Global Briefs: Search for downed flight resumes

Malaysia

The transport ministry announced on Dec. 3 that a deep-sea search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, missing since March 8, 2014, will resume. Texas-headquartered marine robotics company Ocean Infinity will conduct a 55-day search starting Dec. 30 for the Boeing 777 plane that was carrying 239 people on a flight from Malaysia’s capital of Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Under a “no-find, no-fee” contract with Malaysia’s government, Ocean Infinity will receive $70 million only if it finds wreckage of the aircraft that vanished from radar soon after takeoff. The company suspended its latest search in the southern Indian Ocean in April due to bad weather. The last underwater search led by Malaysia, Australia, and China ended in 2017 after about three years. Small pieces of wreckage washed up along the east coast of Africa, but no large portions of the plane, or bodies of passengers, have ever been found. —Joyce Wu

Guinea-Bissau

The electoral commission said Dec. 2 it had truncated the country’s Nov. 23 presidential elections after armed men stormed the electoral center and destroyed ballots, tally sheets, and servers. On Nov. 26, a day before election results were due, a military takeover appointed Gen. Horta Inta-A as transitional president. Observers have accused the deposed president, Umaro Embaló, currently exiled in Congo, of “staging a ceremonial coup to stay in power.” Fernando Dias, the main opposition candidate, is holed up at the Nigerian embassy in Bissau. Both the Economic Community of West African States and the African Union suspended Guinea-Bissau in response. Filipe Nyusi, head of the African Union observation mission, said Dec. 4 that the election has a “winner” and the results must be published. —Olalekan Raji

Switzerland

Voters on Nov. 30 decisively quashed a proposal for a “climate tax” on multimillion dollar inheritances, with 78% rejecting the measure. Sponsored by the Young Socialists political party, the proposal would have imposed a 50% tax on an inheritance that exceeds 50 million Swiss francs ($62 million). Officially titled “Initiative for a Future,” the proposal surprised analysts when it received the 100,000 signatures required to put it to a popular vote. According to the initiative’s text, the tax collected would be used to fight climate change and “restructure the economy as a whole.” The Young Socialists have announced plans to re-propose the amendment for a future vote. “In Switzerland, good ideas need time,” said Socialist Democratic Party co-­president Cédric Wermuth. —Evangeline Schmitt

Bolivia

The city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra on Nov. 26 renamed Che Guevara Avenue as Monseñor Nicolás Castellanos Avenue. The city council voted to change the name from honoring Guevara, the Argentine-Cuban guerrilla fighter who was executed in Bolivia, to honor a late Spanish missionary. Dubbed “the bishop of the poor,” Castellanos left Spain in 1992 and spent three decades serving in some of the poorest cities in Bolivia. The name change reflects a historical reevaluation in Bolivia of the communist revolutionary along with a larger ideological shift occurring because of the country’s new conservative president, Rodgrigo Paz, who was elected in early November. —Elisa Palumbo

Bulgaria

More than 50,000 people gathered in Sofia on Dec. 1 to protest a draft budget that raised spending and public servants’ salaries while increasing the private sector’s tax and social security contributions. The budget was the first drafted in euros as the nation is set to adopt the currency Jan. 1. The mostly peaceful demonstrators also called for the government’s resignation. In 2013, the government quelled a similar protest by using state-controlled media to highlight violent provocateurs. This time, protesters used phone cameras and social media platforms to accuse oligarchs of inciting violence. President Rumen Radev withdrew the budget and called for early elections, but said the government wouldn’t resign. —Amy Lewis

Mozambique

The UN refugee agency warned Dec. 2 that escalating attacks in northern Mozambique have triggered massive new displacement. As many as 100,000 people have left their homes in the last two weeks as violence spilled into previously unaffected areas. The conflict, which began in Cabo Delgado in 2017, is driven by the jihadist group Islamic State Mozambique (ISM). It has already displaced over 1.3 million people. Last year marked a dangerous shift, with attacks happening simultaneously and spreading beyond Cabo Delgado into communities that had previously hosted displaced families. Aid workers say thousands of families are at risk as the humanitarian response runs out of critical resources. They say the country needs immediate assistance to stop the crisis from getting worse. —Olalekan Raji