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Russia

Feminist Rockers Pussy Riot Still Locked Up After Pissing Off Putin

A Russian punk-feminist band called Pussy Riot has spent the past two months in jail after singing “Dear God, Chase Out Putin” in a Moscow cathedral. This week Russian police arrested some of their fans too.

Pussy Riot (Igor Mukhin)
Pussy Riot (Igor Mukhin)


*NEWSBITES

MOSCOW – Already in trouble with Russian authorities for their recent "punk prayer service" in a Moscow cathedral, feminist rock band Pussy Riot has now gotten some of its fans in hot water as well.

More than 10 of the band's fans were arrested Thursday during a gathering in front of the Moscow courthouse. Pussy Riot fans arrived at approximately 1 p.m. for what they called a "Judicial Festival," an event organized to protest Pussy Riot's continued incarceration. The arrests took place about an hour later.

Pussy Riot's band members have been locked up since Feb. 18 – two weeks before Russia's presidential election – when they led a controversial "service" in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior. During the event, the women sang a tune called "Dear God, Chase Out Putin" while wearing colorful masks, dancing and bending over in faux-prayer. Neither the police nor the Orthodox Church appreciated the punk group's feigned religious fervor. They are now facing "hooliganism" charges.

The group's supporters arrived at the courthouse with balloons and homemade signs. But they were not alone. Activists from the Orthodox Church were already on the stairs, accompanied by law-and-order hardliners who attacked a group of six Pussy Riot fans. The police arrested anyone who tried to display any kind of sign.

Read the full article in Russian by Grigorii Tumanov

Photo – Igor Mukhin

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations

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Geopolitics

How Russia And China Are Trying To Drive France Out Of Africa

Fueled by the Kremlin, anti-French sentiment in Africa has been spreading for years. Meanwhile, China is also increasing its influence on the continent as Africa's focus shifts from west to east.

Photo of a helicopter landing, guided a member of France's ​Operation Barkhane in the Sahel region

Maneuver by members of France's Operation Barkhane in the Sahel region

Maria Oleksa Yeschenko

France is losing influence in its former colonies in Africa. After French President Emmanuel Macron decided last year to withdraw the military from the Sahel and the Central African Republic, a line was drawn under the "old French policy" on the continent. But the decision to withdraw was not solely a Parisian initiative.

October 23-24, 2019, Sochi. Russia holds the first large-scale Russia-Africa summit with the participation of four dozen African heads of state. At the time, French soldiers are still helping Mali, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Chad, and Niger fight terrorism as part of Operation Barkhane.

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Few people have heard of the Wagner group. The government of Mali is led by Paris-friendly Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, although the country has already seen several pro-Russian demonstrations. At that time, Moscow was preparing a big return to the African continent, similar to what happened in the 1960s during the Soviet Union.

So what did France miss, and where did it all go wrong?

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