The World Today for April 18, 2023

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Fathers and Sons

UGANDA

Muhoozi Kainerugaba is the son of the long-serving president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, a 78-year-old who has been in office since 1986. Muhoozi, as he is known, only months ago ran afoul of his father when he tweeted flip references to invading neighboring Kenya. “It wouldn’t take us, my army and me, 2 weeks to capture Nairobi,” he wrote.

Museveni responded by firing his son as commander of the army and pledging he would stay off Twitter. “I ask our Kenyan brothers and sisters to forgive us for tweets sent by General Muhoozi, former Commander of Land Forces here, regarding the election matters in that great country,” Museveni said in a statement quoted in CNN.

But Muhoozi was still on the social media platform, reported Agence France-Press, only recently offering Ugandan troops to Russian President Vladimir Putin to fight the “imperialist” West.

The tweet that generated the most buzz involved the topic that is verboten in autocracies: Who will replace the aging autocrat. Muhoozi announced on the platform in March that he would run for the presidency in 2026, wrote Al Jazeera. The declaration came as no surprise to critics of Museveni who claimed that the president has always been grooming his son to become head of state when he steps down.

Museveni has not announced his intention to step aside, however, noted the Economist. The potential of two rival factions – Museveni versus Muhoozi – has caused chaos in the Ugandan military, government, and economy. “A power struggle is unfolding in the back rooms of Uganda’s State House,” wrote the Africa Report, noting that grandees within Museveni’s ruling National Resistance Movement might help smooth over a transition.

The president marched into the capital of Kampala almost 40 years ago at the head of a rebel force that seized power. He has since cracked down on political and social dissidents to retain office. He infamously has carried out some of the world’s most egregious campaigns against LGBTQ communities, for example. He recently signed a law imposing the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality,” the Guardian reported.

Museveni has no succession plan, explained World Politics Review. Many Ugandans don’t know any other leaders, he’s governed them for their entire lives. The potential for an explosion of pent-up forces when he leaves office is great, especially if nobody has a plan to keep government services operating.

The role of Ugandans living in the country’s growing cities will especially help determine who can hold the reins of power, Foreign Policy magazine wrote, noting that it was typically rural insurrections that brought tyrants to power decades ago, as in the case of Museveni.

Otherwise, Muhoozi might have made himself the only other option.

THE WORLD, BRIEFLY

Pocketbook Politics

CZECH REPUBLIC

Thousands of people protested in the Czech Republic’s capital Prague this week, demanding the government’s resignation over high inflation and spiking energy prices, Reuters reported.

The protests, named “Czechia against poverty,” were organized by the new, non-parliamentary party PRO, which has criticized the center-right coalition of Prime Minister Petr Fiala for its handling of the energy crisis that has impacted Europe since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

PRO – which translated from Czech stands for “law, respect, expertise” – has accused the government of hurting freedom of speech, as authorities make efforts to curb misinformation and fake news, the Associated Press noted.

The party also rejected allegations that it is pro-Russian and has called on the government to push for peace in Ukraine. Meanwhile, some protesters were reportedly signing a petition demanding the country leaves NATO.

Inflation in the Czech Republic, while high, has been on the decline in recent months, dropping to 15 percent in March, compared with 16.7 percent in February and 17.5 percent the month before.

While Fiala has worked to reduce the burden on families and businesses, his coalition has also sought to reduce massive budget deficits and has lately drawn minor protests for slowing an inflation-linked increase in state pensions.

Rise of the Hippos

COLOMBIA

A car crash in northwestern Colombia this month killed one of the descendants of the infamous “cocaine hippos” that were introduced to the Latin American country by the late drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, prompting calls for the government to take action against the invasive mammals, the Guardian reported.

The accident occurred in the municipality of Doradal on a highway connecting the cities of Bogotá and Medellin. Officials said the car’s driver was unharmed, but the hippo was declared dead soon after the crash.

It marks the first time authorities have logged a hippopotamus-caused road traffic accident since Escobar brought the animals to Colombia from Africa at the height of his power in the 1970s and 1980s.

Initially, only four of the animals entered Colombia, but officials estimate that their numbers have risen to around 150. Since then, they have become a nuisance to locals and the country’s environment with hippo attacks increasing in recent years.

Residents in the northwestern Antioquia province lamented that the invasive animals are jeopardizing their livelihoods and endangering other animal species that inhabit Colombia’s major artery, the Magdalena River.

The growing population of hippos has posed a persistent challenge for Colombian governments over the years.

Studies predict that by 2034 the population could reach 1,400, posing a threat to the delicate ecosystem of the Magdalena River and potentially endangering human lives.

In an attempt to address the issue, local officials have suggested relocating 70 hippos to zoos and sanctuaries in Mexico and India. However, analysts expressed skepticism about the feasibility of the proposal.

Yes and No

SPAIN

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez apologized this week to sexual assault victims for a legal loophole in landmark legislation that aimed to combat sexual violence – but has also allowed some convicted offenders to be released early and others to receive a reduced sentence, Agence France-Presse reported.

Since it took effect in October, the law, dubbed “Only yes means yes,” reformed the criminal code in a bid to define all non-consensual sex as rape.

But it also inadvertently resulted in the early release of at least 104 offenders. Another 978 received reduced sentences, according to government data.

The lesser charge of sexual abuse was dismissed under the revised law and all offenses were changed to sexual assault, which now carries more severe penalties.

But the legislation also lowered both the minimum and maximum sentences for specific sexual crimes, resulting in numerous applications for sentence revisions.

In Spain, sentences can be modified retroactively if a change in the penal code benefits the convicted.

The issue provoked outrage in Spain, with Sanchez saying that his left-wing government is planning to reform the law to close the loophole.

The apology comes as Spain plans to hold regional and municipal elections in May and parliamentary polls at the end of the year.

DISCOVERIES

The Deep

Marine scientists recently photographed a species of snailfish swimming nearly 8,336 meters, or 27,349 feet below sea level off the coast of Japan, the deepest a fish has ever been caught on camera, Insider reported.

The researchers utilized an autonomous “lander” camera to capture footage of the snailfish in the dark and mysterious Izu-Ogasawara Trench in southern Japan.

Researcher Alan Jamieson and his team explained that the finding was astonishing because the creature’s location is believed to be at or “very close to” the maximum depth that any fish can survive.

“If this record is broken, it would only be by minute increments, potentially by just a few meters,” he told the BBC.

The previous record holder was another snailfish – the Mariana snailfish – spotted at 26,839 feet in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean.

While the Mariana Trench is the deepest point of any sea on the planet, the team believes the more recently recorded snailfish could only survive the extreme depths because of the Izu-Ogasawara Trench’s warmer waters.

They also suggested that the snailfish belongs to the genus Pseudoliparis but they did not capture it for further study.

Instead, they caught a number of fish swimming slightly higher, at around 26,320 feet, which were identified as Pseudoliparis belyaevi. The capture also set the record for the deepest level at which a fish has ever been caught.

Snailfish are known to inhabit the hadal zone, the deepest part of the ocean – depths there can range from 19,000 to 36,000 feet and no light can penetrate, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This recent discovery provides a valuable insight into the astonishing adaptation of marine life to the most extreme and unexplored environments on our planet.

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