Compass World: Not All Press Is Good Press

A Deeper Look

Central European University announced on October 25 that it will no longer admit students to its Budapest campus after failing to reach a deal with the Hungarian government over its legal status. The university, which was founded in 1991 in Prague by a group of European academics backed by Hungarian-American financier and philanthropist George Soros. Soros, who is Jewish, has become a target for right-wing populists in Hungary and the United States. He has been frequently attacked by both President Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In late October, Soros was targeted with a mail bomb by Cesar Sayoc. Soros’s defenders link his vilification to anti-Semitism, claims of which are doubled after a man killed 11 at the Tree of Life synagogue outside Pittsburgh last week.

Latin America & the Caribbean

Money Mayhem
A mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded a week-long working visit to Nicaragua on October 31. The IMF team’s mission report forecasted a four percent GDP contraction and stressed the importance of the Nicaraguan government undertaking structural reforms that would require obtaining “broad support.”  These reforms are essential to preserving what macroeconomic and financial stability remains after months of intensifying political conflict. Such a prospect seems unlikely as the recent dialogue process mediated by the Catholic Church broke down in June. The IMF will conductanother assessment of Nicaragua in the first half of 2019.

Indo-Asia-Pacific

One Country, One System?
The last bookshop in Hong Kong selling titles banned in Communist mainland China has closed. A British protectorate until 1997 and benefitting from a One Country, Two Systems agreement with Beijing ever since, the city has a historically independent publishing scene. The closure of the People’s Bookstore, however, follows the suspicious disappearance of five employees of another independent bookseller in 2015, both targets of a recent crackdown on press freedoms by the central Chinese government.

Middle East & Central Asia

Not All Press is Good Press
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have called for a ceasefire in Yemen. The conflict between Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government has left half the population in famine. This demand for a ceasefire has been sparked by U.S. Congressional disapproval of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s likely involvement in the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the country’s consulate in Istanbul, as well as popular criticism of U.S. military and intelligence support of Saudi efforts in Yemen.

Eastern Europe & Russia

Morals? Kick ‘Em to the Curb!
Hungary’s highest court overturned the conviction of camerawoman Petra Laszlo, who was filmed kicking refugees at the height of the migrant crisis on October 30. Since then, she has become a symbol of the country’s hostility to people fleeing the war in Syria. The court decision acknowledged that Laszlo’s actions were “morally deplorable and against the law,” but they stated that she should have been charged with disturbance rather than disorderly conduct.

Africa

Black Gold
In a stroke of good luck for its struggling economy, Zimbabwe’s government announced on November 1 that it had discovered potential oil and gas deposits in the country’s North. President Emmerson Mnangagwa said that Invictus Energy, an Australian mining company, will help the government to explore whether drilling for the oil is feasible. The country has been suffering from widespread fuel shortages and blackouts over the past year. Zimbabwe does not currently have any active oil or gas drilling operations after American oil giant Mobil (now Exxon Mobil) withdrew from the country over 25 years ago.

Western Europe & Canada

I-ran Away
Iran summoned Danish Ambassador Danny Annan on October 31 following Denmark’s allegations about an Iranian plot to kill an opposition activist in Denmark last month. The Danish intelligence community indicated that Iran attempted to kill a member of the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahwaz. Denmark condemned Iran for the alleged plot and recalled Annan to Copenhagen after Annan was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry. The suspect, a Norwegian citizen of Iranian descent, denied wrongdoing and is being held in pre-trial custody.