Major General Chris Donahue, the last American soldier to leave Afghan soil, at Hamid-Karzai International Airport in Kabul, August 30, 2021. US ARMY / REUTERS
After twenty years of military presence and five months of wandering the Biden administration, the last American soldiers have left Kabul
Promised by the new president upon his arrival at the White House, the withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan was concluded on Monday, August 30, in an atmosphere of debacle and excitement.
The photo is blurry, taken at night, with greenish tones. It distinguishes Major General Chris Donahue, commander of the 82 th Airborne Division, setting foot aboard a cargo plane C-17 end of the runway at the international airport Hamid-Karzai in Kabul. Chris Donahue makes history. He is the last American soldier to leave Afghan soil.
Following the bronze medal won by the Americans on Thursday , Donald Trump, former President of the United States, saw fit to give his opinion on the medalist group: « If our football team, led by a radical group of crazy left, was not « woke », they would have won the gold instead of the bronze. «
But Trump didn’t stop there, he went on to attack Megan Rapinoe, who aside from her major role in the Yanks collective , is also a figure in the struggle for LGBT + rights and a staunch opponent of Trump. « The woman with purple hair played very badly and spends too much time thinking about the radical left politics and not doing his job, » said the 45 th US president.
Faced with the challenge of the aging of its population, China is taking another step towards liberalizing its birth rate and authorizing a third child. But not sure that Chinese women are flocking to maternity hospitals.
The China is still the most populous country in the world with 1,412 billion. But its population is only increasing by 0.53% per year. And above all, the thirty-five years of the one-child policy, from 1979-1980 to 2015, profoundly modified its age pyramid. The objective of improving the standard of living of the population, aimed at by its initiators, has been achieved. But now that the “only children” are of parentage age, and their parents of retirement age, there is a big problem.
1. What is the problem for China?
The ageing of the population. The economic cost of its support in relation to the working population is mathematically unbalanced by the one-child policy. Each single child, now an adult, bears the burden of supporting both parents on their shoulders alone.
2. What was the impact of the authorization to pass to two children in 2015?
Apart from a weak rebound just after the announcement, this first authorization had no effect. The number of births resumed its fall in 2016 to fall to twelve million in 2020 against 14.65 million in 2019. That year, the birth rate had already hit a low since the founding of Communist China in 1949.
4. Is this authorization likely to be a game-changer?
Not really if taken alone. The low enthusiasm for the second child in urban and affluent circles since 2015 has shown that the authorities’ green light alone will not have a magical effect. Additional announcements are expected on social support for childcare, maternity leave, the cost of their education, etc.
Donald Trump will return to social networks within two to three months with his own platform
The former US president was banned from Twitter in January after his supporters stormed the Capitol
The story does not say, at this time, whether messages will only appear in capital letters. Banned from Twitter since January, Donald Trump will return to social networks within two to three months « with his own platform, » said an adviser to the former president of the United States on Sunday.
“It’s not just a company that approached the president, there are a lot of companies,” and “this new platform will be something big, everyone wants it. It will bring millions and millions, tens of millions of subscribers to this new platform, ”he added.
The ex-president, who left the White House on January 20 after being defeated by Democrat Joe Biden in the November election, has also been temporarily or permanently banned by most other major social networks or platforms internet including Facebook, Instagram, Youtube or Snapchat.
The four former heads of state underline the importance of the vaccine, with personal anecdotes to support it. A big absentee: Donald Trump.
Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama,
Four former US presidents and one message: get vaccinated. In a video released on Thursday titled « It depends on you. » Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama stress the importance of the vaccine, supporting personal anecdotes.
« This vaccine is synonymous with hope », underlines Barack Obama in front of the camera. “They will protect you and protect those you love. « I want to go back to work and I want to be able to move, » says Bill Clinton.
George W. Bush says he is « impatient » to find « a full stadium » to cheer on his Texas Rangers baseball team. « To overcome this pandemic, it is important that our fellow citizens get vaccinated, » he insists.null
Two major absentees in this initiative which brings together all the ex-presidents still alive: Donald and Melania Trump. The latter were vaccinated in January, a few weeks before their departure from the White House. But the information was not revealed by their relatives until several weeks later.
