RUSSIA
Putin facing the Wagner rebellion
A call for revolt and a mad military swerve: Evgueni Prigojine, at the head of the Wagner militia, led an attempted coup in Russia on June 24, before stopping his troops 200 kilometers from Moscow and to reach an agreement with the Kremlin.
“Even if it only lasted one day, Wagner’s rebellion is likely to deal a serious blow to Putin’s power, explains the Russian media in exile Medusa. This mutiny showed the vulnerability at the heart of the Putin system: Prigozhin proved that you could take over a Russian city of a million people without a single shot and march towards Moscow without encountering any resistance.”
GERMANY
First local victory for the AfD
For the first time since its creation ten years ago, the far-right AfD party will lead a local authority in Germany. Its candidate, Robert Sesselmann, defeated his conservative opponent in the Sonneberg district of the Thuringia region in an election on June 25. “With this victory, the AfD achieves an important strategic objective and enters a new stage in the life of the party”, Write the Suddeutsche Zeitung, evoking “a wake-up call” and “a painful defeat for all Democrats”. The far-right party reaches 20% in opinion polls in Germany.
GREECE
Absolute majority for the Conservatives
A successful bet for Kyriakos Mitsotakis: the Greek Prime Minister won the legislative elections of June 25 hands down. His New Democracy party (conservative) secured an absolute majority in Parliament with 158 seats out of 300, despite a questioning, during the campaign, of its management of public services and its migration policy. “Far-right parties have also made progress, while the left is bogged down, underline Politico. These elections give Greece its most right-wing parliament since the country returned to democracy in 1974.” Mitsotakis has vowed to make the economy a priority in his new term.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets supporters in Athens, June 25, 2023
© / afp.com/ARIS MESSINIS
SYRIA
Russians bomb Idlib
Allied with Bashar el-Assad, the Russian army carried out numerous airstrikes in Idlib on June 25, in the last rebel province of Syria. At least nine civilians died and NGOs count more than thirty wounded. “Northwest Syria, along the border with Turkey, has seen six days of uninterrupted shelling, lift the media Al Jazeera. In the past, Damascus and Moscow have said they only target insurgent groups,” but one of the deadliest attacks targeted a vegetable market in the town of Jisr al-Shoghour.
MALI
The junta has its constitution approved
The Malian authorities announced on June 23 the result of the referendum on a new Constitution, organized by the junta in power: yes wins by 97%… “From now on, instead of a semi-presidential regime, the country is moving to a hyper-presidential regime where the president is not far from a demiurge, as he has full powers, point the newspaper The country. Since it was wanted, thought out and developed by people in trellis […]the new Constitution not only protects them from any legal proceedings, but it also gives some of them the possibility of running for president in 2024.
CHINA
Early heat wave in Beijing
An unprecedented heat wave hit parts of northeastern China as well as the capital Beijing, which recorded a temperature of 41.1°C on June 22, a record high since 2014. China’s meteorological bureau launched a sunstroke alert two weeks before the usual dates. “These high temperatures also put pressure on the electricity grid, which for example experienced a 20% higher demand than last year in the city of Tianjin”, report it Guardian. Several Chinese cities are anticipating a drought that could affect agricultural yields, with livestock vulnerable to high temperatures.
UNITED STATES
The last dive of the submarine Titan
After several days of intensive search, the wreckage of the submarine Titan were found on June 22 at a depth of 4,000 meters off the coast of Boston. The ship is said to have imploded during an expedition to the wreckage of the titanic, killing the five people on board, including a French researcher. The US Coast Guard is now investigating the causes of the destruction of the submarine and seeking to establish responsibility, even if “deep water investigations promise to be long and thorough”, warns Bloomberg.