Iran and terrorism: Prince overdosed: Assault anger: Ryan backs Trump: Teachers “shamed”: Fresh blow for Temer: Clinton declares victory:
Washington DC
Iran remains the most significant state sponsor of global terrorism, according to the US State Department’s annual survey. The report, published last week, cites Iran’s support for Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Palestinian groups such as Hamas, and Iraqi Shia militias. In response, Iran said it supported “the legitimate struggle of nations which are occupied”, and condemned “US military interference and destructive support for terrorist groups in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and Yemen”. The US report also names Syria and Sudan as major state sponsors of terrorism, but describes Islamic State as “the greatest threat globally”. Overall, it estimates that 28,300 people were killed, and about 35,300 injured, in a total 11,774 terrorist attacks across the world last year. That represents 13% fewer fatalities than in the previous year, the first decrease since 2012.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
The musician Prince died from an accidental self-administered overdose of the opioid painkiller fentanyl, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed last week. Prince was found dead in a lift at his Paisley Park home, near Minneapolis, on 21 April. He is believed to have been teetotal, and to have disapproved of recreational drugs – but there has been speculation that the pop star, who reportedly suffered from problems with his hips and knees, may have become reliant on strong painkillers. At least 25 times more powerful than heroin, fentanyl can be lethal even in small doses. It is not clear how Prince obtained the drug.
Stanford, California
Campaigners are calling for the recall of a judge who sentenced a white college student to just six months in prison for sexually penetrating an intoxicated and unconscious woman with a foreign object. Swimming star Brock Turner, 20, was caught lying on top of his semi-naked victim behind a dumpster on Stanford University’s campus. Prosecutors had asked for him to serve six years. Instead, he could be out in three months. Activists say the leniency shown to Turner sends the wrong message about sexual violence, and that had he been black, or poor, he’d have got a longer term. His father has also been castigated for telling the court that his son’s ruined life was a high price to pay for “20 minutes of action”.
Washington DC
Paul Ryan, the influential speaker of the House of Representatives, has given his support to Donald Trump – the latest sign that the Republican establishment is reluctantly rallying around its presumptive presidential nominee. Only last month, Ryan, the party’s highest-ranking figure, took the unprecedented step of declining to back his party’s nominee, citing Trump’s divisive rhetoric. But last week he changed his mind, saying that although they had ongoing “differences”, there was “more common ground” between them “than disagreement”, and that a Trump presidency would be the best way of advancing Republican policies. Ryan’s change of heart was condemned by The Washington Post as a “capitulation to ugliness” and a “sad day” for Ryan, his party and the US.
Comitán, Mexico
A group of up to 14 teachers and school staff were marched barefoot through the city of Comitán last week and had their heads forcibly shaved for defying a strike called by Mexico’s powerful teachers’ union, the CNTE. A radical faction of the union has been blamed, and widely condemned, for the public humiliation (pictured) – a tactic which has been used before in education disputes in Mexico. The victims had defied the strike so they would not be sacked for absenteeism under reforms opposed by the CNTE.
Brasília New York
Hillary Clinton declared herself the victor of the Democratic nomination race on Tuesday night, in what she described as a “milestone” in history: she will be the first woman to be nominated by a major party for the US presidency. Clinton (pictured) claimed victory after achieving a strong win in New Jersey. She also took South Dakota and New Mexico, and California too. Speaking in Brooklyn, she congratulated Bernie Sanders on his campaign – but having won in Montana and North Dakota, he insisted he’d be fighting on until the convention in July.
The political crisis engulfing Brazil took a fresh twist this week when the prosecutor-general sought the arrest of four of the most senior members of the interim president’s PMDB party – including the former president of Brazil José Sarney, and Eduardo Cunha, the suspended speaker of the lower house of Congress. The four politicians are accused of conspiring to obstruct the Lava Jato (“Car Wash”) police investigation into corruption at the state oil company Petrobras. The Supreme Court must now decide whether to allow their arrest. Former vice-president Michel Temer took over the presidency last month, after his party abandoned its alliance with Dilma Rousseff and instead led the drive to impeach her.