WORLD BRIEFING: May 30, 2024

Police carried out raids on Wednesday in connection to “Russian interference” in the European Parliament, according to a statement by the federal prosecutor. The searches, conducted at a private residence in Brussels and European Parliament offices in Strasbourg and Brussels, are linked to the so-called Russiagate case, where MEPs were approached and paid to promote Russian propaganda via the Voice of Europe website. “There are indications that the European Parliament employee concerned played a significant role in this,” Belgian law enforcement said. The EU sanctioned Voice of Europe after the paid-for-propaganda scandal flared up in late March - Politico

A Hong Kong court has found 14 democracy activists guilty of subversion and acquitted two in the biggest national security case. They are among 47 who were charged but only 16 of them entered not guilty pleas - subversion carries a maximum term of life imprisonment. A total 47 were charged in 2021 with trying to “overthrow” the government by organising an unofficial election. From veteran politicians to student campaigners, they represent the gamut of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Their arrest marked the biggest crackdown under the National Security Law (NSL) imposed by China in 2020. Beijing says the law is essential for Hong Kong’s stability but rights groups say it has crushed civil liberties and created a climate of fear - BBC

Russia sanctions are ‘not really effective’ outside west, says Dubai trade hub chief. “Sanctions slow the economy, never stop it,” said Hamad Buamim, chair of the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre, a leading United Arab Emirates free trade zone that says it hosts more than 24,000 businesses. He is also president of Dubai’s chamber of commerce. “Trade continues flowing, it just flows in a different way,” he told the Financial Times in an interview. Dubai is seen as a beneficiary of US and European attempts to isolate Russia’s economy, as oil traders relocated from Geneva to the UAE after Switzerland joined the sanctions imposed on Moscow. Energy is the most important sector for the DMCC, according to Buamim, with some 3,000 energy companies registered in the zone. However, in recent months the UAE, along with other countries, has been under pressure from the US, EU and UK to act against companies trading with Russia. - FT

Western companies - including Avon Products, Air Liquide and Reckitt - have remained in Russia despite pledged to leave the market following the full scale invasion of Ukraine, as bureaucratic obstacles increase and consumer activity rebounds. According to the Financial Times, the three firms are among “hundreds of western groups” that have stayed in Russia since February 2022. “Many European companies have found themselves really between a rock and a hard place,” one senior executive working with western companies in Russia told the FT. “They said they’d leave. They were presented with a choice of buyers that were unacceptable to them.” The Kyiv School of Economics found more than 2,100 multinationals have stayed in Russia since 2022 - compared with about 1,600 international companies that have either quit the market or scaled back operations.

Poland has officially exited Article 7, the European Union's exceptional mechanism to rein in countries that openly defy the bloc's fundamental values. "We consider there is no longer a clear risk of a serious breach of the rule of law in Poland," said European Commissioner Věra Jourová. The decision, previewed earlier this month and formalised on Wednesday morning, ends a long-running saga that dates back to December 2017 when the European Commission triggered Article 7 —  known as the "nuclear option" because it can lead to the suspension of voting rights — over Poland's systematic erosion of judicial independence. The clash stemmed from the sweeping reforms introduced by the hard-right Law and Justice (PiS) party, which rearranged the structure of courts, cut short the mandate of sitting judges and promoted party-friendly appointees to top positions. - Euronews

Parts of northern and central India are sweltering under a severe heatwave, with a provisional record temperature of 52.3C (126.1F) registered in Delhi. If verified, it would be the highest ever recorded in India. More than 37 cities in the country recorded temperatures over 45C this week. Warnings of heat-related illnesses have been issued, with at least three deaths reported so far. The India Meteorological Department (IMD)'s Soma Sen Roy told the BBC that a team had been sent to the Mungeshpur area in Delhi - where the 52.3C temperature was recorded - to verify it. The IMD described the recording as an "outlier compared to other stations", which had recorded temperatures ranging from 45.2C to 49.1C in different parts of Delhi. The city's authorities have warned they will issue fines to those caught wasting water as the city deals with shortages and supplies have been cut to some areas. - BBC

The new Singapore Airlines (SIA) in-flight service protocol, in which meal service is suspended and cabin crew members must buckle up when the seat-belt sign is turned on, has had a ripple effect on passengers and crew. Most people who spoke to The Straits Times said they understood SIA’s need to update its protocol. But a handful of frequent fliers described it as a hasty move, and said the national carrier’s new regulations are already having repercussions on its service offerings and drive up stress levels of cabin crew. SIA put more comprehensive safety measures in place shortly after Flight SQ321 from London to Singapore experienced such severe turbulence on May 21 that a passenger died and dozens were injured. - Straits Times