TWTW: The World This Week / Episode #79

Trump again…fear in Europe…Elections (of a sort) in Senegal & Belarus…unrest in Congo…the world remembers Ukraine…cinema prizes…donkeys in peril…& cartoonist Chappatte on Putin's presents

This weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, continues on its mission 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.

Elections 2024:  South Carolina, Belarus

As pledged, Andelman Unleashed will continue to chronicle every election everywhere in the world. But our pledge has, largely, been restricted to national elections, though we have deviated from that path for epiphanal state contests in Germany and in India, in both cases watched carefully from beyond their borders. Now, another election has taken on a life of its own that stretches far beyond the borders of the single southern state of South Carolina—so it would be worth looking at how Donald Trump's hardly unanticipated 59.8% to 39.5% victory over Nikki Haley in South Carolina has been remarked and chronicled far beyond the United States.

Several international media were savvy enough to point out that Haley did slightly better in the results than polls had earlier predicted. Indeed, Paris daily Le Monde’s savvy Washington correspondent Piotr Smolar pointed out:

According to a new Marquette Law School poll, Nikki Haley would beat Joe Biden by an impressive margin (58% to 42%) in a November duel. Even if this projection is fictitious, it arouses a form of frustration for the former governor. She knows that her rallying abilities at the polls are stronger than those of Trump.

London’s Financial Times carried a most introguing voting map:

Most pointed out, like London’s Sunday Times:

Donald Trump wins South Carolina primary but Nikki Haley fights on

What is intriguing? The FT’s map suggests that Haley did carry the more upscale and better-educated areas of Columbia, Charleston and the coast. Still, Smolar had visited what he observed as “the Republican section of Greenville County” the day before voting began and finds himself drawn into the action after a small rally:

The French reporter was asked, in an affable tone, if he had anything to say in conclusion. We tried a poll. “Who among you will vote for Trump?” All hands were raised….“Who among you has a higher education degree?” Amazement. More than half of the participants. “The Trumpists are not the toothless rednecks that the media portray,” notes the session chair, Yvonne Julian, with satisfaction.

Still as the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported:

The former president's path to success in his party's primaries appears to be unchecked. But competitor Nikki Haley doesn't give up. Now the attention turns to Super Tuesday….

And then there's Belarus, with a single autocratic leader, Alexander Lukashenko, poised to cement again his control over every aspect of politics and life in this nation where he has proved himself to be unchallenged. As German news agency Deutsche Welle [DW] observed:

"Regardless of how many people take part in these elections, they will be considered valid. In contrast to previous elections, there is no minimum participation rate…. Of the 16 political parties in existence in 2020, only four remain and all of these have expressed their full support for Lukashenko…

Polling booths have no privacy curtains, and voters have even been prohibited from taking photos of their ballot papers. Moreover, Belarusians residing abroad were no longer allowed vote in embassies, a new rule set to disenfranchise more than 1.8 million people.

Sunday morning, with a trickle of voters heading to the polls, Al Jazeera reported:

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has held power since 1994, says he intends to seek re-election next year, which could extend his grip on the country to 36 years.

Lukashenko … & (nervous?) friends

He spoke on Sunday as the country, a neighbour and ally of Russia, held tightly controlled parliamentary and local elections decried as a sham by the opposition, which dismissed the balloting as a “senseless farce”.

The entire process was denounced by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leading opposition figure but in exile in neighboring Lithuania [click to hear her commentary]:

How others see America

Fear and desperation abroad, certainly in Europe…

….could well lead to an all but unthinkable demands for self-sufficiency—free of any help from the United States. Irrelevance is a refrain I touched on in some depth in my CNN column this week:

Europe is moving away from America and toward self-sufficiency…. Madeline Albright famously called America the “indispensable nation.” Is former President Donald Trump making America the irrelevant nation?