Despite the 6 countries which are in the top 20 which have more women integrated in political institutions, especially in parliament, among 1.3 billion (2019) Africans, more than 50% of them are women, the gap in participation in politics between men and women remains observable.
Obstacles of feminism in Africa
The various feminist movements with the objective of empowering women by ensuring their equality with men have been on the ground for about 60 years, these movements declare that there have been changes in the political field but that they There are still a long way to go as the change of mentalities where in several African countries women themselves accept to remain under the domination of their husbands, African cultures which favor men is the example where a woman does not cannot inherit with her brothers to share her parents’ property, which pushes the wife to obey her husband’s orders in any case because the latter is in her husband’s property. In addition, There are the 2 main regions namely Catholic and Islam which are also the factors which do not promote equality between men and women in society.
Low participation
Among the 54 states of African countries, Sahle Work zewde (Ethiopia) is the only woman and all 53 (presidents of African states) are men. But we cannot deny women like Ellen Johnson (Liberia), Joyce Banda (Malawi) and Ameenah Gurib Fakin (Mauritius) who have been the presidents in their countries.
« If we follow the current trend, we will need 107 years to achieve parity » affirmed the president of the UN General Assembly Maria Fernanda Espinasa Garés in March 2019 during an event planning to support the participation of women in power.
Mali, Nigeria, The Central African Republic, The Comoros Islands Benin and Eswatini are the least developed countries in terms of equality between men and women within political institutions.
With a regional average of 23.9% of women in Parliament (single or lower house), Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 5th behind the Nordic countries, America and Europe (Nordic countries included and not included). According to the classification of the UN Woman and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Countries like Rwanda, Senegal, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique are among the 20 countries where the rate of women’s participation in parliament is high.
the new president of the United States enjoys a popularity rating that his predecessor Donald Trump never achieved
Eight days after entering the White House , the new President of the United States enjoys a popularity rating that his predecessor Donald Trump has never achieved in four years in office, according to a poll released Wednesday by the University of Monmouth.
The survey indicates that the 46th Democratic president drains 54% of favorable opinions in the country, against 30% of dissatisfied and 16% of undecided, a rate « higher than at any time of the mandate of Donald Trump “, According to this survey conducted between January 21 and 24 on 809 people questioned.
A Gallup Institute survey shortly before the inauguration noted that the Republican left the White House with only 34% favorable opinions, a historic low, after starting his presidency with 45% satisfied and reaching 49% early 2020.
More kindness for Joe Biden
Other polls indicate that Joe Biden enjoyed good popularity in the early days of his mandate: 56% for Morning Consult, 63% for Hill-HarrisX.
But Monmouth, like other surveys, points out that the president’s supporters and opponents are deeply divided based on their political views. He enjoys a 90% approval rating among Democrats, compared to just 15% of Republicans and 47% of Independents.
« Generally speaking, there seems to be more benevolence for Joe Biden than there was for Donald Trump but she really follows partisan lines as more people currently identify as Democrats than Republicans » , explained the director of the University’s polling institute, Patrick Murray.
Donald Trump was the first president not to have a “honeymoon” with Americans at the start of his term, according to fivethirtyeight.com, with an average popularity of 41.4% over the first six months in office, far from Barack Obama (60%) or George W. Bush (53.9%) in their first half year in office.
On January 20, an hour before Joe Biden’s inauguration, Donald Trump is due to fly to Florida aboard the presidential plane.
Illustrative photo of Donald Trump boarding Air Force One in Florida on December 31, 2020.
UNITED STATES – Until the end, he intends to take advantage of the advantages of the presidency. Donald Trump, who will not attend Joe Biden’s nomination on Wednesday, January 20, is expected to use presidential Air Force One an hour before his successor’s swearing-in to fly to Florida.
According to CBS , Donald Trump is expected to land in West Palm Beach, Florida at 11 a.m. Wednesday morning, an hour before he is officially President of the United States.
