Hand-picked weekly current affairs, tagged to GP essay categories. Use these as essay examples.
At a three-day 'Next Steps' conference held in Accra in June, participants adopted a 19-point framework following a UN General Assembly resolution — backed by 123 countries — recognising the transatlantic slave trade as among the gravest crimes against humanity. The framework calls for formal apologies, reparations, debt relief, repatriation of cultural artefacts, and educational initiatives. However, descendants of enslaved Africans told Al Jazeera that symbolic apologies without material action are inadequate, with one representative stating: 'A verbal apology is a symbolic way to acknowledge a wrong while doing nothing tangible for repairing the damage.'
Al JazeeraUnlock the "how to use this in a GP essay" blurb.
A Wired/Floodlight investigation published July 9 found that Texas data centres — including OpenAI's 1,100-acre Stargate campus, powered by a 360-megawatt onsite gas plant — have used minor air permit exemptions, normally reserved for dry cleaners and autobody shops, to avoid the environmental reviews and public notice required for major emissions sources. With 300 data centres already operating and 200 more in development, Texas could surpass Virginia as the US's largest data centre market by 2030, and researchers warn of a growing 'shadow grid' of custom fossil-fuel plants fuelling the AI boom.
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Barisan Nasional (BN) secured a commanding victory in Malaysia's July 11 Johor state election, winning 48 of 56 seats — up eight from the 2022 polls — while PM Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Harapan (PH) won only eight seats, losing four from its previous tally of 12. Analysts attributed BN's win to the star power of its candidate Onn Hafiz Ghazi and divisions among PH's opponents. Both BN and PH are rivals in Johor but federal coalition partners, meaning the result strengthens UMNO's bargaining position in the federal unity government while raising the stakes ahead of Negeri Sembilan state polls.
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Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced on July 12 that the Strait of Hormuz would be 'closed until further notice and until the end of American interventions in this region,' after Iran launched missiles and drones at Qatar, the UAE, and Kuwait following a new round of US airstrikes hitting approximately 140 Iranian targets. The escalation began after Iran attacked a commercial ship in the strait, whose crew abandoned the vessel after it caught fire. The US and Iran had been party to an interim ceasefire agreement, which President Trump declared over earlier in the week.
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An inter-agency task force established under Singapore's Ministry of Social and Family Development will unveil comprehensive recommendations by end-2026 to better support people with disabilities. Employment and job retention were highlighted as key priorities, with the task force reviewing what additional support structures — including community affordability measures — can be extended to disabled workers and their families.
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Singapore's Department of Statistics General Household Survey 2025, published on June 30, found that 73.4% of female residents aged 25 to 29 were single in 2025, up from 69% in 2020, while for men aged 30 to 34 the singlehood rate rose from 41.9% to 47.6% over the same period. The data also show that singlehood and later marriage are more prevalent among Chinese residents than Malay and Indian communities. Education levels have risen and English is increasingly the main household language.
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President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will make his first state visit to Malaysia, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on July 12. Tharman described the Singapore-Malaysia partnership as driven by mutual respect and understanding of each other's interests, framing the visit as a signal of deepening bilateral ties between the two neighbours.
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Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who ruled Qatar from 1995 until his voluntary abdication in 2013 — a rare peaceful transfer of power in the region — died on July 12 at age 74. During his reign, Qatar's GDP grew more than 24-fold and the country became the world's largest LNG exporter by 2006, producing 77 million tonnes per annum. He established the Qatar Foundation, launched Al Jazeera in 1996, promulgated Qatar's first constitution in 2004, secured the 2022 FIFA World Cup, and brokered peace in Sudan, Lebanon, and between Hamas and Fatah.
Al JazeeraUnlock the "how to use this in a GP essay" blurb.