Or, in a hardly oblique reference to Trump's remark that he'd encourage Vladimir Putin to invade any NATO nation that was not scrimping to devote 2% of its GDP to its military, the great German news magazine Der Spiegel observed:

NATO, of course, is not a [debt] collection agency.

At the same time, The Economist of London has its own, somewhat frightening take on the elections now more than eight months away:

Those who wish to see Trump jailed soon will be disappointed. The flimsiest of the cases is set to go first, and all face delays. The prosecutors trying to convict Donald Trump face a highly unusual deadline. Retaking the presidency would offer Mr Trump his best escape from jeopardy: once back in the White House, he would be able to squelch or pause the four criminal cases lodged against him. Hence prosecutors’ urgency—and a public interest—in concluding those trials before November. Miss that opportunity and he may never be held accountable in a court of law for his alleged crimes. The 91 felony charges against Mr Trump are both serious and picaresque. 

But especially, there is The Economist's conclusion:

Over the next eight months the American justice system will be tested by Mr Trump’s defiance and delay. How that system performs will provide a measure of its own integrity and resilience. It will also determine whether a candidate who sneers at the rule of law is able to manoeuvre his way past the charges against him long enough to win in November and become a law unto himself. 

How others see the World

En Afrique…unrest and more

Elections 24: Senegal  …. There may actually be elections in Senegal, and without Macky Sall, who's ruled in one fashion or other for the past two decades. Sall, who postponed to December elections originally set for this month—a delay torpedoed by the nation's constitutional court—reversed himself in a nationally televised interview….sort of….

As the magazine Jeune Afrique asked:

Who will Macky Sall talk to?

The Senegalese head of state called for the opening, on February 26, of “national consultations” to determine the date and modalities of the presidential election. Problem: almost all of the candidates refuse to participate.

“Masquerade”, “fool’s game”, “diversion attempt”… There was no shortage of qualifiers, the day after the intervention of Macky Sall, who called for two days of “national consultations” to set the date of the presidential election. On February 23, during a joint press conference, 16 of the 19 candidates selected by the Constitutional Council announced that they refused to take part in this dialogue.

But that's not all. The Soufan Center had already reported in its IntelBrief, even before Macky Sall made his statement that seemed to satisfy few:

Violent clashes between protestors and the police erupted in cities throughout Senegal….Primarily young demonstrators clashed with Senegalese security forces, resulted in at least three dead and hundreds reportedly arrested across the country, including journalists.

The political instability, coupled with the widespread disillusionment by youth with the government and political elites, heightens the risk of violent extremist or terrorist activity potentially spilling across the border, particularly from neighboring Mali. 

And then there's the Democratic Republic of Congo. There is another sort of unrest in the DRC. As Africa News observed:

Extremist rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed at least two dozen civilians in separate attacks this week….In North Kivu province, Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels, who have links to the Islamic State, killed at least 11 people with machetes and guns in Beni.

Civilians have also been targeted in their homes, and the death toll is higher because some people are missing. Violence has been brewing for years in eastern DRC, where around 120 armed groups are fighting for power, land, minerals or the security of their communities.

All UN peacekeeping forces are slated to withdraw from the DRC by later this year despite the continued expansion of the most toxic group operating on the ground across eastern Congo—the feared M23 guerrillas who happen to be backed by neighboring Rwanda. It's quite a virulent mix.

Still, this week, the US Ambassador to the DRC, Lucy Tamlyn, made her first trip to the region—visiting the military governor of North Kivu, General Peter Cirimwami, to pledge at least moral support. DRC photojournalist Justin Kabumba accompanied the ambassador.

With armed forces hovering in the background of their encounter, the ambassador assured General Cirimwami of American "humanitarian response." It has seemed pretty clear, though, that what he really needs is western military assistance, something he's unlikely to get as the UN has plans to withdraw its remaining 13,000 peacekeepers by December. As The Rwandan, an independent daily in Kigali, reported:

“Our position is to resolve this conflict while at the same time, help the victims. We are the foremost donor regarding humanitarian response and also the first country to denounce the aggression that the DRC suffers from Rwanda,” Tamlyn stated in a press briefing.

