The protests against China’s zero-COVID policies are notable for featuring overt criticism of Xi Jinping, the CCP and the country’s political system. Coming just weeks after Xi was reappointed to a third term as party leader, the protests are a major reversal in the triumphalist narrative he and the CCP had hoped to portray.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s political future hangs in the balance after an independent panel found evidence that he had violated the country’s constitution and breached the country’s anti-corruption laws in an incident involving large sums of cash stolen from one of his properties two years ago.
French President Emmanuel Macron is in Washington this week for an official state visit to the United States. While the visit comes at a pivotal moment in the bilateral relationship, many European observers are paying attention to the areas of divergence over issues related to trade and Western unity as the war in Ukraine drags on.
