TWTW: The World This Week #99

The shot heard everywhere … Everyone’s still watching Joe … Elections: Rwanda, EU, France ... Remember Taiwan? … Hamas still the target … Swimming the Seine …and Cartoonist Sherif: France on the brink

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, our last from America before heading across to Paris and the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad !

How others see America

Shot heard round the world

In most countries it was the lead story, with every possible takeaway…..

[ translations via Chrome ]

France / Le Monde

France / Le Figaro

And the lead editorial:

FIGARO EDITORIAL - The attack against the Republican candidate can only galvanize his supporters at the Milwaukee Convention, which begins Monday.

Donald Trump, his ear bloodied, having just survived an assassination attempt, stands up with his fist raised in front of a crowd of supporters chanting "USA, USA". Will the incredible moment featuring the former President of the United States and Republican Party candidate for a second term in the November 5 election be the tipping point of this insane American election campaign? It is still too early to tell. The only certainty: the champion of America First will arrive Monday at the Republican convention in Milwaukee like a gladiator in the arena. In front of galvanized supporters. In his camp, the last skeptics are rallying to him. Will emotion prevail over reason? Trapped, his rivals can only denounce the political violence that is undermining American democracy.

Germany / Süddeutsche Zeitung

Republicans make serious allegations against Biden

Anyone who had hoped for a moment of pause in the tough US election campaign after the assassination was quickly disappointed. Loyal Trump fans reacted almost immediately to the events—and heaped serious accusations on Joe Biden, the Democrats and the media.

Senator JD Vance, who many observers believe can hope to be the next vice president behind Trump, accused the Biden camp of using rhetoric that led directly to the assassination. "The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs," Vance wrote on X. The assassination cannot be viewed in isolation from this.

Republican Senator Tim Scott wrote on social media: "One thing is clear: This was an assassination attempt supported and enabled by the radical left and the media, which has incessantly called Trump a threat to democracy, a fascist, or worse."

Conservative voices in the media attacked their colleagues at a liberal broadcaster: "Almost every day, MSNBC tells its viewers that Trump is a threat to democracy, an authoritarian in waiting, a would-be dictator if no one stops him. What did they think was going to happen?" wrote conservative commentator Erick Erickson.

SDZ fails to note that many of these first reactions were retracted or erased when reason returned, to a degree, to the political arena by Sunday morning.

Israel / The Times of Israel

Poland / Wyborcza

Wyborcza columnist Waclaw Radziwinowicz, who was himself expelled from Russia in 2015 wrote:

The attack on the rally in Pennsylvania brought Moscow triple joy. Because it happened. Because it failed. Because it brings closer what the Kremlin is actually betting on in the US presidential election. From our point of view, the moment when the Republican candidate for president of the United States was shot is fatal. It erases the impression that the very successful anniversary NATO summit in Washington  made on Vladimir Putin and his people….

The attack in Pennsylvania increases hopes for the change in the situation expected by Moscow. It will increase Trump's popularity with voters, strengthen his supporters. And above all, it will increase chaos in the United States, already disrupted by the election campaign. And this is the most important thing for the Kremlin in the game for the White House.  

Russia / Pravda

Of course, the Kremlin immediately leaped to its own version of the events:

Pravda writer, Lyubov Stepushova, who is said to be personally close to President Vladimir Putin elaborated:

Washington created a terrorist state - Ukraine

The United States has raised a terrorist regime in Kyiv that is preparing terrorist attacks against the top officials of the states.

Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly stated that he wants to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin - in an interview with The Sun and several days ago, speaking at an event at the Ronald Reagan Institute in Washington.

The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists), announced that assassination attempts on the Russian leader were being prepared and regretted that the previous ones had failed.

French TV channel France 24 reported that Budanov was training a group of killers to eliminate President Emmanuel Macron , which is why he refused to visit Kiev in February.

Zelensky knows Trump will destroy him

For Ukraine, Donald Trump's rise to power is tantamount to death, and according to all polls, Trump is already inevitably winning.

