UK. Tax scandal at the top of the state
The information had the effect of a bomb. The wife of British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak has “non-domiciled” tax status, according to press reports. This device would have allowed Akshata Murthy, daughter of the billionaire co-founder of the Indian group Infosys, to escape millions of pounds in taxes.
His choice is “perfectly legal”, recognizes the Guardianbut it “is truly amazing” that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who seemed a favorite to succeed Prime Minister Boris Johnson, “imagined he could keep it all a secret”.
MALI. A massacre of civilians
According to Human Rights Watch, about 300 civilian men were shot dead in Moura, a small town in Mali besieged from March 27 to 31. At the maneuver, according to the NGO, the Malian army and foreign fighters, probably mercenaries from the private Russian group Wagner in the pay of the Kremlin.
After the withdrawal of the French force Barkhane from Mali, “is this the right method to track down the jihadists?” wonders The country. “There are several victims on the side of the populations who, according to the testimonies collected, have nothing to do with the terrorists”, squeaks the Burkinabé daily.
RUSSIA. Moscow admits heavy losses
For the first time, the Kremlin acknowledged, on April 7, having suffered “significant military losses” within its army deployed in Ukraine. “Russia gave the bleakest assessment of its invasion, describing the ‘tragedy’ of mounting troop losses and the economic cost of sanctions,” comment on it Guardian.
According to NATO estimates, between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers were killed during the first month of the war – a death toll that would reach 30,000 to 40,000 men if one counts the wounded, prisoners and the missing.
UKRAINE. Insufficient military aid
As a new Russian offensive prepares in eastern Ukraine, Washington announced on April 5 the shipment of an additional $100 million worth of weapons and equipment, bringing its military aid to more than 1, 7 billion dollars since the beginning of the war.
Insufficient, according to New York Timeswhich believes that “Ukraine will now need longer range artillery and more sophisticated armed drones to hope to repel the Russians and drive them out of Ukraine”.
SRI LANKA. Shortages, inflation… The crisis is getting worse
The country of 22 million people, experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades, faces severe shortages of fuel and other basic necessities, as well as runaway inflation.
Demonstrations against President Gotabaya Rajapaksa are increasing, as the latter has lost his parliamentary majority. The entire government – except the president and his brother – resigned on April 3. This “raised concerns about the country’s ability to obtain IMF assistance to avoid default”, underlines the FinancialTimes.
UNITED STATES. The Supreme Court changes its face
On April 7, the US Senate approved the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, by 53 votes to 47. This 51-year-old lawyer becomes the first black woman in US history to sit on this body. .
“When she takes her place, white men will no longer be in the majority among the nine justices of the Supreme Court, underlines the washington post. Women will approach parity. This appointment does not transform our country, but it reminds us of what is possible to accomplish there.” The judge must be sworn in in June.
ISRAEL. A suspended government
From its inception, in June 2021, the ruling coalition in Israel was hanging by a thread: with 61 deputies in the Knesset out of 120, a defection was enough for Naftali Bennett to lose his majority. It’s done. On April 6, an elected official close to the Prime Minister withdrew over a dispute over a religious question, with the risk of causing new elections.
“Naftali Bennett’s government is wavering, but it is not falling despite the serious crisis it is going through”, point it Jerusalem Post. The coalition remains saved by the polls, which indicate a new deadlock in the event of an election.