TWTW: The World This Week #102

Hostages: euphoria + fear ... Kamala gels ... Unleashed Sports: Olympics…still stunning, with reservations…Venezuela spirals...Israel on the brink…Cartoonist Kroll on children of Gaza

In this weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, we continue to explore how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world.

Today, from Paris as we head into the heart of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad

How others see America

Euphoria across America….but elsewhere?

The welcome home at Joint Base Andrews of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich and fellow prisoners was appropriately joyous, emotional, celebratory. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the families of the detained hostages racing into each other’s arms.

But elsewhere?

Similar scenes of reunion and celebration—for the arrival home of thugs and convicted murders, welcomed by their president and, yes, they had families too.

This photo was not published in Pravda, however, it was spread across three columns of France’s leading center-right newspaper, Le Figaro. The caption: “Vladimir Putin and Russian nationals liberated, Thursday, in Moscow.”

“Pact with the Devil” was the online headline of the leading Munich daily, Süddeutsche Zeitung [SDZ], which later modified it:

Just dirty—or also really good?

Berlin agrees on a prisoner deal with Moscow: A state-sponsored assassin is allowed to go in order to get Germans released from arbitrary Russian detention. A pro and a con.

What is particularly disgusting is that the German government had to release a man who committed a murder in Berlin five years ago on behalf of the Kremlin. Otherwise, all the people who were in Russian camps on trumped-up charges would not have been released; otherwise a German would probably have been executed in Belarus on suspicion of terrorism. Has a murderer ever been granted such a privilege in Germany as this one?

A commentary by SDZ’s Ronen Steinke suggested that Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who agreed to liberate convicted FSB assassin Vadim Krasikov may have his work cut out for him in Germany’s fraught domestic political atmosphere:

The major war criminal and godfather of contract killers Vladimir Putin has just triumphed. He has found a way to get away with a political murder, committed in broad daylight in the middle of Berlin, without being punished.

If the German government had stuck to its original position, contract killers should be punished in accordance with the rule of law, regardless of whether they have very rich or very powerful friends somewhere, and that "offers" from Moscow will not change that. But it worked. Because the German government finally softened its position and agreed to Moscow's new business model. And that now means it is only a matter of time before Putin does the same again….

The fact that things are so connected from now on is also a consequence of the German government's decision to play along in this game.

And to hammer the point home, SDZ turned to one of those liberated—"against his will”….

The opposition politician Ilya Yashin, who was also exchanged, said that he had personally thanked Chancellor Olaf Scholz for the difficult decision to hand over the convicted murderer Krassikov in order to free opponents of Kremlin leader Putin. At the same time, he stressed that he had been exchanged against his will.

The prison system ignored his request to leave him in his homeland. "What happened on August 1 was not an exchange. It was my expulsion from Russia against my will. My first wish in Ankara was to buy a ticket and return to Russia," he said. He warned that the move would encourage President Vladimir Putin to take more "political prisoners."

And why now? Scholz certainly played a central role. Putin clearly recognized that if the deal was not done now, Scholz would never have done this for Donald Trump. Putin could not risk a roll-of-the-dice on a Trump presidency to bring his favorite assassin home. As Scholz said quite plainly in May, when Biden was still a candidate, "I think the current president is better, so I want him to be re-elected."

It was left to Le Monde to highlight on its front page, “Exchange of prisoners with Russia: a diplomatic success with a bitter taste”….

All this highlights the perhaps starker reality—on two fronts. The war in Ukraine continues, all but unabated though increasingly forgotten, and Putin is still unquestionably in charge in Russia, perhaps more powerful if not more popular than ever. And then there are those forgotten left behind. Our dear friend SubStack’s Mikhail Zygar, who escaped from Russia two hours before the FSB arrived to seize him on the heels of the Russian invasion of Ukraine….

Zygar’s Tee … “Everyone is free”

….explained in his The Last Pioneer newsletter:

 Today is a very happy and very sad day. Happy because so many hostages of Putin's regime have gained freedom…. I am very happy that some of the hostages, including Russian citizens who were captured solely because of their honesty and courage, have been freed. They stood against the war in Ukraine and fought for freedom. Just yesterday, I feared that some of them would end their lives in prison….

