Friday News Roundup - International

The announcement of presidential election results in the Democratic Republic of Congo left observers and citizens surprised.

Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi won, prompting accusations of an electoral coup from Tshisekedi's opponents.

The election was held on December 30. Turnout was reportedly 48 percent.

The BBC reported Tshisekedi “vowed to be ‘the president of all DR Congolese',” and that he stated, “No-one could have imagined such a scenario whereby an opposition candidate would emerge victorious.”

How will the transfer of power be handled?

This week marks 100 days since Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi Arabian officials in Turkey. Human rights officials from the United Nations have said they “could not assess the fairness” of the trial of Khashoggi's alleged killers, which is taking place in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi prosecutor leading the case is asking for the death penalty for five of the 11 charged with involvement in the murder.

And in Nicaragua, some journalists have needed to file stories from secret locations after the regime of President Daniel Ortega cracked down on press freedoms.

From The Washington Post:

The crackdown marks a new stage in the government's efforts to destroy a protest movement that emerged in April and swelled into giant demonstrations demanding Ortega's resignation. Police and paramilitary forces responded by opening fire on protesters. According to the OAS commission, 324 people have been killed in the uprising. The government puts the toll at 198, including 21 police deaths.

In December, a panel of independent investigators named by the [Organization of American States] concluded that the actions by Nicaragua's security forces could be considered crimes against humanity. They called for an investigation of Ortega, noting that the coordinated, sustained campaign by the national police “could only be explained by a decision taken by the maximum authorities” of the country. They also urged an investigation of the police leadership and judiciary.

Members of the Trump administration have been traveling to sell world leaders on several foreign policy moves, most notably the announcement that American troops would pull out of northern Syria.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would not meet with American National Security Advisor John Bolton over the Syria decision. Erdoğan has also refused to say that Turkey would not attack the Kurdish forces in the area.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo embarked on a six-country tour of the Middle East. During a visit to Cairo, he said that the United States would “expel every last Iranian boot” from Syria by using diplomatic strategies and partnering with regional allies.

How have Bolton and Pompeo's trips been received by foreign leaders and citizens?

We'll update you on this busy week in global news.

Text by Gabrielle Healy.

GUESTS

Joyce Karam, Washington correspondent for The National; @Joyce_Karam

Shawn Donnan, Senior writer, Bloomberg; former world trade editor, Financial Times; @sdonnan

David Lawler, World news editor, Axios; @davidlawler10

For more, visit https://the1a.org.

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