Sharp drop in Turkish lira triggers protests

Sri Lanka's cabinet ministers have resigned from their posts as an economic crisis deepens in the country. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksahas has yet to step down, despite growing demands for his resignation.

Germany's crime rate has fallen for the fifth year in a row, down by nearly 5% in 2021 alone. Still, online crime and the distribution of images of child sex abuse are on the rise.

Protesters have called for the naming of the white police officer who killed Patrick Lyoya. It comes after police release footage showing the officer shoot the him in the head.

The WHO chief has urged countries to ramp up testing to accurately reflect global transmission trends. Meanwhile, Mexico said it is transitioning from pandemic to endemic.

Germany has harshly condemned a Turkish court's decision to hand prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala a life sentence. Turkey has accused Berlin of interfering in its domestic affairs.

The president has warned against "racial and religious disharmony." Police have received orders to use live ammunition against protesters deemed to be participating in violence.

On May 15, parliamentary elections will take place nationwide in Lebanon. The Lebanese diaspora, estimated to be double the size of the domestic population, already cast their ballots last week. Around 60 percent of people across 58 countries turned out, slightly more than in 2018. We bring you a special edition of Middle East Matters on Lebanon's first elections since the mass protests of 2019.

Pro-choice demonstrators are rallying across the US in opposition to the Supreme Court's draft opinion that could scrap the right to abortion. Protesters say it is only the beginning of their fight against the decision.

In 2020, Thai youth sparked the largest wave of anti-government protests since the 2014 military coup. But human rights activists say persecutions and systematic harassment have weakened the pro-democracy movement.

Cypriot President Nikos Anastasiadis granted an interview to FRANCE 24 from the capital Nicosia. The northern third of the Republic of Cyprus has been under Turkish domination since 1974. Anastasiadis said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine uses the "exact same arguments that Turkey used to invade Cyprus". Asked about tensions with Turkey over hydrocarbons, he expressed hope that Ankara will not "will not attempt to do anything that will cause conflagration and risk peace in the region".

Following the second-deadliest school shooting in US history, protesters faced off with gun enthusiasts at an NRA convention in Texas this weekend. But both sides doubt that reforms will happen.

Anti-Rwanda protests hit Congolese cities, accusing Kigali of backing the M23 rebel group. Two Rwandan soldiers have however been released in peace talks mediated by Angola. Also, hundreds of Sudanese protesters have demanded the dismissal of the United Nations mission chief, who is working to resolve a political crisis sparked by last year's military coup. And Pritzker Prize winner Diebedo Francis Kéré is given a hero's welcome on a trip back to Ouagadougou.