Well turns out crime doesn’t pay. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to nine and a half years in prison. The judge ruled he could remain free pending an appeal. Lula has rejected claims that he received an apartment as a bribe in a corruption scandal linked to state oil company Petrobras. The case is the first of five charges against him.
Iraq and the Kurdistan Region had a special guest this week. Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai visited Hassan Sham camp and displaced children in her quest to advocate for the right to education for boys and girls around the world. Since the rise of the Islamic state, hundreds of thousands of displaced children have been out of school for more than two years. Malala actually celebrated her twentieth birthday here in the region.
Lastly, who would have thought Qatar airlifting cows would ever be a headline? Well it’s true, Qatar has received 165 cows by plane to ease a milk shortage caused by sanctions imposed by its neighbors. This comes just weeks after four Arab states — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt — cut off diplomatic ties. The four states also cut transport links with Qatar. Saudi Arabia closed Qatar’s only land border, cutting off vital imports including dairy products.
