Welcome to Essex Girl's weekly Current Events Explainers

Stay up to date with the latest news and political developments with quick explainers and insights from a Politics and International Relations student. Each week there will be new sections on the biggest stories that week.

Key Events this Week

US and Russian delegations travel to Saudi Arabia to discuss Ukraine War.

In an unsurprising turn of events, the Trump delegation arranged negotiation talks with Russia. Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, met with Foreign Secretary Sergei Lavrov on 18th February. Whilst Ukraine has been excluded from these discussions of its own future, Zelensky has not been afraid to state the obvious fact that Trump is ‘trapped in a bubble of disinformation.’ This is upon the US president’s belief that he can ‘easily’ resolve this conflict which has been brewing for decades. 44,000 soldiers’ lives lost in Ukraine and 200,000 (alleged) soldiers’ lives lost in Russia will apparently be turned around in a flash by the saviour and conflict-resolution messiah, Donald Trump. After five hours of talks, Russia and the US reportedly came to an agreement to work on a peace settlement. Allegedly, there are no plans for Trump and Putin to meet, and nor is Ukraine and Europe being excluded from talks. The next few weeks will reveal if any of this has bearing in reality, or if Trump will live up to the fears of European leaders and get into bed with the enemy

 

 

Is hope returning to Sudan as the Army reclaims more of the capital?

The Sudanese Army are currently battling the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the militia they once trained and funded, to reclaim Khartoum after years of brutal violence. As of the 19th February, the Sudanese military has said it has taken nearly all of Khartoum North back from the RSF. Civilians who have been displaced, injured and even reached the point of near starvation during this conflict are praying for more good news. The capture of the key district of Kafouri signals some gains as this is one of Khartoum’s wealthiest districts and a key stronghold of the RSF. However, despite the majority of civilians seeing this as a positive sign, some are wary of reprisals. The Amnesty International branch operating in Sudan raised concerns over possible human rights violations against aid workers in areas recaptured by the army. There are concerns by human rights groups of the army and allied militias use of kidnappings, torture and extrajudicial killings against communities with suspected RSF ties. The coming weeks will hopefully reveal a Sudan on the mend from this horrific conflict, but it may also be highly likely that the civil war that broke out over a year and a half ago will continue, with devastating effects for Sudan’s civilian populations.

 

Inflation rises to a yearly high of 3%

According to the Office of National Statistics, inflation has risen to levels not seen since last March. From 2.5% last month, the consumer price index has risen steeply to 3% in January. This is most likely result of increased price of goods and transport around the Christmas period. Meat, bread cereals etc. have increased in price, as well as the rise in VAT on private schools having a marginal bearing on this short-term inflation rise. Promises of the government to cut inflation are still struggling to be felt by people doing their everyday grocery shop. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said, "Since the election, we've seen year-on-year wages after inflation growing at their fastest rate - worth an extra £1,000 a year on average - but I know that millions of families are still struggling to make ends meet. That's why we're going further and faster to deliver economic growth." With more inflation rises predicted by the Bank of England over the coming year, will the government be able to get it under control to the point where the people that elected them start feeling the benefits?

 

About Me

Hi there! My name is Lois Blackmore. I decided to create 'In The Loop with An Essex Girl' as an outlet for practicing my journalistic skills. I am very passionate about politics and have been since I was about 12 or 13. I am currently studying Politics and International Relations at the University of Bath. With this blog, I hope to cultivate a portfolio of opinion pieces, analysis and commentary that will help me in my future search for work in the industry of journalism and news media. In the process, I hope to help others to make some sense of the chaotic world of politics and global events.  

Email lois.blackmore@outlook.com

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