But even on such a day, I cannot stop thinking about the thousands of people who remain in Putin's prisons. About the poet Zhenya Berkovich. About the politician 63-year-old Alexei Gorinov, who protested against the war from the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine—and is now dying in prison. About Daniil Kholodny—an IT specialist who was imprisoned for 8 years for creating a website for Alexei Navalny. About thousands of other people.

I do not call them all “hostages” by chance.

And then, there’s Kamala

The big question riveting much of the world is who Kamala will choose for her #2. 

Joe Biden made sure Harris was at his right (well, okay, his left) hand as the pair greeted the returning, freed hostages at Joint Base Andrews before dawn in Maryland.

But at the top of the ticket will still be Kamala, expected by Tuesday to name her vice president after this weekend of interviewing every prospect, so it should not go unremarked that The Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour reported:

Kamala Harris, if she is elected, will be a downgrade in terms of knowledge of foreign affairs and foreign leaders, even after what would be an intensive apprenticeship. That does not mean she is a novice.

She has been slowly building her foreign policy portfolio, speaking in Britain at an AI conference organised by Rishi Sunak. She attended the 2023 Asean summit in Biden’s stead.

For three years in succession she led the US delegation to the Munich Security Conference, in what was clearly an attempt to broaden her knowledge and introduce her to Europe. At the last conference she had to respond to the news of the death of Alexei Navalny, and sent a message back home that “isolation is not insulation”. It was a message of continuity with Biden that she will have to deploy in the months ahead with greater force than the president can now muster.

In Poland, readers of the leading Warsaw daily Wyborcza heard Maciej Czarnecki, an editor of the paper’s World section, with his own view of Donald Trump’s prospects, particularly after “a few unforced errors” during his Q&A at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago:

The former president is trying to improve his ratings among African Americans, but [this] meeting is unlikely to help. The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) question-and-answer panel for Trump in Chicago was a heated one, with the former president expecting tough questions from the start, but he added a few unforced errors of his own.

His staff signalled that the performance had to be ended after just 34 minutes. Trump's words about Kamala Harris resonated the loudest.

"She's always been of Indian descent, she's only promoted her Indian descent. I didn't know she was black until a few years ago. I don't know: is she Indian or black?" the Republican pontificated. Harris’ mother came to the U.S. from India, her father from Jamaica. The Democrat has long spoken about both parts of her identity. 

[Moreover] Trump accused the organizers of poorly prepared audio equipment—it seemed that during the meeting he actually had problems understanding some questions. However…the main reason for the delay was behind-the-scenes discussions: the former president did not agree to broadcast a live fact-check of his statements.

During Trump’s appearance at a rally in Pennsylvania on Wednesday night (shortly after his Chicago appearance), there was a hint of irritation in his voice as he referred to the Democrat.

"Four weeks ago, she was considered the worst. And suddenly she's the new Margaret Thatcher," Trump said.

Unleashed Sports

All over France

The Olympics rolled into its second weekend with France and much of the world thrilled by the multi-venued spectacle. The French, especially, were riveted by one young swimming champion who Le Monde has dubbed “Dream Merchant”…

Once again Olympic champion in the 200-meter medley, the 22-year-old swimmer won his fourth gold medal in six days on Friday, in a specialty often disdained because of its difficulty and to which Léon Marchand is restoring its nobility.

On Friday, August 2, the former shy man opened his arms wide as he left the pool to savor the crowd's ovation before listening, closing his eyes for a moment, to the chant "Marchand, Marchand" becoming one with the "marchons, marchons" [let’s march let’s march] during La Marseillaise, his fourth time in six days. Beside him, the British Duncan Scott (silver) and the Chinese Shun Wang (bronze) were almost embarrassed to have invited themselves onto the podium of the 200 m medley.

There was also the hold-your-breath moment when Olympic organizers decided that the waters of the Seine, after a one-day delay, had suddenly and miraculously become clean enough to welcome the first leg of the Triathlon. But as we stood on the Boulevard Saint Germain to watch the women come racing past on the second leg of this towering challenge, none really seemed very much the worse for wear….

