Macedonian migrants stranded at border

Macedonian police fired teargas and rubber bullets at crowds on the Greek side of the Greece-Macedonia border on April 10, The Guardian reported.

According to The Guardian, more than 10,000 migrants and refugees have been stranded at the Greek border outpost of Idomeni since February due to border shutdowns across the Balkans.

Greece has condemned the dispersion of hundreds of migrants at the border and the use of tear gas, according to BBC.

Aid organization Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said it had treated around 300 injured people. 

Sanders secures Wyoming against Clinton

Bernie Sanders secured his victory in Wyoming April 9, making it his eighth win out of the last nine states, BBC reported.

Democrat rival Hillary Clinton still holds a delegate lead in the battle for the Democratic nomination, as both of the candidates secured seven delegates in Wyoming, according to CNN.

Both democratic candidates are concentrating their efforts on the New York primary later this month, according to BBC.

According to CNN, “Wyoming is similar to other places he’s won with big margins: rural, Western and overwhelmingly white.”

Temporary truce to end deadly fighting

The Yemeni army and the rival Houthi rebels started a tentative truce overnight April 10, according to Al-Jazeera. Both sides said they were committed to the truce despite deadly fighting in the hours leading up to it, following a year of conflict.

The conflict has cost more than 6,200 human lives and triggered a humanitarian crisis in one of the Arab countries struck hardest by poverty.

“This truce is in its early stages, violations may occur in the beginning, but we hope the next few hours will see more discipline towards the ceasefire,” Yemen’s foreign minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi told Pan-Arab TV channel al-Arabiya. Peace talks are set to begin April 18 in Kuwait, Al-Jazeera reported.

Sudanese region votes on country division

According to BBC, the western Sudanese region of Darfur is set to vote on its administrative status. The decision comes 13 years after the start of a conflict that left 300,000 dead.

The vote over whether to form a single region or remain five states closes on April 13. President Omar al-Bashir promises that the vote will be free and fair, although the US has said the vote will not be credible, BBC reported.

Many displaced people are not registered to vote due to ongoing insecurity.

Secretary of State visits Hiroshima peace memorial

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park and Museum in Japan on April 11, BBC reported.     According to BBC, Kerry is the most senior administration official to ever visit the city or the site commemorating those who lost their lives in the world’s first atomic bombing.

Kerry laid a wreath at the cenotaph for the victims of the bombing, and The Guardian calls this “a move that may preclude a visit to the memorial by President Barack Obama next month.” 

Obama is scheduled to visit Japan to attend the G7 Summit on May 26-27. Kerry is in Hiroshima for the G7 foreign ministers meeting.

Ellinor Rundhovde
Staff Writer
Published April 13th, 2016