37th & The World: 5in5 for the week April 22, 2024

University protests over the Israel-Palestine conflict continued this week, while Haiti's prime minister's resignation amidst violence sparks a power shift in the country. In East Africa, devastating floods hit several regions, while in Dominica, the government moved to decriminalize same-sex relationships. Lastly, US troop withdrawal from Niger amid closer ties with Russia.

Transcript

1. Amidst raging pro-palestine demonstrations on university campuses across campuses, Hamas released a ‘proof-of-life’ video of an Israeli hostage.
   1. Activists at university campuses across the United States are protesting president Biden’s continued support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Swarms of protestors have established large encampments in university squares and have clashed with police, leading to many arrests. At the beginning of passover this week, Hamas released a ‘proof-of-life’ video of Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, one of the music festival attendees on October 7th, who accused Netanyahu of “abandoning” the remaining hostages and urging for a deal to secure their release as he is “fighting for my life with serious wounds all over my body."
2. Haiti’s prime minister resigned on Thursday as a new council is sworn in. 
   1. As Port-au-Prince has been left effectively lawless, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned with a new council sworn in. In Mr. Henry’s absence after his prevented return from Kenya, gang violence in the capital has expanded. The council includes 9 new members, seven of which with voting rights, and Mr. Henry’s finance minister, Michel Patrick Boisvert as the interim prime minister. The council, attempting to restore law, order, and democratic rule within Haiti, is backed by the US and other Caribbean nations, and it's nonrenewable mandate expires on the 7th of February 2026 when a new president will be sworn in. 
3. Extensive flooding and landslides in Eastern Africa from the El Nino has killed over 150 in Tanzania alone.
   1. As a result of the Indian Ocean Dipole, or Indian El Nino, heavy rains, flooding, and landslides left at least 155 people in Tanzania dead and 236 injured. The rains are expected to continue into May and have already affected 200,000 people. Neighboring nations Kenya and Burundi are already also experiencing the humanitarian crisis from the flooding, with over 45 dead in Kenya and 100,000 people displaced in Burundi. 
4. Dominica overturned a ban on same-sex relationships.
   1. Dominica’s high court decriminalized same-sex relationships this week, overturning a previous ruling that deemed homosexual relationships ‘unconstitutional.’ LGBTQ activists are calling the move "a significant milestone in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean." Several Anglophone Caribbean nations have also recently decriminalized same-sex relationships, including Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Trinidad and Tobago. It remains illegal in Guyana, Grenada, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. 
5. The United States has agreed to pull all troops out of Niger, ending its mission to fight radical islamic groups as Niger realigns closely with Russia. 
   1. The US has agreed to pull out of Niger as the nation realigns with Russia. Dozens of Russian military instructors landed in Niger last week, bringing with them a state-of-the-art air defense system. These supplies are likely part of what could be described as a 'regime survival package.' The junta, which overthrew Niger's democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum last year, has since severed military and diplomatic ties with former allies like France and the United States. This influx of foreign military support is ostensibly to help Niger combat these insurgent threats. However, the specifics—like bringing in an advanced air defense system—suggest motivations tied more to deterring external military interventions, given that jihadist groups typically don't have air capabilities.