Any resoluton, of course, remains to be seen.

How could we not remember …

Two years ago, this weekend, Russian forces invaded the independent, democratic nation of Ukraine. The world has certainly not forgotten:

Le Monde of Paris: Europe diverges on the level of the Russian menace

Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland: “Praise Ukraine….The war has been going on for two years. What awaits Ukrainians, their friends and Russians?”

Frankfurter Allgemeine, Germany

The Telegraph, London

La Stampa, Italy: Ukrainian martyrdom

Asahi Shimbun, Japan

Pravda, Russia, celebrates Army/Navy day:

 "On this 106th anniversary of the creation of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army and Fleet, we had hoped the atrocities of Nazism would forever be a thing of the past. However today, the newly-minted fascists…incited by the imperialist West, have launched a war against the Russian world, a bloody massacre in fraternal Ukraine. And again, our valiant army is forced to defend the freedom and independence of our beloved Motherland. Low bow to you for your valiant service to the Fatherland, to our glorious victorious army on this significant date."

And finally….from Kyiv, Ukrainian Pravda:

Israel, Gaza…on the ropes?

It's a truce that most seem anxious to embrace. But how to get there? Jonathan Lis, diplomatic correspondent for  the authoritative Israeli daily Haaretz reported:

Israel's war cabinet will discuss the proposal for a hostage release deal presented in Paris over the phone with representatives of the U.S., Egypt, and Qatar; Hamas has yet to respond to the proposed deal.

The proposal broadly reflects the positions adopted by Israel in recent months: Around 40 hostages, including women, the elderly, the ill, and the wounded would be released alongside a six-week pause in the fighting as the first stage in the deal.

Israel is willing to compromise on most of the issues at hand, including humanitarian aid and the prisoners that would be released in exchange, but will not commit to ending the war.

Israel's war cabinet members are expected to examine whether to express support for the proposal publicly or wait for Hamas to agree first. A senior political source said Saturday night that Israel and Hamas are still far from reaching a deal, but that Hamas had dropped some of its previous demands.

So, wait….the US, Egypt, and Qatar are meeting on this in Paris. Then, they're dialing in Israel and its "war cabinet." And then they’re hoping Hamas will just buy in on it all?  Stand by.

Then, vive les Césars !

They invariably precede America's Oscars, but the French cinema world gathered at Paris's cavernous Olympia Theater Friday night to award its "palmaires"—laureates of the francophone film world. We used to go to Castel's, the private supper club of Maurice Castel on the rue Princesse just off the Place Saint-Germain on Paris's left bank to which le tout Paris would repair following the awards celebration and party the night away to Cristal and caviar. This year, one film walked away with the bulk of the honors—the same that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. And then there was one star who took the opportunity to declaim against the way women are (still) treated in French moviedom.

As France Culture reported:

In a ceremony where women played the leading role, Anatomie d'une Chute [Anatomy of a Fall] by Justine Triet won six Césars. Justine Triet is only the second woman to win the prize for best achievement in 49 ceremonies. “I would like to dedicate this César to all women, those who feel stuck in their choices, in their solitude,” underlined the director. Agnès Jaoui, another celebrated filmmaker, received an honorary César, the seventh of her career. In total, 15 women were recognized during the ceremony, obtaining more than half of the awards. 

But it was left to actress Judith Godrèche to suggest that, as France Culture continued, "a wind of revolt is blowing across French cinema." Her words were truly moving ….. [click the photo!]:

As the Paris daily Le Figaro described the moment:

9:30 p.m. The Olympia holds its breath. Ariane Ascaride announces the arrival of Judith Godrèche. The actress, who had kept her presence secret, was greeted with an ovation, in front of a standing audience. “It’s complicated to find myself in front of all of you this evening. There are so many of you, but deep down I imagine that it had to happen, face to face, eye to eye. Many of you have seen me grow up. It's impressive. It marks. Basically, I knew nothing other than cinema. I am a crowd, a crowd facing you. A crowd looking you in the eye tonight. It’s a funny moment for us, isn’t it?” declaimed the actress in a speech that was part poem, part manifesto.

