Keeping up with the news can feel like chasing a whirlwind, so we’ve gathered the most mind blowing stories from the past week into one tidy roundup. From political intrigue to cyber chaos, here’s what you missed while glued to the headlines.
Mind Blowing Highlights of the Week
11 Spain Decided To Rebury Its Dead Dictator
General Francisco Franco, the fascist ruler who presided over Spain from 1939 until his death in 1975, left a legacy of bloodshed so brutal that historian Paul Preston dubbed it the “Spanish Holocaust.” He was an ally of Hitler, set up concentration camps, bombed refugees, ordered his troops to rape women, and even celebrated the murder of his victims.
Only at the end of last week did the Spanish parliament finally move to stop the glorification of this dead monster. Madrid passed a symbolic resolution to pull Franco’s body out of the massive crypt that also houses a mass grave of 30,000 Civil War victims, and to give him a proper burial.
The tomb, partially built by slave labor of political prisoners, still receives fresh flowers daily. The new resolution aims to prevent Francoist sympathizers from using the gruesome site as a shrine and to turn it into a memorial for all the dead.
10 Ivorian Soldiers Seized An Entire City In A Pay Dispute
When Ivory Coast finally ended its ten‑year civil war in 2011, the government tried a clever reintegration plan: it hired former rebels into the national army, essentially buying their loyalty. That solution held only as long as the payroll kept flowing.
Last Friday the cash ran dry, sparking mutinies across the country. The most dramatic flashpoint was the seizure of Bouaké, the nation’s second‑largest city, by the former rebel soldiers—about 8,400 of the 22,000‑strong army.
Fearing a reignition of the civil war, the government refrained from sending loyalist troops. After a brief standoff, the mutineers agreed to lay down arms on Thursday in exchange for roughly $12,000 each.
9 Britain’s Most Reviled Serial Killer Finally Died
Ian Brady, Britain’s most infamous serial killer, finally breathed his last on May 15 at the age of 79. Between 1963 and 1965, Brady and his accomplice Myra Hindley abducted, tortured, and murdered five children, dumping their bodies on the desolate moors of Manchester.
His crimes were especially chilling because the pair recorded one of their victims, ten‑year‑old Lesley Anne Downey, pleading for her life. Brady was apprehended just months after the UK abolished the death penalty, spending the rest of his life in a secure psychiatric unit.
The final tragedy of his story is the still‑missing body of twelve‑year‑old Keith Bennett, whose family never learned his fate. In his dying moments, police begged Brady to reveal the location, but he took the secret to the grave.
8 Brazil’s President Was Taped Offering To Bribe Witnesses
Brazil is already deep in a massive anti‑graft investigation that has already ensnared a third of the cabinet, top business leaders, and many lawmakers. Until Thursday, President Michel Temer had somehow stayed out of the crosshairs.
That changed when a recording surfaced of Temer discussing how best to bribe witnesses to keep them silent about key allies. The tapes sparked fresh protests across the country.
Ironically, Temer rose to power after helping to impeach former President Dilma Rousseff during an earlier phase of the same scandal. The new revelations suggest the corruption wave could grow still larger, and the nation’s civil unrest shows no sign of easing.
7 Japan’s Princess Mako Renounced Her Royal Status To Marry A Commoner
After weeks of political turmoil, a love story emerged to warm the heart. On Thursday, 25‑year‑old Princess Mako announced she would give up her royal title and become a commoner to marry her boyfriend, lawyer Kei Komuro.
Japanese law forbids members of the imperial family from marrying commoners, so renouncing the title is a prerequisite. This isn’t unheard of—Princess Sayako did the same in 2005 and remains happily married.
Mako fell for Komuro while they were studying together, and the couple plans to wed next year.
6 Chelsea Manning Was Released
Before Edward Snowden stole the spotlight, there was Chelsea Manning. In 2010, then‑Bradley Manning leaked a massive trove of U.S. government documents to WikiLeaks, exposing war crimes, torture, and a host of embarrassing details.
