Mass protests and ethnic violence gripped Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country in the aftermath of the murder of pop star Hachalu Hundessa. The 34-year-old singer and former political prisoner was a hero to Ethiopia’s majority Oromo people, long politically and economically marginalized.
(“Turmoil at Funeral of Singer Shows Ethiopia’s ‘Combustible’ Politics,” New York Times, June 30, 2020; “Haacaaluu Hundeessaa: A Towering Musician and an Oromo Icon,” Al-Jazeera, July 5, 2020)
As COVID-19 cases spiked across the United States, millions of working families are unable to afford rising water bills and face the risk of shutoffs. According to an investigation by the Guardian newspaper, the cost of water and sewage service increased by 80 percent between 2010 and 2018, with more than 40 percent of residents living in communities with unaffordable bills.
(“Revealed: Millions of Americans Can’t Afford Water as Bills Rise 80% in a Decade, The Guardian, June 23, 2020; “This Is How Democracy Dies,” Atlantic, June 16, 2020)
The global economic crash brought on by the coronavirus could end Alaska’s decades-long oil boom. As North Slope crude prices bottomed out below $10 a barrel in late April, oil field workers are being laid off. And with declining oil revenues, the state now has a $1 billion deficit in their $5 billion budget.
(“An Abrupt Wake-Up Call’: Alaska Peers into a Future Without Oil,” In These Times, June 18, 2020)
This week’s News Summary was narrated by Anna Manzo.
