Culture: Morocco Officially Celebrates Amazingh New Year for the First Time
The new year of the Amazigh calendar, also known as Yennayer, was celebrated as an official holiday in Morocco for the first time on January 12. The recognition of this holiday has long been called for by the Amazigh people, also known as Berbers, the original inhabitants of North Africa and a group that has historically been marginalized within Moroccan society, reported “BBC.” The new holiday marks a step towards further recognition of the indigenous North African people, whose presence in the Maghreb territory dates back thousands of years. Today, nearly 70 percent of the Moroccan population claims Amazigh origins, according to a report by the “International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs.” Despite their significant presence in the region, recognition of Amazighs in Moroccan society has only been a recent development. It wasn’t until 2001 that Mohammed VI recognized Amazigh culture as part of the national heritage, and another ten years passed before their language, Tamazight, was officially recognized alongside Arabic.
War: Israel-Hamas War Continues Onwards Past 100 Days
Since fighting began on October 7, the Israel-Hamas war has seen unprecedented levels of violence and destruction that have displaced a majority of Palestinians in Gaza, hindered operations in more than half of Gaza’s hospitals, and caused widespread hunger. Entering its fourth month, a report by “AP News,” using data from the Palestinian Health Ministry and Israeli officials, marked the conflict to have seen over 25,000 deaths between Israelis and Palestinians and displaced 1.9 million Palestinians, around 85 percent of Gaza’s population. An investigation by “The Guardian” revealed that some residents of the Gaza Strip, desperate to leave the Palestinian enclave declared “uninhabitable” by the United Nations, have paid bribe amounts from 10,000 dollars upwards to brokers to escape to Egypt in what has been called state-enabled corruption.
Politics: Taiwan Elects New President Despite Threats From China
January 13 marked a historic third consecutive win for the Democratic Progressive Party as Lai Ching-te, Taiwan’s current vice president, secured 40 percent of the votes and beat Hou Yu-ih, presidential candidate for the Nationalist Party, who received 33.5 percent of votes. According to “The New York Times,” no party has held more than two successive terms since Taiwan began holding democratic presidential elections in 1996. Despite warnings from the Chinese Communist Party that leadership under Lai, a proponent of full democracy for Taiwan, could drag the two sides into a war, the election drew a voter turnout of 72 percent across 18,000 polling stations, according to “CNN.” In addition to pressure from China, Lai will face challenges from within Taiwan, having lost the majority they held in legislature for the past eight years.
Technology: Microsoft Overtakes Apple as Highest Value Company
Since Apple overtook Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable public company in 2011, it has consistently held the title for over a decade, peaking at a market capitalization of 3.1 trillion dollars in June 2023. On January 12, Microsoft dethroned Apple as the highest-value company in the world for the first time since 2021, having grown more than one trillion dollars in value over the past year. According to “The New York Times,” the changes come as market enthusiasm shifts towards generative artificial intelligence, a technology that has been praised for its ability to produce high-level text, image, and code with the potential to generate trillions of dollars in value. Apple has been notably absent from the generative artificial intelligence market, having yet to release any product publicly. At the same time, demand for the newest iPhone 15 in China, a major market and source of revenue for Apple, has fallen in light of rising competition from Huawei coupled with slow economic recovery from Covid-19, according to “Reuters.”
Natural Disaster: 2023 Shatters Global Heat Records
The 2023 year saw the warmest year on Earth in over 150 years, shattering temperature records month after month. Temperatures for each month from June until December were the highest ever across the planet, with reports by “NASA” estimating the global temperature to be 1.37 degrees Celsius higher than preindustrial levels and dangerously close to the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit established under the 2015 Paris Agreement. According to “The New York Times,” every tenth of a degree of global warming represents extra thermodynamic fuel that can contribute to natural disasters such as heat waves, extreme storms, rising seas, and the melting of ice sheets. The effects of extreme weather can be seen already, with Canada suffering its most destructive wildfire season and the coasts of Antarctica forming the least sea ice than ever measured.
