IZVESTIA (RUSSIA): Инаугурация стала стартом главного этапа построения сильного и долгого государства, которое отвечает на вызовы, устойчиво к любым стрессам и колебаниям, имеет необходимый запас прочности и эффективные инструменты самокалибровки и обеспечивает главную свою цель: сделать жизнь людей лучше, а страну — процветающей и сильной. Следующие шесть лет — очень важный исторический период для России. Достижение целей СВО, технологического и экономического суверенитета, “замещение доходов”, которые страна получала в Европе и США, за счет других рынков, развитие отношений со странами Африки, становящейся драйвером мирового экономического роста, — от того, насколько успешно эти задачи будут решены, зависит место и роль России за столом переговоров, на котором будет определяться новый миропорядок. Новая Ялта и новый Потсдам неизбежны.
THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): Putin sits at the heart of the West’s illiberal axis. Two years into his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin cast the war as part of a grander civilizational struggle. The conflict across the border was not just about territory or the political dispensation in Kyiv, Putin argued, but the tip of the spear in a larger clash between the corrosive effects of liberalism and the more traditional values supposedly embodied by his regime. What’s also growing more apparent is that Putin is not isolated and alone in this project. As Western penalties have been unable to hobble the Russian war machine, Putin’s muscular, nationalist ideology continues to find sympathizers elsewhere. The Kremlin’s friends include E.U. leaders — namely, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban — despots in the Global South, and prominent members of the American right. They all share an aversion to the West’s perceived liberal establishment, and see a positive vision in Putin’s rejection of it.
GLOBAL TIMES (CHINA): Vladimir Putin was sworn in for a new six-year term as Russian president on Tuesday at an inauguration ceremony at the Kremlin, marking the fifth oath of office he has taken since 2000. Chinese experts said that Putin’s primary policy agenda will be maintaining the current high level of domestic unity while addressing Western sanctions. While Russia’s relations with the West have deteriorated to their lowest point since the Cold War ended, with significant divisions within the West over their Russia stance, Russia’s ties with China remain stable and unaffected by the rapidly changing global landscape, observers noted. During his inauguration speech, Putin assured that the interests and security of the people of Russia will be above all else for him.
VEDOMOSTI (RUSSIA): Владимир Путин в пятый раз вступил в должность президента России и подписал указ о национальных целях развития до 2030 г. и на перспективу до 2036 г. Всего президент определил семь целей развития. Во-первых, это сохранение населения, укрепление здоровья и повышение благополучия людей, поддержка семьи. Во-вторых, реализация потенциала каждого человека, развитие его талантов, воспитание патриотичной и социально ответственной личности. В-третьих, комфортная и безопасная среда для жизни. В-четвертых, экологическое благополучие. В-пятых, устойчивая и динамичная экономика. В-шестых, технологическое лидерство. В-седьмых, цифровая трансформация государственного и муниципального управления, экономики и социальной сферы.
ASHARQ AL-AWSAT (GB): The Israeli military said Wednesday that it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza, a key terminal for the entry of humanitarian aid that was closed nearly three days earlier after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers nearby. An Israeli tank brigade seized the nearby Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt early Tuesday, and it remained closed. Rafah has been a vital conduit for humanitarian aid since the start of the war and is the only place where people can enter and exit. Israel now controls all of Gaza’s border crossings for the first time since it withdrew troops and settlers from the territory nearly two decades ago.
THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): CIA director to meet with Netanyahu, rockets fired at Israel's north overnight. New survey shows more Israelis want hostage deal than Rafah operation. Netanyahu is displeased with Hamas’s ceasefire demands.
LE MONDE (FRANCE): Le Qatar appelle la communauté internationale à empêcher un “génocide” à Rafah face à la menace d’une offensive d’ampleur. Le pays du Golfe, médiateur dans les négociations pour une trêve entre Israël et le Hamas, a appelé, dans un communiqué, “à une action internationale urgente qui permettrait d’empêcher que la ville ne soit envahie”.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): U.S.-Israel rift widens over Rafah assault. Even as a cease-fire appears elusive, the State Department urges Israel to delay its assault on the southern Gaza city. The Biden administration’s intensive public and private campaign to forestall Israel’s assault on Rafah has become its toughest test to date with its Middle East ally. Hours after President Biden on Monday warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against a full-scale assault on Rafah, Israel’s military conducted what it called targeted airstrikes in the eastern part of the city and sent in tanks as it seized the enclave’s border crossing with Egypt.
THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): Biden puts arms shipment to Israel on hold amid dispute over Rafah attack. President Biden paused an arms shipment to Israel last week, officials confirmed, a sign of the growing rift between Washington and Jerusalem over the war.
HAARETZ (ISRAEL): Is a cease-fire imminent? How can Israel negotiate for a deal and capture the Rafah crossing at the same time? What are Hamas and Egypt’s game plans? Can Netanyahu appease Ben-Gvir without crossing Biden’s red lines? Here's how to understand what's going on in Gaza, and whether the war will end soon. The Israeli war cabinet’s two decisions on Monday night, to launch a military operation in the southern sector of the Gaza Strip and to send a negotiating team to Cairo to see if a truce and hostage release agreement can still be reached with Hamas, seem to contradict one another. If there’s a chance for a deal, why launch a new ground campaign?
THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA): Biden faces calls to deport foreign student agitators as campus protests intensify. Some of those involved in the unruly campus protests against Israel are guests of the U.S. on foreign student visas, and pressure is mounting on President Biden to start revoking those visas to help schools regain control of their grounds. Experts said the administration has the tools, and Republicans are demanding that Mr. Biden show the will. Civil liberties advocates said at the time that students shouldn’t be punished for protected free speech, but the campus demonstrations have since devolved into chaos. Students have invaded school buildings and clashed with police deployed to maintain control or to oust them from what authorities say are illegal occupations or encampments.
RENMIN RIBAO (CHINA): China and the EU are two major forces advancing multipolarity, two major markets in support of globalization, and two major civilizations championing diversity. The development of China-EU relations is crucial to the direction of the world development. China and the EU do not have clashing fundamental interests between them, or geopolitical and strategic conflicts. Their common interests far outweigh their differences. In the context of China-EU relations, the two sides should be characterized rightly as partners. Cooperation should be the defining feature of the relationship, autonomy its key value, and win-win its future. China always regards the EU as a strategic force in the international landscape, and takes the development of China-EU relations as a priority in its diplomacy.
THE TIMES OF INDIA: Xi Jinping’s visit to Serbia commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Nato bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The incident deepened China-Serbia relations and showcased China’s growing influence in the region through investments and cultural centers.
POLITICO (USA): America’s popularity as a global power is waning worldwide, particularly in Muslim-majority countries, according to the 2024 Democracy Perception Index published Wednesday. Canvassing some 63,000 respondents across 53 countries, the index summarizes attitudes toward democracy, geopolitics and global power players. America’s international reputation has taken a hit since early 2023, particularly in Muslim countries where Washington’s unwavering support of Israel in its war in Gaza has proven intensely divisive. Now, Europe is joining the trend. Meanwhile, positive perceptions of China in Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Latin America continue to grow, bringing the global perception of Beijing to a net positive, despite continued European skepticism. Russia, battling overwhelmingly negative perceptions across the globe in the initial aftermath of President Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, also appears to be on the path to image rehabilitation in most regions surveyed, with the exception of Europe.
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (HONG KONG, CHINA): As India begins third phase of polls, young voters say they want more jobs. India has undertaken initiatives to speed up the country’s development, but industries in many outlying areas continue to lag, with jobs scarce. A lack of high-income jobs causes weak consumer spending, resulting in a vicious cycle that could derail India’s ambition of higher manufacturing output, an analyst says
FOLHA DE S.PAULO (BRASIL): Eleições no México: com saída de López Obrador no México, Lula perderá um aliado na região. Discurso popular e combate à pobreza unem líderes de esquerda.
LES ECHOS (FRANCE): En Macédoine du Nord, des élections en forme de référendum sur l’Europe. Les Macédoniens élisent le 8 mai leurs députés et leur président de la République. La victoire du parti de droite, en tête dans les sondages, compliquerait encore l’entrée dans l’Union européenne du petit Etat balkanique, qui patiente depuis 2005.
EL PAIS (SPAIN): Enrico Letta: “Estados Unidos vuela y los europeos vamos muy mal”. El ex primer ministro italiano, autor de un informe para impulsar la competitividad europea, asegura que la parálisis es el gran riesgo.
CUMHURRIYET (TURKEY): President Tayyip Erdogan held talks with the leader of Turkey’s main opposition CHP party Ozgur Ozel on Thursday, the first such meeting in nearly eight years, just one month after the CHP outperformed Erdogan’s party in local elections. Erdogan subsequently vowed to correct any mistakes that had led to his party’s defeat, which analysts attributed mainly to voter frustration with economic woes, especially soaring inflation. Analysts viewed the local elections as having dented Erdogan’s hopes of pushing through a new constitution, which could potentially extend his rule beyond 2028 when his term ends. While the AKP and its allies have a parliamentary majority, Erdogan would need broader support for a successful referendum on a new constitution.
NIKKEI (JAPAN): Iranian traders smuggle more than $1 billion worth of fuel into neighboring Pakistan annually, according to a new report that an observer said could foreshadow a crackdown on the black market. The 44-page investigation was conducted by a pair of Pakistani intelligence agencies and leaked to local media. Nikkei Asia obtained a copy that official sources have verified as authentic.
FINANCIAL TIMES (GB): Pandemic-era winners suffer $1.5tn fall in market value. Top 50 biggest stock gainers hit by painful decrease since the end of 2020 as lockdown trends fade.
THE GUARDIAN (GB): Kim Ki-nam, the propaganda chief who served all three generations of North Korean leaders and cemented their political legitimacy, has died, official media have said. Kim Ki-nam died on Tuesday aged 94 from multiple organ failure. Kim Ki-nam is credited with masterminding the cult of the Kim family dynasty.
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): U.S. film director Oliver Stone joined other celebrities around the world in releasing a petition against the construction of a new U.S. military base off the coast of Henoko in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture. Stone was among 400 people who signed the statement in January directed at U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and the people of both nations. The signees state their opposition to building the base to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in Futenma in Ginowan, also in the prefecture, which has also been opposed by Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki and the prefectural government.