France will pull its military and diplomats from Niger after a successful coup by anti-French forces, President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday. The move will see around 1,500 soldiers leave by the end of the year. According to media reports, “France has decided to withdraw its ambassador. In the next hours our ambassador and several diplomats will return to France,[Read More…]
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of New York on Sunday as part of the March to End Fossil Fuels, calling for increased action against climate change ahead of the opening of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). Media reports including reports by AFP, USA Today and The Hill said: Taking up multiple city blocks, protesters from some[Read More…]
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky had to face a time in Washington D.C. that may be told as difficult as the political situation in the U.S. Capitol Hill is different than his first visit to the Capitol. A CNN report (Zelensky faces a more splintered GOP as he returns to Capitol Hill looking for aid, Sept. 21, 2023) said: Ukraine President[Read More…]
Auto workers in a number of plants in the U.S. are striking. This unprecedented, strategic strike may spread further within days, if there is no progress in negotiations. The striking auto workers are facing financial hardship. Detroit Free Press said in a report (Striking UAW members open up on human toll of UAW-Detroit 3 turmoil, September 20, 2023): Striking is[Read More…]
Largest cities in the U.S. are at the forefront of climate change. An ABC News report (Climate Week NYC: Large cities are at the forefront of climate change, experts say, abcnews.go.com) said: About 80% of the U.S. population lives in urban settings, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Some of the country’s most densely populated cities, like New York City, are[Read More…]
The military governments of three African states, which all deposed their Western-backed leaders in recent years, have agreed to assist each other, individually or collectively, in case of any external aggression or internal threat to their sovereignty. Media reports said: Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goita, said on Saturday night that he signed the so-called Liptako-Gourma Charter with the leaders of[Read More…]
Tens of thousands of climate activists around the world are marching, chanting and protesting Friday to call for an end to the burning of planet-warming fossil fuels as the globe suffers dramatic weather extremes and record-breaking heat. Dozens Of Countries Hundreds Of Cities An AP report said: The strike — driven by several mostly youth-led, local and global climate groups and organizations, including[Read More…]
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has claimed that the world is transitioning to a new diplomatic order in which U.S. must lead the way in overcoming increasing threats from Russia and China by working with its allies to build trust among nations for whom the old system failed. The Old World Is Over “One era is ending, a new[Read More…]
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday the geopolitical climate had changed completely since the United Nations imposed sanctions on North Korea, and he accused the West of breaking pledges on humanitarian support for Pyongyang. A Reuters report said: Lavrov was speaking to a Russian TV reporter as Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted North Korean leader Kim Jong Un[Read More…]
A catastrophic flooding in Libya has taken its toll: At least 10,000 people died. The flood in Libya is just the latest in a string of intense rain events to hammer countries in four continents over the past two weeks. Whole neighborhoods have been swept into the sea by flooding in Libya. The country also experienced bursting of dams. Dead[Read More…]
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has pledged his nation’s support for Russia in its standoff with the U.S. and its allies. Kim Jong-un is making a rare visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at the space facility in Russia’s Far Eastern Amur Region. Media reports said: “Russia has risen for a sacred fight to protect its national sovereignty and[Read More…]
While India is glowing with the achievement of successfully concluding the G20 Summit in New Delhi, questions about outcome of the summit are being raised by different parties concerned with global issues. Following is a brief report on the summit: West Failed To ‘Ukrainize’ G20, Says Lavrov The West failed to make the G20 summit in New Delhi revolve around[Read More…]
France is planning to intervene in Niger, as it continues to deploy troops to several countries in the region, the West African state’s military government has claimed. Relations between Niger and former colonial power France have deteriorated since a coup in July. Media reports including reports by AFP said: “France continues to deploy its forces in several ecowas (Economic Community of[Read More…]
A Reuters Exclusive (U.S. military repositions some troops in Niger, pulls non-essential personnel) said on September 7, 2023: The Pentagon is repositioning some troops and equipment within Niger and will withdraw a small number of non-essential personnel “out of an abundance of caution,” U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, the first major American military movement in Niger since a coup in July.[Read More…]
A report by the North Korean state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said: The North Korean military has unveiled a newly developed “tactical attack submarine” capable of launching nuclear missiles, with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declaring the weapon would help Pyongyang become an “advanced maritime power.” Dubbed the “Hero Kim Kun Ok,” the submarine was rolled out at[Read More…]
A French military nurse shot and killed on Tuesday a Chadian soldier he was treating and who attacked him with a scalpel in a French forces base in Faya-Largeau, in northern Chad. Media reports including reports by Alwihda Info, Liberation, Le Figaro and AFP said: “A Chadian soldier, who was not in a normal state, went for dressing in the[Read More…]
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee warned on the latest episode of his “Huckabee” program on the Trinity Broadcasting Network that the 2024 election may be the last decided by “ballots rather than bullets” if former President Donald Trump does not win. In a report, (Mike Huckabee Hints at Violence if Trump Loses in 2024: Will Be Last Election ‘Decided[Read More…]
The Chinese government has announced its intention to facilitate a peaceful resolution to the Niger crisis, following a coup in July that triggered sanctions and left the West African country facing threats of armed action. Media reports said: “The Chinese government intends to play the role of good offices, a role of moderator, with full respect for the regional countries,”[Read More…]
The Grain Deal made between Russia and Ukraine this year, and brokered by Turkiye and the UN is not working now. The collapse of the deal known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a threat to food security of developing countries and a pressure on the world grain market pushing food prices high, which is making life of the[Read More…]
Southeast Asian countries must avoid following in the footsteps of Ukraine and beware of being used as geopolitical pawns by foreign forces that are sowing discord in the region for their own gain, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has warned. “The crisis in Ukraine has sounded the alarm for mankind, and similar tragedies must not be staged in Asia,” China’s[Read More…]
Thousands of people protested the French military presence in Niger and French interference in Niger’s internal affairs Saturday. Media reports said: The protesting people gathered outside of the French military base in Niger’s capital Niamey once again demanding the withdrawal of French forces from Niger. The rally was sparked by a call from several civic organizations, opposed to the former colonial[Read More…]