The Republican presidential candidate has repeatedly stated that he has a plan for a "quick" peace in Ukraine that does not suit Zelensky. It consists of a significant reduction in aid to Kyiv—and only in the form of loans, which is inevitable bankruptcy. NATO will lose relevance under Trump since he intends to negotiate "with the strong guys—Putin and Xi. Kiev will not compromise with Russia to end the fighting," said Zelensky's office chief Andriy Yermak , assessing Trump's plan. Yermak tried to get an audience with Trump when he was in Washington in November—but failed.

Hong Kong / South China Morning Post

The SCMP had its own particular spin on the event….

SCMP correspondent Zhang Tong also reported from Beijing:

The apparent assassination attempt on former US president Donald Trump swiftly became the top trending topic on Chinese social media, drawing comparisons with other political figures killed by gunmen.

Within hours of the shooting…the topics “#Trump was shot” and “#Trump says a bullet pierced his right ear” were among the most searched on microblogging service Weibo.

The tone of the comments ranged from neutral to gloating….Others drew parallels with the 1963 death of US president John F. Kennedy and marveled at Trump’s luck. “A simple turn of his head during the speech saved him, otherwise it could have been fatal,” a commenter said.

The incident prompted some internet users to highlight the wide access to firearms in the United States and the frequent number of gun crimes.

“America is a mess, shootings happen every day. The assassination is a result of the proliferation of guns.”

Others suggested that the shooting was staged and that “after the bullet pierced his ear, he still showed his head and raised his arms to cheer”.

“Trump will make full use of this shooting and further improve his support rate,” another said.

London / The Sunday Telegraph

Finally, perhaps a first dose of reality with an appropriate ‘…’ :

Everyone's (still) watching Joe

If there is one country that sees itself in the crosshairs of Vladimir Putin once he has gobbled up Ukraine, it's Poland. So as the leaders of the 27 nations of NATO gathered in Washington for their annual summit, Marek Wałkuski, US correspondent for Polskie Radio and newly-elected president if the White House Foreign Press Group, drew the short straw as foreign pool correspondent for the day. That gave him the right, as well as the access, to take the temperature of a group of leaders largely more frantic than ever to assess just what might be the prospects for Joe Biden to continue to occupy the White House come January. Few of these NATO leadeers, it seems, were prepared to bestow a wholehearted thumbs up to his candidacy, though the competence and vision of his presidency has never been in doubt.

At one point, Wałkuski stumbled upon French President Emmanuel Macron—perhaps even more under fire than his American counterpart. The pool reporter did not let the opportunity pass. The last 10 seconds of the encounter viewable below, cut to the heart of the matter, with Macron's thin smile:

"He is the president of the United States. and we are happy to have him as president of the United States."

Hardly a ringing endorsement.

Walkuski is also a go-to expert for much of the leading Polish media. So, the day before the momentous press conference, the Warsaw daily Wyborcza asked him what he thought about Biden's prospects:

Given the enormous confusion that continues in the Democratic Party after Biden's poor performance in the debate with Trump, the latter has a better chance today. President Biden can still win, although it will be very difficult. Much will depend on the dynamics of the campaign in the next four months, until the November elections.

The worst-case scenario for the Democrats is for the campaign to be dominated by a debate about the incumbent president's physical condition. About whether Biden is fit, whether he has dementia, whether he knows what's going on around him, whether he has the strength. A four-month discussion about the president's health and possible further stumbles, which cannot be ruled out, would be deadly for them. And breaking through with programmatic topics - impossible. 

If Biden does not resign, he will be under 24-hour pressure not to make any mistakes for the rest of the election campaign. 

Of course, yes. And that's the biggest problem for Democrats and for Biden.

What about the last four years? Americans don't remember what Biden did for them?

Even if they remember, they increasingly ask what will happen next. Will it last four more years? I hear such questions every day and everywhere.

