The News Roundup — International

WAMU 88.5

Published March 18, 2021 at 2:23 PM CDT

A sign saying "It is a privilege to believe the police will protect you" is seen among the flowers and candles on Clapham Common where floral tributes have been placed for Sarah Everard in London, England. Hundreds of people turned out in Clapham Common on Saturday night to pay tribute to Sarah Everard, a 33-year-old London resident whose kidnapping and death - allegedly at the hands of an off-duty Metropolitan Police officer - prompted a wave of concern over women's safety.

Several companies in the European Union halted the distribution of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, citing the risk of blood clots. But a top E.U. health agency said the shot’s benefits are far greater than its risks and that it does not increase the risk for blood clots. The U.K. has continued to vaccinate its citizens using the AstraZeneca shot.

We also talked about the protests in the U.K. related to the death of Sarah Everard earlier this week.

After the White House said North Korea had not responded to its diplomatic outreach, Kim Yo Jong, leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, responded by warning the United States not to cause a “stink.” The comments come as top U.S. officials have traveled to Asia for meetings with the Japanese and South Korean governments.

And activists are pushing the U.S. government to drop its support for Haitian President Jovenel Moïse’s planned elections amid an increase in violence and kidnappings in the country.

Christine Jean-Baptise wrote for Teen Vogue about what’s happening in Haiti and how mainstream media outlets are portraying the crisis.

Working on the front lines as an activist, feminist, and cofounder of Nègès Mawon, Pascale Solages saw thousands of Haitian protesters attempting to reclaim control of their lives. “I see people who know that when they go out on the street, it may be putting their lives in danger, but they know they don’t live enough to not tell themselves that they have to take risks,” she tells Teen Vogue.

The protests were ignited after Moïse refused to step down, announcing on February 7 that he was beginning “the first day of my fifth year” in office. After a tumultuous yearlong electoral delay due to allegations of fraud in 2015, his opposition argues that his mandate actually expired last month, saying his five-year term began in 2016 and not the year after. Not only did Moïse reject those claims, but he accused opposition leaders of planning a coup against him. He retaliated by arresting 23 people, including a Supreme Court judge, a surgeon, and a senior police official. This crackdown did not stop Haitians of all ages from mobilizing against Moïse’s questionable term and foreign support. As The Nation reported, “It’s not about one criminal; it’s about a criminal system, supported by very heavy hitters, including the international community.”

We have all those stories and more on the global edition of the News Roundup.

David Gura hosts this edition of the Roundup.

Find the songs that we played as live show break music this week here.