Front and Center: Long Stories Short

Too Important To Miss

• Friday, 20 May 2022
  The hunt is on for a meteorite that hit the earth last week. It is expected that most of the meteorite vaporized in the atmosphere, but that perhaps 100 grams may have landed somewhere in South Wales.
• Thursday, 19 May 2022
  Un Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned of an impending global food crisis that could last for years if Ukraine grain exports are not soon restored to their pre-war levels. Global food prices are almost 30% higher than one year ago.
• Sunday, 15 May 2022
  On Sunday evening, onlookers in the Americas will be able to view the only full lunar eclipse of the year. Those in western Europe and much of Africa can view it just before dawn on Monday. As the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, this "super blood moon" will turn a dusky red after it darkens. Because it will be closer to the Earth than at any other point in its orbit, it will also appear extremely large.
• Thursday, 12 May 2022
  Finland announced on Thursday that it would seek membership to NATO. In response, Russia warned of possible "retaliatory steps." And in addition, Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, warned of “a full-fledged nuclear war” if NATO continues sending weapons to Ukraine and training its troops.
• Thursday, 12 May 2022
  While covering Israeli raids on Wednesday in the Palestinian city of Jenin, veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed. In video footage at the scene, she could be seen wearing a blue flak jacket with the designation "PRESS." An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer present at the scene, along with Al Jazeera and Palestinian authorities, have reported that Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli gunfire. Abu Akleh was Palestinian American.
• Monday, 9 May 2022
  On the eve of Victory Day on May 9th, as Europe marks the surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies in World War II, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an emotional speech saying that evil had returned to Ukraine. Meanwhile in Moscow, Vladimir Putin misrepresented Russia's violent invasion of Ukraine as a fight for Russian security and a defense of the "Motherland."
• Sunday, 8 May 2022
  Monday, May 9th, is Victory Day in Russia, the celebration of Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. It was widely expected that Vladimir Putin would be celebrating victory in his invasion of Ukraine, though a ferocious and extremely effective Ukrainian defense has made that impossible.
• Sunday, 8 May 2022
  Filipinos head to the polls on Monday to choose their next president. The choice is a dramatic one: human rights attorney and current vice president Leni Robredo, up against "Bongbong" Marcos Jr, son of the former Philippines dictator. Marcos' campaign has used social media to whitewash the history of his father's human rights abuses, the torturing and killing of thousands, and the pillaging of billions of dollars from the country.
• Sunday, 8 May 2022
  A new Taliban decree has ordered that Afghan women remain at home and that those who must go out cover themselves head-to-toe. The directive also makes male family members responsible for the women's compliance. After taking power in Afghanistan in August 2021, the Taliban have been systematically eliminating women's rights.
• Saturday, 7 May 2022
  With most of the votes counted on Friday evening, the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is on track to win the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. The election results are likely to focus attention on reuniting the North and South of Ireland.
• Friday, 6 May 2022
  On May 6, 2022, a banner across the top of the Washington Post website reads: "Russia continues its assault on free expression. Vladimir Kara-Mura, an activist and columnist for the Washington Post, is detained in Russia and faces up to 15 years in prison for denouncing the war in Ukraine. Russia must drop its sham charges and release Vladimir immediately." The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that since 1992, 58 journalists in Russia have been killed, 14 imprisoned, and 7 are missing. Even student journalists are currently being subject to "correctional labor."
• Friday, 6 May 2022
  In an extraordinary step, the EU has recommended sanctions, including a travel ban and asset freeze, against Russian Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. Kirill has praised Putin's military actions in both Syria and Ukraine as a "holy fight." Among those now openly critical of Kirill's support for the war is Pope Francis. "The patriarch can't be Putin's messenger,'" he said.
• Wednesday, 4 May 2022
  On Wednesday, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced additional pressure on Russia. Russian crude oil will be phased out within six months, and military officers involved in war crimes will be hit with new sanctions. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked from the very start of Russia's invasion that the EU stop buying Russian oil, saying that it finances the aggression. This is an important step in that direction, though six months can feel like a long time to those under siege.
• Wednesday, 4 May 2022
  A U.S. Supreme Court draft majority opinion on abortion rights was leaked yesterday. Politico, which obtained the draft, reported: "The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights." Chief Justice John Roberts called the leak an “egregious breach” of trust. Others are pointing to the breach of trust by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in having blocked a vote on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee; by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in having misrepresented during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings his stance on abortion law; and by Donald Trump in having appointed 3 conservative justices despite Trump having lost the popular vote in the presidential election. Demonstrators are in the streets across the country. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters: "...it rocks my confidence in the court right now."
• Sunday, 1 May 2022
  The family of Paul Rusesabagina, the hero profiled in the film Hotel Rwanda, has filed a $400 million U.S. lawsuit for his abduction and torture by the Rwandan government. Rusesabagina has been an outspoken critic of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his government.