Niger’s National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP) has reportedly demanded the complete withdrawal of French troops from the West African country by September 3. Earlier, Saudi media reported the CNSP had announced the annulment of all security and military agreements with France. By the end of the week, supporters of the pullout are going to stage an[Read More…]
The first meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky was not good. The two leaders apparently got off on the wrong foot when they first met in the White House back in 2021, The Guardian reported on Wednesday, citing an upcoming book by journalist Franklin Foer. Citing ‘The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House[Read More…]
The chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 was unforeseen by the Biden administration as late as the beginning of that month, according to a new book by Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer. As of August 1, a month before completing the withdrawal, the Biden administration reportedly still believed that an orderly transition of power to a governing coalition[Read More…]
France will back any military action by the 11-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Niger to restore the rule of ousted leader Mohamed Bazoum, French President Emmanuel Macron has said. Macron made the comment in response to the Expulsion of French Ambassador Sylvain Itte from Niamey by the new military government that seized power in a coup last[Read More…]
Citing calculations based on 2022 OPEC oil exports and production data, the InfoTech news outlet reported on Thursday: The BRICS is going to change the power balance in the global energy market. The report said: Once the BRICS expands with six new member nations to its ranks, it will control nearly half of the world’s oil production and reserves. BRICS,[Read More…]
Considering significance of the BRICS 15th Summit Declaration, Countercurrents is posting the Declaration’s complete version. XV BRICS Summit Johannesburg II Declaration BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism Sandton, Gauteng, South Africa Wednesday 23 August 2023 Preamble We, the Leaders of the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India,[Read More…]
Controversial George Soros’ Open Society Foundations plan to significantly curtail their work in Europe and lay off much of their staff on the continent, the foundations’ leaders told staff in Berlin, according to an internal email and several current employees, who say the decision is painful and perplexing. An AP report said: The planned European cuts, as described in an[Read More…]
With adoption of the Johannesburg II Declaration, BRICS’ historic 15th summit has concluded in the South African city of Johannesburg. To wrap up the summit, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa presented a joint declaration in the final day of the summit. The BRICS, the collective of the world’s largest developing economies, members have committed to strengthening the framework of mutually[Read More…]
China’s President Xi Jinping has pledged to support Cuba’s defense of its national sovereignty, opposing foreign interference and a U.S. economic blockade, and will expand strategic coordination with Havana. Xi made the remarks in a meeting with Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz-Canel on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Wednesday, according to a statement from the Chinese foreign[Read More…]
Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has begun dumping wastewater from the nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, having diluted it with sea water. Japanese specialists started to release into the ocean the first batch of treated water that was used to cool down the crippled reactors of the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant, according[Read More…]
Ukraine is facing shortage of manpower for war, said Western media reports. An opinion piece in The Telegraph – Ukraine’s army is running out of men to recruit, and time to win (Robert Clark, August 22, 2023) – said: The war in Ukraine is now fought on terms that increasingly favour Moscow. A shortage of manpower – which Kiev is[Read More…]
BRICS has started its summit – a meeting with serious promises to an expected new world order. Hopes centering the summit are high around the world. The 15th BRICS Summit is now taking place in Johannesburg’s financial district of Sandton. The summit in South Africa is going to deal with issues having serious implications on developments around the world. It will also[Read More…]
Ukraine is running out of options in its counteroffensive against Russian forces, as Kiev’s time-window to gain advances is closing, the Washington Post has reported. In an article on Sunday, the U.S. daily has claimed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive, which was launched in early June and was initially expected to see Kiev taking back significant territory, currently “shows signs of stalling.”[Read More…]
A Politico report said: U.S. officials have told Politico that they may have “missed a window” to push for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. “We may have missed a window to push for earlier talks,” a U.S. official told Politico on Friday, adding that U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff “Milley had a point.” Speaking anonymously, the U.S. officials[Read More…]
The US has said it backs efforts to restore Niger’s “constitutional order” in the wake of a military uprising last month, after countries in the region said they would activate troops for a possible armed intervention. In a statement published on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington stands with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in calling on[Read More…]
A Ukrainian soldier who lost his leg in battle told The Washington Post that he would not volunteer to fight for his country again — expressing a rare but growing pessimism around the war. Ruslan Proektor, 52, told the U.S. newspaper in a report published Thursday that he lost his leg this summer after stepping on a Russian mine. The soldier who[Read More…]
CNN, in an analysis (Why a stalled Ukrainian offensive could represent a huge political problem for Zelensky in the U.S., August 9, 2023) by Stephen Collinson, said: One of Ukraine’s greatest tragedies as it pursues a critical offensive that has, so far, failed to meet its own and Western expectations is that it cannot, by itself, decide its destiny. The CNN analysis said: President[Read More…]
Acting U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has traveled to Niger, and met with the new military government. Widely regarded as a foreign policy hawk, Nuland spoke to her hosts of the risks of foreign interference, although she played an instrumental role in the Western-backed coup in Ukraine in 2014. Speaking to reporters during a special briefing on Monday,[Read More…]
The French government announced on Sunday that it is halting financial assistance to Burkina Faso over the West African nation’s stance on the coup in Niger. “France suspends, until further notice, all its development aid and budget support actions in Burkina Faso,” the ministry said in a statement, without elaborating. The decision comes just days after the ruling juntas in[Read More…]
The situation in Niger is still tense. The military government now running Niger has refused to relinquish power, as an ultimatum set by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) expired on Sunday. The coup leaders have vowed to rid Niger of colonial influence. The U.S. and EU have imposed sanctions on Niger following the coup, and France has[Read More…]
The ousted Nigerien president Mohamed Bazoum has asked for U.S. help to defeat the military junta that seized power last week. The Washington Post on Thursday evening published an op-ed purportedly written by Mohamed Bazoum in which the ousted President made the call for U.S. intervention. “I write this as a hostage. Niger is under attack from a military junta that[Read More…]