Video / David A. Andelman

In some sports, China was all over the medal rounds. Take women’s table tennis singles, two Chinese phenomena going quite literally head-to-head for the gold. In the end, as the website of the International Table Tennis Federation chronicled it:

Chen Meng successfully defended her Olympic women’s singles title, defeating world #1 Sun Yingsha in a thrilling final. The 2nd seed star emerged victorious with a 4-2 (4-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6) win, joining an elite group of players to win back-to-back Olympic gold medals in table tennis, following in the footsteps of Deng Yaping (1992, 1996) and Zhang Yining (2004, 2008). [That’s two other Chinese aces in a sport for which China really has no peer.]  The match was a showcase of exceptional talent, with both players pushing each other to the limit. Sun Yingsha, despite the valiant effort, the gold medal continues to elude her.

Indeed, the stands were packed with Chinese. We were among four westerners in our entire section. While many traveled from mainland China, our two neighbors had come from Singapore where they were members of the dominant overseas Chinese community. Shouts of Jiāohuǒ [‘fight’] echoed loudly through the packed stands after every point, though just as suddenly, as soon as the server readied her paddle, you could hear a pin drop or a pingpong ball hit a racket a thousand feet away. And they went crazy when Chen clinched the gold-medal point.

Video / David A. Andelman

The Chinese love and deeply respect this sport. Its stars are national heroes, whose fans travel with their promotional brochures in their handbags.

Silver medalist / World #1  Sun Yingsha

Finally, while the French may be proud of the spectacle being presented to the world by the “incredibly popular fervor” surrounding the spectacle of the XXXIII Olympiad in their front yard….

….it still seems to be coming at some cost….as Germany’s DW reported:

Paris’ historic Marais district, which usually draws hordes of tourists to its chic boutiques, museums, and restaurants, seems quite empty these days. Tourism in the French capital is facing a downturn, as visitors avoid one of the world’s most visited cities during the Olympics.

“The second half of July has been absolutely catastrophic for cafes and bars in Paris,” Remi Calmon, director of SNEG and Co, a trade union representing food and beverage businesses in the French capital. “The streets are deserted; the Parisians have fled. We had metal barriers fencing in cafe terraces in restricted zones for the opening ceremony,  blocking the view. Some roads and metro stations are closed, resulting in few to no clients.”

Particularly hard-hit restaurants were those located inside high-security zones close to the Seine, subjected to a near-lockdown for days before the lavish opening ceremony. Restaurant owners have seen sales plunge more than 50%. Some are concerned about paying rent and salaries. “It’s brought back bad memories of the Covid-era,” said Calmon.

An Unleashed First !

Andelman Unleashed has unleashed new, paid tiers. And this

Friday, for our (lightly) paid subscribers, we offered our second Unleashed Conversation via Zoom….an hour, this time again from Paris…which means:

6 pm Paris, Europe, Africa

Noon US eastern time

9 am in San Francisco

1 pm in Hong Kong, Beijing, Singapore

So DO sign up…you’ll get a link…and we’ll have fun!

Elections 2024: Venezuela, a week after

Unsurprisingly, Venezuela’s autocratic leader, Nicolas Maduro, claimed a narrow victory in his bid for re-election as president, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The nation began spiraling into even further chaos. As Al Jazeera’s Mie Hoejris Dahl reported from Caracas:

A mini-truck—its cargo bed set up like a small stage—paraded through the streets of Caracas, emblazoned with a simple phrase: “He won.” That truck carried opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, one of two people claiming victory in last week’s presidential election.

But on the other side of town, that same day, a government rally was telling a different version of events. There, the incumbent Nicolas Maduro appeared on the balcony of the Miraflores presidential palace to thank his supporters for propelling him to re-election. They joined him in a rendition of the national anthem.

Both sides maintained they had triumphed. But their celebrations were overshadowed as waves of protest and repression gripped the country. Venezuela’s attorney general, a Maduro ally, announced 749 “criminals” had been arrested during the demonstrations, on charges ranging from terrorism to obstructing public roadways. The human rights group Foro Penal estimated 11 had been killed…

In the days after the vote, Gonzalez and Machado also announced they had access to more than 80 percent of the tally sheets from the nearly 30,000 voting machines used in the election. Those results, they said, proved Gonzalez was the winner, with 67% of the vote compared with Maduro’s 30%.

If true, that would make Gonzalez’s win the biggest in more than 70 years — matched only by Maduro’s claims to victory in 2018, in another race marred by allegations of fraud. Maduro, however, has called the opposition’s claims tantamount to attempting to overthrow the government. “An attempt is being made to impose a coup d’etat in Venezuela again of a fascist and counterrevolutionary nature,” Maduro said on state TV.

