While the 2020 election has commandeered the news, here are some of the events you may have missed happening across the rest of the world.
Mass Protests Continue in Poland
Hundreds of thousands of people have participated in mass demonstrations for 14 nights in Poland in response to a ban on abortion. Peaceful demonstrations are led by the grassroots women’s movement Ogólnopolski Strajk Kobiet and are the biggest protests Poland has seen in decades. What began as a protest for abortion rights expanded as protesters urged for women’s and LGBTQ+ rights, separation of church and state, better healthcare, and judicial independence.
According to the Guardian, “the protests have also challenged the Catholic church and its influence on Polish policy, education and culture, with some demonstrators disrupting services and defacing churches. Support for the church has fallen eight points to 49% since March.”
Thanks to predominalty young women, the Polish government has put a pause on the abortion ban and there is a possibilty for real change to the patriarical government.
Super Typhoon Goni Hits the Philippines
Super Typhoon Goni intensified last week into the biggest storm on the planet and largest to hit the Philippines in four years. With maximum sustained winds of 195 mph and torrential rainfall, Goni left tens of thousands needing shelter and cut off from resources.
As the Washington Post says, Goni “left 125 cities and towns without electricity, about 2 million people were in the path of the storm, which came on the heels of two other typhoons and as the country struggles with one of the region’s worst coronavirus outbreaks.”
The storm left nearly 400,000 evacuees in overcrowded arrangements as the island was flooded and turned to mud. The Philippines is accustomed to extreme weather and storms and unfortunately storms like Super Typhoon Goni will only continue and become more dangerous due to climate change.
Coronavirus Surges in Europe cause more lockdowns in France, Spain, Germany, and the U.K
Europe is feeling the effects of pandemic fatigue as people are being less careful about mask wearing and staying socially distanced. France has seen tens of thousand new cases everyday, and Italy saw a 58% jump in cases, according to John Hopkins data. Many countries have closed non essential businesses and enacted new curfews as “Europe as a whole surpassed the United States in Covid-19 cases per capita,” according to the Smithsonian Magazine. Countries are already seeing the negative consequences of this potential second wave as hospitals become overcrowded. Many experts including Adam Kucharski, disease modeler at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, say that winter will make controlling the virus far harder for countries compared to summer as temperatures decrease and people become restless.
Storm Eta hits Guatemala leaving devastation and at least 150 dead
Storm Eta hit Central America with torrential rain and deadly mudslides. In a remote town, Queja village, around 150 homes were destroyed by mudslides. Dozens of people are missing or injured.
According to Aljazeera, “Rescue operations across Honduras and Guatemala have been slowed by destroyed roads and bridges, forcing authorities to draft in the military and use helicopters and speedboats to rescue people stranded.”
Now, Storm Eta is heading for Nicaragua as it has been upgraded to a category 5 hurricane threatening extreme damage with disastrous flooding. Storm Eta has hit several countries through Central America causing severe damage and costing many lives. Currently, many countries do not have final counts on those who are displaced or killed by the storm. There is a flash flood warning for Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and Cuba.