Hungary passed a law to hand control of state universities to foundations.These are likely to be run by ruling-party supporters, who can appoint their successors.This arrangement cannot be changed without a two-thirds majority in parliament.Critics griped that the ruling party had in effect given itself permanent control of higher education.Arlene Foster said she would step down as Northern Ireland’s first minister (or premier) in Junefollowing a revolt against her leadership in her Democratic Unionist Party.Its members have become increasingly agitated by the post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland,which in effect creates a border for goods crossing from mainland Britain.Somalia’s president promised to reverse legislation that would extend his term in office by two years, after fighting broke out in the capital, Mogadishu.Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was supposed to have stepped down in February.More than 80 people were killed when a fire, caused by an oxygen cylinder, erupted at a hospital treating COVID-19 patients in Baghdad.In a leaked audio tape Muhammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, said that the Revolutionary Guard dictates foreign policyand took Iran into Syria’s civil war at the urging of Russia.He also said that Russia tried to stop Iran from agreeing to a nuclear deal in 2015.Talks to revive the deal, which America ditched in 2018, resumed in Vienna.