“The first several weeks of Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive have not been kind to the Ukrainian troops who were trained and armed by the United States and its allies,” said a report by the New York Times. Other reports by the U.S. media concur the same. The New York Times report (Ukrainian Troops Trained by the West Stumble in Battle, August[Read More…]
Cuba’s National Assembly said on Wednesday it “strongly condemns” a resolution by the European Parliament, which criticized the country’s human rights record and called for EU sanctions against Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other top officials. “The European Parliament lacks the moral, political and legal authority to judge Cuba,” Cuba’s parliament said in a statement. “This could cast doubt on[Read More…]
Approximately 2.4 billion individuals, largely women and residents of rural areas, did not have consistent access to nutritious, safe, and sufficient food in 2022, said UN’s latest report. The U.N. delivered grim news on global food security Wednesday: As many as 783 million faced hunger, and 148 million children suffered from stunted growth. More than 3.1 billion people – 42%[Read More…]
Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006. An AP report said on 14 July 2023:[Read More…]
The governments of the U.S. and UK are trusted by just about a third of their respective populations, placing them dead last among the G7 countries, according to a Gallup poll published on Monday. The U.S. performed worst among the G7, with just 31% of poll respondents saying they had confidence in their government in 2022. The UK fared slightly better,[Read More…]
Moscow and Beijing should “lead the correct direction of global governance reform,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi underlined that the development of the bilateral ties between China and Russia has become “a strategic choice made by both countries based on their own national and people’s fundamental interests.” Xi added that the importance of developing ties within such multinational groups[Read More…]
Earth’s ecosystems may be careering toward collapse much sooner than scientists thought, a new study of our planet’s warming climate has warned. According to the study (Simon Willcock, Gregory S. Cooper, John Addy & John A. Dearing, Earlier collapse of Anthropocene ecosystems driven by multiple faster and noisier drivers, Nature Sustainability, Published: 22 June 2023), more than a fifth of the world’s potentially catastrophic[Read More…]
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said Monday that early data show the beginning of July saw the hottest week on record globally. “The world just had the hottest week on record, according to preliminary data,” the WMO said in a statement after climate change and the early stages of the El Nino weather pattern drove the hottest June on record. Temperatures are breaking records[Read More…]
Earth is experiencing unprecedented heat waves, with record-breaking temperatures being observed. The University of Maine’s Climate Reanalyzer reported that Earth broke the record for its hottest day in 120,000 years three times in the past week. These extreme temperatures are expected to continue as El Niño intensifies, adding more heat to the Earth’s system. The climate scientists are confident in these assertions[Read More…]
Drinking water from nearly half of U.S. faucets likely contains “forever chemicals” that may cause cancer and other health problems, according to a government study released Wednesday. An AP report said: The synthetic compounds known collectively as PFAS are contaminating drinking water to varying extents in large cities and small towns — and in private wells and public systems, the[Read More…]
The U.S. spy agency Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has boots on the ground in Ukraine and operates a clandestine supply network to help the government in Kiev to fight Russia, leading U.S. weekly Newsweek reported on Wednesday, citing anonymous sources within the US government. “The CIA was central to the war even before it started,” claimed the article, written by William[Read More…]
Members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) should resist outside attempts to stage uprisings, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday in an address at the SCO’s virtual summit. “It is necessary to categorically oppose any attempts to interfere from the outside and inspire color revolution under any pretext,” Xi stressed. Media reports said: During his speech at the summit,[Read More…]
The world registered its hottest ever day on Monday as temperatures surged across the globe, according to data released by the U.S. National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). Media reports said: The U.S. governmental body, which delivers national and global climate guidance and forecasts from its headquarters in Maryland, said on Tuesday that it recorded an average global temperature of[Read More…]
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s former president, has warned that Moscow’s confrontation with the West will last decades and that its conflict with Ukraine could become permanent. A Reuters report said: Medvedev, now deputy head of the Security Council, said in an article for the government’s Rossiiskaya Gazeta newspaper, tensions between Russia and the West were “much worse” than during the 1962[Read More…]
Argentina made its latest payment on its $44 billion-loan to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) using its stock of Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) and Chinese yuan, according to the Economy Ministry. The SDRs are an asset within the IMF created to supplement countries’ official reserves. According to government spokeswoman Gabriela Cerruti, the payment was made without tapping into the Central[Read More…]
Kiev’s inability to penetrate Russian defensive lines should serve as a “wake-up call” in Washington, veteran journalist Seymour Hersh warned on Thursday. Citing battlefield statistics obtained from an unnamed source, Hersh claimed that Ukrainian forces have only managed to capture two square miles of Russian-held land over the last ten days of fighting. In the two weeks beforehand, he continued, the Ukrainian military took[Read More…]
Riots sparked by the death of a teenager in a police shooting continued into the early hours on Thursday. More than 70 people have been detained in Paris suburbs. The riots spread to major French cities. Media reports said: Protests broke out in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Tuesday, but have since spread to other major cities, including Toulouse,[Read More…]
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban called for a ceasefire in the conflict between Moscow and Kiev as soon as possible. He warned that otherwise Ukraine will “lose a huge amount of wealth and many lives, and unimaginable destruction will happen. That is why peace is the only solution at this moment.” However, he said fighting would not stop until Kiev’s[Read More…]
Ubaydi, north-west Iraq. A boy clings to his father after his mother and the rest of the family fled. US marines took over the town the day before the photograph was taken as part of an offensive against insurgents in the region. Iraqis had to flee the town except for all men of military age who were detained. Photograph: Sean[Read More…]
A Muslim man was beaten to death (lynched) for allegedly transporting beef in Nashik, Maharashtra another one seriously injured. The two victims identified as Afan Ansari aged 32 and Nasir Qureshi aged 24 were seriously injured in the attack. Afsan Ansari was pronounced dead. They were traveling in a car to Mumbai, when they were attacked by the cow vigilantes[Read More…]
