HIGHLIGHTS OF THE GLOBAL POLITICAL EVENTS OF THE PREVIOUS WEEK (23 – 30 JUNE)
■ Earlier in the week, Chinese foreign affairs minister Wang Yi met with Nigerian foreign minister Yusuf Tuggar, who was in Beijing for bilateral meetings. Tuggar also met with the Chinese business community under the auspices of China-Nigeria Business Exchange.
■ At the end of the BRICS+ foreign ministers meeting in Nizhny Novgorod, host and foreign minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov disclosed that BRICS has paused admission of new members to focus integrating the new comers that joined early this year.
■ In Kenya, protests erupted over proposed tax hikes bill by President Ruto’s government. The protest, which lasted through the week, claimed more than two-dozen lives.
■ On Wednesday, WikiLeaks founder and journalist Julian Assange was released from detention after 14 years over his role in publishing classified U.S. materials
■ In Bolivia, within the week, a military coup was foiled, and the leader of the attempted putsch, Juan José Zuñiga was arrested and detained by the authorities in the country’s capital La Paz.
■ In China, President Xi Jinping, on different occasions, received on a state visit the Prime minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh, and Peruvian President Dina Boluarte for bilateral meetings in Beijing.
■ On Thursday, the most awaited presidential debate between the two U.S. frontline aspirants Joe Biden and Donald Trump was held.
■ In France, the Far-Right National Rally party scored historic gains to win the first round of snap legislative elections. President Macron’s Renaissance Party secured third position with about 20% of the votes.
■ On Sunday, in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled his new coalition cabinet, appointing opposition politicians to key ministerial positions for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.
■ In Mauritania, votes are being counted after the presidential elections that took place at the weekend. Incumbent president Gazhouani is expected to win more than 56% of the total votes.
= *Compiled by Lawal Sale (Global Affairs Analyst) from Abuja, Nigeria*.