The Carter Center, one of the few organisations Maduro allowed to observe the elections, also offered a harsh rebuke to the government. It blamed the Venezuelan authorities for a “complete lack of transparency”.

And the United States formally recognized Gonzalez as the president of Venezuela, setting the stage for a monumental confrontation.

How others see the World

The next world war….starts here?

The Israeli daily Haaretz has a particularly bitter take on a reality that appears to be setting in following two assassinations of terrorist leaders, one in the heart of Tehran. Netanyahu is taking it as the occasion for a victory lap—a potentially catastrophic error as Amos Harel explains…

Haniyeh's Assassination Made It Clear: Israeli Hostages Are Not at Top of Netanyahu's Agenda

Despite the danger of escalation, the killing of Hamas' politburo chief has improved the Israeli prime minister's standing. He could use it to oust Defense Minister Gallant, who backs a deal that includes a cease-fire….The clutch of assassination victims this week—Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and confirmation on Thursday that the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, had indeed been killed last month in Khan Yunis—has sparked a new regional upheaval….

The chances of a hostage deal being completed, despite the defense establishment's declared support for it, are now close to nil given the changes to the regional order.

Regarding the hostage deal, it's evident that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has his own agenda, and bringing the hostages home is not at the top of it. The prime minister is interested in continuing to pursue the war in Gaza without any change in the allocation of forces operating there against Hamas and without pulling troops from…two corridors in the enclave now occupied by the IDF.

In his statements, the prime minister speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Last week in Washington, he hinted to the hostage families that there had been progress in talks on a deal for their loved ones' release. At the same time, without blinking, he hardened his demands in the negotiations in a way that would ensure they became deadlocked. 

Moreover, the assassination was carried out in Tehran, not in Qatar where Haniyeh lives and where he has led the talks with Israelis and Americans over a ceasefire and hostage deal….so as not offend the sensibilities of the rulers of Qatar.

Haaretz is especially concerned about the future of Israel itself….

And then there’s la cuisine….

Then there was the food, several French papers picking up on complaints spiraling across the Olympic village that’s been serving up 40,000 meals a day to athletes—who require nourishing food, often in some quantities—in a restaurant seating 3,300 at any given moment. Not surprisingly, it was all about the food….as the daily Le Parisien pointed out:

"The atmosphere is very nice, but the food is not": what athletes think of the Olympic Village canteen

Among the 14,000 residents of the Olympic village, opinions differ: some are enjoying themselves in the canteen while others are hard-core and denounce qualitative and quantitative inadequacies.

"It's not really French cuisine in the village like you can eat outside," explained the American gymnast Simone Biles….

Andy Anson, president of the British Olympic Committee, had already pointed out quantities deemed insufficient of carbohydrates, eggs, and white meat before underlining a lack of cooking of red meat encountered by some of his champions. In reaction, the British athletes decided to eat a few kilometers from the Olympic village, at the HQ of their delegation, where a special cook officiates, British of course, and brought in from London.

Le Monde went even further:

It was supposed to be the "greatest restaurant in the world" and the showcase of French gastronomy. But the athletes' canteen in the Olympic village has been subject to recurring criticism from certain foreign delegations. Small portions, lack of taste, too little protein, insufficient pasta rations, etc., the criticisms have been flying since the opening of the refectory in Saint-Denis.

Finally, there’s …. Kroll

The great Belgian cartoonist Kroll imagines two small children in a place like Gaza, reflecting on their future:

“When I grow up, I’m going to die for Fatah.”

“Me for Hamas.”

Pierre Kroll is a Belgian cartoonist, born in 1958 in Congo, two years before its liberation from colonial Belgium. An architect and graduate in environmental sciences, he became a cartoonist in 1985. Today he is the official cartoonist for the Belgian daily Le Soir and the weekly Ciné-Télé-Revue, and he also draws live every Wednesday evening on RTBF in the weekly, televised political debate show À votre avis. For 25 years, Les Arènes has published an annual collection of his best drawings. In 2015, he added a string to his bow: the stage. He toured the biggest Belgian venues (and even Paris and the Congo capital, Kinshasa) with his first show where he tried to explain with humor the challenges of his profession.

He is a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium and the global Paris-based collective Cartooning for Peace.

Here’s how Kroll imagines himself: