THE 5 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

1.We already have the first finalist of the Qatar World Cup: The world at the feet of Leo Messi.

After an intense month, it seems that the World Cup in Qatar is coming to an end. After a hectic quarter-final, full of frenetic matches and intense emotions, yesterday the first semi-final of the tournament was played: Argentina-Croatia.

In the preliminary round, Morocco again pulled off a shock win, beating Portugal 1-0 with a rocky, defensive style of play, En-Nesyri scoring the only goal of the game. This is how Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese legend, bids farewell to what is probably his last World Cup. Also of note was the tight clash between France and England, with the French winning 2-1 after Kane missed England's second penalty. Despite the French victory, the Brits created more chances and deserved more.

On the other side of the draw, Croatia also pulled off a surprise by beating Brazil. After the match ended 0-0, Brazil took the lead in extra time with a spectacular goal by Neymar. But in the final minutes, Petkovi? levelled the scores on the counter-attack. In a fateful penalty shoot-out, Livakovi? was crowned Hero after saving a penalty, and that, added to Marquinhos's final miss, was the verdict. The "Canarinha" were eliminated with a final score of 4-2 in the penalty shoot-out. 

The last remaining quarter-final was Netherlands v Argentina. This match was the hottest of all, with a tangana and a Messi with a character rarely seen before. The Argentine team took the lead; first with a goal by Nahuel Molina, the result of a masterful assist by the Argentine 10, and then with a goal from a penalty converted by Leo Messi himself. In the final minutes, the Netherlands used their physicality and height to close the gap, and Weghortz pulled one back from the top. Finally, the Netherlands dramatically tied the game in the 110th minute after a rehearsed move. With the score at 2-2 it went to penalties, where Messi's team won 3-4, after the Argentinian goalkeeper, "Dibu Martinez" saved the first two penalties.

After this fateful match, Argentina faced Croatia in the semi-finals yesterday. Yesterday, accompanied by a brilliant Julian Alvarez (who scored 2 goals), the Argentine 10, Leo Messi, made history again. With a goal from a penalty and a wonderful driving to assist the 3rd goal to Julián, he led Argentina to the final, with a resounding 3-0 and a stellar performance. Luka Modri? received a standing ovation from the fans.

The second semi-final will be played today between France and Morocco, and can be followed on your respective national broadcaster. Finally, Qatar will close its World Cup stage on Sunday with the final.

2. Corruption in the EU: Qatargate

And we continue with the World Cup in Qatar, but this time we move away from the sporting section to a very different one.

On Tuesday, the European Parliament approved the dismissal of Eva Kaili from her post as Vice-President of the Parliament. This follows Eva's arrest last Friday; the Greek Socialist Party MEP was accused, along with her partner (lobbyist, former MP and secretary general of the NGO "No peace without justice") of collecting bribes from Qatar, for an unknown amount, but at least €750,000, which has already been seized.

The vote to remove her from office passed unanimously, with 625 votes in favour, one against and only two abstentions.

The EU has pointed out that this operation is the result of months of work by the Belgian police, and that they have been working closely with them for several days. Roberta Mentsola, President of the Belgian Parliament, said that they would investigate the case to the last consequences, regardless of who is prosecuted. At a press conference on Monday, she said that "the European Parliament is under attack, European democracy is under attack, and so are our societies" and that "we will stand up to those who believe that Europe is for sale".

Regarding the judicial process, the judge has decided to keep both the Greek MP and her husband, the lobbyist Niccolo Figa-Talamanca, under arrest. For the moment, it seems that there are more socialist MPs involved in this bribery scheme.

3. Reform of the embezzlement offence goes ahead

It seems that the PSOE and ERC are willing to reform the crime of embezzlement as soon as possible. Despite criticism from Junts and the CUP, who are putting pressure on ERC, which they describe as opportunistic, and UP's distrust of the draft text, which they point out could open the door to reductions in the sentencing of other corruption cases, and which irritates the PSOE, it seems that the two political forces are moving ahead with the aim of reforming this offence.

