When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Geopolitics

UN Gives Green Light For Foreign Military Intervention In Mali

LE MONDE (France), SKY NEWS (Australia), BBC (UK)

Worldcrunch

BAMAKO - The United Nations Security Council has approved an open-ended resolution authorizing military operation to secure northern Mali from terrorist organizations. The design of this gradual intervention, authored by France and to be led by African forces (Ecowas) and supported by the UN military, has been repeatedly demanded by the African Union.

With the resolution adopted late Thursday, the intervention still does not include a starting date. Le Monde reported that it aims to free the north of the country from the Islamic extremists who invaded the region six months ago, destroying shrines and imposing Islamic law. Aqmi, Mujao and Touaregs have made major gains against the Malian army, which has been nearly decimated. The reconstruction of this national armed force is thus a priority for the UN.

[rebelmouse-image 27086112 alt=""File:Mali" original_size="350x376" expand=1]

This latest decision comes shortly after President Barack Obama’s decision to end the trade privileges between the US and both Mali and Guinea Bissau. Sky News sees Obama's move as a direct result of the gains of extremists, and the backtracking on democracy in the two countries.

The BBC reports that thousands of people have fled the region to find shelter in Mauritania. The immediate consequence of this operation would drive 400,000 people out of their homes in order to minimize the casualties.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Economy

France, Portrait Of A Nation In Denial — In Our World In Denial

The continuous increase of public debt and a tone-deaf president in France, the rise of authoritarian regimes elsewhere in the world, the blindness to global warming: realities that we do not want to see and that will end up destroying us if we do not act.

Photo of ​police forces in riot gear clashing with demonstrators as piles of garbage burn in Paris on March 23

Police forces clashing with demonstrators as piles of garbage burn in Paris on March 23

Les Echos

-Analysis-

PARIS — In France, the denial of reality seems to be the only thing that all of our public figures have in common: The president (who is right to say that it is his role to propose unpopular measures) refuses to see that other solutions than his own were possible and that institutions will not be sufficient in the long term to legitimize his solitary decisions.

The parliamentary opposition groups refuse to see that they do not constitute a political majority, since they would be incapable of governing together and that they have in common, for too many of them, on both sides of the political spectrum, left and right, only the hatred of money, the mistrust of success, and the contempt for excellence.

Keep reading...Show less

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

The latest