Our daily trip around the world

🇮🇶🇸🇪 Iraq severed diplomatic ties with Sweden yesterday for allowing planned burnings of the Quran. The action, which involved expelling Sweden's ambassador to Baghdad and recalling Iraq’s ambassador to Stockholm, came after hundreds of Iraqi protesters stormed and set fire to the Swedish embassy in Baghdad yesterday. Sweden’s government has criticized burnings of the Quran and repeatedly denied permits for such events in recent months, citing national security concerns. But their decisions have been overturned by domestic courts ruling that freedom of speech must be prioritized unless there’s an immediate threat to public safety.

🇭🇰🇨🇳 A Hong Kong man was sentenced to three months in prison for insulting China’s national anthem. The 27-year-old photographer was accused of editing a YouTube video featuring a Hong Kong athlete being awarded an Olympic gold medal to include a pro-democracy protest song “Glory to Hong Kong,” instead of the Chinese national anthem. He’s the first person to be tried under a national anthem law that was passed in 2020. The Hong Kong government is also currently seeking a legal injunction to ban all playing and distribution of “Glory to Hong Kong,” including its lyrics and melody.

🎤🇪🇸 Shakira, a-near-a… to jail time, potentially. A Spanish court yesterday announced a second investigation into alleged tax fraud by the Colombian singer, who’s already facing an upcoming trial – and potentially an eight-year prison sentence – over accusations she resided in Spain from 2012-14 but failed to pay nearly $14 million in taxes. Shakira has denied the previous tax fraud charges, saying her official residence was in the Bahamas over that period. The latest investigation will focus on two alleged counts of tax fraud in 2018, though further details weren’t disclosed.