5 & 7: The annual meeting of China's rubber-stamp parliament is typically a humdrum affair. But this year’s edition grabbed headlines after the government set a lower-than-expected (yet easy-to-meet) economic growth target of "around" 5% for 2023 and announced it’ll beef up defense spending by more than 7% amid US fears that Beijing might arm Russia in Ukraine.
3,144: At least 3,144 civil society organizations have fled the country in the past four years, according to a new UN-sponsored report. No wonder, since the report alleges that strongman President Daniel Ortega has overseen systematic, government-orchestrated crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial executions, rape, torture, and arbitrary detention.
20: Iran pledged to restore more than 20 cameras and other monitoring equipment at its nuclear sites and grant inspectors access to a facility where uranium enriched to near weapons-grade level was recently detected. The cameras had been removed last year amid escalating tensions with the West and the UN’s nuclear watchdog.
17,000: A couple in Singapore was fined $17,000 for violating the country’s nudity and obscenity laws after posting risqué content on a Telegram account. Sex remains a taboo subject in the conservative city-state, although though some laws banning certain sexual acts — including homosexuality — have been loosened in recent years.In this "ask ian," Ian Bremmer breaks down President Trump’s approach to the 2026 midterm elections and what his political strategy may look like afterward.
Far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella won Colombia’s presidential election's first round, beating left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda. Because neither cleared the 50% threshold, the two will lock horns in a head-to-head runoff on June 21.
SoftBank surpassed the Japanese carmaker after pledging over the weekend to invest as much as €75 billion ($87 billion) to build Europe’s largest AI facility in France.
Seriously, they are so mad this time. #PUPPETREGIME