Comparison of normalized storage (NS) variations of global pre- and post-1999 reservoirs: a Locations of the global reservoirs (with pre-1999 reservoirs in red and post-1999 reservoirs in cyan). b Comparison of the NS values of global pre- and post-1999 reservoirs (excluding regulated natural lakes), along with the accumulative storage capacity of the post-1999 reservoirs. Source: Study report. Over the past two decades, global reservoirs have[Read More…]
On Thursday, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called for a transformation of the global financial system that goes beyond reforming international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A teleSUR report said: “Global problems like the climate crisis show us that we simply cannot address modern issues with institutions, which were created[Read More…]
The glaciers and snow of the over 3,000 named peaks in the Himalayas are an important water resource that climate change threatens to destroy. Photo: Koshy Koshy/Flickr Scientists have warned in a report that Himalayan glaciers could lose up to 75% of their ice by the turn of the century, which will affect about 2 billion people depending on the system.[Read More…]
Temperatures over Europe have warmed significantly over the 1991-2021 period, at an average rate of about +0.5 °C per decade, making it the fastest warming region of all the WMO Regions. This has been said by the State of the Climate in Europe, a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) on Monday. The report said: Temperatures in Europe[Read More…]
Here, the researchers compare the observed polar motion (red arrow, “OBS”) to the modeling results without (dashed blue arrow) and with (solid blue arrow) groundwater mass redistribution. The model with groundwater mass redistribution is a much better match for the observed polar motion, telling the researchers the magnitude and direction of groundwater’s influence on the Earth’s spin. Credit: Geophysical Research Letters (2023).[Read More…]
The House of Oranje-Nassau, the Royal House of the Netherlands, earned at least 545 million euros (about 3 million guilders – $600 million) in modern money from the Dutch colonies, where slavery was widespread. The figure has been adjusted for inflation, and covers the period from 1675 to 1770. It is one of the results of the investigation into the[Read More…]
Daniel Ellsberg, a former U.S. military analyst who revealed a years-long U.S. campaign to hide the true scale of U.S.’s the Vietnam War, has died Friday at this home in Kensington, California, U.S. He was 92. Ellsberg passed away after a short battle with pancreatic cancer, but continued his anti-war activism until his final days. Ellsberg never ran for office[Read More…]
China Central Television (CCTV) said: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced during their meeting in Beijing on Wednesday the establishment of a bilateral strategic partnership. “Today, we have jointly announced the establishment of a Chinese-Palestinian strategic partnership, which will become an important milestone in the history of bilateral relations,” CCTV quoted Xi as saying. The Chinese president[Read More…]
Days after welcoming Secretary of State Antony Blinken as part of efforts to reset relations with the U.S., Saudi Arabia turned its attention to boosting ties with one of Washington’s main competitors: China, says Bloomberg. A Bloomberg report — Saudi Arabia Looks to China for Business as US Influence Wanes — said on June 13, 2023: For the past two[Read More…]
Nuclear powers are actively modernizing and expanding their arsenals amid rising geopolitical tensions, said SIPRI Yearbook 2023, a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday. Of the total global inventory of an estimated 12 512 warheads in January 2023, about 9576 were in military stockpiles for potential use — 86 more than in January 2022 (see[Read More…]
El Niño has officially made its way back after its years-long hiatus. NOAA announced on Thursday that the climate pattern system is expected to strengthen over the next several months. Climate scientists say El Niño will probably push average global temperatures beyond a record set in 2016. That year, an intense El Niño triggered deadly heat and precipitation and was linked to rainforest[Read More…]
Eurostat, the European statistics agency, said on Thursday: The Eurozone’s economy contracted in the first quarter of 2023. This marks the second consecutive quarter of contraction, thus meeting the technical definition of a recession. The Eurostat announcement came following a downward revision of growth in the 20 countries that use the euro as their currency for the last quarter of[Read More…]
More than 43 million people across Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia continue to suffer through one of the worst droughts in recent history, caused by five consecutive seasons of poor rains, said the United Nations. News from the UN said: Years of conflict and insecurity have sparked mass displacement, while skyrocketing food prices and most recently, the fighting in Sudan, have compounded[Read More…]
A new report by the World Meteorological Organization makes dire predictions for the next five years: Global temperatures rising to new record levels, continued ocean heating and acidification, sea ice loss and glacier melt, sea level rise, and more extreme weather. The new Global Annual to Decadal Climate Update, 2023-2027, released this week by the WMO said: There is a near[Read More…]
The UK has sent its special forces to 19 countries since 2011, according to a report by Action on Armed Violence (AOAV) , a London-based charity that conducts research on global armed violence. The deployed British operatives trained foreign militants, carried out assassinations, and reportedly fought alongside child soldiers. In a report published on Tuesday, AOAV stated that British operatives have been[Read More…]
Over two million deaths and $4.3 trillion in economic losses; that’s the impact of a half-century of extreme weather events turbo-charged by man-made global warming, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday. According to WMO, weather, climate and water-related hazards caused close to 12,000 disasters between 1970 and 2021. Developing Countries Developing countries were hit hardest, seeing nine in 10 deaths and 60 per cent of[Read More…]
The global debt increased by $8.3 trillion in the first quarter of the year to a near-record high of $305 trillion amid an aggressive tightening of monetary policy by central banks, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) has revealed. According to its quarterly Global Debt Monitor (GDM) report on Wednesday, the reading is the highest since the first quarter of[Read More…]
The international community will not fall in line with the pro-Western rules pushed by the Group of Seven (G7) and not allow the U.S.-led group to dominate world affairs, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. “China will never accept the so-called rules imposed by the few. The international community does not accept and will not accept[Read More…]
Venezuela is planning to shift away from the U.S. dollar in cross-border transactions, President Nicolas Maduro said earlier this week, claiming that the measure would help the Bolivarian Republic to free its economy. Maduro said on Tuesday in an interview with local media: this is the path of Venezuela and the path of a fee economy where currencies are not[Read More…]
Thousands of patients are facing delays in getting treatments for cancer and other life-threatening diseases, with drug shortages in the United States approaching record levels, said a report by the New York Times. The report — “Drug Shortages Approach an All-Time High, Leading to Rationing — said on May 17, 2023: “Hospitals are scouring shelves for supplies of a drug[Read More…]
U.S. mainstream media (MSM) are facing criticism from former U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham. Earlier, famous journalist Seymour Hersh has also criticized the U.S. MSM. Barack Obama has claimed Americans are so divided by the country’s polarizing media outlets that they cannot even begin to address controversial challenges based on a common understanding of reality. “The[Read More…]