The public verdict was harsh: Manning was convicted of espionage and sentenced to 35 years—the longest ever for a leaker. President Barack Obama later commuted the sentence to seven years, and the term expired on Tuesday, granting Manning freedom.
Her release arrives amid ongoing debate about her legacy—heroic whistleblower or traitor. The conversation continues in the comments.
5 Iran Embarked On Its Most Important Election In Decades
While Iranians head to the polls this week, the election could shape the Middle East for years. Though the country isn’t a full democracy—candidates are pre‑approved by the Guardian Council—the vote still signals public sentiment.
The central question: who will help choose the next supreme leader? Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now 77, is reportedly undergoing treatment for prostate cancer. The winner of this election will likely influence his successor.
Incumbent moderate President Hassan Rouhani faces ultra‑hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi. If Raisi wins, he is expected to become the next supreme leader, steering Iran’s regional influence for the foreseeable future.
4 The ‘Big One’ Cyberattack Finally Happened
The world finally witnessed the dreaded “Big One” cyberattack. It began with a massive ransomware assault that crippled Britain’s National Health Service, threatening thousands of lives, and spread to companies worldwide, bringing essential infrastructure to a halt.
Known as WannaCry, the worm infected roughly 100 countries, affecting actors from the Russian Interior Ministry to Spain’s largest telecom provider. A researcher accidentally discovered a kill‑switch in the code, halting its spread before a full‑scale cyber apocalypse could unfold.
The attack was enabled by EternalBlue, a tool the NSA developed to breach Windows computers. Hackers stole the tool and released it, illustrating the perils of back‑door policies. While the exact perpetrators remain unknown, security firms Symantec and Kaspersky found circumstantial evidence linking the attack to North Korea.
3 President Trump Had The Worst Week Of His Presidency
The biggest story of the week centered on a cascade of scandals swirling around the Trump White House. It started when President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey, who was overseeing the Russia investigation.
Subsequent reports alleged that Trump leaked intelligence from a U.S. partner during a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov—a partner later identified as Israel or possibly Jordan. The leaked intel was so sensitive the partner didn’t want it shared even with the Five Eyes alliance.
Further revelations claimed Trump personally asked Comey to drop the investigation into disgraced adviser Michael Flynn, and that the Trump team may have known Flynn was compromised long before his ties to Russia and Turkey became public.
Anonymous sources later disclosed that members of Trump’s campaign had 18 undisclosed contacts with the Kremlin during the 2016 election, though they claimed no evidence of collusion. The avalanche of scandal left the administration reeling.
2 An Independent Special Counsel Is Now Overseeing Russian Probe
In a surprising twist, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed an independent special counsel to investigate the Russian probe after the White House tried to pin the Comey firing on him.
Unlike the special prosecutors that existed before 1999, a special counsel can be dismissed at any time by the Attorney General—here, by Jeff Sessions, who has recused himself.
This move signals that the Department of Justice believes there is substantive material worth examining, whether it implicates President Trump directly or involves former advisers like Michael Flynn. While not yet Watergate‑level, the investigation promises to keep the White House on edge for months to come.
1 The Murder Of Seth Rich
While mainstream outlets chased Russian‑collusion narratives, a major story slipped under the radar: the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich. A private investigator hired by Rich’s family claimed to have evidence that Rich leaked 400,000 DNC emails to WikiLeaks shortly before his death, a claim the family later repudiated on advice from the DNC’s lawyer.
Rich was shot twice in the back on July 10, 2016, after leaving a bar. Police labeled the incident a robbery, yet none of his possessions were taken, and the case was effectively closed.
The timing of WikiLeaks’ release of the Podesta emails sparked speculation that Rich’s murder was linked to the leaks. Some allege that the FBI and DOJ were instructed to shut down the investigation by then‑Attorney General Loretta Lynch, who allegedly met privately with Bill Clinton during the campaign.
Additional intrigue arose when Russian hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin claimed the FBI offered him money and immunity to publicly state that the DNC hack was a Russian operation. A $175,000 reward now stands for information leading to a conviction for Rich’s murderer.