_{Image source: Yahoo News}

US

The United States’ House of Representatives has approved the Biden administration’s $1.9 Trillion Covid-19 relief bill. The bill will send $1400 to every American making less than $75,000 a year and includes money for a variety of different departments; from Educations to the Small Business Bureau. The bill also included the highly divisive $15 an hour minimum wage portion, which Republicans made clear they would not support. The bill makes its way to the Senate where an anticipated 50-50 vote would give VP Kamala Harris her first tie-breaking vote. Congress is hoping to have the bill on Biden’s desk before jobless benefits are set to expire on March 14th.

Myanmar

The Myanmar military fired the ambassador to the United Nations, Kyaw Moe Tun. His firing was due to his speech to the United Nations body to remove the military rule in the country by any means necessary. The military has been in control of the government ever since the removal of Sou Kyi on February 1st. The military claims her removal is due to fraudulence and irregularity within the election.

Nigeria

All 42 people in Nigeria that were kidnapped last week from the boarding school of Niger have been released . Those 42 people were made of school children, staff and teacher. The captives have been held nearly 10 days before finally being released. More than 300 girls that were kidnapped this week are still being held hostage. It is unclear whether the kidnapper belong to the same group or are not working together.

Haiti

Arnel Joseph, leader of a gang in Haiti was one of 27 people shot and killed by police during a prison break in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Joseph was accused of murder, kidnaping and rape and was awaiting trial. Almost 400 people have escaped prison, most belonging to various violent gangs. To Haitians, this is the latest saga of increased violence under President Moise who has been facing criticism to step down by nearly 20 of his political opponents.

Palestine

Palestinian authorities have announced that they will shut down all schools in the West Bank due to increase cases of Covid-19 variant. The Prime Minister announced that the West Bank has reached a critical moment as hospitals reach 95% capacity. Palestinian leaders slammed the Israeli government last week for its decisions to ship surplus doses of the vaccine to its allies without aiding the struggling Palestinian population. Israel gave the Palestinian Authority 2000 doses but stated that the Palestinian government is responsible for the vaccine rollout for the West Bank and Gaza.