Six years ago, Godrèche, who Le Figaro described as "the standard-bearer of #MeToo in French cinema," had already accused Harvey Weinstein (clearly an indiscriminate violator of various nationalities) of having assaulted her at the Cannes Film Festival in 1996 when she was just 24 years old, yet already a star of the French film world.

A night later, at the Berlin Film Festival, as The Guardian reported:

The 2024 Berlinale might not have been as turbulent as Cannes 68, but given the state of the world, mere movie talk risked seeming frivolous. This year’s festival was prefaced by the controversial inviting, then disinviting, of politicians from Germany’s far-right Alternative für Deutschland party to the opening ceremony. It was also marked by pro-Palestine demonstrations and by complaints from festival staff that the Berlinale was not taking a clear stance on the Gaza conflict. 

Berlin was also the first major festival to introduce gender-neutral awards, one each simply for best leading performance, best supporting. The Awards:

Best film: On the Adamant, a French documentary by director Nicolas Philibert

Best leading: Sofía Ogtero, youngest ever winner playing an 8-year-old who begins to transition in Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren's 20,000 Species of Bees

Best supporting: German trans actress Thea Ehre in Til the End of the Night

Best director: Philippe Garrel of France for The Plough featuring his own real-life children playing three child puppeteers

And then, wonder where all those donkeys have gone?

Seems, according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, which keeps an eye on these things, "there's an all but insatiable appetite in China for ejiao—which is said to improve vigour, enrich the blood and have anti-ageing properties." Where’s the only source for this? 

The skins of donkeys, as it turns out. You really can't get these skins without executing the donkeys. The SCMP's first Africa correspondent, Jevans Nyabiage, picks up the story:

Africa has banned the slaughter of donkeys for their skins, dealing a significant blow to China’s lucrative market for ejiao, a traditional medicine made from a gelatin extracted from the hides….This [demand] has obliterated China’s own donkey population, leading to huge export industries in Africa and South America.

Donkey hides

But African Union (AU) heads of state ratified a 15-year ban on the donkey skin trade. Animal welfare organizations welcomed the decision as an “historic moment”…. Africa is home to about 2/3rds of the world’s donkeys. Ethiopia—with nearly 100 million animals—is said to be the “world’s donkey superpower”. Sudan, Pakistan and Chad are also among the world’s top producers.

Tanzania and Ivory Coast have already banned the trade, while Kenya closed four Chinese-owned slaughterhouses in 2020 in response to increasing cases of donkey theft. Across the Atlantic in Brazil, a bill to ban donkey and horse slaughter was passed by both the agricultural and environmental commissions of the Congress. Brazil is one of China’s biggest markets for donkey skins, but the animal also holds cultural significance for the Brazilian people. The bans in Brazil and Africa will effectively cut off China’s supply from two of the biggest markets in the trade.

Finally, there’s Chappatte….

The great Swiss cartoonist Chappatte shows a Russian general celebrating the second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "Two years," the cake reads. "You shouldn't have," Putin responds.

Patrick Chappatte, who Andelman Unleashed last published in July, riffing on climate change, is the son of a Swiss father and Lebanese mother. Born in 1967 in Karachi, Pakistan, he began working for Swiss newspapers, currently dividing his time between Geneva and Los Angeles. He draws regularly for p. 1 of the Geneva daily Le Temps as well as Zurich’s Neue Zürcher Zeitung and frequently for Le Monde in Paris. In 2012 he became the first non-American to win the Thomas Nast Award of the Overseas Press Club of America. And with the Le Monde cartoonist Plantu he founded the inestimable Cartooning for Peace collective.

Here’s how Chappatte imagines himself: