Haitian Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned over the weekend after a botched plan to raise fuel prices triggered violent protests. Haitian President Jovenel Moise on Twitter confirmed he accepted Lafontant’s resignation and those of other Cabinet officials Saturday. Violence erupted in Haiti July 6-8 following the government’s plan to hike fuel prices by up to 51 percent. The prime minister said the hikes were necessary for Haiti to balance its budget. The unrest killed at least seven people and left several U.S. missionary teams temporarily trapped in the country.

A number of U.S. church mission groups stranded in Haiti amid violent protests have returned home as the capital city slowly returns to normalcy. Riots broke out over the weekend in Port-au-Prince as the government proposed increasing gas prices by as much as 51 percent. Haitian authorities later retracted the plan, but the unrest continued.

Riots in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, over rising gas prices stranded some American volunteer groups over the weekend. The U.S. Embassy on Sunday warned its citizens to shelter in place and not try to go to the airport unless they knew for sure their flights would take off. Many airlines canceled flights as violent protests engulfed the city, but American Airlines and Delta Air Lines reportedly allowed some planes take off and land Sunday. 

The Australian Parliament passed strict new legislation last week to prevent interference by foreign entities, a measure responding to rising concerns over Chinese interference in Australia. China sharply criticized the law and claimed a “Cold War mentality” was undermining Sino-Australian relations.

Under pressure from political allies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has agreed to a plan that would tighten immigration policy at the country’s borders. The Monday night compromise, a reversal from Merkel’s longtime open-border policy for refugees, reflects her efforts to hold together her coalition government in the face of growing anti-immigrant sentiment.

In the Hongkou district of Shanghai stands the Ohel Moshe Synagogue, a European-style red-and-black brick building with archways and wraparound balconies. It’s a piece of Shanghai’s history that is now nearly lost in its race toward modernity: During World War II, Shanghai was home to 20,000 Jewish refugees who had fled Europe and needed a place to take them in. The Ohel Moshe Synagogue, established by Russian Jewish immigrants in 1907, was converted to a psychiatric hospital and an office space under the reign of Mao Zedong.

Intensified protests resumed Friday along the Gaza border as Muslims celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of the month of Ramadan. Mohammed al-Tayyar, a Palestinian protester, said an Israeli drone struck a tent protesters were using to launch kites and balloons rigged with incendiary devices into Israel. Israeli police detonated one of the balloons as it drifted onto a highway earlier in the day.