Global Briefs: Populist party scuttles Dutch government

Netherlands

The government collapsed June 3 when lawmaker Geert Wilders withdrew his party from the governing coalition after three other right-wing parties failed to sign off on his immigration proposal. The four coalition partners, which held 88 out of 150 seats in the House of Representatives, agreed to a strict asylum policy in May 2024. A year later, Wilders proposed a complete halt on asylum, but his colleagues reportedly didn’t agree right away. “I signed up for the strictest asylum policy, not for the downfall of the Netherlands,” Wilders told reporters after an emergency coalition meeting. “Our responsibility for this cabinet therefore ends here.” Wilders’ Party for Freedom, long in the opposition, won the last election on promises to crack down on immigration. Until a new government forms, Prime Minister Dick Schoof will helm a caretaker government. A snap election is planned for Oct. 29 —Bekah McCallum

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Ecuador

Following a June 3 legislative victory, President Daniel Noboa is set to allow foreign military bases in Ecuador for the first time in 16 years. Opening the country to foreign troops is part of an effort to counter organized crime and unprecedented levels of internal violence. Ecuador’s homicide rate rose 429% between 2019 and 2024, sparking a wave of heavy-handed government security policies. Noboa, who partnered with private U.S. military contractors in March, also called on European and Brazilian forces to help fight transnational gangs. If the Constitutional Court approves the military base proposal, Ecuador must hold a national referendum before implementing the policy. This year’s murder rate already ­averages 1 per hour, putting 2025 on track to be the most violent in the country’s history. —Carlos Páez

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Ghana

Meta, Microsoft, and Alphabet are just a few of the 11,000 technology companies expected to invest in Africa’s first major artificial intelligence hub. On May 29, officials from the West African nation and the United Arab Emirates signed a $1 billion memorandum of understanding designed to produce African-focused machine learning in Ningo-Prampram, a district in greater Accra, Ghana’s capital. The 25-acre Ghana-UAE Innovations and Technology Hub, funded by the UAE, should be completed by 2028. It is designed to provide jobs for graduates of Ghanaian President John Mahama’s latest youth initiative, One Million Coders. In September, Ghana will host the Pan-African AI Summit. Among other topics, delegates will explore the development of accountable AI policies that also respect African ­cultural values. —Amy Lewis

Yulia Navalnaya Associated Press / Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi

Russia

Television audiences now have access to programming dedicated to exposing political corruption. On June 3, Yulia Navalnaya, widow of political martyr Alexei Navalny, announced the launch of a channel called Russia’s Future. Navalny died in a Russian prison in February 2024 after posting YouTube videos criticizing the Russian government. Since then, his Anti-Corruption Foundation has continued to share videos on YouTube, but Russian censorship has stymied that effort. Partnering with Reporters Without Borders, the foundation will air Russia’s Future via broadcast platform Svoboda Satellite. Project director Jim Phillipoff said blocking satellite transmissions isn’t so easy. —Bekah McCallum

St. Catherine’s Milda79 / Getty Images

Egypt

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis visited Cairo on June 4 for talks with Egyptian officials about a monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. St. Catherine’s, active since the fourth century A.D., is a Greek Orthodox monastery with an extensive library that includes early Greek Bible manuscripts. In late May, an Egyptian court declared state ownership of plots of land used by the monastery. Many interpreted the complex ruling to mean the state had claimed the entire monastery. During the talks with Greece, Egyptian officials affirmed their dedication to protecting the monastery’s religious status. But Greek commentators fear those guarantees are meant to obscure the specific issue of land ownership. —Evangeline Schmitt

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Vietnam

The communist nation on June 3 abolished its two-child limit amid efforts to reverse declining birth rates. Vietnam’s birth rate dropped to a record low 1.91 children per woman last year after steadily falling from 2.11 in 2021. A population needs a birth rate of at least 2.1 children per woman to avoid shrinking. Despite the decline, Vietnam’s population is the highest it’s been in decades, just over 100 million in 2023. Vietnam implemented the two-child cap in 1988 to ease pressure on limited resources. Now, couples claim it’s too expensive to raise a child. As the country also grapples with a skewed sex ratio partly resulting from a traditional preference for sons and the consequent abortion of daughters, the health ministry has proposed tripling the fine for “fetal gender selection” to $3,800. —Joyce Wu