SWEDEN
A new Russian spy case
Sergei Skvortsov and Elena Koulkova lived in Sweden for 20 years without arousing the slightest suspicion. On November 22, this Russian couple was arrested on suspicion of having sent Moscow information on technologies for the military industry.
“The case reinforces fears that Sweden is the weak link identified by Moscow as Stockholm prepares to join NATO,” note it Times. Earlier this month, two Iranian brothers with links to Russia were arrested in Sweden’s worst spy case since the Cold War. Their trial began on November 24.
RUSSIA
Soldiers’ mothers go to war
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives for a meeting with mothers and wives of soldiers engaged in the offensive in Ukraine, November 25, 2022.
Photo by Mikhail Metzel / SPUTNIK / AFP
Vladimir Putin could no longer remain silent in the face of the increasingly noisy anger of the families of soldiers, sent to the front like cannon fodder. The Russian president received, on November 25, a group of “mothers” handpicked and assured “to share” their pain.
But two days after this meeting, the Russian Facebook, VKontakte (directed by a close Kremlin) banned the page of the Council of Russian mothers and wives. “The ban came after the group accused the Kremlin of excluding its members from the meeting with Putin,” precise The Moscow Times.
MEXICO
The president at the head of a human tide
Aerial view of the demonstration led by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador in support of his four years in power in Mexico City on November 27, 2022
afp.com/RODRIGO OROPEZA
Andrés Manuel López Obrador boasts of having gathered “1.2 million people” in the streets of Mexico City on November 27. With this show of force, the president of the nationalist left wanted to illustrate the support of the street for his policy and to respond, in passing, to a demonstration organized two weeks earlier by the opposition. Andrés Manuel López Obrador “has once again put on his militant boots to march, as he has done so many times as a candidate, and demonstrate that the street remains the heritage of his political movement”, summarizes the daily El Mundo.
IRAN
Ruthless repression against the Kurds
Since the death of Mahsa Amini in September, demonstrations against the Iranian regime have been particularly important in the province of Kurdistan, in the north-west of the country. At the end of November, the Tehran government decided to send soldiers equipped with heavy weapons to quell the revolt.
“What is happening in the province of Kurdistan is both tragic and proud, rate the site Iran Wire. Kurdistan remains the flag bearer of this national uprising against the Islamic Republic, despite fierce repression by the authorities.”
ISRAEL
The police in the hands of the far right
For his return to the post of Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu signed his first coalition agreement with the extreme right of Itamar Ben-Gvir, on November 25. This MP, long ostracized from Israeli politics for his racism and calls for hatred, will be appointed to head the Ministry of National Security, responsible in particular for the police. “Under Ben-Gvir’s command, the Israeli police will not be more efficient or disciplined, warn the newspaper Haretz. It will be more aggressive, more violent and less law-abiding.” Ben-Gvir will also be responsible for prisons and gun licenses.
NORTH KOREA
Kim’s daughter steps out of the shadows
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) walking with his daughter inspects the Hwasong-17 missile, at Pyongyang International Airport in a photo taken on November 18, 2022 and released by KCNA on November 19, 2022
afp.com/STR
For the second time in ten days, the dictator Kim Jong-un was photographed with his daughter on November 27 during a meeting with scientists in charge of the manufacture of the Hwasong-17 missile, the “most powerful strategic weapon of the world”, according to the leader. These pictures follow the first public appearance of the child, aged around 10, on November 18. If the photo fuels speculation about Kim’s potential successor, it above all allows the autocrat to be “more accessible by showing a more human and family-oriented side”, explains researcher Rachel Minyoung Lee in the washington post.
UNITED STATES
Donald Trump’s embarrassing dinner
The former president drew the wrath of the American political class after his dinner on November 22 with racist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West, accused of anti-Semitic remarks. Several Republicans have criticized Donald Trump – presidential candidate of 2024 -, including his former ambassador to Israel.
“Mr. Trump is not going to change, and the next two years will inevitably feature many more equally damaging episodes,” pings the editorial board of the wall street journal. “Republicans who continue to support Mr. Trump are preparing for disaster in 2024.”