Did you have enough time to step out of Barbie Land this week to follow the real world’s headlines? (Life out here might not be in plastic, but it’s still fantastic—sometimes.)
1. Russia on Monday pulled out of a deal with Ukraine that had allowed what to continue during the ongoing war between the two nations?
Following Russia’s withdrawal from the deal, Moscow announced that any ships en route to Ukrainian ports would be regarded as carrying military cargo and could be subject to attack, FP’s Christina Lu and Amy Mackinnon report.
2. The United States on Tuesday deployed what weapon in South Korea as a show of force against North Korea?
Some of NATO’s Asia-Pacific partners participated in the alliance’s annual summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, last week. It’s time to fold Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand into the NATO framework, Duyeon Kim argues.
3. Former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli was sentenced to about how many years in prison on Tuesday for money laundering?
Martinelli is the latest in a long list of leaders of democratic nations who have been indicted and sentenced, a trend FP’s Ashley Ahn and Brawley Benson document in a new infographic.
4. A United Nations spokesperson said on Tuesday that how many people had been displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Ituri province so far this year?
According to U.N. figures, more than 600 people in the province were killed in the same period. The long-simmering conflict in Congo has numerous military organizations vying for control—and could be impacted by an election later this year, Comfort Ero and Richard Atwood previewed in January.
5. Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin told his troops in a video released on Wednesday that they would no longer participate in the Ukraine war. Instead, he said Wagner would focus its efforts where?
Wagner, which had previously split most of its attention between entanglements in Africa and Ukraine, can now focus predominantly on the former, Alessandro Arduino writes.
6. Iraq expelled the ambassador of which European nation on Thursday in response to a planned Quran burning in that country?
Iraq also recalled its chargé d’affaires from Sweden, suspended Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson’s working permit in the country, and threatened to sever diplomatic ties completely, FP’s Alexandra Sharp reports in World Brief.
7. Conservatives in the United Kingdom suffered two painful special-election defeats on Friday but managed to hold on to one seat in which locality?
A new book from Tim Bale, reviewed in Foreign Policy by Jamie Maxwell, traces the rise of conservatism in Britain—and how modern disunity within the party could imperil its future.
8. On Friday, India signed a series of agreements on energy, development, and trade with which country?
Last week’s Flash Points delved into how India is asserting its geopolitical heft, from becoming a player in the Middle East to signing numerous minilateral agreements.
9. Which soccer player debuted for U.S. club team Inter Miami over the weekend?
Despite miserable weather conditions, nearly every seat at Inter Miami’s stadium was filled on Sunday for the World Cup-winning Argentine athlete’s American debut, The Associated Press reports.
10. A spectator at the Tour de France caused a pileup of around 20 cyclists during the 15th stage of the annual race when they did what?
Following the incident, the Tour’s official Twitter posted a message asking bystanders to “[p]lease pay attention to the riders,” the BBC reports.
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