks of the Week — November 13
Peru President Impeached, Hurricane Eta Devastates Central America, Armenia Azerbaijan New Peace Deal, Ethiopian Civil War, New HIV Vaccine, India Celebrates Harris VP Victory
Happy Friday folks! Welcome to another edition of Picks of the Week. Bumper issue today where we’ll visit Peru who impeached its president just months before April’s presidential election; Central America where Hurricane Eta has left thousands reeling; Eurasia where Russia has brokered a new peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan; Ethiopia who is on the verge of civil war; Southern India where Kamala Harris’ election win is being celebrated; and we look at a new HIV vaccine that could make women 89 percent more protected.
Before we get to it, be sure to listen to this week’s podcast with Axios energy and climate reporter Amy Harder. We got into what Biden’s win means for the future of climate change, how much damage the Trump administration did to environmental protections, and we speculate (dangerous, I know) over what might happen in Georgia’s two runoffs for U.S. Senate.
And we also have the reactions to the U.S. general election of leaders from every country in the Middle East in this week’s Inside The Middle East. Okay Sophie, over to you…
Job Corner
Another 200+ jobs added to the board with deadlines approaching at the likes of Bell Media, the Los Angeles Times, ProPublica and the Seattle Times. Keep spreading that word!
Data Corner
Covid-19: Vast data on deaths and cases, from the Financial Times.
Hurricanes: 2020 season data, from the National Hurricane Center.
HIV: Stats sheet from the World Health Organization.
Peru President Impeached
We start this week off in Latin America where Peru’s Congress voted to impeach President Martin Vizcarra, claiming he accepted bribes worth $363,000 while working as a regional governor between 2014 to 2016. The centrist Vizcarra, who was ironically in the process of implementing his own anti-corruption reforms, denied the accusations, but accepted the vote and agreed to step down. He pointed to the fact that 68 other members of Congress are also being investigated for corruption.
In their second attempt to impeach Vizcarra in two months, lawmakers also criticized his handling of Covid-19. Peru has been one of the worst-hit countries in the world, registering more than 35,000 deaths and almost one million cases. Additionally, the economy shrunk 30 percent compared with the same period last year.
The impeachment comes at a fascinating time, with the country due to vote for a new president in April. The move was met by protests in Lima, with many calling it a power grab and some going as far as calling it a coup. Vizcarra has been replaced on an interim basis by former head of Congress Manuel Merino, a businessman from the minority Popular Action party.
Hurricane Eta Devastates Central America
As Florida continues to deal with the now-tropical storm Eta, the cyclone left a trail of carnage through Central America as a Category 4 hurricane. The likes of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Panama, Mexico, and Cuba have seen devastating floods and mudslides that buried entire houses, with the death toll nearing 150 people. The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs predicted more than 2.5 million people have been affected in the region, and 1.8 million affected in Honduras alone.
Mark Connolly, a UNICEF representative said “This is the worst storm Honduras has seen in decades,” perhaps since 1998 when Hurricane Mitch caused more than $5 billion in damage. The destruction could be worse this time around in a region that was already struggling because of the pandemic, with increased levels of forced displacement and food insecurity prompted by the economic downturn.
Deadly Storm Eta lashes Central America
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Armenia and Azerbaijan Sign Peace Deal
After six weeks of war between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the bitter enemies signed a new Russia-brokered peace deal to end the conflict over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. The area is recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but has been controlled by ethnic Armenians for the past 26 years. The new deal means Azerbaijan will keep hold of the areas it seized during the conflict, including the strategic city of Shusha, while Armenia will maintain control over Stepanakert, the largest city in the region.
Arayik Harutyunyan, Armenia’s leader in the region, said a ceasefire was unavoidable after the loss of Shusha. Had they also lost Stepanakert, Harutyunyan said there would have been far more losses.
Russian peacekeepers are now being deployed along the Nagorno-Karabakh frontline, and Turkey will also supervise the truce. Multiple previous attempts to resolve the conflict have come and gone, with last month’s deal being broken after drones were used. While Azerbaijan celebrated and Armenian protestors stormed government buildings in protest.
Fears of Ethiopian Civil War Rise
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has launched a military offensive in Tigray, the home of the Tigrayan, Irob and Kunama peoples, and the northernmost region in Ethiopia. The deadly assault against the governing Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) comes just a year after Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize. No seriously, he actually did. The fighting has so far killed hundreds of people, including scores being hacked to death, according to Amnesty International.
While the Tigray crisis dates back to 2018, tensions began to rise in August when Ahmed’s government postponed the general election because of Covid-19. Opponents in Tigray accused the prime minister of stalling the election and held their own regional vote a month later. Ahmed blames the TPLF for attacking a federal military base and attempting to undermine his leadership.
Four things you need to know about the Tigray crisis in Ethiopia
Previous Picks of the Week
🔎 Picks of the Week — November 6
🔎 Picks of the Week — October 30
🔎 Picks of the Week — October 23
🔎 Picks of the Week — October 16
New HIV Vaccine 89% More Effective for Women
Vaccines have been the talk of the town this week, and for good reason. A new study by the National Institutes of Health suggests a new treatment can be almost 90 percent more effective at protecting cisgender women against HIV. The new method involves one injection every two months instead of orally taking a pill each day, using condoms, or abstaining from sexual intercourse.
The study was conducted among more than 3,000 women in sub-Sahara Africa, where the UN estimates five out of six new infections among teenagers aged 15 to 19 are reported by women. While women are not always able to control the risk of infection, researchers told NPR that they need as many options to prevent them from contracting the virus in the first place.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease doctor at the NIH called the development a “major, major advance,” adding “I don’t think we can overemphasize the importance of this study.”
Indian Village Celebrates VP-Elect Harris
We end this week with the news that residents in the South-Indian village of Thulasendrapuram, where Kamala Harris’ maternal grandfather was born, are celebrating Harris and Joe Biden’s election victory from last week. Harris, whose ancestral hometown was asleep when the race was unofficially called, is set to become the first ever U.S. female vice-president of color. Her late mother, who was also born in India, left the country at the age of 19 to study in the U.S.
“Kamala Harris is the daughter of our village,” a Thulasendrapuram councilor told the Associated Press. “From children to senior citizens, each one of us is awaiting the day she will take the oath as the vice president of the U.S.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to Twitter to describe Harris’ success as “pathbreaking.”
That’s all for this week, thanks for reading. See you next week for more global news and election fun! 👋