Anti-corruption in Ukraine. The country’s legislature passed a law yesterday returning autonomy to two anti-corruption bodies. A recent move to strip them of independence had triggered protests and criticism from Kyiv’s international partners. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Russia claimed yesterday it captured the city of Chasiv Yar in Ukraine’s Donetsk region after over a year of fighting; Ukraine said its forces continued fighting there.
Sanctions on Palestinian officials. Washington announced visa bans on Palestinian Authority (PA) officials and members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, saying they were trying to “internationalize [their] conflict with Israel.” The PA said today that recent campaigns against it were in response to recent “significant and successive achievements of Palestinian diplomacy.” This week, several countries—including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom—pledged to recognize Palestinian statehood, while all Arab League countries at a UN conference called for Hamas to disarm and end its rule of Gaza.
Iranian agents abroad. The country’s intelligence services are increasingly targeting people overseas that include officials, dissidents, Jewish people, and journalists, according to a joint statement yesterday by fourteen Western countries, including the United States. Earlier this week, the bipartisan U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom issued a report accusing Iran of carrying out attacks on Jewish sites and individuals abroad.
End to El Salvador term limits. The country’s legislature voted to change the constitution to allow presidents to run for reelection indefinitely, extend presidential terms from five to six years, and eliminate run-off elections. President Nayib Bukele’s party has a legislative supermajority. Bukele was elected for a second term in 2024 after El Salvador’s top court—which he had previously overhauled—allowed him run again despite a constitutional ban on consecutive reelection.
Deforestation in Colombia. Annual forest destruction rose 43 percent in Colombia in 2024, the government reported yesterday. That’s a reversal from 2023, which saw forest destruction fall 36 percent. Colombia’s government said that drought and fires caused this year’s uptick, while partnerships with Indigenous communities, improved enforcement, and demobilization of armed groups helped achieve progress in 2023. Total deforestation remains on an overall downward trend since 2022.
New Zealand oil reversal. The country’s legislature yesterday lifted a ban on offshore oil and gas drilling, which had been passed under former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. The new regulation says that countries can apply for exploration permits off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island starting in September.
Prison sentences in Pakistan. A court sentenced more than one hundred supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan to ten years in prison each. The charges were largely connected to demonstrations against Khan’s arrest in a corruption case in 2023. Khan’s party called the charges against its supporters politically motivated and said it planned to appeal.
Crackdown in Macau. Authorities detained a former pro-democracy lawmaker in the first known arrest in the city—a semi-autonomous region of China—under a national security law. Police said that Au Kam San spread false information to incite hatred against the Chinese government. He was known for leading pro-transparency demonstrations and critiquing social inequality.
