Is Russia proving better at protecting friends than fighting enemies in West Africa?

When mutinous soldiers seized a strategic military base in Niger’s capital last Saturday, the country’s ruling junta turned to a foreign partner it has increasingly relied on since coming to power: Russia. Following a night of intense fighting in Niamey, Russia’s Africa Corps helped Nigerien loyalist forces to regain control of Air Base 101 at…

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German president calls for unity in democracy ahead of landmark vote

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday called for the country’s democracy and rule of law be protected from those “who scorn and trample all over them,” ahead of Sunday’s state election that can bring the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) to power. “Ethnic-based thinking and nationalist isolationism are simply not the answer to the challenges…

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The Blockbuster Audacity of “Hope”

Na’s solution to this problem is speed: the faster he can keep his aliens moving—Va’migere, alas, is not alone—the less likely we are to scrutinize the malevolent jumble of pixels they are. The film’s first chase is a tour de force of kinetic delirium: Sung-ae (Hoyeon), a brave junior cop, drives Bum-seok through the streets…

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Looming far-right win in Germany sparks security worries

If the AfD wins key regional elections on Sunday and becomes the first far-right party in post-war Germany to form a state government, experts fear far-reaching consequences for security and defence. These range from potentially undermining the work of intelligence services to giving the Russia-friendly party access to sensitive information. What would the impact be…

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Reporting the Big World

Ascherson may not have known it, but he was establishing the pattern of his career, and indeed his life: an engagement with the world driven by conscience and curiosity, and a relentless desire to get it all down on paper, in one form or another. Ascherson has too often thrived as a straight reporter to…

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Lavrov: Russia to close branches of Germany’s Goethe-Institut

The Russian government will close Goethe-Institut branches, Germany’s international cultural institutes, across the country, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday. Lavrov said the move was in response to Germany’s planned closure of the Russian House in Berlin, according to the Interfax news agency. The German government announced the closure after an explosive-laden drone was…

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