On Monday, after an express meeting between the two partners, and with some adjustments proposed by the PSOE, the text of the amendment was finalised and presented on Tuesday to the government's Justice Committee for final ratification in tomorrow's plenary session.

The agreement lowers the maximum sentences from 8 to 4 years when the embezzlement offence does not involve profit or personal enrichment. The minimum sentence could be one year.

Surprisingly, UNO Podemos withdrew from the agreement, because they wanted to carry out a more in-depth review of the crime of embezzlement, alleging that there are doubts about the future application of the new crime by judges. In response, the PSOE did not take a minute to point out that this reform "does not decriminalise any type of embezzlement" and "hardens the persecution of the corrupt and the punishment of the misuse of public money".

Controversies aside, Moncloa has already begun to contact the different political forces in order to definitively approve this procedure on Thursday. In this sense, the PNV has already expressed its support for the amendment, and it seems that the alliances between the government and the nationalist parties of Euskadi and Catalonia will be renewed.

4. International Politics: Political Crisis in Peru due to the Impeachment of President Pedro Castillo

Pedro Castillo, then president of the country at the time, was arrested and dismissed last Wednesday for his attempt to dissolve congress in order to avoid an impeachment process. Impeachment he had lost. This attempt, described as a "self-coup", was quickly stopped, and the authorities imprisoned Castillo, who is now locked up in a prison in Lima, from where he wrote a letter calling his own vice-president, Dina Boluarte, who for the time being holds the office of the presidency, a "usurper".

The political situation in Peru was already tense before these events; let us remember that Castillo came to power after a close result in the last elections of 2021, in which two extremely polarised political proposals faced each other in the second round:On the one hand, Pedro Castillo, a rural trade unionist with a markedly left-wing profile, and on the other, Keiko Fujimori, daughter of the authoritarian and former president of Peru, Alberto Fujimori (now in prison for corruption and usurpation of office, and considered by various international organisations to be a human rights violator), an ultra-right-winger who plunged the country into terror in his fight against terrorism and who had a markedly ultra-right-wing profile.

Furthermore, his first months in office were so hectic that in June of this year Castillo left his own party, Peru Libre, to govern as an independent, a fact that demonstrated the fracture within his own party, and the beginning of the process to replace him.

These events, coupled with economic instability and strong social mobilisations as a result of the increase in fuel prices, have led the country into a situation of chaos, which seems far from being resolved.

Three days after the arrest, Castillo's supporters took to the streets, provoking serious riots, including roadblocks and airport closures, which have now left four people dead. Boluarte, in turn, decreed a state of emergency.

In view of this situation, the UN delegation expressed its concern about the situation. For the time being, Boluarde has announced new elections for 2024, but in a situation of growing political and economic instability and social and even geographic polarisation between the countryside and the city, it seems that Peru's turbulent times are far from over.

5. Economy: Lack of gas may be a real problem for next year's winter

The president of the European Commission warned yesterday at a press conference that the lack of gas is not a problem in the short term (pointing out that reserves for this winter are at 90% of total capacity), but that this scenario could be uncertain for the future.

The beginning of the relaxation of China's anti-covid policies and its opening up to the international market could be at the root of this problem. Until now, Russia has been forced to continue selling its gas reserves to Europe due to its large production surplus; but if China becomes a potential customer, Putin could change his policy and make the Asian giant a preferential customer.

This situation is more than palpable, since if Russia's gas sales were not dependent on the European market, it could use energy cuts as a means of political pressure. And with the tense scenario due to the open military conflict with Ukraine, and the EU's position on this, the situation does not seem far-fetched.

Von Der Leyen therefore suggested a number of measures, including importing liquefied gas with partners such as the US and Qatar. Moreover, this scenario would push the move towards renewables: the EU plans to replace 12 billion cubic metric tons of gas with renewables next year, and within two years it expects to continue in this direction by replacing a further 7.5 billion cubic metric tons.

Finally, in order to achieve this transition, the European Commission pointed out that more investment would be needed, proposing the creation of a "sovereign wealth fund" for energy transition projects and new renewable energies, with the aim of being at the forefront of the ecological transition, which would also provide a competitive advantage.

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