The Bloomberg site also mentions a final departure ceremony at 8 a.m. on the Andrews military base in Maryland, where the two planes used by the presidency are stationed. Invitations were reportedly sent to a few « supporters, including former members of his administration, » Bloomberg reports. No details on the content of this ceremony have filtered.
Traditionally, former presidents leave the White House on their own.
The White House has not confirmed the information, which does not appear in the schedule – laconic for more than a week – of the Republican. On condition of anonymity, an official source told CBS that “this could always change”.
At 12 noon (Washington time), Donald Trump will be officially stripped of his title of “commander-in-chief of the armies” and will therefore no longer have access to the presidential planes.
Trump, the great absentee of the last few days
Officially a resident of Florida, Donald Trump will undoubtedly spend a few days in his hotel in Mar-a-Lago. The roads leading to the establishment will also be closed on January 20 and for several days. “Beyond that, we do not envisage any closures linked to the presence of a former president,” said local police.
and then? Difficult to say, since the speeches of Donald Trump – deprived of his favorite communication platforms – have become extremely rare. But the idea of a candidacy in 2024 is gaining ground – on condition, however, that the second impeachment procedure launched against him ends in failure.
Meanwhile, in a White House that is gradually emptying, Vice President Mike Pence appears every day a little more like the man in charge.
On Thursday, he congratulated the future vice-president Kamala Harris by phone, a source familiar with the matter told AFP on Friday. It was their first exchange since their fall debate in the heart of the campaign. He also planned to participate in the inauguration ceremony, like former presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
In the United States, a video posted this Sunday by Arnold Schwarzenegger has been around the internet. The former Republican governor of California denounces the attack on the Capitol, criticizes Donald Trump and calls to unite behind Joe Biden.
My message to my fellow Americans and friends around the world following this week's attack on the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/blOy35LWJ5
The personal account of the President of the United States was deleted overnight, as well as those of the main figures of this conspiratorial movement. Twitter justifies its decision by the fear of « new armed demonstrations » in the United States.
Donald Trump’s Twitter account, closed on January 8. JOSHUA ROBERTS / REUTERS
On January 8, almost all of the movement’s influential figures lost their account, starting with retired Lieutenant-General Michael Flynn, an admired figure of QAnon. The account of Ron Watkins, a former administrator of the 8kun unmoderated board, and suspected of being one of the people behind the figure of « Q », has also been deleted. Just like those of conspiratorial « influencers » very followed, including « Praying Medic » or, for French speakers, that of the Quebec conspiratorialist Alexis Cossette-Trudel.null
Attorney Sydney Powell, who has been leading a massive disinformation campaign since Donald Trump’s defeat claiming that a massive voting machine fraud took place during the election, also had her account deleted. On the same day, Dominion Company, one of the largest distributors of voting machines in the United States, announced that it was filing a defamation suit against Ms. Powell – the company is claiming more than $ 1 billion in damages and interests.
An unprecedented but late wave of deletions
Twitter did not explain in detail the reasons for this spate of QAnon-related account closings. But in the statement posted explaining why Donald Trump’s account was finally suspended, Twitter mentions in particular the « plans for new armed demonstrations that have already started to proliferate on Twitter and elsewhere, including plans for a new attack on the Capitol this 17 January ” .
This is not the first time that Twitter has carried out a massive deletion of accounts linked to QAnon – in July, the social network had closed some 7,000 accounts , but these closings had largely spared the movement’s most popular figures. The January 8 series of deletions is generally considered late by movement specialists. « Twitter has finally decided to use the ax rather than a scalpel » , and writes the specialist journalist QAnon Travis View .
Some of the activists whose accounts have been censored have taken refuge on the unmoderated, pro-Trump social network Parler, which appears to be experiencing some disruption in the face of an influx of users and messages. Lawyer Sydney Powell denounces « fascist » censorship and calls on Donald Trump to declare a state of emergency.null
The Talk app was removed on January 8 from Google’s app store, and Apple threatens to do the same if the social network does not provide proof, within 24 hours, that it is in a position to moderate the calls for violence, many on this platform.
The curious 