This roundup summarises the most important news stories around the world in the last month (June 2023).

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Former leaders around the world landed in hot soup. In Brazil, for spreading false claims about voter fraud, former president Jair Bolsonaro was blocked from public office until 2030. An appeal is expected. In Scotland, former leader Nicola Sturgeon was arrested in a police investigation into finances of the Scottish National Party. In the United Kingdom (UK), former prime minister Boris Johnson quit as a member of parliament, after he was informed that he would be sanctioned for deliberately making misleading statements to parliament over illegal parties he held during the COVID-19 lockdowns. And in the United States (US), former president Donald Trump was charged with federal criminal charges that he illegally retained defence secrets and obstructed justice.

Separately, Italy’s longest-serving post-war prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi – who was both polarising and often prosecuted – died at the age of 86.

Geopolitical, political, and legal developments

Geopolitically, in Russia, the head of a mercenary group claimed that the Russian military had launched strikes on its camps, resulting in an armed mutiny against the Kremlin. The rebellion was later resolved and the mutiny aborted, with the head going to Belarus and the charges against him dropped. US secretary of state Antony Blinken met with Chinese president Xi Jinping, as both countries agreed to stabilise their relationship. This happened as the US re-joined UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation) in a bid to counter Chinese influence and be more involved in policymaking.

Politically, in Greece, the conservative party won in a landslide for a second four-year term. In Poland, hundreds of thousands demonstrated against the ruling party, ahead of a general election in October. In Senegal, the country’s main opposition leader was sentenced to two years in prison, barring him from contesting in the election next year. In Japan, the total fertility rate fell for the seventh straight year, as its population shrank for the 16th consecutive year.

And in France, the shooting of a 17-year-old teenage boy, allegedly by the police, led to widespread demonstrations.

Legally, in France too, financial investigators searched the headquarters of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, following corruption allegations. In the UK, Prince Harry was the first high-ranking member of the British royal family to appear as a court witness in over 100 years, as he took the stand in a case involving his accusations against British tabloids for illegally hacking his cell phone and gathering his private information. And in the US, in major decisions, the supreme court banned affirmative action in college admissions and struck down the president’s student loan forgiveness plan.

Titan submarine disaster and global tragedies

The Titan submarine vessel which went missing during an expedition to the Titanic wreckage is believed to have imploded and killed all five aboard, though the intense international and media response drew contrasts with multiple recent migrant shipwrecks which were disproportionately overlooked.

July was a cruel month for tragedies globally. They included the worst train crash in India’s history, a plane crash and severe air pollution in the US, the sinking of a migrant boat in Greece, Israeli attacks in the West Bank, an explosion in China, a building collapse in Egypt, traffic crashes (Australia, Canada, India, Kenya), as well as attacks, clashes, and violence (Honduras, India, Somalia, Uganda, UK).

There were also landslides (China), forest fires (Kazakhstan), storms or heavy rains (Brazil, Nepal, US), tornadoes (US), and heatwaves (India, Mexico).

And in better news, in Colombia, following a plane crash which killed three adults, four indigenous children were rescued after they spent 40 days in the Amazon jungle.