BRAZIL
Lula back in power
The second round presidential match turned out to be much tighter than expected. Left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva won on October 31, elected with 50.9% of the vote against far-right outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro.
Twelve years after leaving power, Lula, spent in prison for 580 days (for corruption) returns for a third term in a Brazil transformed by four years of “Bolsonarism”. “He will face fierce, organized and unscrupulous opposition” prevent daily O Globo.
LEBANON-ISRAEL
Agreement and relaxation at the border
After years of negotiations and tensions, Lebanon and Israel signed an agreement on October 27 to delimit their maritime border, allowing the two countries to share gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean. Both sides celebrate a victory, Israel seeing in it a de facto recognition of the Jewish state by its neighbor, and Lebanon invaluable economic benefits. “Hezbollah for its part announced that it was ending its ‘exceptional’ military measures put in place in recent months and which had left Israel on the alert”, highlighted The East-The Day.
IRAN
The regime suppresses protests in blood
The Iranian power did not hesitate to repress the demonstrations in blood, by authorizing the police to fire into the crowd on October 26, in the city of Saqqez (north-west). According to Human Rights Watch, at least 141 people, including children, have died in the repression since the start of the riots that followed the death of young Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police.
While “women have been on the front lines, waving their headscarves in the air, burning them and even cutting their hair in public”, these protests “have become one of the Islamic Republic’s most significant challenges since the Iranian revolution of 1979, summarizes the BBC.
MALI
With Wagner, insecurity grows
Almost a year after the arrival of Wagner’s Russian mercenaries on Malian soil, Washington is sounding the alarm. “The Malian junta invited Wagner to the country. And the terrorist situation has only worsened,” said Victoria Nuland, US Undersecretary of State, on October 26, returning from a tour in the Sahel. . The last six months have been marked by a 30% increase in terrorist acts, she said.
“These remarks contradict those of the soldiers who took power by force in 2020 in this country”, raise the site Africanews. The Malian authorities, who have turned away from the French ally and its partners for a year, and turned towards Russia, repeat “having routed the jihadist groups”.
FRANCE-GERMANY
True-False Reconciliation
The lunch between French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was expected to ease the icy atmosphere between Paris and Berlin in recent weeks, due in particular to disputes over European defense and the energy crisis. The first received the second at the Elysée on October 26. A “very constructive” meeting, according to the entourage of the French head of state. “A total success” according to a German official. “But the canceled press conference at the end of the head-to-head tells a whole different story, like a snub to Scholz”, to analyse Politico.
UNITED STATES
Democratic imbroglio around Ukraine
On October 24, a letter signed by 30 MPs from the left wing of the Democratic Party was sent to Joe Biden, asking the American president to start peace negotiations “as soon as possible” with Vladimir Putin.
“Perhaps the most controversial aspect of this letter was the proposal to Biden to consider ‘incentives to end the conflict, such as sanctions relief’ against Russia,” noted The Guardian. The next day, the elected Democrats retracted, explaining that the letter was several months old and should not have been sent. Especially a few days before the mid-term elections…
CHINA
Surveillance extends
Dutch authorities announced on October 26 that they were investigating reports from the NGO Safeguard Defenders that China had set up 54 “illegal police stations” in 21 countries (including two in the Netherlands and three in Paris). According to Dutch media, these sites established since 2018 in Amsterdam and Rotterdam claim to offer diplomatic assistance to Chinese nationals, without however having been declared. They would actually serve to silence political opponents. China denies. This case comes in a tense context between Beijing and Europe. “A recent document prepared by the European Union’s foreign affairs service for the attention of the Member States suggests that the latter are hardening their attitude towards China”, underlines the FinancialTimes.
SOUTH KOREA
Horror for Halloween
The party turned into a nightmare. A crowd movement caused the death of at least 154 people – including a Frenchman – in Seoul on October 29, in the Itaewon district, where tens of thousands of young people were gathered for Halloween. “Some critics say the Seoul city government and police should have taken proper accident prevention measures in anticipation of record crowds,” indicates the Korea Timeswhich includes “warning signals”, such as jostling, the day before, in the alley at the epicenter of the drama.