Worldcrunch
Egypt’s presidential vote ended with a certain outcome. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi secured another term that will keep him in power until 2030. It was a landslide victory for el-Sisi who has been in power since 2014. He received 89.6% of what officials said was the highest turnout in Egypt’s election history amid a state-sponsored campaign of mobilization for voters.
Hydrocarbons continue to drive nations’ economies and politics around the world, creating both corruption, stagnation and — sadly as we’ve seen again — all-out war.
Despite facing a growing number of charges, Donald Trump continues to rise in the 2024 presidential election polls. His most likely opponent, current President Joe Biden, is raising fears of a worst-case scenario due to his deteriorating health and old age, despite his solid economic record. A French political analyst weighs in from abroad, and from experience….
No country in the world has as big a cigarette industry as China. This is the story of how a giant state-backed monopoly created the industry, which provides more tax revenue than any other, and ultimately sabotaged the country’s anti-smoking efforts in the process.
Polish state railways have been accused of deliberately keeping protestors from reaching the capital for an anti-government protest march. This is not the first controversy the railways have faced.
After a series of coups in West Africa, what will happen to the corrupt systems set up by past rulers — will they endure, or could reform be ahead?
Narendra Modi’s fixation with unflinching loyalty from those close to him is a worrying trait that betrays the Indian prime minister’s own insecurities.
War can unify a nation, but it can also contribute to the deepening of social tensions — especially when times get tough on the front line. A reflection forward, and back, including the experience of George Orwell calling out the bad Brits during World War II.
With the suppression of last year’s anti-regime protests in Iran, its people can barely stomach the West’s resumption of its business-as-usual approach with the Islamic Republic. The key to challenging the renewed status quo, the author writes, may very well lie with the country’s women.
India goes to the polls next year, with a united opposition hoping to unseat Prime Minister Modi after 10 years in power. Mallikarjun Kharge, who may be the best candidate, is from India’s “lowest” caste system.
The absence of accurate official statistics in Venezuela is no accident. Rather it is a symptom of the breakdown of the rule of law and hides the regime’s criminal failures.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has cemented his already tight grip on power in Turkey, winning an unprecedented third term as president. The West had hoped for a slightly less unpredictable leader, but they will have to make peace with an emboldened Erdogan, who may become even more autonomous.
After a decade of conflict, once-popular Syrian comedies have lost their shine. New shows are trying to revive the country’s golden era of TV, but comedy is a tough sell in a country still living under a brutal dictatorship.
Former South Korean President, Park Geun-Hye was removed from office on this day in 2017 following her impeachment by the South Korean National Assembly on charges of corruption and abuse of power. She was the first South Korean president to be impeached and removed from office. Why was Park Geun-Hye impeached? Park Geun-Hye was accused […]
The central African nation has been run by the same man, Paul Biya, for decades. But as the 89-year-old fades from public view, high-stakes maneuvering is underway, which may have led to the brutal murder and mutilation of a well-known journalist.
Colombia’s reformist president has promised to tackle endemic violence, economic exclusion, pollution and corruption in the country. So what’s new with a politician’s promises?
-Analysis- What do South Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Italy, France, Portugal, and Iceland all have in common? They’re all wealthy democracies that have charged and prosecuted former heads of state or heads of government for criminal acts committed while in office. The United States is not a member of this club — at least, not yet. […]
When China cracked down on cyber crime, many involved in the industry moved to Cambodia. The Southeast Asian country has since become synonymous with online scams and forced labor. But the Cambodian government isn’t just turning a blind eye — it is actively benefiting.
In the mid-17th century, the weather in China got colder. The frequency of droughts and floods increased while some regions were wiped out by tragic famines. And the once-unstoppable Ming dynasty began to lose power.
Ukraine has long had an issue with oligarchs standing in the way of progress, and they have almost always been linked to the Kremlin. Now in the context of the war with Russia, President Zelensky has no choice but to tackle this problem.
Erdogan has long sought to mould young Turks into a so-called ‘pious generation’ for his brand of Islamic political rule. Now it seems he has failed, as the younger generation longs for what that the president refuses to grant them. In next year’s elections, their votes may prove decisive.
Russian media outlets have received government orders to remove archived material about Alexei Navalny and his investigations into corruption by Vladimir Putin and his associates. While the jailed activist’s past work can be found elsewhere, YouTube and other foreign internet platforms may be the Kremlin’s next target.
How do you rebuild a country decimated by four decades of war and embargoes? Following the withdrawal of the U.S. military, Iraq faces many challenges, from oil revenues captured by the militias and endemic corruption to religious segregation. However, there are glimmers of hope for the country’s future.
The Tunisian president is cultivating his ambiguities and pushing his constitutional reform, without proposing a roadmap to get the country out of the crisis. Refusing to speak to the media, he has an increasingly populist tone with messianic accents.
The rise and fall of 35-year-old Sebastian Kurz was breathtaking in any context. Yet the resignation of the Austrian chancellor offers unique insights into a political scenario that was very much of our COVID times.
The global probe of offshore accounts around the world strike at the heart of Kiev’s current government and power structure of a ruling class that rose to power on the promise of fighting corruption, including the television-star-turned-President Volodymyr Zelensky.
-Analysis- It was quite a statement about Brazil’s justice system: “I have been the victim of the biggest judicial lie in 500 years,” Luiz Inácio da Silva declared last week. But the hyperbole from the former president, better known as Lula, was also very much about politics — considered by many to be the opening […]
Russia may not be heading toward a full-blown revolution, at least not yet. But the current wave of protests shouldn’t be dismissed either.
The head of state, a political outsider who had promised to fight corruption, must contend with the powerful oligarchs in his own entourage at the risk of disappointing his voters.
The super rich are buying residency papers and passports from places like Cyprus and Vanuatu to be able to travel — despite quarantines — for health reasons, business or pleasure.
In loudly rejecting President’s Trump threat to label Mexican drug gangs terrorists, Mexico’s government is covering its failure, if not reluctance, to tackle systemic corruption and its offspring, crime.
The impeachment storm in Washington comes with high stakes in Ukraine as well, especially for the country’s own TV-star-turned-President.
It used to be South America’s shining star. But these days, things seem to be a bit rotten in the state of Chile, where corruption scandals are eroding public confidence.
While Mexico lurches left and Brazil shifts right, Argentina, under Mauricio Macri, will try to stay a centrist course — at least until next year’s presidential elections.
Policymakers have, for the most part, learned to avoid fiscal deficits. And yet, growth numbers (with the exception of certain states) have been stagnant at best.
-Analysis- BOGOTA — Nicaragua is facing its most violent crisis since the 1980s, when President Daniel Ortega first led the country. Between 295 and 448 people have been killed after more than three months of protests and violent crackdown by security forces, according to various rights groups. Ortega himself put the number last week at […]
None should be more dismayed by Daniel Ortega’s despotic slide than those who hailed his revolution as a triumph of democratic socialism, some 40 years ago.
There are three candidates but really just two choices in Sunday’s presidential election in Mexico: Move forward? Or try to recreate the past?
The state of insecurity in Mexico has gone beyond isolated remedies like tweaking laws or reforming agencies. It is so ingrained that people are getting acclimated.
Mexicans have become as used to politicians’ promises to end corruption as they are used to knowing it won’t happen.