North Korea’s Foreign Ministry has claimed NATO is seeking to increase its influence in Asia, citing growing “military collusion” with Japan, which hosted a delegation from the military alliance last month to discuss ways to step up cooperation. In comments carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Monday, an official with the Foreign Ministry’s Japan Research Center,[Read More…]
One person has died after two groups clashed over a social media post about the movie “The Kerala Story” in Maharashtra’s Akola district. Eight people, including two policemen, were injured in this incident in Akola. Thirty people have been detained by the police in connection with the violence. After this incident, the Maharashtra Police has issued an alert in the[Read More…]
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has introduced a bill to oppose the normalization of relations between Syria and other nations. The Arab League reinstated the country this month, while Saudi Arabia announced the reopening of diplomatic channels with Damascus after ten years. Media reports said: The Assad Anti-Normalization Act threatens “governments considering normalization with the Assad regime” with severe consequences, according to[Read More…]
Indian National Congress received a resounding victory in Karanataka Assembly Elections. Congress is now leading in 136 seats in the 224 seat Assembly. The ruling far-right Hindu nationalist party BJP is leading in 64 seats and Janata Dal (Secular) in 20 seats. Congress is set to form the government. The Karnataka elections hold broader implications for national politics. The outcome[Read More…]
The U.S. is meddling in Türkiye’s upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, Ankara’s Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu claimed on Friday. Speaking to CNN Turk, Soylu weighed in on the decision by presidential candidate Muharrem Ince, who leads the opposition Homeland Party, to drop out of the race on Thursday ahead of Sunday’s vote. Ince attributed the withdrawal to a “slander campaign,” which[Read More…]
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior Pentagon officials have urged U.S. lawmakers to extend the federal borrowing limit, insisting a default on the national debt would be devastating for America’s reputation and “embolden” China. Testifying at a Senate Defense Appropriation hearing on Thursday, both Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley spoke in support of the[Read More…]
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair ordered the 1998 bombing of Iraq despite repeated warnings that such a move was unlawful, according to documents published by Declassified UK, an investigative outlet that focuses on UK’s military and intelligence agencies, on 17 April 2023 (https://declassifieduk.org/blair-misled-parliament-over-1998-iraq-bombing-files-show/). Blair would follow the same template – insisting that illegal military action was legal – when[Read More…]
U.S. President Joe Biden has said U.S.’s reputation would be “damaged in the extreme” if the government were unable to pay its bills, insisting a default on the national debt is simply not an option. Addressing reporters after a meeting with congressional leaders on Tuesday, Biden said the sit-down was “productive,” noting that all sides agreed to find a “path forward[Read More…]
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has criticized the UK for its treatment of Julian Assange. He said the WikiLeaks founder has been imprisoned for his professional activities as a journalist and called on the government to release him. “It is an embarrassment that a journalist who denounced trickery by one state against another is arrested, condemned to die[Read More…]
Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has told CBS News that the conflict in Ukraine may be approaching a turning point, and that Chinese-brokered peace talks could begin by the end of 2023. “Now that China has entered the negotiation, it will come to a head, I think by the end of the year,” the 99-year-old diplomat told CBS[Read More…]
De-dollarization now looks inevitable and threatens to become a national security concern, according to International Crisis Group co-chair Frank Giustra. A Business Insider report — “De-dollarization is no longer a matter of if, but when — and is a national security concern, says International Crisis Group cochair”, May 3, 2023, — said: In commentary published in Responsible Statecraft, Frank Giustra said[Read More…]
“We should have listened to Putin over many years. We made a commitment to Russia, to Gorbachev, that we would not move NATO one inch to the east. Then we went in, and we lied,” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in an interview with UnHerd (Robert Kennedy Jr: America needs a revolution, by Freddie Sayers, Editor-in-Chief of UnHerd, ), published[Read More…]
Mexico’s president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador asked his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden to stop the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from funding groups hostile to his government, according to a letter presented to journalists on Wednesday, echoing previous Mexican criticism of U.S. interventionism. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has in the past accused several media organizations of being[Read More…]
A new study has highlighted under-prepared regions across the world most at risk of the devastating effects of scorching temperatures. The University of Bristol-led research report (Thompson, V., Mitchell, D., Hegerl, G.C. et al. The most at-risk regions in the world for high-impact heatwaves. Nat Commun 14, 2152 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-37554-1), published today in Nature Communications, shows that unprecedented heat extremes combined with socioeconomic vulnerability puts[Read More…]
The foreign ministers of Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, and Iraq said on Monday after meeting in Amman said the government in Damascus should re-establish the rule of law on all of Syria’s territory, ending the presence of foreign armed groups and terrorists,. Jordan hosted the meeting, the first of its kind since Syria’s membership in the Arab League was[Read More…]
De-dollarization could become a reality as a BRICS alternative to the dollar could enjoy high prospects for success, said a former White House adviser. A report by Business Insider — The dollar’s dominance would face a threat unlike any other from a BRICS currency, former White House economist says, April 26, 2023 — said: Joseph Sullivan, who served as a[Read More…]
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, have spoken over the phone, in their first official conversation since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine more than a year ago. Media reports said: Xi told Zelensky that “dialogue and negotiations are only viable way out.” “China will neither watch the fire from the other side, nor add[Read More…]
Global military expenditure increased by 3.7 % in 2022 and reached a new record high of $2,240 billion, with the three largest spenders being the U.S., China and Russia, according to new data published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The U.S. remains the world’s biggest military spender with its military expenditure having reached $877 billion[Read More…]
Whoever sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines likely had access to fast-moving underwater drones, one of Denmark’s most “experienced navy divers” told Bloomberg on Thursday. NATO forces trained with these unmanned underwater vehicles near the blast site prior to the explosions. The diver said that “finding the pipelines without precise coordinates or tracking technology, then transporting and placing the explosives, would have challenged diver-saboteur,” in[Read More…]
