3 IRAQProspect of Kurdish freedom raises hackles
The oil-rich and semi-autonomous Iraqi region of Kurdistan is set
to hold an independence referendum on 25 September. The Kurds will
be asked a single question: Do you want an independent Kurdistan?
But regional powers Iraq, Turkey and Iran, as well as the EU, would say
no if they were able to vote. The Kurds, however, have some arguments
of their own – including the fact that Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were
instrumental in the recent ousting of Islamic State rebels from Mosul.4 BRAZIL
The sheer temerity
of corruption
Brazil, having lost one president
to impeachment, couldn’t lose another
so soon, could it? Having unseated
Dilma Rousseff, current president Michel
Temer now finds his perch unsteady.
First, recordings which appear to
show him turning a blind eye to massive
corruption were released to the Supreme
Court in June by two brothers in the
meat-packing business. Now the police
claim to have fresh tapes. While Temer
has fired the justice minister, he may find
it increasingly hard to ignore the huge
street protests pushing for his departure.(^1) GREECE
In June, Greece’s European partners delivered
the latest tranche of an $86bn debt rescue plan.
Observers say this ‘extend and pretend’ policy is not
a serious long-term strategy and that Greece’s financial
troubles will continue until a new solution is found.
€8.5bn
(^2) QATAR
Getting that icy feeling
Qatar and Saudi Arabia are not firm friends. Qatar supported Islamist powers
in Libya, Egypt and Syria, criticises the internal affairs of Saudi Arabia, and
allows the Muslim Brothers to congregate in the Qatari capital, Doha. In 1995,
Qatar almost walked out of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a regional
groupingofGulfStates.NowtheGCChaswalkedoutonQatar,mostlybecause
its members do not like Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad
bin Khalifa al Thani, who has been throwing
geopolitical muscle around after a decade of
top-dollargasprices.Hehasnominallyhanded
overtohisson,the33-yearoldEmirTamim.
That could just be an internal matter
for the region. But a new face on the
scene,thenewheirtothethroneinSaudi
Arabia, the 31-year-old Mohammed
bin Salman, may spell problems.
Some see him as the moderniser
Saudi Arabia needs to shake up the
national oil company and make
good the Kingdom’s attempt to
diversify away from energy. But
his critics say he is impulsive. He
is also the architect of the Gulf’s
recentdiplomaticandeconomic
isolationofQatarandahardline
opponent of Iran, a Qatar ally.
Expect a rocky road ahead,
as these thirty-somethings
go head to head.
PARTHA SARKAR/XINHUA-REA
5 RUSSIA
“[Former
FBI director
James Comey] is
[...] a human rights
defender. And if he
faces pressure, then
wearehappyto
offer him political
asylum, too”
PresidentVladimir Pu
relishes his role in thec
US political controversi
PRENSA INTERNACIONAL/ZUlinked to Russian hack
Princes of power: Qatar’s
Emir Tamim (L) and Saudi heir
Mohammed bin Salman (R)
ARK WILSON/SIPA
utin
current
ies
ing.
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