Same-sex marriage referendum to take place in Switzerland
Citizens will be voting on whether to legalize same-sex marriage this Sunday. If approved, it will be a huge step forward for a nation which has straggled behind its European neighbours. In most eastern European countries, same-sex marriage remains illegal. However, on the western side of the continent, nations have been...
Current in People
England’s new Covid travel rules are strangely selective
According to England’s updated travel policy, being considered ‘fully vaccinated’ and exempt from quarantine isn’t as simple as having been double jabbed. What was proposed as ‘a new simplified system’ that would make international travel ‘easier’ is now causing global outrage for being xenophobic. As the new travel rules were unveiled,...
How can Africa respond to rising teenage pregnancy?
Teenage pregnancy and maternal deaths see substantial rises across Africa as a result of Covid-19. Is this now the second societal pandemic? According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), pregnancies among adolescent girls remain a global problem. An estimated 21 million girls aged 15–19 years in developing countries become pregnant...
Climate change puts millions at risk of trafficking and exploitation
As extreme weather patterns become the norm, millions will be forced to relocate from their homes into the unknown. What does this mean for the future of their security? Around the world, the effects of climate change have become impossible to ignore. This summer, even major cities like New York...
Exclusive: Chatting to Gen Z activists Jeremy and Michelle
Michelle and Jeremy are siblings from Western Kenya who describe themselves as energetic environmentalists. Their dream is to improve the cleanliness of our oceans and build better habitats for aquatic life. They built an app to do just that. Michelle, a 16-year-old final year student from White Oaks School, Kisumu,...
Italy’s rising radical right and the quest to end immigration
In Italy, a country once home to Benito Mussolini, a leader who radicalised society between 1919 and 1945, history is on the verge of repeating itself. On 10 September, police officers arrested a 26-year-old Somali asylum seeker for allegedly stabbing four women and a six-year-old boy in Italy’s north-eastern town...
Climate inaction looms over Afghanistan under the Taliban
The Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan has put the nation’s climate plans on hold. Threatened by food insecurity and major droughts, the region may struggle to bounce back. The US withdrawal from Afghanistan wasn’t just a threat to citizens on a humanitarian and human rights front, it has also jeopardised prior plans to address the region’s worsening climate. Before the Taliban’s unanointed takeover, Afghanistan’s National Environmental Protection Agency had planned a...
El Salvador citizens up in arms as Bitcoin becomes legal tender
All businesses with the capacity to accept crypto payments must legally do so in El Salvador. But why exactly are citizens up in arms over the changes imposed by President Nayib Bukele? Once a novel business endeavour among young US traders, crypto currency is continuously spreading – much like a virus, if you ask the citizens of El Salvador. On Wednesday (15/09), thousands of Salvadorans took to the streets to protest...
Opinion – Raducanu’s victory carries a message that stretches beyond tennis
While we should share in the collective joy of Raducanu’s extraordinary triumph, it’s also worth reflecting on why immigrants in the UK must be successful in order to be valued. On Saturday, 18-year-old Emma Raducanu became Britain’s first female singles Grand Slam champion in 44 years, as well as the youngest since Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004. Sending much of the UK into an extended state of delirium, her magnificent...
The fight to raise awareness for female first responders in 9/11
One of the first women firefighters, Brenda Berkman, has led over a decade-long fight to highlight the role of women as first responders during 9/11. 20 years on, the attack on the Twin Towers still dominates the public memory of the world - but Brenda Berkman is fighting to show that we are remembering wrong. Berkman was off duty when the first tower was hit on September 11th 2001, but raced...