Western sanctions against Russia have accelerated the move away from the U.S. dollar worldwide, Stephen Jen, the CEO of London-based asset management company Eurizon, warned on Tuesday. The dollar’s share in global reserves fell ten times faster last year than over the past two decades, Jen said, as cited by Bloomberg. The process began as some countries started to look[Read More…]
The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – is expected to increase their share of the global economy to nearly 35% by 2028, Bloomberg reported on Monday. According to Bloomberg’s calculations based on the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, this year, the BRICS countries will contribute 32.1% of the world’s growth, compared to the Group of[Read More…]
China will become the biggest driver of global growth over the next five years and will contribute double what the U.S. adds, according to the International Monetary Fund. Based on Bloomberg calculations from data in the IMF’s World Economic Outlook (A Rocky Recovery, April 2023, https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/Issues/2023/04/11/world-economic-outlook-april-2023) released last week, China’s slice of global gross domestic product expansion will be at 22.6%, India’s[Read More…]
The role of the U.S. dollar as the world reserve currency may actually diminish due to the U.S. using its leverage on the global financial system to pursue its geopolitical goals through sanctions, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen has admitted. However, no other currency is ready to replace it, she reckoned. Yellen was asked during an interview on Sunday[Read More…]
Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Saturday: The U.S. and its allies should focus on promoting peace instead of fueling the Ukraine conflict by arming Kiev. Lula has concluded a state visit to China, his country’s primary trading partner. “The united States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace,” Lula told reporters in Beijing. “The European Union needs[Read More…]
French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks to journalists on his way home from China visit about the three-way relationship between China, Europe and the U.S. did more to rile his EU partners. This incident is a show of condition within the EU and future possibilities. An AFP report — Macron’s China remarks exasperate EU allies, April 13, 2023 — said:[Read More…]
The South African Communist Party (SACP), in an April statement, asserted that the timing of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin, issued just before Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia in March, indicated a political motivation and historical inconsistency. “Unfortunately, imperialist powers continue to manipulate this multilateral institution and use it for[Read More…]
BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa — have surpassed the Group of Seven (G7) in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP), data published by the UK-based economic research firm Acorn Macro Consulting shows. The G7 club of industrialized countries consists of the U.S., Canada, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, and Japan.[Read More…]
A state actor’s involvement in the blast of the Nord Stream pipelines last year is the “absolute main scenario”, said the Swedish prosecutor investigating the attack. A Reuters report — State actor involvement in Nord Stream pipeline attacks is ‘main scenario’, says Swedish investigator, April 6, 2023, — said: A state actor’s involvement in the blast of the Nord Stream[Read More…]
According to veteran journalist Seymour Hersh, the mainstream media’s yarn about a pro-Ukrainian group that chartered a yacht named Andromeda to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines was so absurd and childish that one would suspect it was made intentionally to reinforce the truth. On April 5, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh took to Substack again to analyze the Western media’s[Read More…]
“After 78 years, it is now time for U.S. soldiers to go home. All other allies left Germany a long time ago”, said Die Linke MP Sevim Dağdelen on the floor of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag. “The US nuclear weapons must go”, she added, in a March 31 parliamentary event on the 75th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. Berlin must break with[Read More…]
U.S. Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has commented on problems in stockpile of U.S. ammunitions and prospect of Ukraine winning the war this year. An AP report — Milley: US has long way to go to build munitions stockpile” (March 30, 2023) — said: The U.S. military “has a long ways to go”[Read More…]
A mega transport strike, unseen over decades, halted Germany. With the largest strike over decades, Airports, train stations and bus stations across Germany were at a standstill on Monday. The strike is the result of demands for wage hikes issued by several major trade unions. As Europe’s biggest economy reels from inflation, Germany has been brought to a standstill by[Read More…]
Nuclear stakes are rising around Ukraine. In response to UK’s plan to supply depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine, Putin has announced deploying of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. Moreover, the U.S. has already deployed nuclear weapons in NATO countries around Russia, Media reports said: The EU will respond with further sanctions if Belarus presses ahead with hosting Russian nuclear weapons[Read More…]
Serbians could only forget the aggression unleashed by the U.S.-led NATO in 1999 if their country ceases to exist, President Aleksandar Vucic warned on Friday. He was marking the 24th anniversary of the military bloc’s bombing campaign of the then Yugoslavia. Media reports said: Vucic added that the U.S. and its allies have yet to answer for their attacks, which[Read More…]
U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines because he was unhappy with the level of support provided by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, veteran investigative journalist Seymour Hersh has claimed. Hersh first accused Washington of destroying the key European energy route in an article released in February, and made[Read More…]
The Russia-Ukraine war is unlikely to end on the battlefield and will instead come to a conclusion at a negotiating table, predicts a top U.S. general. A Business Insider report — Top U.S. general says it will be really hard and cost a lot of ‘blood and treasure’ for Ukraine to ‘kick out every single Russian’ invader, March 21, 2023, https://www.businessinsider.com/costs-ukraine-blood-treasure-kick-russia-invaders-out-us-general-2023-3[Read More…]
Over three million demonstrators took to the streets across the country in what some security sources described as an “insurrection” against the government in Paris. French authorities struggled on Thursday to suppress the protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform. According to the French Interior Ministry, over one million people participated in demonstrations against the pension reform bill across France,[Read More…]
Seymour Hersh, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, has claimed the U.S. intentionally provided false stories to the media to cover up Washington’s involvement in the destruction of Russia’s Nord Stream pipelines. In a post on his Substack blog on Wednesday, the veteran reporter claims the CIA was tasked with preparing a cover story – in collaboration with Berin’s BND intelligence service – to[Read More…]
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has termed the U.S. as liars. Media reports said: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, popularly called as AMLO, bristled over his government being accused by the U.S. State Department of human rights abuses, dismissing his country’s neighbors to the north as liars. Speaking at a press briefing on Tuesday in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lopez Obrador responded angrily to[Read More…]
