Claims 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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Across the streets of Cairo, demonstrators, study abroad students, and school children alike face detainment and torture by Egyptian security forces.
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Aid diversion from rural agricultural communities continues as systemic corruption corrodes what is left of Eastern European democracy
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Egyptians on the weekend of April 20 cast their votes on a series of controversial constitutional amendments. The proposed changes would allow President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi to stay in power until 2030 and expand the power of the military.
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In 2009, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) described Thelma Aldana’s appointment to the country’s supreme court as “unsuitable.” Almost immediately however, Ms. Aldana defied all expectations.
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