Six In The Morning Sunday 1 January 2023

 

Europe’s big question: What a diminished Russia will do next

Analysis by Nick Paton Walsh, International Security Editor, CNN

Updated 11:26 AM EST, Sun January 1, 2023

 

Russia’s war in Ukraine has proven almost every assumption wrong, with Europe now wondering what left is safe to assume.

Its invasion in February managed to startle in every way. To those who thought Moscow was sane enough to not attempt such a massive and foolhardy undertaking. To those who felt the Russian military would waltz across a land of 40 million people and switch to clean-up operations within 10 days. And to those who felt they had the technical and intelligence prowess to do more than just randomly bombard civilian areas with ageing artillery; that the Kremlin’s military had evolved from the 90s levelling of Grozny in Chechnya.

And finally, to those who felt nuclear saber-rattling was an oxymoron in 2022 – that you could not casually threaten people with nukes as the destruction they brought was complete, for everyone on the planet.

‘Hope, joy, euphoria’: Brazilians take to streets to celebrate new era under Lula

New president to be sworn in, hoping to unite country bitterly divided by Jair Bolsonaro’s ‘four years of terror’

Tom Phillips in Brasília

Tens of thousands of Brazilians have flooded the streets of the country’s capital, Brasília, to celebrate the start of a new political era with the swearing in of the president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

The veteran leftwinger, a former factory worker who was president from 2003 to 2010, will take power on Sunday afternoon during celebrations attended by world leaders and followers from the four corners of South America’s largest nation.

“We feel dizzyingly unfathomable relief,” said the journalist Arimatea Lafayette, 59, as red-clad crowds marched towards the National Congress on Sunday morning to toast Lula’s return and the downfall of the far-right former president, Jair Bolsonaro, who flew to the US on Friday.

An Iranian IconWho Was Jina Mahsa Amini?

Her death has triggered the largest wave of protests against Iran's Islamist regime in decades. DER SPIEGEL set out to learn more about Jina Mahsa Amini, how she lived and what dreams she held dear.

By Dialika Neufeld

It’s a Tuesday in late October, 39 days after her death, when Diako Aili, her cousin, in a town not far from the Norwegian city of Bergen, sits down on a sofa and opens up the photo album. It is bound in black, the photos protected by transparent film. He points to one of the photos: "Here," he says. "That’s her. Jina." A young girl in floral pants, her thick and shiny black hair cascading down her neck. He pulls a second photo from the album, showing her squatting barefoot on the living room carpet of her parent’s home in Saqqez, her eyelashes delicate and long, her T-shirt emblazoned with the word "Flower" in glittery beads. She is looking over her shoulder into the camera.

"Mahsa," says Diako Aili. "Nobody ever called her that." And she didn’t use it either. They had to give her a Persian name for her passport, with Kurdish names frequently not being accepted in Iran. But she lived in Saqqez, a Kurdish city not far from the Iraqi border in western Iran with a population of 140,000. She spoke Kurdish with her family, and everyone called her by her real name.

France starts testing Chinese arrivals to track variants

France on Sunday began testing passengers arriving from China in order to track potential Covid variants, Health Minister Francois Braun said.

"This control on arrival is not a control to prevent citizens entering our territory but a more scientific control which will allow us very precisely to check different variants," Braun said at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris.

"These are essentially Omicron variants currently in China," said Braun, adding there will be "a discussion at the European level in the week to harmonise this model" of testing.

As of Sunday, visitors from China must wear a mask and be prepared to submit to a test on arrival, which will be done at random.

Colombia announces cease-fire with five illegal armed groups

Colombia has struck a cease-fire deal with five illegal armed groups, including ELN guerrillas, FARC dissidents and drug gangs.

Colombia's government has announced a cease-fire with the five main illegal armed groups operating in the country in a bid to support peace talks.

The groups include the leftist guerrilla group the National Liberation Army (ELN), along with dissident groups run by former members of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Segunda Marquetalia and Estado Mayor Central.

President Gustavo Petro announced the six-month cease-fire Saturday on New Year's Eve.

Kim orders an ‘exponential increase’ in N Korea’s nuclear arsenal

Kim’s comments came as North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile in a rare late-night, New Year’s Day weapons test.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for an “exponential” increase in the production of nuclear warheads and ordered the development of a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) to counter the United States and South Korea.

Kim’s statement was released on state media on Sunday, hours after North Korea fired a short-range ballistic missile off its east coast in a rare late-night New Year’s Day weapons test.