“Urgent” actions are needed to counter human-caused climate change, says a new report released Monday by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The report said: Climate change has caused substantial damages, and increasingly irreversible losses, in terrestrial, freshwater, cryospheric, and coastal and open ocean ecosystems. Temperatures have already increased by more than 1.1 C since pre-industrial times, putting human[Read More…]
Pulitzer-prize winning investigative journalist Seymour Hersh made waves again Tuesday night as he excoriated the Biden administration and lambasted mainstream media coverage of the Nord Stream bombing, the Russiagate story, and the Democrat Party’s love of war at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Media reports said: In a wide-ranging discussion, journalist Seymour Hersh doubled down on his explosive[Read More…]
In an anti-government demonstration on Saturday, thousands of Czechs joined protest march in Prague. Protesters decried falling living standards and rising prices, and their government’s continued military support of Ukraine. Media reports said: Organized by the right-wing Law, Respect, Expertise party (PRO), the rally saw demonstrators wave Czech flags and placards demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government.[Read More…]
A German newspaper has debunked the Nord Stream sabotage stories by other Anglo-U.S. media. German center-right newspaper Bild has insisted that the mainstream media story that the Nord Stream pipelines were destroyed by a team of six operating from the Andromeda, a 15-meter chartered yacht, is becoming increasingly dubious. Earlier this week, The New York Times and Die Zeit claimed[Read More…]
The Iran-Saudi Arabia rapprochement has wide reactions. An NBC report — What does the Iran-Saudi Arabia truce mean for Washington’s standing on the global stage? (March 11, 2023, NBCNews.com) — said: As some world leaders hailed the restoration of ties between long-standing enemies Iran and Saudi Arabia, there were growing fears in Washington that the deal could help spell the end[Read More…]
In a significant development, Iran and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore ties. China has mediated in the deal. The two countries will also resume the security cooperation agreement signed in 2001. China’s role in mediating the agreement is a major diplomatic win for the rising power. The news came Friday night attracting worldwide attention, and is seen as a[Read More…]
Stories and claims on the blowing up of parts of the Nord Stream gas pipelines is creating a lot of confusion. Claims Of Ukrainian Link To Nord Stream Sabotage Hypothetical, Says Germany Germany’s defense minister Boris Pistorius has dodged a question about how the Nord Stream sabotage case could influence Western military aid for Kiev if it turns out that[Read More…]
The gas pipeline Nord Stream blast has created diversified opinions and assessments. The sabotage of the Nord Stream delivering Russian gas to Europe was a good thing, Polish President Andrzej Duda told CNN on Wednesday. The destruction of the pipelines freed the continent from Russia’s “dominance” plans, the Polish leader claimed, adding that it ended the European nation’s dependence on[Read More…]
The Russian government on Monday has branded Soros-funded Transparency International (TI) as “undesirable,” effectively banning it from operating in the country. The TI once blocked calls to help NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013. An AP report said: The Russian prosecutor’s office charged that while “formally acting as an organization fighting corruption around the world, it interferes in the internal[Read More…]
Daniel Ellsberg, who leaked the ‘Pentagon Papers’ that revealed the U.S.’s covert attempts to ramp up conflict in Vietnam since the 1940s, has warned of the possibility of nuclear war between the U.S. and Russia. In a parting message to other activists, he made the warning. In the message Daniel Ellsberg has announced that he has terminal pancreatic cancer. “On[Read More…]
Russia no longer perceives the U.S. and its allies as reliable trade partners and will not allow itself to be dependent on them, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a conference in India on Friday. “We will not rely on any partner in the West anymore. We will not allow them to blow up the pipelines again,” he said in[Read More…]
Rallies against the U.S.-led NATO bloc, the EU, supply of weapons to Ukraine and anti-war have been held across France, and in Italy and Germany. At protest sites, demonstrators defaced and tore down NATO and EU flags. Berlin Tens of thousands of Germans braved the elements to attend the Uprising for Peace, a massive rally organized by Die Linke (Left[Read More…]
China’s foreign ministry has published its proposal for political settlement of the crisis in Ukraine on its website on Friday. Media reports said: China’s 12-point settlement plan includes a call for de-escalation and ceasefire. The document says: “All sides should show rationality and restraint, avoid fuelling tensions or taking steps to aggravate the conflict, avert further escalation and prevent the[Read More…]
Why Norway? In Seymour Hersh’s account of the Biden Administration’s decision to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, why did much of the secret planning and training for the operation take place in Norway? And why were highly skilled seamen and technicians from the Norwegian Navy involved? These questions have been put forward by Pulitzer winning journalist Seymour Hersh in his “From[Read More…]
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Washington, DC Sunday for the ‘March Against the War Machine’ rally, with a number of prominent speakers from across the political spectrum of U.S. calling on the U.S. government to end its military support of Ukraine in favor of diplomacy, and slashing the Pentagon budget to address numerous domestic issues. The anti-war event held at[Read More…]
Seymour Hersh, the famous investigative journalist, has slammed U.S.’s alleged involvement in bombing the Nord Stream gas lines as one of the “dumbest” decisions taken in years, warning that the move will have “horrific” consequences for Europeans and further undercut the already “supremely useless” NATO alliance. Speaking to Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman for an interview on Wednesday, Hersh outlined his recent report on[Read More…]
Legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claimed on Saturday that his latest exposure report that suggests the CIA was responsible for the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines in September, was not a hard story to find. It was obvious that there was more to the issue than was being reported by most media outlets, Hersh said. In his first interview, (Radio War[Read More…]
Hundreds of thousands of people joined in rallies in Spain and France on issues of healthcare and pension reform. Madrid Media reports said: Around 250,000 people marched through the streets of Madrid on Sunday demanding that the Spanish government increase the country’s health care budget, improve working conditions and expand the staff. “Today in Madrid we are standing up again[Read More…]
A quarter of a million people have signed an online petition urging German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to stop increasing the flow of weapons to Ukraine and to push for a peaceful resolution of the conflict instead. The petition, started on change.org by German politician Sahra Wagenknecht and journalist Alice Schwarzer, accrued over 250,000 signatures about two days since its creation. Ukraine Is[Read More…]
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Friday that Washington owed the world an explanation, following the publication of journalist Seymour Hersh’s report, claiming the U.S. was behind the September 2022 attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Media reports said: “We have noted the reports,” Mao Ning said, responding to a question from Dragon TV. She added that the[Read More…]
