UKRAINE
Russia strikes with hypersonic missiles
On March 19 and 20, Moscow announced that it had used hypersonic missiles to strike military targets in western and southern Ukraine. Presented as “invincible” by the Kremlin, these machines can reach a speed of 12,000 km/h.
Their employment by Russia “seems to mark a shift in strategy in response to its battlefield losses, which could signal a new phase in the war while serving to show the world its significant firepower”. underlines the magazine Time.
RUSSIA
Putin, ever closer to Stalin
The Russian president gave a speech with Stalinist accents on March 16, Vladimir Putin attacked “scum and traitors” within Russian society, who would oppose his invasion of Ukraine. “I am sure that a real and necessary self-purification of society will only strengthen our country,” he added. Words with “disturbing parallels for those familiar with Soviet history, recall the channel CBS.
During Stalin’s Great Terror show trials, authorities denigrated ‘enemies of the people’ as ‘reptiles’ or ‘rabid dogs’.”
GERMANY
Berlin turns to Qatari gas
This is one of the strategic turning points caused by the war in Ukraine: after the warming of relations between the United States and Venezuela, Germany is approaching Qatar to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. The Minister of Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck, signed an agreement with the emirate on March 20 for deliveries of liquefied natural gas. “The Greens had always rejected the import of liquefied gas, as extraction is associated with considerable environmental damage, recalls the daily Suddeutsche Zeitung. The Russian attack on Ukraine is a game-changer.”
MALI
RFI and France 24 suspended
98.5 FM has not been broadcasting since March 17 in Bamako or in the rest of the country. At odds with Paris, Mali cut off the frequency of Radio France Internationale and the France 24 channel under the pretext of a “poisoning campaign”: the two French public media had reported abuses by the Malian army against civilians . If, on the spot, many press organs abound in the sense of power, Burkinabé daily life The country deplores a “serious attack on the freedom of the press so dearly acquired” and warns that “it is not by breaking the thermometer that the Malian authorities will bring down the fever”.
SPAIN
Madrid supports Morocco in Western Sahara
The Spanish government has emerged from its historic neutrality in the conflict over Western Sahara, a region located in southern Morocco, disputed by the kingdom and the separatists of the Polisario Front, supported by Algeria.
On March 18, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sided with Morocco, considering its autonomy initiative as “the most serious, realistic and credible basis for resolving this dispute”. According to El País, Madrid obtained in exchange “guarantees” against the migratory blackmail of Rabat. In May 2021, the Moroccan authorities let 10,000 immigrants pass through to Spain via the enclave of Ceuta.
HONG KONG
Anti-Covid restrictions eased
Devastated by a fifth wave of Covid-19, the peninsula, under cover for weeks, will gradually reopen. International flights from nine countries, including France and the United States, will resume in April. Hong Kong’s isolation was no longer tenable, argued local chief executive Carrie Lam. According to real estate moguls, bankers and academics, “the restrictions have caused a brain drain and damaged the city’s economy, underlines the FinancialTimes. The territory recorded a net loss of 65,295 inhabitants in February”.
UNITED STATES
Zelensky before Congress
The Ukrainian president appeared on screen in his khaki t-shirt on March 16 before the American Congress. Comparing the Russian invasion of his country to Japan’s assault on Pearl Harbor, he called for the imposition of a no-fly zone. “Mr. Zelensky appealed to both the emotions of lawmakers and their belief that the United States is the powerhouse of the free world,” lift him up New York Times. Under increased pressure from the Democratic and Republican camps, President Joe Biden has, for the time being, rejected any direct intervention in Ukraine.