May 10 – Europe: FRANCE
Following weeks of street protests and opposition in his own party, French President Francois Hollande and his government bypass the parliament and force unpopular labor market reforms through a decree. This pro-business legislation aims at stimulating the economy by relaxing France’s restrictive labor laws and making layoffs easier. The government hopes that this will encourage hiring and improve the unemployment rate, which for the past five years has been stuck above 10 percent.
May 12 – International Organizations / Middle East:
UNITED NATIONS / SYRIA
The United Nations humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland says that the breakdown of the February ceasefire agreement between government and opposition groups in Syria makes it difficult and dangerous to reach about 4.5 million civilians in desperate need of humanitarian aid. The UN believes that there are about 400,000 people trapped in besieged areas, such as Daraya, a suburb of Damascus, the site of relentless fighting and under siege since November 2012.
May 12 – Latin America: BRAZIL
The Senate of Brazil overwhelmingly votes to temporarily suspend Dilma Rousseff as president until it concludes proceedings of her impeachment. Vice President Michel Temer will act as President of Brazil during the suspension. She is accused of manipulating government finances to hide a growing public deficit ahead of her 2014 reelection. She denies the charges and describes the move as a coup.
May 13 – Latin America: VENEZUELA
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro declares a state of emergency for 60 days, which, he says, will allow him to deal with the country’s severe economic crisis. The opposition-controlled parliament rejects the move and says it violates the constitution. Economic policies under Hugo Chavez and now Nicolas Maduro combined with plummeting global oil prices have resulted in a severe economic crisis and chronic shortages of basic goods and necessities, such as medicine and electric power. This has led to hours-long lines to supermarkets, black market prices, a plummeting value of the bolivar currency, looting of staples, power outages and a rolling blackout program, as well as a reduced government workweek to only Monday and Tuesday. All of this is causing widespread political unrest.
May 16 – Latin America: COLOMBIA
Colombian authorities seize eight tons of cocaine, the largest haul of illegal drugs in Colombia ever. The drugs were hidden at a banana plantation in the coastal town of Turb and belonged to Clan Usuga, a ruthless drug trafficking neo-paramilitary group with about 3,000 members.
May 22 – Europe: AUSTRIA
In the run-off to the presidential elections in Austria, Green Party member Alexander Van der Bellen, standing as an independent, defeats the far-right Freedom Party candidate, Norbert Hofer, by fewer than 31,000 votes. Bellen campaigned on the pro-European Union platform, while Hofer supported the anti-EU and anti-immigrant sentiments. Although the presidency in Austria is largely ceremonial, the outcome of the election illustrates sharp divisions of the Austrian electorate.
May 24 – Europe: SERBIA
Serbia’s Progressive Party wins the parliamentary snap elections with 48 percent of the votes. Its leader, Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic, called the snap election two years early, seeking a mandate to continue reforms that would bring Serbia into the European Union. The Progressive Party-led coalition retains its parliamentary majority, winning 131 of the 250 seats. The Socialists come second, winning 11 percent of the vote, and the ultra-nationalist far-right Serbian Radical Party comes third with 8 percent. The Radical Party campaigns on the platform of Serbian nationalism and the goal of creating a Greater Serbia. The party is against Serbia’s membership in the European Union, but advocates closer ties with Russia instead.
May 24 – East Asia: NORTH KOREA / SOUTH KOREA / CHINA
South Korean Ministry of Unification informs that a group of North Korean restaurant workers in China defected and is being moved to South Korea. This is the second such incident in the last two months. North Korea runs about 130 restaurants in other countries and their employees are chosen from among the most loyal to the North Korean leader.
May 25 – South Asia: AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan’s fundamentalist Islamic group, Taliban, appoints Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada its new leader after Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed in a US drone attack. Akhundzada is a religious scholar, who in the 1990s was the head of the Taliban’s Islamic courts. As a hardliner, Akhundzada is expected to continue the current policies of the Taliban.
May 25 – Middle East: ISRAEL
Avigdor Lieberman, the leader of Israel’s right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home) party, agrees to bring his party into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition. Lieberman, who served twice as foreign minister, is known for his hawkish stance towards the Palestinians. This move raises the governing coalition’s majority in the parliament to seven seats, making it easier to pass laws. The deal is opposed by former military chief Moshe Yaalon, a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party. He quits as defense minister in protest. Avigdor Lieberman is appointed as the new defense minister.
May 25 – Latin America: CUBA
Cuba announces it will allow small and medium-sized private businesses. The move is part of the ongoing economic reforms introduced by Cuba’s president, Raul Castro. Other reforms include self-employment in some job categories and foreign investment.
May 27 – East Asia / North America: JAPAN / UNITED STATES
United States President Barack Obama is the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima since the dropping of the atomic bomb on the city on August 6, 1945 that killed directly about 80,000 people and destroyed 70 percent of the city. During this deeply symbolic visit, President Obama pays his respects to the victims at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and the Peace Memorial Park, where he and Japan’s president, Shinzo Abe, lay wreaths. In his speech, President Obama calls on nations to pursue a world without nuclear weapons.