Kieran Lawrence looks at autonomous weapons and the effect they could have on modern warfare
Continuing a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Angela Merkel
Ben Bland examines the fallout from the Iowa caucuses and looks forward to the New Hampshire primaries.
In the first of a series on world leaders, Miles Deverson takes a look at Nicholas Sarkozy
Egypt: No doubt the most noteworthy story of the past week has been the mass demonstrations in Egypt. The protests in Cairo and across the country that have been in full swing since the January 25th, inspired by the reforms forced by demonstrations in Tunisia and grown from the same discontent that rages against the corruption and incompetence of their authoritarian governments. However unlike in Tunisia, Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled Egypt for twenty nine years still retains power and has decided to cling to his office by enacting wide ranging media censorship, forming a new government and even flying jets low over crowds of demonstrators. However despite the fact that over 160 protesters have been killed in the protests, the army has recently ruled out the use of force to secure Mubarak’s regime. Protests have also continued across the Arab world with Yemen and Algeria being the largest flashpoint.
Central America: The cholera outbreak which has plagued Haiti since October 2010 has spread to Venezuela. The epidemic has already killed over three thousand people in Haiti and further weakened the nation after it was shattered by an earthquake at the start of last year. Venezuela is currently treating 135 people for the disease while one person has died of cholera in the Dominican Republic which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
Ireland:'Bold text Taoiseach Brian Cowen announced his intention not to seek re-election at the impending elections which are expected to be held on February 25th. His approval levels have been rock bottom since his austerity budget failed to bring economic recovery which necessitated a € 67.5 billion bail-out from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. He has been replaced by Michael Martin as head of his party the aptly named Fianna Fail. Their coalition partners the Greens broke away on the 23rd of January and are staring down the barrel of a massive electoral defeat to the Fine Gael and the Irish Labour Party.
Uganda: Gay rights activist David Kato was murdered in his own home in Mukono Town, central Uganda. He was one of the hundred people outed by Ugandan tabloid newspaper Rolling Stone which also called for them to be hanged. His murderer remains at large.
Sudan: 99% of South Sudanese have voted to secede from the rest of the country after a voter turnout of 98% thus putting the partition of the country in the immediate political foreground. International observers have reported little foul play despite the opposition of President Omar al-Bashir’s government in Khartoum to the separation of South Sudan which has the majority of the country’s oil supplies. The country has been sharply divided between the arid desert of the North which is dominated by Arab Muslims and the ethnically diverse Christian South which has felt disadvantaged by the Islamic government.
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