IRAN
The uprising spreads
State television hacked, universities on strike and four weeks of demonstrations: in Iran, the uprising against the regime is gaining momentum, despite repression and a hundred deaths. “Although it is still too early to predict the outcome of the protest movement, there is no doubt that the point of no return has been reached for the Iranian authorities, indicates the Lebanese newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour. scenes unfolding on the streets of the country are on a scale not seen since 2009, when the green revolution failed.” Several countries, including France, have called on their nationals to leave Iran.
NORWAY
A Nobel Peace Prize against Putin
On October 7, Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70th birthday and, from Oslo, the Nobel committee offered its most prestigious reward to the opponents of the Russian president: the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine, the Belarusian opponent Alès Bialiatski and the NGO Russian Memorial received the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize. “This prize was awarded only to personalities critical of Putin”, points out the information site Politico, which evokes a “birthday gift” poisoned for the Russian leader. The Nobel committee stressed that this prize aims to “demonstrate the importance of civil society for peace and democracy”.
HAITI
A fight back against gangs
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres asked the Security Council on October 9 for the immediate deployment of soldiers to Haiti to help the country regain control of its ports. “Since mid-September, a powerful coalition of heavily armed gangs, led by a former police officer, has blocked access to Haiti’s main fuel terminal and roads. This blockade is causing a severe shortage of fuel and drinking water. at a time when the country is experiencing an upsurge in cholera,” warns The Miami Herald. The Security Council will meet on October 21 on this subject.
THAILAND
A massacre in a nursery awakens the fight against drugs
A whole country in shock. A former Thai policeman killed 36 people, including 23 children, in a nursery Thursday, October 6 in Na Klang. “This unprecedented attack has shaken Thailand, where mass killings are rare, and sparked calls for tougher action on drugs,” notes the Guardian. In question: the profile of the author of the attack, who had been dismissed in June from the police because of his addiction to methamphetamine. In the aftermath, the Thai Prime Minister “ordered the police to urgently crack down on illegal drugs and bring users to receive treatment”, adds the daily.
CZECH REPUBLIC
The CPE, a new European player
In vain, François Mitterrand had fought for the creation of a European Confederation, complementary to the European Union. Taken up by Emmanuel Macron, this idea gave birth, in Prague, on October 6, to the European Political Community (EPC), with 44 member states. “To do what ?” asks the Süddeutsche Zeitung, however, recalling that “there is no shortage of organizations and forums where Europeans can talk to each other”. In fact, the exact role that the EPC, which includes countries as different as Iceland and Azerbaijan, will be able to play remains to be determined.
UKRAINE
Explosion damages Crimean Bridge
The explosion that damaged the bridge linking Crimea to Russia on October 8 represents a “personal humiliation” for Vladimir Putin, notes the Financial Times. Above all, it considerably restricts the supply of troops and weapons in the peninsula annexed in 2014, especially since the land route is “difficult to cross”, with “rare and spaced out railway lines, mainly single-track”, underlines the daily. In retaliation, the head of the Kremlin sent the next day a rain of missiles on several Ukrainian cities, including the capital, kyiv.
ALGERIA
For a “sustainable partnership” with France
The thinning seems to last between Paris and Algiers. Less than two months after Emmanuel Macron’s visit, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne traveled to Algeria on October 9 and 10 in the company of 16 ministers. Once is not custom, it was not a question of memory during this trip, but of the “renewed partnership” on the economic and cultural levels. The holding of the High-Level Intergovernmental Committee, for the first time in five years, is in itself “a sign that Algeria and France are determined to turn the page on the episodes of estrangement”, notes the daily TSA.
