Since Colonel Gaddafi was overthrown in 2011 Libya has been subject to instability and lawlessness. But what is happening now and why is Libya lawless now?

Who is in control of Libya?

This is the issue. At the moment nobody is in control of Libya. Approximately 1700 armed groups, with a variety of different goals, are in combat in Libya at the moment. These groups are mostly looking for money and power, but at the moment the country is in total chaos with all the conflict between these groups.

Were these groups on the same side?

During Gaddafi’s era the groups were united by their hatred of Gaddafi, however that was it. The groups all have slightly differing interests, and no single group ever led the way in opposing Gaddafi. The groups have little knowledge of how politics works and how the rule of law operates, which has led to further political troubles since 2011. This is demonstrated by the fact that there has been 5 different governments in Libya in the past 4 years.

A woman in Sudan (Meriam Yehya Ibrahim Ishag) is facing death after the court ruled she had committed apostasy because of marrying a Christian man. Apostasy occurs where someone is said to have abandoned their religious faith.

Today, we shall be talking about what is happening in Thailand and the political crises currently happening…

The Prime Minister

The court in Thailand decided to get rid of their Prime Minister (Yingluck Shinawatra) because it was found she had illegally repositioned the national security chief of Thailand so he would have a different role in government. A further 9 members of the Thai government were told to resign.

Many people are angry about what has happened, believing the court is biased in favour of the opposition.

Why are there protests?

The citizens are greatly concerned about the direction their country (Ukraine) is heading. It is not yet known whether Ukraine will be a country that will adhere to the rule of law or will be a country that is run like Russia in a very closed fashion.

The original trigger for the protests was the result of the President,  Viktor Yanukovych, rejecting the possibility of a stronger relationship with the European Union in favour of closer links with Russia, last year. A majority of the country’s population wants to integrate with Europe (as Ukraine is currently not a member state), so this was a major upset.

Tomorrow, Thailand will be holding their elections amid a series of anti-government protests sweeping across the country.

Why does tension exist?

The country is politically divided. Those protesting are mostly from the middle class and do not want the election to take place. The Democratic Party are also refusing to take part in the election. However, the Pheu Thai Party (who are the current governing party) want the election to take place. Its supporters, who mainly live rurally, also want the election to take place.

The world economy has been in a state of crises since 2008, but the World Bank has said that it is now at a ‘turning point’ and much stronger growth is expected in 2014.

Richer countries will feel the effects of economic growth, more than poorer countries, to begin with. However, there are warnings that the economy is still vulnerable “to the impact of the withdrawal of economic stimulus measures in the US”. The USA has already started to decrease the amount of bonds bought per month by $85bn/£52bn. (A bond is a form of debt. The government has been buying bonds in a sort of IOU loan).

It has been a phenomenal three year since India’s last reported polio case. This is seen as one of India’s greatest health successes as a result of its expansive inoculation programme, with India’s health minister calling it a “monumental milestone”.

Pakistan, Nigeria and Afghanistan are three countries where there is still cases of Polio, but India was removed from the list of polio-endemic countries in 2012. The graph below shows how cases of polio in India have declined since the 1980s:

Tomorrow Bangladesh holds its 5th national election. The main two parties are the Awami League (Leader Sheikh Hasina) and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP Leader Khaleda Zia). These elections have come under the media spotlight after the BNP and its allies have decided to boycott the election.

Today, 1st January 2014, Latvia joins the Eurozone, becoming the 18th country which uses the Euro as its currency. The small country struggled financially during the economic crises, however it is now one of the fastest growing economies in Europe.

Being a former Soviet republic, Latvia has relied greatly on Russia, but the incorporation of the Euro is expected to reduce this dependency and gain greater financial independence – credit ratings (an estimate of the ability of a country to fulfil their financial commitments, based on previous dealings) should increase and more foreign investors are expected to be attracted. Olli Rehn, the EU Commissioner, said joining the eurozone marked “the completion of Latvia’s journey back to the political and economic heart of our continent, and that is something for all of us to celebrate”.

The People’s Republic of China implemented the one child policy to control the booming population of China. This meant that all families could only have one child unless they lived rurally, where they could have a second child if there first child was a girl or disabled (men were needed for labour).

It was introduced in 1979 to fix the societal problems arising from the booming population and has been estimated to have stopped approximately 200 million births in the last 35 years. However, there have been issues of forced abortions, female infanticide and something known as ‘Little Emperor Syndrome’ (where the only child gets spoilt!).