World Brief

South America Argentina

DECRIMINALIZATION OF ABORTION?

On December 12, a bill to legalize abortions passed a key “yes” vote by politicians in Argentina. This decision, seen as controversial by many, including the Roman Catholic Church, was made in the Parliament’s lower house. It may be trailblazing for the predominantly Catholic continent and further needs to be approved by the Senate. "I am a Catholic but I have to legislate for everyone," President Fernández said. "It is a very serious public health issue."

In the past, the South American country not only restricted access to contraceptives drastically, but outlawed abortions altogether, leaving women without a say in their reproductive decisions. Women and those aiding the abortion procedure face severe consequences in form of long prison sentences with the law only waiving punishement when the woman’s life in in danger or when the pregnancy is a result of rape of a mentally disabled women.

Human Rights Watch stated that an estimated half million unsafe abortions were performed each year, deeming access to legal abortions “almost nonexistent in practice.” Both criminalization and inaccessibility lead to the infringement of women’s rights as well as creating public health issue, the Senate now has the chance to pave the way for safe and legal abortions and an improvement of women’s rights, setting an example for other countries still imposing bans.

Space

GROUND CONTROL TO MAJOR MUSK Realities of Private Space Endeavours

On December 9, SpaceX put their Starship rocket prototype to trial, starlaunchign it from Boca Chica Beach in South Texas. It exploded, but the effort was deemed as a “huge leap towards Mars.” Only a few days later, they successfully launched a digital audio satellite into the orbit for a SiriusXM, a US-American radio channel, leaving the world in awe of what may be possible in the nottoo-far-away future.

In summer 2020, Elon Musk’s company SpaceX made history by becoming the first-ever private company to transport people into space. The two

Middle East & North Africa Morocco/Western Sahara

MOROCCO, ISRAEL AND THE DISPUTED TERRITORY OF WESTERN SAHARA

US-American NASA astronauts on board were transported to the International Space Station ISS. Since 2012, SpaceX has been shipping cargo to and from ISS and cut deals with NASA worth billions of dollars.

This reshaped the aerospace industry, leading to more competition, focus on developing new technologies, reduction of costs of space travel and a reignited spark of mainstream interest in space. The Tesla founder aims to bring humans to Mars by 2025, whereas NASA is more cautious—expecting a manned mission to the Red Planet earliest in the 2030s. In early December, the Kingdom of

Morocco established diplomatic relations with Israel, making it the fourth Arab state to do so in as many months.

Donald Trump brokered the Israeli-Moroccan peace agreement—an extension of the Abraham Accords—which included the recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Western Sahara.

The desert is home to around 600,000 people and the area of which Morocco controls more than two-third is approximately as big as the United Kingdom. The territory has long been disputed between Morocco and the Polisario Front which fights for the region’s independence. The conflict resumed fighting again in November after nearly three decades. Polisario Front stated that Morocco had breached the 1991 ceasefire agreement sending troops into a demilitarised buffer strip.

The agreement ended a 16-year war with a plan for an independence referendum that never came into place as both parties had disagreements on who would be eligible to vote. A Western diplomat in the Financial Times stated that it was a “low intensity conflict” but that “it could escalate.” Morocco has denied the fighting and claimed the strip had never been part of the agreement.

VICTORIA BECKER