Week of 15 February

MYANMAR: Protests continue following coup – protesters have used broken down cars to block roads in the capital, Yangon, in an effort to limit the movement of security forces and civil servants. Hackers have also targeted the military online, forming part a large-scale civil disobedience campaign in response to the 1 February coup which overthrew the country’s democratically elected government and leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

SPAIN: Anger erupts on the streets following the arrest of rapper Pablo Hasél – the little-known Catalan rapper Pablo Hasél has been arrested over the content of his public comments, prompting violent protests across Spain in defence of freedom of speech and against the monarchy. Hasél is accused of glorifying terrorism and of slandering the Crown, accusing the insitution of corruption, and the police.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Concern over well-being of princess grows – concern for Princess Latifa of Dubai grew this week after a video made by the princess was shared with the BBC in which she explains her current situation, accusing her father of holding her ‘hostage’. In the video, Princess Latifa relayed the ordeal she reports suffering when she was intercepted while trying to flee abroad, after which she was forcibly brought back to Dubai, where she has been living under house arrest since.

UNITED STATES: Donald Trump survives second impeachment conviction – ex-US President Donald Trump has been acquitted for a second time after being impeached over the violent storming of the capital in his final weeks as president. The Democrat-led Senate voted 57-43 to convict Trump, short of the two-thirds majority required by the Constitution for a conviction. However, what was notable was the significantly higher number of Republican Senators voting to convict the former president than the singular Republican, Mitt Romney, who did so in his first impeachment trial.