Every year, in the days leading up to June 4, Chinese censors scour the internet in an attempt to suppress any domestic mention of Tiananmen Square. Dissidents trying to use that date – the anniversary of the 1989 massacre – to promote pro-democracy activism are confronted by blocked sites, banned words and even disappearing candle emojis.

They also experience an uptick in malicious cyber operations. While much of this is done in the shadows, a recent restructuring of China’s cyber workforce and a documents leak reveal a hacking ecosystem in which government officials and commercial operators are increasingly working hand in hand, explains Christopher K. Tong.

Former South African president Jacob Zuma’s new party, uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party, has caused a major upset in the country’s 2024 general election, only months after it was launched. It unseated the African National Congress (ANC) in the KwaZulu-Natal province and helped rob it of an outright majority in the National Assembly for the first time. As a result, the country is set to have its first national coalition government since democracy in 1994. Mashupye H. Maserumule sets out what the MK Party is about, its performance and its prospects.

And Mexico has elected its first woman president. Luis Gómez Romero unpacks what lies in store for Claudia Sheinbaum.