Russia, candidatura Nadezhdin a rischio. Bukele vince in El Salvador 🗞️ Rassegna del 06/02/2024

Israele

(Reuters) Palestinians hope Blinken visit can deliver Gaza truce before Rafah assault

• The top U.S. diplomat met Saudi Arabia's de-facto ruler on Monday in a visit that Palestinians hope will deliver a truce in Gaza before a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah, the border city where about half of the enclave's population is sheltering.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Riyadh at the start of his first Middle East trip since Washington brokered an offer, with Israeli input, for the first extended ceasefire of the war.
• Blinken's meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lasted about two hours, and the secretary did not answer reporters' questions as he returned to his hotel.
• The offer, delivered to Hamas last week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, awaits a reply from militants who say they want more guarantees it will bring an end to the four-month-old war in the Gaza Strip.

Ucraina

US Senate negotiators unveiled their proposed supplemental appropriations bill on February 4 that — if passed — would provide roughly $60 billion of security assistance for Ukraine, the overwhelming majority of which would go to American companies and US and allied militaries. The bill provides three main packages of assistance to Ukraine totaling $48.83 billion: $19.85 billion for replenishing weapons and equipment from the US Department of Defense (DoD) inventory; $13.8 billion for the purchase of weapons and munitions for Ukraine from US manufacturers; and $14.8 billion for continued US support to Ukraine through military training, intelligence sharing, and other support activities. The appropriations bill provides that funds can go to foreign countries that have provided support to Ukraine at the request of the US, but the vast majority of the aid — if approved — would go to US companies and US or allied government entities supporting Ukraine. Roughly 16 percent of the Ukraine-related appropriations in the bill would go directly to Ukraine, including $7.85 billion of direct budget support for the Ukrainian government and $1.58 billion for efforts to build a self-reliant Ukrainian economy amid the ongoing Russian invasion. The appropriations bill also provides $1.6 billion in foreign military financing, which must be used to purchase goods and services from the US, to address Ukraine’s and other US partners’ air defense, artillery, maritime security, and maintenance requirements. The appropriations bill provides smaller packages of $300 million to help Ukraine promote the rule of law and protect its borders and $100 million to support demining, counterterrorism, and nonproliferation programs. The bill provides $8 million for the DoD Inspector General to exercise oversight over US security assistance to Ukraine.
Dettagli sul report ISW

Russia

(Meduza)  Independent journalists say campaign workers for Boris Nadezhdin, Russia’s only anti-war candidate, may have sabotaged his ballot registration, but supporters say the report is a hired hit job

• A secret team of campaign workers for Russia’s only anti-war politician, Boris Nadezhdin, may have torpedoed their own candidate’s hopes of making the ballot, according to a new investigation by Novaya Gazeta Europe, though the story has led to bitter mutual recriminations in the Russian opposition. 
• Sources told Novaya Gazeta that multiple factions within the Nadezhdin campaign clashed at the last minute over which signatures to verify and submit to Russia’s Central Election Commission, potentially leading to the inclusion of the thousands of “bad” signatures that now imperil Nadezhdin’s presidential candidacy. 
• Russia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has rejected 15 percent of the signatures submitted by anti-war presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin in his candidacy application, according to Nadezhdin’s campaign headquarters. To qualify as a candidate, no more than five percent of the signatures can contain errors.
• On February 7, the CEC will officially announce a decision on Nadezhdin’s candidacy in Russia’s presidential elections.
• If the CEC refuses to register him, Nadezhdin said he would appeal the decision to the Russian Supreme Court.

(Reuters) Yandex owner to exit Russia in $5.2 billion deal

• Yandex NV has struck a 475-billion-rouble ($5.21 billion) deal to sell what has been dubbed "Russia's Google" to a group of Russian investors, marking the biggest corporate exit from the country since Moscow invaded Ukraine almost two years ago.
• The Kremlin-engineered deal would see Russia's largest technology player fall entirely under Russian ownership, including a fund ultimately owned by oil major Lukoil, and cement Yandex's departure from Western tech circles.
• Once seen as one of the few Russian companies with the potential to become a global business, Nasdaq-listed Yandex had developed leading online services, including search, advertising and ride-hailing in Russia.
• Its co-founder Arkady Volozh, who moved from Russia to Israel in 2014, slammed Russia's invasion of Ukraine as "barbaric" in August, leading some within the Kremlin to push to nationalise Yandex, people familiar with the matter said.

