Erin Conway-Smith, FP
The sudden evaporation of support puts Zuma in uncharted waters. William Gumede, chairman of the Democracy Works Foundation, a Johannesburg-based think tank, said that no other South African president has faced such a broad-based revolt. When former President Thabo Mbeki was asked to step down by the ANC in 2008, a request to which he acquiesced, it was due to his unpopularity within the party. What we are seeing with Zuma now is inside and outside the party, Gumede said. Читать дальше...
Zack Beauchamp, Vox
The Petrobras scandal exposed the true scale of Brazil's corruption problem. It implicated the leaders of Brazil's largest state-owned company, its biggest construction firms, and political leaders from across the political spectrum. It exposed elite corruption on a level that, even in Brazil, was previously unimaginable.
Eliane Brum, The Guardian
Brazils crisis is not only political and economic, it is also one of identity. Since the 2013 protests the cliched images that stare back at the country when it looks in the mirror no longer ring true. When people with differing opinions must be separated by an actual wall to keep them from attacking each other, it spells the death of the stereotype of a cordial and hospitable people who had supposedly overcome racism and inequalities without any confrontations. Perhaps... Читать дальше...
Julian Pecquet, Al-Monitor
Despite forcefully pleading their case in meetings with the Obama administration, Congress and think tanks, they came away with little to show for it beyond inexpensive expressions of gratitude. A bailout, lawmakers said, is simply not in the cards.
Ben Taub, The New Yorker
The investigator in Syria had made the drive perhaps a hundred times, always in the same battered truck, never with any cargo. It was forty miles to the border, through eleven rebel checkpoints, where the soldiers had come to think of him as a local, a lawyer whose wartime misfortunes included a commute on their section of the road. Sometimes he brought them snacks or water, and he made sure to thank them for protecting civilians like himself. Now, on a summer afternoon... Читать дальше...
James Kirchick, Politico EU
As if to confirm the stereotype that Germans lack a sense of humor, Chancellor Angela Merkel last week allowed a legal case to proceed against a comedian accused of “insulting” the president of Turkey.
Konrad Yakabuski, Globe & Mail
The outcome of next year’s presidential vote is as unpredictable as the weather on April 23, 2017, the likely date of the election’s first round. The French right is as deeply divided as the left, with Republicans split over former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s attempted comeback. And far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen has her own problems and may have peaked too soon.
Adam Minter, Bloomberg View
China is determined to become the low-emissions electric-car capital of the world. Unfortunately, its car buyers aren't cooperating.
Gamal Eid, New York Times
CAIRO On Wednesday, three judges in Cairo will decide whether to allow prosecutors to pursue their case against me and my co-defendant, the journalist and human rights advocate Hossam Bahgat, in the governments continuing attack on nongovernmental organizations in Egypt. The case against me has centered on my role in founding the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, which aims to educate the Egyptian public about their civil and human rights.
Thanassis Cambanis, NY Times
Syria, one of the most important states in the Arab world, has cracked up, and no peace settlement can put it back together.
Jacopo Barigazzi, Politico EU
Matteo Renzi faces a rough few weeks as a corruption scandal erodes his public support and his party stares down in local elections in Rome, Milan and Naples that could result in embarrassing defeats.
John Rentoul, Independent
Cameron deserved more credit than he was given for winning last year’s election. It wasn’t possible, they said, for a governing party to increase its share of the vote. The opinion polls said so too. He showed steel, focus, self-belief and a deep understanding of the British people. He earned the right to impose his vision on the country and, at last year’s Conservative party conference, he set out a programme that seemed to answer the moment: an all-out assault on poverty... Читать дальше...
Robert Kaplan, The Atlantic
In late antiquity, the religion split the Mediterranean world in two. Now it is remaking the Continent.
Der Spiegel
European Parliament is planning to eliminate the use of private firms for its chauffeur service following the discovery of Islamic State propaganda on two drivers in Brussels and Strasbourg.
Stewart Patrick, CFR
By refusing to compromise on its outrageous sovereignty claims, the government of Xi Jinping discredits its “peaceful rise” rhetoric and complicates efforts by member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to “triangulate” between China and the United States. Continued Chinese muscle-flexing will only undermine support for president Xi Jinping’s signature One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative and push regional fence-sitters into the U.S. embrace.
N. Petrov, Moscow Times
As is often the case in Russia, the creation of the National Guard was long anticipated, and therefore, caught everyone by surprise.
Hassan Hassan, The National
In a two-part interview with Al Jazeera in May, Mohammed Al Jolani of Jabhat Al Nusra revealed that Al Qaeda’s central leadership had issued instructions against using Syria as a launch pad for attacks against the West. Although the anti-ISIL air campaign frequently struck his cells in northern Syria, Al Jolani said he was still committed to the strict orders.
Boris Johnson, Telegraph
Love is a many splendoured thing. Cupid’s darts find the most unexpected targets. I am not for one minute prepared to exclude the possibility that erotic interest may flower between a man and a goat. The ancient Greeks clearly thought about the possibility: hence their mythologising about Pan and satyrs and other cloven-footed hybrids.
Matthew D'Ancona, Guardian
When President Obama arrives in Britain this week he will have a busy itinerary ahead of him, from wishing the Queen a happy 90th to talks with David Cameron about Syria and Islamic State. But, as the presumptive leader of the free world, he regards one task above all others as his paramount responsibility on this trip: to dissuade British voters from leaving the European Union.
Marc Champion, BV
This week, U.S. President Barack Obama will dive into a nest of vipers as venomous as anything Republicans can offer: Britain's debate over whether to leave the European Union. As far as campaigners for "Brexit" are concerned, he is a most unwelcome guest. Yet Obama is right to speak up. The U.S. has an interest in Britain remaining in the EU, and that gives him an obligation to articulate what that interest is. U.K. voters need to hear what he has to say, because proponents... Читать дальше...
Daniel Tauber, J-Post
More than merely inflating the number of those killed by a factor of seven, Sanders essentially accused Israel of mass murder.
Alexander Motyl, New Atl.
Russia brazenly invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine in complete violation of the memorandum. But the United States and the United Kingdom were also complicit in the breakdown of Budapest: their assurances of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity proved hollow. Sanctions are nice, but hardly an adequate response to Russian imperialism.
Ahmed Soliman, Chat. House
The small nation is an increasingly vital economic and strategic hub. But political reform is still missing in action.
Pinar Tremblay, Al-Monitor
The Religious Affairs Directorate has begun subcontracting imams to other government agencies, raising questions about their ultimate purpose.
