A record 50.8 million people are internally displaced because of conflict or disaster and the novel coronavirus pandemic is making them "more vulnerable."
Details: The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) issued the warning to coincide with the release of a report Tuesday showing 45.7 million people have been forced to flee their homes as a result of conflict and violence in 61 countries, mostly in Syria, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Yemen and Afghanistan.
The world has rarely been more ripe for power grabs, and Hungary's Viktor Orbán is not the only leader taking advantage.
The big picture: Emergency laws in Serbia and Cambodia also provide leaders near-total power, while governments elsewhere are using the virus as cover to crack down on the media, opposition or minorities, the Economist reports.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro may dismiss the coronavirus crisis, but he's taking the crisis within his administration head-on.
Driving the news: Bolsonaro’s most valuable ally resigned on national television on Friday, accusing the president of firing the head of Brazil’s federal police in order to hamper ongoing investigations.
Global military spending climbed in 2019 for the fifth consecutive year to a new high of $1.9 trillion, or 2.2% of global GDP, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Breaking it down: The U.S. spent nearly three times as much as China and 10 times as much as any other country on Earth.
Controversy over revisions made to a public report from the European Union under pressure from China is pitting EU staff against each other and against media outlets that have covered the issue.
Why it matters: The furor over the report, which called out China for its coronavirus disinformation campaign, demonstrates how behind-the-scenes pressure from an authoritarian government can sow division within democratic societies.
New Zealand's top health official Ashley Bloomfield told a briefing Monday he's confident "we have achieved our goal of elimination" of the novel coronavirus following days of reporting single-digit cases.
The big picture: New Zealand was to move from alert level 4 at 11:59pm local time Monday, enabling New Zealanders to travel around their regions, not just their neighborhoods, and for some non-essential businesses and schools to reopen.
Saudi Arabia announced in a statement Sunday it has ended the death penalty for crimes committed by minors after "effectively" abolishing floggings. Minors convicted would instead "receive a prison sentence of no longer than 10 years in a juvenile detention facility," the statement said.
The big picture: The kingdom is trying to recast itself in a tourism push to the West as a more liberal destination as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Vision 2030 plan to reduce its economic dependence on oil. But it has been widely criticized for having one of the world's worst human rights records. Saudi Arabia executed a record 184 people last year, per rights group Amnesty International. The UN said it received reports that three children were executed in May 2019.
