Новости за 07.04.2024

The occasional burst of candour from US diplomats provides a striking, air clearing difference to their Australian and British counterparts.  Official statements about the AUKUS security pact between Washington, London and Canberra, rarely mention the target in so many words, except on the gossiping fringes.  Commentators and think tankers are essentially given free rein to speculate, masticating over such streaky and light terms as “new strategic environment”, “great power competition”, “rules-based order”. Читать дальше...

(FPRI) — Togo’s political landscape has undergone a significant shift with the adoption of a new constitution on March 25, 2024. This revision marks a fundamental change, transitioning the nation from a presidential system to a parliamentary one. The adoption has sparked controversy, with both potential benefits and serious concerns being raised. Given Togo’s history of simmering political and social tensions, coupled with the growing terrorist threat in the north, this change ushers in a period... Читать дальше...

In a stark exposition of the current state of Iran’s political landscape, the governmental newspaper Etemad has illuminated the metaphorical “taxidermy” of the country’s electoral system and parliamentary representation under the current regime. Before the widely boycotted parliamentary elections, Etemad articulated a concerning scenario, writing, “What is recently evident in the country’s electoral scene, from the process of disqualifications in the Assembly of Experts and the parliament, testifies... Читать дальше...

Filmmakers adapting non-fiction work—especially those on conflict and terrorism—often struggle to stick to the original story. Filmmaking admittedly allows for the dramatisation of factual nuances given the need to tell a long story in a short timeframe. The struggle, however, is even more stark when a film doesn’t rely on adequate research, and is in fact seen as being based on reality.  

By Sarah Katz

In light of Iran’s recent launch of three satellites into space, geopolitical concerns could increase surrounding the country’s intermittent threats toward the West and Israel amidst the post-October 7 Israel-Hamas war. Indeed, despite Tehran thus far avoiding direct involvement in the war, Iran has loomed via proxies such as Hamas and Yemen’s Houthi rebels to intimidate both Israel as well as the U.S. for its support of Israel. With Iranian nuclear and satellite capabilities on the rise... Читать дальше...

India can achieve clean, affordable electricity and become net-zero by 2070 – but will need substantial nuclear power and renewable energy to do this, according to a new in-depth report prepared for the Indian government.

By Welton Máximo

The decrease in soybean and oil prices contributed to a decline in the trade surplus for March. According to the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services, Brazil exported $7.482 billion more than it imported last month.

The figure marks a 30.4 percent decrease from the same month last year. However, it stands as the third-highest surplus for March, trailing only the record surpluses of March 2022 ($10.751 billion) and March 2023 ($7.613 billion). Читать дальше...

The CBO issued its latest ten-year budget and economic outlook earlier this year. It projects the public portion of the U.S. national debt will reach 116% of GDP by 2034.

By Lipton Matthews

In the vast pantheon of history, black people have been both victims and oppressors. Yet history has been so politicized that we hear endlessly about the former and almost never about the latter. Rhetoric has eclipsed facts. It is a fact, for example, that Africans participated in the transatlantic slave trade. History is now frequently used as a cudgel to hammer white people into submission.

Instead of recognizing nuance and complexity, many who should know... Читать дальше...

By Purvi Patel

In March 2024, the U.S. State Department announced that it would extend and redesignate (i.e. adjust the justification for) Temporary Protected Status (TPS) within the U.S. to Myanmar nationals fleeing the unstable conditions in their country. This move is only the latest in a series of geopolitical indicators of the deteriorating situation for India’s eastern neighbour, and an example of the types of legal status that are used by receiving countries to admit that a group... Читать дальше...

On Wednesday (April 3) the NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor published its latest infographic showing how many Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip by Israeli since October 7 — 41,496 Palestinians in 180 days. That’s 230 a day, or nearly ten people killed every single hour for the last six months.

I spent my first birthday in a shelter. Decades later, after doing all I was supposed to do to lift myself up out of poverty, I’m sofa hopping with my children.

The May 27 deadline for comments on the Pandemic Treaty and International Health Regulations (IHR) amendments is quickly coming up. The World Health Council (WHC) is scheduled to vote upon the amendments on May 28. 

By Bec Strating

The 2024 ASEAN–Australia special summit held in Melbourne in March 2024 celebrates 50 years since Australia became ASEAN’s first Dialogue Partner. This was the biggest foreign policy event of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government held on Australian soil to date, reflecting the importance the government places on enhancing relations with Southeast Asia.

This is the second time that Australia has hosted Southeast Asian leaders in Australia — the first summit... Читать дальше...

Two recent news items reveal the enormity of the policy challenges that the country faces in dealing with not only domestic issues but also in keeping up with a rapidly transforming region and world.  

For most corporations, the largest single cost is payrolls. Hence the now-accepted formula for raising stock prices: Increase profits by cutting payrolls, then use the increased profits to buy back shares of stock.

China is unpopular in Myanmar where it is the strongest backer of a oppressive military junta that seized power in the Feb 2021 coup and has now been embroiled in battles with multiple ethnic armed groups and the People’s Defence Forces aligned to the National Unity Government.  

Salesian Father Edwin Soliva, rector of Don Bosco Batulao, told me that another Salesian priest, Father Rene Lagaya, volunteered to work with Bishop Broderick Pabillo in Palawan during the Lenten and Eastern seasons of this year.

By Kian Sharifi

(RFE/RL) -- The United States has warned Iran against attacking its troops and bases in the Middle East as Tehran plans its response to a suspected Israeli strike that killed seven military men on April 1.

A deputy to the Iranian president's chief of staff said on April 5 that Iran had told Washington in a written message to "stay away" from Israel or risk getting "hurt."

"In response, [the] U.S. asked Iran not to target American facilities," Mohammad Jamshidi wrote on X, formerly Twitter. Читать дальше...

By Yossi Mekelberg

As such, it is no surprise when Israel carries out airstrikes, either in Lebanon or Syria, and even beyond, since it has been engaging in such operations for years in what the Israeli military calls the “campaign between wars,” aimed at containing what it sees as Iran’s aspirations to regional hegemony.

In most cases, these airstrikes, or other clandestine operations, directly target Iran or its proxies across the Middle East, mainly the Lebanese Hezbollah.... Читать дальше...

Muhammad Manassara walked in late February into a gas station near the West Bank settlement of Eli. Armed with an automatic weapon, Mr. Manassara killed two people before he was shot dead by the owner of a restaurant at the station, the site of the killing last summer of four Israelis.

The destruction wrought across the Gaza Strip by Israel in the six months since the massacre of Israeli and other citizens by Hamas on 7 October 2023 makes for grim reading – over 33,000 people killed and, according to the World Bank, over one million Palestinians are without homes, close to 90 per cent of health facilities have been damaged or wrecked and schools have been destroyed or turned into shelters for the newly homeless. 

The Israel-Hamas war reached its gruesome six-month mark Saturday and is considered one of the most destructive, deadly, and relentless conflicts of the 21st century. 

By Nirmal Narayanan

New additions to the premium residency visa options by the Saudi government this year could open the Kingdom’s market to affluent expatriates and investors, a survey said. 

According to the report released by real estate consultancy Knight Frank, this initiative is a pivotal shift in the Kingdom’s approach to residency and property ownership by non-Saudis and is expected to have substantial implications for the demand dynamics of residential properties.

The premium visa residency option... Читать дальше...

Iran’s highest-ranking military commander gave an assurance that a revenge for the Israeli fatal strike on the country’s diplomatic mission in Damascus is inevitable, noting that Tehran will decide how and when to carry out the retaliatory operation.