Bratislava, Slovakia
Protests topple PM: Slovakia was in political crisis this week after the country’s biggest protests in decades forced the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico. Demonstrators first took to the streets last month after journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kusnirova, were murdered in their home; Kuciak had been investigating alleged ties between senior politicians and Italy’s ’Ndrangheta mafia. Fico nominated a longtime ally from his centerleft Smer party, Peter Pellegrini, as his successor. But President Andrej Kiska has rejected Pellegrini’s proposed cabinet, saying radical changes are needed to appease public anger.