Europa

Regno Unito:

(Reuters) King Charles diagnosed with cancer, will postpone duties and undergo treatment

• Britain's King Charles has been diagnosed with a form of cancer and while the 75-year-old will postpone his public engagements to undergo treatment, he is remaining "wholly positive", Buckingham Palace said.
• Charles, who became king in September 2022 following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth, has begun a series of treatments the palace said, adding he was looking forward to returning to full duty as soon as possible.
• The cancer revelation comes after Charles spent three nights in hospital last month where he underwent a corrective procedure for a benign enlarged prostate.
• The palace said a separate issue of concern had been spotted during that hospital stay, but did not given any further details beyond saying tests had revealed the king had a "form of cancer".

Ungheria:

(Reuters) US envoy piles pressure on Orban to ratify Sweden's NATO entry

• The U.S. envoy, along with ambassadors from other NATO allies including Poland, Denmark and Slovakia, attended the Hungarian parliament on Monday in a surprise show of pressure on Budapest to approve Sweden's bid to join the alliance.
• The extraordinary meeting of parliament was called by the opposition to vote on ratification on Monday, but lawmakers from the ruling Fidesz party boycotted the session, meaning it lacked quorum and the ratification will be further delayed.
• Hungary is the only NATO country not to ratify Stockholm's membership application, a process that requires the backing of all members, souring relations with the United States and raising concerns among its allies.

Politica internazionale

Nord America

USA:

(Reuters) 'Dreamers' left out in the cold by US Senate border bill

• A bipartisan border security bill headed to a U.S. Senate vote this week is likely to dash hopes for a quick, clear path to citizenship for hundreds of thousands of people brought into the U.S. illegally as children, as Congress takes a harder line on immigration.
• This group, known as "Dreamers," had been a top priority for Democrats in immigration policy talks for more than a decade.
• But as Republicans made new border restrictions a condition of aid for U.S. allies Ukraine and Israel sought by Democratic President Joe Biden, the Dreamers question was left off the table.
• Some Republican lawmakers said it was unlikely Congress would take up the question of the Dreamers at any time in the foreseeable future.

(Reuters) Trump heads to US Supreme Court with a familiar claim: He is untouchable

• Donald Trump will try to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court this week to reverse a judicial decision to kick him off the ballot in Colorado over his actions concerning the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, arguing that the constitutional provision his opponents cite does not apply to him as a former president.
• It may not be the only time Trump makes this type of assertion to the justices. As he fights four criminal cases and civil litigation in lower courts, Trump has repeatedly advanced a bold argument: that he is formally immune or otherwise not subject to these legal challenges.

America Latina

El Salvador:

(Reuters) El Salvador's Bukele re-elected as president in landslide win

• President Nayib Bukele on Sunday secured a thumping victory in El Salvador's elections after voters cast aside concerns about erosion of democracy to reward him for a fierce gang crackdown that transformed security in the Central American country.
• Provisional results on Monday morning show Bukele winning 83% support with just over 70% of the ballots counted. Bukele declared himself the winner before official results were announced, claiming to have attained more than 85% of the vote.
• His New Ideas party is expected to win almost all of the 60 seats in the legislative body, tightening its grip on the country and bestowing even more sway on Bukele, the most powerful leader in El Salvador's modern history.

Medio Oriente

Siria:

(WallStreet Journal) Iran-Backed Groups Continue to Target American Bases as U.S. Plans Further Strikes

• A strike near a U.S. base in Syria killed six members of a U.S.-allied militia Monday, the group said, despite the U.S. pounding Iran-allied militia sites with airstrikes over the weekend, underscoring the challenge Washington faces in its goal of keeping the conflict in the Middle East contained.
• A U.S. military official confirmed that there were fatalities from an attack on the al-Omar oil field, part of a complex that includes a U.S. base and is jointly controlled with the American military. The official declined to comment further.
• The Syrian Democratic Forces, a U.S.-allied Kurdish militia, said six of its fighters had died in a drone strike on al-Omar. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella of Iran-backed armed groups, claimed responsibility for the attack, and the SDF threatened to retaliate.

Africa

Senegal:

(Reuters) Senegal opposition candidates file legal challenges to election postponement

• Three opposition candidates in Senegal's presidential election on Monday filed legal challenges to the president's abrupt postponement of the election, as riot police fired tear gas to break up a protest outside parliament.
• While protesters shouted slogans on the streets, lawmakers inside the National Assembly building debated into the evening a bill that would reschedule the Feb. 25 vote to Aug. 25 and extend President Macky Sall's mandate until his successor is installed.
• Sall's unprecedented announcement on Saturday pitched the West African nation into uncharted constitutional waters that threaten to tarnish its reputation as a bastion of democratic stability in a region swept by coups.