For largely irrational reasons, French police are arresting women on the beach for wearing swimsuits that are compatible with their faith.

Via CNBC:  Venezuela calls for mandatory labor in farm sector The government of Venezuela has issued a decree that “effectively amounts to forced labor” in an attempt to fix a spiraling food crisis, according to a new report from Amnesty International. A Venezuelan ministry last week announced Resolution No. 9855, which calls for the establishment […]

Turkey’s government appears to have rebuffed a coup attempt, but questions remains about the stability of the government going forward.

A night of terror mars Bastille Day celebrations in France.

In her first official act as prime minister, Teresa May has appointed known nutjob Boris Johnson to run the UK’s foreign policy.   Let’s just say I was not expecting that.

A quick succession of events this morning means that Theresa May will become Britain’s Prime Minister far sooner than anticipated.

Or, more accurately, she withdrew from the race to be leader of the Conservative Party, which would have lead to her being PM had she won. The BBC reports:  Theresa May set to be UK PM after Andrea Leadsom quits In a speech earlier on Monday setting out her leadership campaign platform, Mrs May – […]

Regardless of the outcome of the Conservative Party’s leadership race, the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom will be a woman.

Early panic over the Brexit referendum was an overreaction. It’s time for statesmanship.

The wave of Ramadan attacks continues, including a strike near the second holiest site in Islam.

Via Guardian:  Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte urges people to kill drug addicts Following a measured speech after taking his oath before a small audience inside the presidential palace, the outspoken leader paid an evening visit to a Manila slum and unleashed profanity-laden threats against drug traffickers in front of a crowd of about 500 people “These […]

Another Brexit leader is making their own exit (via the BBC):  UKIP leader Nigel Farage stands down. So, Boris Johnson will not stand for the Prime Ministership and now Farange is quitting as leader of UKIP.  On the one hand, I can’t say that the UK is worse for either move, but it is striking […]

A third major terrorist attack inside of a week.

For anyone interested in more on the FARC as the peace process progresses, here are two useful BBC pieces from about a week ago: Who are the Farc? and Colombia’s Farc rebels – 50 years of conflict.

A third major ISIS-inspired or planned attack in three weeks.

Via Vox:  I worked in the CIA under Bush. Obama is right to not say “radical Islam.” When I directed the Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program at the CIA in the early 2000s, I frequently interacted with senior Bush administration policymakers about how to engage Muslim communities and, when doing so, which words and phrases […]

One week after the Brexit vote, both the Conservative and Labour parties find themselves in chaos.

A massive attack hits Istanbul’s airport.

In the latest example of the political backlash growing out of last week’s Brexit vote, Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour Party, lost a no-confidence vote among Labour’s Members of Parliament, but he says he will not leave office even as his position seems to become more and more precarious: LONDON — Britain’s […]

Turkey has issued a formal apology to Russia over the November 2015 downing of a Russian jet that had briefly strayed into Turkish airspace.

The final major piece of the negotiations between the FARC and the Colombian government appears to be in place.

Given the consequences of a Brexit, one wonders why the referendum didn’t require more than just a simple majority to pass.

The outcome of the Brexit vote continues to reverberate throughout British politics. Already, of course, we’ve seen the outcome of the vote bring an abrupt and somewhat unexpected end to David Cameron’s time as Prime Minister, a move that could sweep pro-Brexit MP Boris Johnson into Downing Street. Now, there are signs that the vote […]

A nice set of inforgraphics:  Weekly Chart: Panama Canal Trade before and after the Expansion

Is Scotland next?

A British political scientist lays out some of the political and institutional factors that will be relevant going forward.

By a narrow margin, British voters have chosen to send their nation, themselves, and indeed all of Europe into uncharted waters.

Voters in the United Kingdom are headed to the polls in a vote that will have widespread consequences.

The murder of Jo Cox, MP is looking more and more like a politically motivated assassination, and that’s causing some in Great Britain to look inward.

A freshman Member of Parliament was murdered today, and there may have been a political motive.

With just over a week to go, the latest polling shows voters in the United Kingdom leaning toward leaving the European Union.

Concerns about the Zika Virus are leading some doctors to call for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be moved or postponed.

Via Slate:  The Craziest Black Market in Russia.  Apparently, a lot of Russians are paying for dissertations: In the past few years alone, there have been credible allegations of dissertation plagiarism made against Russia’s minister of culture, the governor of St. Petersburg, and the head of the country’s top federal investigating authority. Just in the past […]

President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima left just the impression it should have.

On his trip to Hanoi, President announced the latest sign that the Vietnam War is finally something both nations have manged to put behind them.

If Colombia makes peace, the post-conflict era will be rife with challenges.

This is amazing, amusing, and very Twenty-First Century, via the BBC:  Venezuela Maduro OAS: Latin American ‘traitor’ row escalates The head of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, has accused the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of being “a traitor”. In a series of Twitter posts addressed directly to Mr Maduro, Mr Almagro also […]

An EgyptAir jetliner with 66 on board disappeared from radar just before beginning its decent into Cairo.

Via the BBC: Colombia legalises gay marriage Colombia’s top court has legalised same-sex marriage, making the country the fourth in Latin America to do so. Civil unions had previous been legal. The rest of the region:   Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay have previously legalised same-sex marriage. […] In Mexico, gay marriage is legal in the capital […]

With just a few months to go before the nation takes center stage, Brazil’s President is now facing impeachment: BRASÍLIA — Brazilian legislators voted on Sunday night to approve impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the nation’s first female president, whose tenure has been buffeted by a dizzying corruption scandal, a shrinking economy and spreading disillusionment. After […]

One down. How many more to go?

To the surprise of many, Russia’s President announced that Russia would begin winding down its six month old intervention in Syria.

I would highly recommend the following from Pippa Norris:  It’s not just Trump. Authoritarian populism is rising across the West. Here’s why.  (Norris is an expert on comparative politics and elections). It is a long piece (for a newspaper column/blog post), but is worth a read.  Not to encourage skipping the essay, I will post […]

More saber rattling from Pyongyang.

The U.S. is poised to send troops to the front lines of yet another war we have no reason to be involved in.

Can anything restrain the North Koreans besides direct action by China? That’s unclear, but the new round of sanctions pending at the U.N. seem unlikely to accomplish much of anything.

Britons will go to the polls in June to decide the future of their country’s relationship with the rest of Europe.

…read up on Peru’s options:  An Alleged Killer, a Plagiarist, and a Jailed Ex-Leader’s Kid: Meet Peru’s Presidential Field. As I tell my students:  one of the great reasons for studying Latin America is that you really can’t make this stuff up.

Via The Economist: A background guide to “Brexit” from the European Union

The futility of US policy towards Cuba is obvious to anyone who gives it even a passingly objective assessment.