DGI Brief - June 22, 2016

Good morning, all. Today's top 5 news on global issues are about #NorthKorea #Colombia #Yemen #Zambia and #Sweden

- In the spirit of ‘if at 1st you don’t succeed, dust yourself off & try again’ NORTH KOREA tested 5x before succeeding with 6th launch. The missile’s capacity is worrisome – 3,500km (2,180 miles) range would reach large parts of Asia & Pacific, including US military bases. Diplomats will have a rare opportunity to engage with North Korea at a 6-nation Forum in Beijing today. There won’t be any staggering commitments, but diplomacy is an exercise of patience & compromise.

- The peace deal between COLOMBIA & FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) will be signed in Cuba this Thursday, potentially ending Latin America’s oldest guerilla war which since 1964 killed over 220,000 people. The deal includes framework for disarmament & demobilization. All is not yet won however because the deal will have to be ratified & legalized, likely through a referendum. What will people, the true victims of this conflict, say?

- The accusations are flying between ZAMBIA’s government & Fred M’membe, owner of the Post Newspaper. $6 million of unpaid taxes or an attempt to silence a voice critical of the government for the last 25 years ahead of elections?

- YEMEN: About 14 million people suffer food insecurity at “crisis” or “emergency” levels, one step before famine on UN’s food insecurity scale. Yemen imports 90% of its staple foods. Fuel shortages & import restrictions due to conflict are the cause. Only 16% of the required response has been funded.

- Europe continues to fortify: even SWEDEN, one of the most welcoming countries for refugees, introduced new rules & restrictions on asylum seekers. Last year, the country of 9.5 million took in 160,000 refugees. The new rules require proof new residents can financially support themselves & their families (for reunification cases) & people under 25 also have to have completed high-school diploma. Rights groups are critical these rules will be harmful to children.

I can’t help but think about how broken our world’s systems are – the amount of money spent on things like political campaigning, weapons, war on drugs … could help educate most of our children for example. But humanity will prevail, we will change the course, I believe this. Happy Wednesday, everyone. Give your best. Remember, if you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right!

#nuclear #testing #threat #diplomacy #SouthKorea #USA #FARC #guerilla #war #LatinAmerica #peace #rebels #disarmament #demobilization #famine #starving #conflict #food #insecurity #foodinsecurity #funding #shortage #UnitedNations #humanitarian #SupremeCourt #freedomofpress #humanrights #taxes #newspaper #journalism #criticism #freedomofspeech #elections #refugees #migrants #refugeecrisis #migrantcrisis #refugeeswelcome #restrictions #Europe