Patrick PiersonBy Patrick Pierson.
A US lawmaker resigned this week after evidence emerged that he used taxpayer money to settle a sexual harassment claim. A prison riot in Guatemala has left several dead and dozens injured. Deadly anti-government protests continue in Nicaragua. Costa Rica has been placed on a US watch list for countries that fail to effectively protect intellectual property rights. The illegal flow of goods between the Dominican Republic and Haiti is thought to cost the Haitian government millions of dollars each year in uncollected revenue. Two men have been arrested in Peru over the lynching of a Canadian man. Authorities in Ecuador have declared a state of emergency along the country’s border with Colombia. The outflow of Venezuelans to Brazil and Colombia continues. Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes has announced plans to relocate the country’s Israeli embassy to Jerusalem.
Protests erupted in Spain this week after five men escaped a gang rape conviction. President Trump will visit the UK in July. Two months after general elections, Italy still doesn’t have a government. Germany needs to do more to combat anti-Semitism. A draft bill circulating in Germany would ban weapons sales to the UAE, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Does Hungary have a xenophobia problem? A former Bosnian wartime commander has been arrested on suspicion of crimes against humanity. If you’re not following events in Armenia, you should be.
A trial is underway in Iran for alleged members of the IS group who were part of a terrorist attack in Tehran in 2017. A pair of Houthi leaders in Yemen were killed this week by Saudi airstrikes. A sectarian attack left two people dead in southwest Pakistan. Dozens were killed in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber at a polling station. China and India held an informal summit this week to address simmering tensions between the two countries.
Campaigning is underway for upcoming general elections in Malaysia. Thai authorities have detained a Cambodian opposition leader. Indonesia is planning to acquire new submarines from South Korea. The Filipino embassy in Kuwait upset authorities after “rescuing” Filipino domestic workers from Kuwaiti employers’ homes amid reports of abuse. A knife attack outside a school in northern China left nine students dead and nearly a dozen injured. It was a historic week on the Korean peninsula. Authorities in Tokyo have concerns about the upcoming summit between North Korea and the US.
Presidential elections are set to take place in Mali in late July. Cuban doctors are headed to Kenya. Ivory Coast is preparing to send hundreds of peacekeepers to the Central African Republic. Dozens of people in the DRC drowned this week when their boat capsized as they fled fighting in the northwest of the country. A Burundian activist has been sentenced to more than three decades in prison for taking part in protests against President Nkurunziza. More than two decades after the genocide, a number of mass graves have been uncovered in Rwanda. Officials in Mozambique are worried about growing terrorism in the north of the country. Zimbabwe has legalized medical marijuana. Anti-government protests broke out in Malawi. Protests took place across South Africa this week over a proposed minimum wage.
