UNITED STATES

Alleged spies exposed in Hawaii

Arrested in his home in Hawaii, where he was enjoying a peaceful retirement, an American couple who had lived there for thirty-five years – under the names of deceased babies – were charged with “identity theft” on July 29 . Husband and wife are suspected of spying for Russia. Photos from the 1980s showing them in KGB uniforms were found at their home. The couple had suddenly left Texas forty years ago to then remarry under a false identity. “Walter Glenn Primrose [husband] worked for the US Coast Guard for almost twenty years, then for the Department of Defense as a contractor,” says the CBS News site.

PERU

Tourist events in Machu Picchu

The Peruvian police intervened peacefully at the foot of the Inca city to contain a movement of protesting tourists on July 29. Prevented from accessing Machu Picchu, nearly 800 visitors had blocked a railway line that leads there and marched to the entrance of the archaeological site. Perched at 2430 meters and classified by Unesco as a world heritage site, this tourist hotspot is now saturated. “In mid-July, the government increased the number of visitors admitted daily, from 3,044 to 4,044, reports El Nuevo Herald. But this increase is not enough to deal with the influx”. In the 15th century, the Inca sanctuary housed less than 500 people.

TUNISIA

Kaïs Saïed wins his referendum

One year to the day after assuming full powers, President Kaïs Saïed obtained 92% of “yes” in the constitutional referendum of July 25. The way is therefore clear to bury the Constitution of 2014, resulting from the revolution, and to ratify the return to a hyper-presidential regime. Kais Saied, who has led purges in all institutions in recent months, will act on behalf of the “people”, even if 75% of voters abstained. In a context of economic crisis, the hardest part is yet to come according to Business news: “With no possible alibi, no available scapegoat, the president has his back to the wall, facing all Tunisians.”

CAMEROON, BENIN AND GUINEA-BISSAU

Emmanuel Macron’s “Operation Reconquest”

For the first African tour of his second term, from July 25 to 28, the French president landed in Cameroon, led by Paul Biya, 89, including forty in power, with whom Paris had so far kept its distance. “But times have changed and we must quickly slow down the progress of the Russians and the Chinese, if we cannot stop it”, analyzes the site Wakat Sera, which sees in this visit “an operation reconquest”. At the heart of the discussions, the revival of the economic partnership with Cameroon. Emmanuel Macron then went to Benin and Guinea-Bissau to discuss cooperation against terrorism.

SERBIA-KOSOVO

Strong tensions at the border

Incidents broke out on July 31 in northern Kosovo, where a Serb minority lives. Kosovar police say they were targeted by gunfire; roadblocks were erected. At the origin of the tensions: new rules, which were to come into force the next day. According to these, anyone entering Kosovo with a Serbian identity card will have to replace it with a temporary document during their stay. On the other hand, the government requires Kosovo Serbs to substitute Kosovo plates for the Serbian license plates of their vehicles. “The measures have been postponed for thirty days,” explains the Spanish daily ABC.

UKRAINE 

Zelensky hastens the evacuation from the East

The president urges residents of areas of the Donetsk region still under kyiv control to evacuate. There are still around 200,000 civilians, including 50,000 children, in these residential areas targeted by Russian artillery. “At this stage of the war, terror is Russia’s main weapon,” Volodymyr Zelensky said on July 30. His government is trying to convince civilians to “get to safety in time before the start of the heating season, because the gas pipelines in the area have been destroyed”, notes Der Spiegel, which notes that “so far, many are those who resist evacuation”.

JAPANESE

Covid: the 7th wave sows panic

In the grip of its worst outbreak of Covid-19 cases, Japan recorded a record 230,000 new cases on July 28, particularly among children and adolescents. “Japan’s low youth vaccination rate contrasts with much of East Asia, where the elderly lag behind the rest of the population,” notes the Financial Times. The spread of the virus threatens to overwhelm hospitals and weigh on the economy. The concern is all the greater as the summer holidays approach in mid-August, during which millions of Japanese travel.