Last year, an estimated 3,500 Rohingya Muslims boarded wooden boats and set off from Bangladesh, across hundreds of miles of dangerous waters in the Bay of Bengal, in search of starting new lives in Malaysia or Indonesia. Hundreds of them never made it.
The surge in coronavirus cases in India has created huge worries for neighboring countries like Bangladesh and Nepal.
Top of The World: A devastating fire at the sprawling Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh has left at least 15 people dead and thousands of refugees homeless. And, a mass shooting resulting in the death of 10 people at a Colorado grocery store on Monday has captured the global spotlight less than a week after a shooting in Atlanta left eight dead. Also, the European Union Tuesday joined the UK, Canada and the US in imposing sanctions on four Chinese officials
Critical State, our weekly foreign policy newsletter, takes a deep dive into new research on how climate change endangers urban refugees in Chattogram, Bangladesh.
After the worst day for infections on record, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide passed the 5 million. And as China prepares for its annual National People’s Congress on Friday, new laws cracking down on Hong Kong’s independence are expected to be proposed today. Also, the coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the performing arts, and some people in London are wondering if it’s curtains for the city’s West End theater district.
The deadly Cyclone Amphan made landfall today in India and Bangladesh as millions evacuated amid the coronavirus crisis. And, Germany announced new rules that give the government the power to veto hostile takeovers of health care companies. Also, Canadian activists say they’re being targeted by China.
Like nations everywhere, India and Bangladesh are trying to contain outbreaks of the coronavirus. On top of that, they're also preparing for a cyclone of historic proportions.
A powerful cyclone is headed toward India and Bangladesh, prompting millions to evacuate and compounding fears over the novel coronavirus. US President Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw the US from the World Health Organization as the body urges global cooperation. And, one study is crowdsourcing the growing list of COVID-19 symptoms. Also, major global events often inspire iconic art and cultural shifts. One byproduct of the 1918 flu pandemic? Zombies.
Chinese officials have revised their novel coronavirus fatality count, but insist there has been no coverup. And in the US, President Donald Trump tells governors they are responsible for opening up states' economies. Political shakeups in Brazil and Turkey point to questionable responses to the pandemic. In Bangladesh, coronavirus could put Rohingya refugee women in leadership roles. And rebuilding the Notre Dame de Paris is about more than the structure. Learn how acoustic research could help reconstruct the cathedral's unique soundscape.
If there is a COVID-19 outbreak in overcrowded Rohingya refugee camps, the success of the response may depend in part on the status of women in the camps.
Directly linking climate change with aggression and mass migration risks dehumanizing those vulnerable to environmental stresses, and casts their attempts to escape a problem caused by mainly rich nations as a security threat. It promotes fear and isolation, rather than compassion and assistance.