• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has shaken up France’s presidential election campaign as the debate turned to the domestic economy and away from immigrants and culture wars. Incumbent Emmanuel Macron got a boost from his pre-invasion diplomatic efforts with Russian President Vladimir Putin to avert war, but that’s begun to fade amid rising public concern over inflation and rising energy prices.
(“Europe’s Far Right Parties Admired Putin, Now They’re Stranded,” Christian Science Monitor, March 24, 2022; “The French Election is Just Two Weeks Away, and Russia’s Invasion is Shadowing the Vote,” CNBC, March 28, 2022; “Macron Kicks Off Reelection Campaign as Le Pen Gains Ground,”, Guardian, March 29, 2022)
• After 17 months of a brutal civil war, the Ethiopian government announced a unilateral truce, ostensibly to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid and end the conflict without further bloodshed. On April 1st, a convoy of trucks carrying food aid arrived in the territory controlled by fighters of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, the first humanitarian convoy to do so since December. For months, the Ethiopia’s government had imposed an “aid blockade” against the rebel-controlled region. Millions of people in the Tigray region are in desperate need of food aid.
( “Food Convoy Heads to Ethiopia’s Tigray, First Since December,” Associated Press, April 1, 2022; “Can Ethiopia’s Truce End its Devastating Civil War,” Al-Jazeera, March 28, 2022)
• The declaration of bankruptcy by coal giant Blackjewel LLC, the parent company of Revelation Energy, formerly the 6th biggest coal producer in the nation, shook the coal industry nationwide. Instead of working its way through bankruptcy courts, the coal company immediately shut down operations and threw hundreds of coal miners out of work. Blackjewel was dissolved in late 2021, leaving 200 active mining permits in limbo.
“In Appalachia, the Mine Cleanup System has Collapsed,” In These Times, March 23, 2022)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo
