. The politicians in question, Joseph Lambert and Youri Latortue, are accused by both the U.S. and Canada of enabling, endorsing, and protecting the powerful Haitian gangs that have been terrorizing the region for an extended period.
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A precarious group, the youth of the Middle East have been described as a revolutionary social class, defined by both their successes and failures during periods of societal unrest and revolution.
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Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s democratically elected leader ousted in last year’s military takeover, was convicted on two additional corruption charges on October 12, according to The Associated Press.
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On April 22, an Ecuadorian high court requested the extradition of former leftist President Rafael Correa from his current residence in Belgium. Correa, who has lived in Belgium since the end of his presidency in 2017, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for the alleged acceptance of bribes to finance his political endeavors between 2012 and 2016 in exchange for state contracts worth around $7 million.
Read moreClaims of sedition have caused a rift in the Jordanian royal family this past week, as multiple high-ranking officials were arrested in a rare semblance of instability within the levant kingdom. However, according to Al Jazeera, on April 7, Jordanian King Abdullah II addressed the situation, stating the ‘sedition’ which caused him ‘pain and anger’ has been dealt with.
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In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of Brazil overturned the corruption conviction of former two-term President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula), according to BBC News. The conviction was related to the massive anti-corruption investigation known as “Operation Car Wash” that exposed the largest corruption scandal in Latin America. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that Lula’s conviction was invalid because the court he was tried in lacked jurisdiction.
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In Germany, corruption allegations are threatening the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) as well as its sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU) ahead of elections in multiple German states. The CDU is the party of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has been in power for 15 years. However, this scandal is coming just months before she planned to step down in September. BBC News notes that with Merkel leaving office, strong CDU leadership is needed if the party is to pick up the torch from the chancellor.
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Afghanistan, a nation embroiled in war for nearly 20 years, is home to one of the worst narcotic epidemics in the world. Opium cultivation, which is turned into heroin, has become an important livelihood for thousands of people.
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Uganda has a muddled history when it comes to national elections. President Yoweri Museveni has led Uganda for nearly forty years and, on January 14, the president won a sixth in national elections, reports NPR. The election was marred by accusations of corruption and intimidation tactics used by the government. Domestic media outlets rushed to report on these abuses and cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a driver behind violations of the right to a free and fair election.
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As if straight out of an episode of HBO’s The Young Pope, the Vatican has recently erupted amidst a vast financial scandal and political intrigue within the Church. On September 25, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, a high-ranking member of the clergy who headed the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, resigned from his position upon Pope Francis’s request.
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