UNITED STATES
End of positive discrimination at university
The Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, abolished, on June 29, the policies of positive discrimination at the university. Many institutions had introduced such programs in the 1960s to take into account racial and ethnic criteria in admissions procedures, in order to improve diversity on campuses. “This decision marks the end of a system that has provided decades of opportunity for thousands of students who might otherwise have been denied access to some of the country’s top institutions,” said the minister. New York Times. The effects will be felt across the country, and quickly.”
BRAZIL
Bolsonaro disqualified
The far-right former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, was sentenced on June 30 to eight years of ineligibility for “abuse of power”. In question: the false information that he kept spreading during the 2022 presidential election, concerning a supposed lack of reliability of the electronic voting system. The conviction of the former army captain “helps to defuse the far-right radicalism that surrounds him and could pave the way for the emergence of a more civilized right, capable of defending conservative ideology in the framework of the rules of the democratic game”, notes the daily O Globo.
UNITED KINGDOM
Deportation of migrants to Rwanda deemed illegal
Interior Minister Suella Braverman will have to – at least temporarily – give up her “dream” of deporting new asylum seekers to Rwanda. The Court of Appeal ruled this plan illegal, considering that this State could not be considered a “safe third country”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that he wants to go to the Supreme Court to pursue this project, the cost of which is estimated at nearly 170,000 pounds per individual expelled. “We already knew that the government’s plans were cruel, unworkable, costly and unpopular. Now we know they are against the law too.” ping it Guardian.
SWEDEN
A second Koran burnt in Stockholm
Six months after allowing a Danish extremist to burn a copy of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy, the police have again allowed such a burning. This time it was committed by an Iraqi immigrant, on June 28, in front of the Stockholm mosque. “The Swedish Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned this individual act which in no way reflects the opinion of the government”, indicates the daily. Svenska Dagbladet about this “provocation” made possible by an extensive interpretation of the freedom of expression provided for in the Swedish Constitution.
RUSSIA
The Wagner empire undermined
Wagner’s abortive mutiny has already had consequences for the empire formed by its leader, Evgueni Prigojine. The information sites of its media holding company, Patriot, were blocked on June 30. Some have announced the end of their activity, as well as its “troll farms”.
The Wagner logo has also been removed from the modern building housing the company’s headquarters in St. Petersburg. However, explain it FinancialTimes, “the paramilitary group still signs contracts with fighters for the Ukrainian front, despite the terms of the truce with the Kremlin”. Prigozhin is far from having said his last word.
regional recruitment of combatants is temporarily suspended. “The group of mercenaries explained that this month-long suspension was due to their ‘temporary non-participation’ in the war and their relocation to Belarus”, relates THE Moscow Times.
SOUTH KOREA
“Korean age” disappears
Rejuvenate overnight: a dream? Not in South Korea. The population lost a year, or even two, on Wednesday June 28, after the entry into force of a law standardizing the way in which the government counts age. According to the most popular method, a person is 1 year old at birth, and their age increases by one year each January 1: a child born on December 31 is 2 years old the next day. Adoption of the international age (used worldwide) to replace the “Korean age” was one of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s campaign promises, which he deems it “necessary to reduce unnecessary costs and confusion “, recalls the Korea Herald. However, exceptions remain: the legal age for drinking and smoking remains based on the traditional system.
SENEGAL
Macky Sall gives up a third candidacy
The president put an end to the suspense in an address to the Nation on July 3: he will not be a presidential candidate in February 2024, in accordance with the spirit of the Constitution which limits the number of terms to two.
In an explosive political climate, marked by harshly repressed demonstrations in favor of the opponent Ousmane Sonko, this announcement “delivered its people from an enormous weight”, note the Burkinabè website The country. It also reassures abroad, where Senegal is seen as one of the last bastions of stability in the region. “Senegal can still justify its status as a beacon of democracy in West Africa,” says The country.