Elections 2024: Rwanda, EU, France (of course)

Rwanda: Back to the future

As correspondents Carlos Mureithi and Ignatius Ssuuna reported from Kigali in London’s Guardian :

There will be no surprises’: Kagame set to sweep to fourth term as Rwandan president. Kagame’s opponents are unlikely to mount any serious challenge in next week’s election, say analysts.

Two weeks ago Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, launched his presidential re-election campaign in front of thousands of people dressed in the blue, white and red colours of his party on a university campus in the northern district of Musanze. The former military leader is seeking a fourth term in office as Rwanda goes to the polls for presidential and parliamentary elections on Monday. A win would extend his presidency to three decades.

Given the longstanding dominance of Kagame’s party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, and widely reported cases of his administration’s stifling of criticism and open dissent, political analysts and civil society members fear that the elections will further tighten his iron-fist grip on the country of 13 million people.

Indeed, not much has changed since I first interviewed Kagame 12 years ago for World Policy Journal:

For a selection from my Conversation with Kagame, stand by for the results!

European Union: Make or break for Ursula

July 18 is D-Day for Ursula von der Leyen and her bid for a second term as the leader of the European Union.  As our SubStack colleagues David Carretta and Christian Spillmann, in their indispensable La Matinale Européenne, observed from their perch at EU headquarters:

Greens see themselves as queenmakers for Ursula von der Leyen…

The Greens group in the European Parliament was the big loser in the European elections on 9 June. A month later, despite having fewer members than in the last legislature, the Greens are aiming to be the queenmakers for Ursula von der Leyen, who will appear before the Strasbourg plenary on 18 July to ask to be nominated for a second term as Commission President. The Greens’ intentions became clear after a meeting with Ms von der Leyen herself. The Greens group, made up of 53 elected members, can provide the Commission President with the votes needed to protect her re-election against defectors in the ranks of the European People’s Party, among the Socialists and Democrats and within Renew. But the outcome is not a foregone conclusion. If she integrates the Greens into the majority, Ms von der Leyen will have to play a balancing act to avoid losing the support of a large part of the EPP.

"There is a common interest against the far right," said Terry Reintke, co-chair of the Greens. “The internal and external threat from the nationalist far right is a good excuse for the Greens to support Ms von der Leyen….We know what will happen in the autumn with the elections in the United States. Having a stable majority, having a stable EU working together constructively, is in our common interest."

In Paris, too, on July 18

Which also happens to be the day when the all-new Assemblée Nationale convenes at the Palais Bourbon in Paris…and chooses its new leader—president of the parliament—the French version of the Speaker of the House. All this while everyone waits for the other shoe to drop at the Élysée as France, Europe (and yes, the World) wait for Emmanuel Macron to choose his new prime minister.

For the moment, though, everyone is getting into the mix. Yes, even the communists, their leader, Fabien Roussel taking to X demanding:

A meeting with party leaders as quickly as possible to get out of the current deadlock. We must stop the doublespeak and the ambiguities. Everyone must show seriousness and responsibility, without hidden intentions.

But in fact, what should be a dominant left in the new parliament looks more fragmented than ever, a veritable jigsaw puzzle, as French cartoonist Kap so graphically points out:

How others see the World

Remember that other flashpoint?

China “sent a record 56 warplanes over the median line of the Taiwan Strait in a day,” the South China Morning Post reported. “A Shandong aircraft carrier strike group is also conducting drills in waters to the southeast of the island.” Reporter Liu Zhjen continued:

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 66 PLA planes and drones had been detected in the island’s air defence identification zone in the 24 hours from early on Wednesday.

Of those, it said 56 aircraft—a record high—had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, the unofficial boundary that splits the 180km (112-mile) waterway, separating the self-ruled island from mainland China.

The aircraft activity came as the PLA is conducting exercises to the east of the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, where fighter jets and helicopters have been seen taking off and landing from the Shandong aircraft carrier.

