CANADA
“State of emergency” in Ottawa
Atmosphere of revolt in the Canadian capital. The mayor of Ottawa declared a “state of emergency” in his city on February 6, a week after the start of the protest movement launched by opponents of health measures. “We must take back our city,” proclaimed the city councilor, as dozens of truck drivers continued to block the city center and sound the horns of their vehicles at all hours of the day and night. “Experts fear that stress could have lasting effects on the health of residents, whose lives have already been disrupted by the pandemic,” said the Canadian daily. Globe and Mail.
AUSTRALIA
Vaccinated tourists can return
Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on February 7 the official reopening of international borders for the 21st. Since May 2020, the island-continent has imposed some of the most severe access restrictions in the world. The only condition imposed on travelers who wish to set foot there without going through quarantine: to be completely vaccinated against Covid-19. “The news is a relief for the tourism sector”, argues the site ofABCrecalling that the latter, hard hit by the closure of the country, “employs nearly 660,000 people”.
UK
Elizabeth II prepares the sequel
The second wife of the crown prince, Camilla, will be “queen consort” and not “princess”, when he becomes king. On the eve of the seventieth anniversary of her reign, celebrated on February 6, Elizabeth II settled this old question by declaring that it was her “sincere wish”. “It’s fair and well deserved,” said royal columnist Penny Junor, quoted by the BBC. She’s been loyal, quiet, worked hard with her charities and supported the prince.” Charles revealed his affair with Camilla two years before his divorce from Princess Diana in August 1996.
RUSSIA
Macron against Putin
The two presidents exchanged for more than five hours, in Moscow, on February 7, to try to find a way out of the Russian-Ukrainian crisis. At a press conference, Vladimir Putin said that “some of his counterpart’s ideas” were likely to “lay the foundations for common progress”. A small victory for Macron? Politico rather believes that the French head of state emerged “mutilated” from the “bear’s den”, the master of the Kremlin having chosen the “path of defiance”, declaring that “if Ukraine joined NATO, European countries would automatically be at war with Russia.”
CHINA
At the Olympics, Xi Jinping continues the interviews
After two years without meeting the slightest foreign head of state, Xi Jinping wanted to make up for lost time at the Beijing Olympics. In addition to Russian Vladimir Putin, the Chinese president received 25 leaders at a banquet, and met a dozen one-on-one. Most are autocrats, which “underscores the growing divisions in the world, based less on political ideology than on modes of governance and tolerance for basic political freedoms”, notes the New York Times.
PERU
Repeated changes
New political crisis in Peru. President Pedro Castillo announced on Friday February 4 a reshuffle of his government and the departure of Prime Minister Hector Valer Pinto, who took office three days earlier. In question: accusations of domestic violence against the latter, revealed in the press. “Pedro Castillo’s new cabinet will aim to help him survive the crisis”, observes the Peruvian daily La Republica. This will not be an easy task, the next government already appearing the fourth … in just six months, since the arrival in power of the leader of the far left.
ISRAEL
Pegasus, large-scale espionage
“No one was safe…” The Pegasus software was used by the Israeli police to spy on the private lives of ministers, mayors, journalists “and even relatives of the former prime minister”, Benyamin Netanyahu, according to the Calcalist news site, February 7. “Pegasus has become one of the most widely used tools for law enforcement to obtain intelligence,” the survey said. Last summer, the media revealed that this Israeli computer program was sold to dictatorships and then used to monitor foreign leaders and opponents around the world.
Axel Gyldén, Clément Daniez, Paul Véronique and Corentin Pennarguard