Headlines:
- Charlie Hebdo Reprints Caricatures
- Pacific NATO
- Saudi King Sacks Defence Officials
Charlie Hebdo Reprints Caricatures
French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, has republished the controversial cartoons of the Prophet ﷺ ahead of the trial of the gunmen this week. A special edition of the magazine on Wednesday featured interviews with family members of the victims in 2015. In its editorial, the magazine said that it has often been asked to carry on printing caricatures of the Prophet ﷺ since the 2015 attack. “We have always refused to do so, not because it is prohibited – the law allows us to do so – but because there was a need for a good reason to do it, a reason which has meaning and which brings something to the debate,” it says. “To reproduce these cartoons in the week the trial over the January 2015 terrorist attacks opens seemed essential to us.” But despite this the weekly satirical magazine sacked Maurice Sinet, when he penned a column in 2009 regarding the son of Nicolas Sarkozy following his engagement to a Jewish heiress. Charlie Hebdo’s editor, Philippe Val, asked Sinet to apologise and when he refused, he was sacked. It seems its only open season when it comes to Muslims.
Pacific NATO
US Deputy Secretary of State Stephen Biegun called for a more formalized alliance structure akin to NATO with fellow members of the so-called Quad – India, Japan and Australia. Biegun noted that the Indo-Pacific region lacks strong multilateral structures, but that a Pacific NATO would only ever work if other countries were “as committed as the United States. The US containment strategy against China has not succeeded, the US has now turned to economic warfare and this leaves war as the last remaining option if this fails. The US developed an informal alliance structure in the Indo-Pacific as precursor to a NATO-like alliance but both India and Australia have been reluctant to enter into any sort of rigid partnership that accelerates the slide towards war with China. It remains to be seen if the US can convince its allies into a broader military alliance against China.
Saudi King Sacks Defence Officials
A number of Saudi officials, including two members of the royal family, have been sacked.
A royal decree said Saudi King Salman had relieved Prince Fahad bin Turki of his role as commander of joint forces in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. His son, Abdulaziz bin Fahad, was also removed as a deputy governor. The men, along with four other officials, face an investigation into “suspicious financial dealings” at the Ministry of Defence, the decree said. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has spearheaded a campaign against alleged corruption in the government.
He has also undertaken high-profile arrests in order to remove obstacles to the prince’s hold on power.