It also came as the United States and 28 allies are holding the world’s biggest international naval exercise, Rim of the Pacific (Rimpac), and sending a message to China.

Retired PLA instructor Song Zhongping said the aircraft carrier drills were about putting pressure on Taiwanese pro-independence forces and showing “external forces” like the US that the PLA was determined to bring about reunification of mainland China and Taiwan. “These coordinated operations are also about practising potential joint assault tactics for future battles against Taiwan.”

Still seeking Hamas

Another massacre in Gaza, as the BBC reported Israel’s still trying to take out Hamas’s leader:

The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 141 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes since Saturday. About 400 people have been injured…

One of the air strikes hit a designated humanitarian zone in the al-Mawasi area near Khan Younis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was targeting senior Hamas leader Mohammed Deif, but there was "no certainty" that he had been killed. An eyewitness in al-Mawasi told the BBC that it looked like an "earthquake" had hit. Videos from the area show smouldering wreckage and bloodied casualties being loaded on to stretchers.

BBC Verify has analysed footage of the aftermath of the strike, confirming that it took place within an area shown on the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) website as a humanitarian zone.

On Sunday, Israeli daily Haaretz reported:

Hamas says military chief Mohammed Deif is 'fine' after Khan Yunis attack on Saturday 

And don't forget the Olympics….

A year ago, I suggested my doubts, reflecting those of any number of my Parisian friends and neighbors, that the Seine—the magical river coursing through Paris, would be clean enough to swim in come the Olympics.

Well, that was then. Now in less than two weeks, the world’s greatest athletes will be floating down that same river for a fairytale Opening Ceremony. Is it ready? Is it going to work? Well, let’s say it’s still going to be interesting….

As the daily Le Parisien reported:

The quality of the water in the Seine was in line with bathing standards "eleven days, or ten days" out of the last twelve, said the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of the Olympic Games and the Seine, less than three weeks before the Olympic events which are to be held there.

"We hope that the weather will be a little better, but we have no concerns at all about the possible holding of the competitions, which will take place," added Pierre Rabadan, while the suspense remains over the proper holding of the marathon swimming and triathlon events.

They will be held "with adjustments if necessary," added the deputy to mayor Anne Hidalgo . "I'm not telling you that we are very confident given the weather, but we have no concerns about the ability to hold the competitions on time," the head of the Olympic Games also declared at City Hall….

Analyses have been carried out since June 1 at four separate locations: Bercy (right bank), Bras Marie, Pont Alexandre III and Bras de Grenelle. Two bacteria, indicators of fecal contamination, are tested: Escherichia coli and enterococci. If their concentration level exceeds a certain threshold (set by the European Union and sports federations), the water presents risks of gastroenteritis or conjunctivitis and is considered unfit for swimming.

And then there’s the torch … arriving on Sunday, the 14^th of July, Bastille Day, the French national holiday, carried by Colonel Thibauilt Vallette of the cadre Noir de Saumur, the French military academy, on horseback down the Champs Elysées, past the reviewing stand with President Macron, first lady Brigitte, and Prime Minister Gabriel Attal….

…before heading to our neighborhood on the Left Bank, passing in front of the National Assembly and recorded by Jean Lemery, the accomplished 14-year-old grandson of our apartment building owner and friend of 50 years, Béatrice Corpechot.

On Wednesday, we will arrive in Paris for the Olympics.

Finally, there’s …. Sherif

The great Egyptian cartoonist Sherif imagines France narrowly avoiding the brink after the second round of its elections.

Sherif Arafa, who Andelman Unleashed last published two weeks ago before the second round of France's elections, riffing on its potentially blind electorate, is also a self-help author and speaker. Arafa holds an MBA in human resources, a master's degree in applied positive psychology, and a bachelor's degree in oral and dental surgery. He left his profession as a dentist to share his vision, help develop open-mindedness, tolerance and criticize extremism in his books and drawings. He is a member of the global Paris-based collective Cartooning for Peace. 

Here’s how Sherif imagines himself (notice the teeth):