37th & The World: 5in5 for the week of July 29, 2024

As strikes on Hezbollah and Hamas leaders made headlines this week, Nicolás Maduro claimed victory in Venezuela with over 70 percent of the vote despite claims of electoral fraud. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia took place, securing the release of several prominent Russian political prisoners like Evan Gershkovich. 

Transcript

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Hello, you're listening to 37th & The World, the official podcast of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, the flagship academic publication of Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service. On 37th & The World, we dive into crucial global trends and speak directly with experts working on issues ranging from security to the economy, technology to society, and more. In this new segment, the "5in5" will delve into the top five most crucial Foreign Affairs developments from the past week in just five minutes. I'm Lee Favero, and this week: first A Hezbollah senior military commander was killed in an Israeli retaliation strike in Beirut Lebanon following the death of 12 Israeli children from a rocket attack in northern Israel last week. Second, Hamas his top political leader was assassinated in Tehran. Iran's capital early Wednesday morning by Israeli intelligence service is as tension surge in the Middle East next and comment Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro claimed victory in Sunday's election despite the opposition candidates 40 point lead, then Russia engaged in the largest post cold war prisoner swap on Thursday exchanging 24 individuals with the assistance of President Biden and finally Ethiopia's currency lost 30% of its value on Tuesday following the central bank's implementation of the IMF snoo flexible exchange rate policy. First, Hezbollah has pronounced its senior military commander for watch Shuker dead following an intelligence based elimination by the Israeli military in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. The strike which killed for others was a retaliation hit for the Hezbollah rocket attack last week in Israeli occupied Golan Heights, which left 12 Children playing outdoors dead. The idea of targeted a building into here a densely populated suburb of Beirut, which is surrounded by Hezbollah checkpoints. Lebanon prime minister has called the attack a quote criminal act despite the anticipated retaliation second, Hamas is key political leader is mio hanya was assassinated in Iran's capital by Israeli intelligence services. Just hours after the death of Hezbollah commander flood Shakur in Lebanon. Hanya had just attended the inauguration of Iran's new president, and was killed by Detonated Bomb, which had been smuggled months prior into the exact room where he would be staying. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini has vowed a quote harsh punishment for Israel, condemning the killing of a dear guest within their borders. Following the October 7 attacks, Israel had announced plans to eliminate Hania but his death in such close proximity to shooters raises the risk of all out war. Prime Minister Netanyahu has warned of quote challenging days ahead as threats against the nation increase. Next President Nicolas Maduro claimed to have won the Venezuelan presidential election on Sunday despite the opposition candidates victory of over 70% of the votes. Venezuelan opposition parties have united behind at New consolidates in an attempt and Maduro is a 11 year rule. The National Election Council a close ally of the incumbent declared Maduro the victor based on partial results. And on Wednesday, he asked the High Court also stocked with Maduro loyalists to conduct an independent audit of the presidential election. Given the opposition's disputed claim of the victory during the weeks preceding the election, opinion polls to strongly favored Mr. Gonzales, raising hopes that Maduro would not readily alter election outcomes. The United States Carter Center sent to monitor Venezuela's election has claimed that the audit would not be an independent review, given its close relationship with the government and Maduro specifically next, the United States and several other nations including Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Norway and Turkey engaged in the largest prisoner swap with Russia since before the Cold War. The 24 individuals released from Moscow's detention included to wrongfully detained Americans, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Kirsch COVID and former US Marine Paul Whelan. The exchange was made possible only after months of intricate planning that three Russians returned to Moscow included three businessmen who directed corruption and money laundering schemes, where as Germany was forced to release a Russian operative and hitman who was serving a life sentence for murdering a Kremlin critic in Berlin. Finally, in one day, Ethiopia's currency lost 30% of its value as its central bank transitions to the new IMF backed flexible exchange rate policy aimed at stabilizing the nation's economy. In an address the day before, the National Bank of Ethiopia's governor announced its intent to quote, introduce a competitive market based determination of the exchange rate to address a long standing distortion within the Ethiopian economy. The move aims to squash black markets by allowing commercial banks to now competitively set the prices of foreign currencies as opposed to government fixed rates. The IMF has already committed 3.4 billion for the reforms, and the nation anticipates around $3.5 billion in new funding from the World Bank and currency swap agreements. This was 37th & The World, the official podcast of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, please be sure to subscribe and leave a comment and rating on whichever streaming platform you use. To support the podcast. You can click the link in this podcast description that says support the show. For other insightful interviews and articles please check out good gia.georgetown.edu