Feb. 22–26 Ecuador: Over 30 individuals died and at least 170 more were injured at the end of the national four-day Carnival festival in Ecuador, according to authorities. In the four days of the celebration, security services across the country received 176,996 phone calls, over 50,000 of which were deemed emergencies. Approximately 139 traffic accidents accounted for 33 of the deaths and all of the injuries; Ecuador has one of the highest traffic mortality rates in South America, according to TeleSUR. On Feb. 26, a police spokesman reported there had been 15 homicides, four drownings and over 900 kilograms of illegal drugs seized during the four-day Carnival celebrations.
Feb. 24 Volkmarsen, Germany: A 29-year-old German citizen drove his car into a crowd of people at a festival parade in celebration of “Rose Monday,” a holiday celebrated by thousands across Germany. The driver was arrested, but has yet to be questioned by authorities as he was injured in the crash. It is believed that the incident was intentional, though authorities have not released information in regard to the driver’s motivation. “There were several dozen injured, among them some seriously and sadly also children,” police spokesman Henning Hinn said, according to Al Jazeera. Rose Monday parades across the country were canceled and others had security significantly increased as a result of the incident, but Hinn reassured the public “there are no concrete signs that lead us to believe the level of risk has increased.”
Feb. 26 Nyabiraba, Burundi: Burundi security forces exchanged gunfire with an armed group of attackers in Nyabiraba, leaving 24 individuals dead, including two security officers. The security forces took an additional six attackers into custody and claim the gunmen were attempting to take advantage of the upcoming elections in May. “Wrongdoers took advantage of this electoral period thinking people are distracted,” Pierre Nkurikiye, a spokesman for the security forces, said in a statement, according to Reuters. The May elections will determine who will succeed former rebel leader and current three-term president, Pierre Nkurunziza, who has held power since 2005.
Feb. 27 Hadr, Syria: An Israeli drone attack on a car in the Syrian village of Hadr left one civilian dead. Hadr is a small village in the Syrian-controlled area of the Golan Heights, a territory that has been heavily disputed for several decades. Israel has controlled a majority of the land in the Golan Heights as a result of a war in 1967. Syrian authorities identified the deceased as Adel Tawil, who was on his way home from working at the local police station at the time of the attack. “He was innocent,” Quneitra Governor Humam Dibyat said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera. “He was an honorable nationalist.” The Israeli military has yet to make a statement, and declined to comment to both Reuters and Al Jazeera.
Feb. 28 Sukkur, Pakistan: A train collided with a passenger bus along an unsupervised part of the railroad, leaving at least 20 bus passengers dead. Several passengers were critically injured, and authorities expect the death toll to rise. “It is a huge tragedy and all administration and police officials are rushing to the site,” district commissioner Shafique Ahmed Mahesar said in a press statement, according to Al Jazeera. “It was an unmanned railway crossing as nothing existed there to prevent any traffic.” Train accidents are not uncommon in Pakistan as a result of poor infrastructure and safety standards.
Feb. 30 Berlin, Germany: The highest judicial authority in Germany, the Federal Constitutional Court, upheld a ban which disallowed lawyer trainees to wear any form of religious headscarf, including the hijab and the burqa, at any point in time when they were representing the state or the judiciary. The ban, which was a law created by the state of Hesse, was upheld by a 7-1 majority of the court, and the majority ruling stated that the ban was constitutional as it was imperative for legal trainees and representatives to maintain religious neutrality. The decision means legal trainees cannot follow court proceedings from the judge’s bench, lead courtroom proceedings or collect evidence if they are wearing a religious headscarf. The one dissenting judge claimed the ban “amounts to serious interference” in the lives of Muslim women who choose to wear a religous headscarf and pursue a legal career.