Paraguay’s president was gone in three days

Issue #409: Paraguay's president was removed three days after a bank froze millions of accounts, a UN report says the UAE sent Colombian mercenaries to Sudan, and a former Miss Thailand's charity may have paid for private pool villas. And so much more.

This newsletter has been edited by Jonathan Ramsay.

what else happened

A note on sources: This section collects what news outlets around the world reported this week. I try to use reporting that has been checked, and I link to every source so you can read it yourself. Sometimes the only report on an event comes from a government outlet or one side of a conflict. I still include these stories when they matter, because not doing so would often mean that events in some places never get covered at all. When a claim comes from just one source, or from a source with an interest in the story, and no one else has confirmed it, I'll tell you. Read those items as "this is what they say," not "this is what happened.

Sudan / UAE: A new UN report has found that the UAE sent Colombian mercenaries to the civil war in Sudan, on the side of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (The New York Times) The RSF is a Sudanese militia fighting against the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), and the group has been accused of genocide against non-Arab ethnic groups in Darfur. The UAE has also been accused of supplying the RSF with weapons and drones. (CFR)

Brazil: The parent company of TikTok, ByteDance, is considering an expansion of a data center project in Brazil. (Reuters) This comes as a data center is being built in Ceará, a northern state that is one of Brazil's poorest. Ceará has also authorized the data center to use seven times more water than stipulated in its environmental permit. Caucaia, the municipality where the data center is located, has been in a state of emergency with water scarcity in 16 of the past 21 years. (fDi Intelligence, Intercept Brasil)

DRC: The latest Ebola outbreak, which erupted in mid-May, has led to 5,300 deaths in Africa, with most of the cases reported in the DRC. The main strain in this outbreak is the Bundibugyo strain, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments. (Al Jazeera)

Gaza: Five people died after heavy rain and strong winds caused a bank of sand to fall onto tents in Gaza on November 8. The families staying there had fled their homes. (The Guardian)

Saudi Arabia / Yemen: A Houthi missile attack caused minor damage to Saudi Aramco's offices in Riyadh's financial district on November 8. Saudi authorities reported no deaths or injuries. (Bloomberg)

Indonesia: Top Prabowo administration officials have been arrested on suspicion of wiretapping the President's communications and could be charged with treason. (BBC)

Paraguay: About three million Ueno Bank customers in the country suddenly lost access to their money on November 3. Authorities say deposit insurance fully covers about 97% of customers. Ueno also held US$800--850 million deposited by state and pension institutions, including retirement funds. President Santiago Peña had previously owned shares in the bank's holding company, and lawmakers accused him of helping direct public money into it. He denies wrongdoing. Thousands protested outside Congress on November 5. After his own Colorado Party withdrew its support, Congress removed him on November 6, just three days after customers' accounts were frozen. Vice President Pedro Alliana took over, keeping the same party in power (since 1947, except between 2008 and 2013). Alliana also faces allegations of involvement, which he denies. (La Nación, Paraguayan government, The Guardian) One "good thing" that comes out of this is that Argentinians are quite "jealous" of how fast the Paraguayan justice system worked. (La Nación)

Malaysia: Former prime minister Najib Razak will stay in prison after authorities put his planned move to house arrest on hold on November 6. In 2020, he was convicted of corruption and money laundering involving money from SRC International, a company formerly linked to the state investment fund 1MDB (remember the huge scandal?). He began serving his sentence in 2022. In September this year, Malaysia's king granted him a conditional pardon allowing him to serve the rest of this sentence at home if he paid a fine of 50 million ringgit. But the government's top legal office said legal questions needed to be settled before the move could happen. House arrest would mean serving his sentence at home under restrictions, rather than being free. (Bernama, Malaysiakini)

Brazil: Ahead of COP31, the annual UN climate summit taking place in Turkey from November 9--20, Brazil published a plan to help countries put their promise to move away from coal, oil, and gas into practice. It offers steps governments can take now, but critics say it lacks deadlines and clear targets, and countries are not required to follow it. (The Guardian)

The Philippines: Vice President Sara Duterte is facing a trial in the Senate that could remove her from...