The Week UK 01Feb2020

16 NEWS Best articles: International

THEWEEK1February 2020

Macron’s

theatrical

church rant

Le Huffington Post

(Paris)

WhatwasEmmanuelMacronreallyuptowhenheletflyatIsraelisecurityguardslastweek,asks

AnthonyBerthelier.France’spresident–inJerusalemforaHolocaustmemorialevent–paidavisit

totheOldCity,includingtheChurchofSaintAnne.GiftedtoFrancein 1856 ,thechurchisstill

consideredFrenchterritory;soMacronwasfuriouswhenIsraelisecurityguardsthrustpasthimand

wentinside.“Goout–outsideplease!”heshoutedatthem.HesaidthechurchhadbeenFrench“for

centuries”,andthatthatwould“notchangewithme,okay?Respecttherules.”Thesceneechoeda

similarexchangewhenoneofMacron’spredecessors,JacquesChirac,haranguedIsraelibodyguards

duringavisittothecityin 1996 .“Whatdoyouwant,metogetbackonmyplaneandgobackto

France?”,Chiracsaidangrily,refusingtoenterSaintAnnebeforeIsraelisecurityleft.Thatoutburst

wonapplauseacrosstheArabworld;andtherearesuspicionsthatMacronstagedanaltercationto

winsimilarpraise.HeevenseemstohavecopiedChirac’sheavyFrenchaccent,thoughhisown

Englishisperfect.HasthepresidentbeenusingtheMiddleEastasa“playgroundforbadacting”?

How the prime

minister lost

his mojo

The Globe and Mail

(Toronto)

NarendraModi is“losinghis mojo”, says Amrit Dhillon.Justeightmonthsago,India’sPM

seemedinvincible afterleadingtheBJPto a“historic”landslideelection win. HisHindu nationalist

government waspushingthrough one controversialmeasureafter another,mostnotably stripping

Kashmir,thelargestofIndia’sMuslim-majorityterritories, ofitsautonomy.Now,though,he is

“on the defensive”.Acontroversiallawofferingcitizenshipto non-Muslimmigrants from Pakistan,

BangladeshandAfghanistanhassparkedclaimsofdiscrimination.Worse,criticssaynew laws could

leadtoMuslimswithout therightpapers beingdeemedillegalimmigrants, even if they have livedin

India forgenerations, whiletherules arelessharsh for those ofotherreligions. The reformsare being

seen asa“devious”ploytostrip India’s 195millionMuslimsof theircitizenship, resulting indeadly

protests acrossthecountry of 1.3billion. Unfortunately forModi, theprotestshave erupted as the

country teeterson thebrinkofrecession.“He hasmisreadtheelectionverdict”;hismandate was for

jobs andbetter livingstandards,not pitting HindusagainstMuslims. This miscalculationwillcost

himdear. Theprotestsmaysubside, buthis auraofinvincibility isgoneforgood.

Organisedcrimeisoperating in every sector of Italy’s society–including ourgovernment,says

Dario DelPorto. That’sthegrim take-awayfrom themostrecent reportbythepolice’s anti-Mafia

investigationdivision, the DIA. The dreadedCalabrian’Ndranghetahasspread“everywhere”inthe

north andis nowbeingemulatedbyotherclans.Aganginthesoutheasternprovince of Foggia tried

to bombakey witnessin acriminal trial twice in thepast month,drawing thousandsofpeopleonto

thestreetsthere in protest.InSicily,theCosaNostraisreasserting its control inthewestern province

of Trapani,andthePalermo Mafia “hasintensified itsrelations”with itsUScounterparts. The

NeapolitanCamorra,meanwhile, is sowell structured thatitsponsorsgangs of youthsthat

“constituteasort ofCamorra Academy”. Thesecrime syndicateshave grownfarbeyond the

traditional mobracketsofloansharking andwastemanagement.Public contracts arecompromised

at alllevels,from city councilstoparliament, allowing gangs“to drain resourcesand launder

money”.Thisinfiltrationofourpoliticsand economy,the DIAsays, is “moreinsidiousthan

violence”.If theMafiacan bribe their waytothe top,there’s not much hopeforItaly’s democracy.

The Mafia:

bribing its

way to the top

La Repubblica

(Rome)

FRANCE

INDIA

ITALY

IsabeldosSantos“spunastorythe

worldwantedtobelieve”,saidthe

InternationalConsortiumof

InvestigativeJournalists(Washington).

ShewasAfrica’srichestwoman,who

hadamassedanestimated$2bn

fortuneinAngola’smale-dominated

businessworld.DosSantoswasfeted

inEurope, whereshewooedaudiences

withtalesofherhardworkand

acumen.Whatshetendednottotalk

aboutwasthatherfather,Angola’s

formerpresidentJoséEduardodos

Santos,hadinstalledheraschairof

Angola’sstateoilcompany,Sonangol

Group.Andlastmonth,areportby

thisconsortiumexposedtheextentofhercorruption:two

decadesofunscrupulousdealshadspreadhundredsofmillions

ofdollarsingovernmentcontracts,licencesandloansacrossher

companiesin 41 nations.Itwasafortunemade“attheexpense

oftheAngolanpeople”–andsecuredbyacadreofWestern

businessadvisers,whohelpedhertostashherill-gottenwealth.

Her troublescanbe traced back toherfather’sretirementin

2017 ,saidBoubacarSansoBarryinLe Djely(Conakry).His

successor,João Lourenço,isunderpressure tocleanup Angola

–andisgoingafter theDos Santos familyinresponse. Isabel’s

half-sisterhasbeen oustedas amember ofparliament, andher

half-brotherisontrialforcorruption.

Bothofthemdenywrongdoing,as

doesIsabeldosSantosherself;shesays

theclaimsagainstherare“completely

unfounded”–partofan“orchestrated

attack”coordinatedbytheAngolan

governmentand“foreignmedia”.

Fewwillshedtearsforher:thecaseis

awarningtoAfricanrulerswhotreat

publicmoneyastheirown,whiletheir

people“languishinmisery”.

Portugal,Angola’sformercolonial

power,benefitedgreatlyfromDos

Santos,saidManuelCarvalhoin

Público(Lisbon).Sheboughtchunks

ofthecountry’sbankingandmediasectorsduringtheeurozone

crisis.Weknewherfortunewassuspect,butturnedablindeye;

our“indignation”nowringshollow.Angola’sinequalityis

impossibletomiss,saidBerndDörriesinSüddeutscheZeitung

(Munich).LuandaBay,inthecapital,isAfrica’sequivalent

oftheFrenchRiviera:aplaygroundfortheelitebuiltonoil

moneywhile,nearby,peopledieofcholerainfilthyslums.To

usAngolans,noneofthisisnews,saidCláudio Silva inThe

Guardian(London).Localreporters have been“exposingthe

rot”foryears.Sadly,foreigngovernments–and evenour own

government –onlysitupwhen USandEuropeanjournalists get

involved.“Who’sgoingtolisten toanAfricanjournalist?”

Dos Santos: feted in Europe

Thefraud claims facing Africa’s richest woman