UNITED STATES
Assault on the Capitol: convictions for “sedition”
Four activists from the far-right group Proud Boys were convicted of sedition on May 4 for their role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Among them, Enrique Tarrio, their leader, arrested in March 2022 in Miami . He faces up to twenty years in prison (the length of the sentence will be announced later). “This result marks a significant victory for the Department of Justice, which had invoked the rarely used charge of seditious conspiracy”, underlines the wall street journal. More than 1,000 other “Capitol insurgents” are the subject of legal proceedings.
RUSSIA
Mystery drone attack on the Kremlin
Russia claimed on Wednesday, May 3, 2023, to have shot down two Ukrainian drones which targeted the Kremlin in Moscow.
© / NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA / AFP
Russia has accused Ukraine of wanting to assassinate Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin with two drones on May 3. Images of a device exploding above the building were quickly released. kyiv denounced a “staging” aimed at justifying a new escalation of the conflict. The mystery remains on the origin of this action. While the two drones were flown by Kiev, “their journey constitutes the most serious penetration of supposedly safe Russian – and Moscow – airspace since German teenager Mathias Rust landed a small plane near the square. Red in 1987”, observes the Financial Times.
SERBIA
Serial killings
After a first shooting at a school in Belgrade on May 3, in which eight children and a caretaker were killed by a 13-year-old teenager, a new killing took place the next day. This time, a young man killed eight people with an automatic weapon in the center of the country. “With 39.1 firearms per 100 inhabitants, Serbia ranks third in the world for the number of firearms owned by civilians, tied with Montenegro, but far behind the United States and Yemen” , relieves Politico. On May 5, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced a plan aimed at “almost complete disarmament of Serbia”.
UNITED KINGDOM
A very expensive coronation
King Charles III and Queen Consort Camilla after their coronation on May 6, 2023 at the balcony of Buckingham Palace, London
© / afp.com/Leon Neal
At 74, Charles III was crowned in Westminster Abbey on May 6, surrounded by dozens of heads of state. The sovereign wanted to make this religious ceremony a symbol of modernity for the British crown, but the event was not unanimous. “There is no popular demand for such a ceremony, nor general enthusiasm for the monarchy or the new king, with just 9% of British adults saying they are very interested in it, underlines the Guardian. It seems unjustified to pay 250 million pounds [285 millions d’euros] for a coronation in the midst of a cost of living crisis.”
BENIGN
Two attacks in the North
An investigation was opened on May 4 after two attacks carried out by armed commandos between May 1 and May 3 in northern Benin, not far from the border with Burkina Faso, where jihadist groups are rife. Fifteen civilians were killed. At the end of April, the government announced the recruitment of 5,000 additional men to fight against terrorist incursions from its neighbor – around twenty since 2021. to open up new horizons”, insists the Burkinabé news site Wakat Sera, which calls for joint action by African armies.
SOUTH KOREA
Tokyo and Seoul are getting even closer
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on May 7 in Seoul that he had “a bleeding heart” in the face of the suffering of Koreans under Japanese colonization, during a visit intended to pursue rapprochement between the two countries, and while the two countries seek to strengthen their security ties in the face of the North Korean nuclear threat. Despite the lack of a formal apology, “Kishida’s remarks could give Yoon [le président sud-coréen] room for maneuver in the face of opposition to a closer relationship with Japan”, underlines the JapanTimes.
SYRIA
Damascus back in the Arab League
The Arab League decided on May 7 to reinstate Syria into its ranks, ending a twelve-year suspension, and taking another step towards the rehabilitation of pariah president Bashar al-Assad. “The February 6 earthquake that shook Turkey and Syria was a catalyst for further normalization in the Arab world,” notes the washington post. But “certain influential members of the League remain opposed to the reintegration of Syria, foremost among which is Qatar”.