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Political situation in France

 

Senator Guerriau is suspended – after spiked drink  

 

The French party Horizons has suspended Senator Joel Guerriau after he was arrested on suspicion of having drugged a female politician with the intention of committing a sexual assault, writes Le Monde. It was on Tuesday that the two allegedly had a drink together. After a while, the woman began to feel ill and went to hospital. Tests showed she had ecstasy in her blood.  

 

According to the woman's lawyer, she allegedly saw the senator "grab a small plastic bag containing something white, in a drawer in his kitchen".  

 

In that statement, the party writes that it "will never tolerate the slightest acceptance of sexual and sexist violence". 

 

Guerriau denies the allegations. 

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The war in Sudan   

Sudan ends UN effort - calls it a 'disappointment'  

 

Sudan has notified the UN that it will "immediately" end the organization's political efforts in the country, according to a letter to the Security Council that AFP has seen. In an English copy of the letter, it is written that the effort was a "disappointment".  

 

At the same time, the civil war, which has now been going on for seven months, is raging. Both in the capital Khartoum and in other parts of the country, the inhabitants are fighting for their survival. The BBC has spoken to a man who chose to stay in Khartoum. He never thought that the fighting between the army and the paramilitary RSF would last so long. 

 

- It's like living in a part of hell, he says.  

 

At the same time that Sudan now chooses to cancel the UN effort, the country states that it will continue a "constructive" cooperation with the UN. 

 

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The climate threatThe energy shift

   

Green energy wave in the US and China – can reduce emissions  

 

The same places where coal mines and coal-fired power plants once thrived will be at the center of the clean energy transition, US President Joe Biden promised in a speech in Philadelphia last month. And according to a new analysis from the White House, solar and wind power as well as battery manufacturing facilities have already begun to spread in places that were once home to fossil fuel plants, the Washington Post reports.  

 

At the same time, record installations of wind and solar power are underway in China, an analysis by Carbon Brief shows. Something that seems to lead to the country for the first time in decades reducing its carbon dioxide emissions next year, according to the analysis.  

 

If the expansion of China's wind and solar power capacity goes as planned, these energy sources could also cover the increased demand for electricity after 2024, writes Carbon Brief.

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​The accusations against Bolsonaro  

 

Bolsonaro is being investigated for crimes after viral election video  

 

Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro is suspected of a crime after he jet-skied right next to a humpback whale in June, writes The Guardian.  

 

The newspaper writes that Bolsonaro must have been 15 meters from the election and filmed it. According to Brazilian law, boats or jet skis must keep a distance of at least 100 meters if the engine is not turned off.  

 

The investigation began after a video, which allegedly shows Bolsonaro at the time, was circulated.  

 

According to the ex-president, the accusations are politically motivated, something he claimed during several previous criminal investigations.

 

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Osama bin Laden's letter to the US overturns Tiktok - or?  

A letter to the United States written by Osama bin Laden has received a lot of attention in recent days, international media reports. The letter, written the year after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, has been widely shared on Tiktok.  

 

Politicians and relatives of the victims who died in the attack have directed criticism at the platform and at the users who chose to spread the letter. The Islamist leader's formulations are now used in the context of the war between Israel and Hamas, and critics believe that there is a risk of an entire generation being indoctrinated by the propaganda.  

 

But the site Vox writes that the rumor about the clip's viral success is somewhat exaggerated. The radio station NPR states that there are indeed users who spread the letter, but also notes that the video clips for several days only made up an extremely small part of all the material available on Tiktok.  

 

One question that is still unanswered is why bin Laden's letter was circulated in the first place. Several of the accounts that were the first to post belonged to fitness and health influencers.

 

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The coronavirus China's growth

  

The concerns are causing Swedish giants to review production in China  

 

As China's economy slows down and the country simultaneously becomes a geopolitical powder keg, several large Swedish companies are reviewing their production in the country, writes DI.  

 

- China is of course a matter of concern because the country has become part of a geopolitical game, Alfa Laval CEO Tom Erixon recently told the newspaper.  

 

The growth of SKF's wind power in China has stalled and Getinge is weighed down by domestic protectionism. More and more companies are changing their strategy so that what is produced in China is also sold there. An example is Munters, whose CEO Klas Forsström recently said that they "must be careful around China", writes DI.

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