Workers on the picket line outside Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton during strike by nurses and ambulance staff. Photo: Morning Star Tens of thousands of British nurses and ambulance workers walked off the job on Monday, in what is the largest strike in the 75-year history of the National Health Service (NHS). While the government has offered a pay[Read More…]
Since the ouster and imprisonment of democratically elected President Pedro Castillo in Peru political crisis is prolonging in the country as people’s revolt against the rightist government is spreading across the country, and the government is increasing repressive measures instead of taking measure for a democratic approach. Daily protesters around Peru have blocked highways with trees, boulders and tires, taken[Read More…]
Remnants of KPFM-1S-SK cassettes manufactured in 1988 that Human Rights Watch researchers found in Izium in October 2022. These cassettes are used for the delivery of PFM mines by the 9M27K3 Uragan mine-laying rocket. The cassette opens in flight using a small explosive charge to separate it from the rocket motor section of the weapon and scatters 312 PFM mines[Read More…]
The North Korean government has pledged (Press Statement of Spokesperson for DPRK Foreign Ministry Issued, 02/02/2023, KCNA.kp (En) to respond with the “toughest possible” measures to any U.S. military provocation against the country, after the U.S. pledged to deploy more weapons to the Korean peninsula. After the U.S. Defense Secretary promised to beef up South Korean military capabilities, North Korean officials[Read More…]
Pakistan is facing a major economic crisis. News agency AFP headlined one of it reports as “Pakistan’s economy in ‘collapse’ as IMF visits” A report — Pakistan facing worst economic crisis; Pakistani rupee at Rs 250 against dollar: Report — said: Pakistan is facing the worst economic crisis since the nation formed with its currency falling to Rs 250 against[Read More…]
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, in Japan as part of his East Asia tour, said “our security is closely interconnected” and called for stronger ties with Japan as Russia’s war on Ukraine raises global dangers and shows that democracies need stronger partnerships. Stoltenberg said his visit to Japan “is a way to further strengthen the partnership between NATO and our highly[Read More…]
Contradictory statements on war with Russia are coming. U.S. and EU officials have previously gone out of their way to claim they were not a party to the conflict in Ukraine. Arguing in favor of sending tanks to Kiev, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said EU countries were fighting a war against Russia. “Arguing therefore I have said already in[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine will cost Germany, Europe’s largest economy, €175 billion ($190 billion) this year, which equates to €2,000 per inhabitant, German media outlet Deutsche Welle reported on Monday, citing a report by the Institute of German Economics (IW). Authors of the study compared the current situation to an imaginary scenario in which there was no military operation in[Read More…]
China has rebuked the U.S. for its brinkmanship over the nation’s “catastrophic debt problem as Washington approaches a statutory debt ceiling this week that could see the country defaulting on its obligations. The criticism came from the Chinese embassy in Zambia’s capital Lusaka, following a reproach from U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen over alleged mishandling by Beijing of a debt problem[Read More…]
“Venezuela will once again be treated normally, as all countries want to be treated,” said Lula da Silva. A teleSUR report said: On Monday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva asked the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to help solve the problems of Venezuela and Cuba and treat these nations with “much affection.” These statements were made during[Read More…]
Citing officials, the Financial Times said on Sunday: Brazil and Argentina plan to create a common currency. According to the newspaper, this move could finally create the world’s second-largest currency bloc with roughly 5% of global GDP, if the initiative is successfully implemented across all of Latin America. The plan will be discussed and officially announced at a summit in Buenos Aires[Read More…]
A massive strike has hit France on Thursday. Workers and other earners joined hands in protesting pension reform. Trade union sources said the number of people joining more than 200 protest marches was 2 million. Police had to use tear gas to contain the protesters in Paris. Teachers, railway workers and public sector employees abandoned joined the protest marches to[Read More…]
According to a Bloomberg report, Saudi Arabia is ready to discuss trading in currencies other than the US dollar, according to Saudi Arabia’s finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan. Al-Jadaan’s comments come a month after China’s President Xi Jinping said that Beijing is ready to make energy purchases in yuan instead of the US dollar in trade exchanges with members of the[Read More…]
The rich are having good days as they always have. Even the pandemic could not brake their stockpiling of wealth. The super-rich outstrip their extraordinary grab of half of all new wealth in past decade. The richest 1% of the world bag nearly twice as much wealth as the rest of the world put together over the past two years, finds[Read More…]
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said: Rising food, rents, and energy prices, and inadequate social protections threatened the rights of people on the lowest incomes, including to food and housing. The HRW has warned: The UK could become known as a “human rights abuser,” if it does not reverse a series of controversial laws. The NGO criticized Britain’s[Read More…]
People are protesting Rightist government moves ousting President Pedro Castillo. Tweeting from jail on Tuesday, Castillo said history will remember Peruvians “murdered for defending the country from the coup dictatorship,” and that “terror is the last bullet of a regime cornered by the people.” At least 47 people have died in connection with the protests, according to official government figures published on Tuesday.[Read More…]
The World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report: Global growth is projected to decelerate sharply this year, to its third weakest pace in nearly three decades, overshadowed only by the 2009 and 2020 global recessions. This reflects synchronous policy tightening aimed at containing very high inflation, worsening financial conditions, and continued disruptions from the war in Ukraine. The WB said: Investment growth[Read More…]
China will not let the Asia-Pacific region turn into a hotspot for geopolitical conflict, and will defend its own sovereignty and integrity, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson declared on Monday. Media reports said: Speaking at a press briefing, Wang Wenbin responded to the news of a 10-member German delegation arriving on the self-governing island of Taiwan. He stressed that “the[Read More…]
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has declared a state of emergency in the Federal District of Brasilia after thousands of supporters of his right-wing predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, organized a riot and overran the Congress, the Supreme Court and the presidential Planalto Palace. The leftist leader, inaugurated last week, gave the order on Sunday, has appointed justice minister Ricardo[Read More…]
Just over half of states in the U.S. are struggling with slowing economic activity, which could be a signal of a looming recession, according to new research from the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank. The December report pointed out that typically when 26 states demonstrate falling economic numbers, it offers “reasonable confidence” the nation as a whole will go into[Read More…]
The world economy will slide into a recession in 2023 as a number of economies will contract due to surging borrowing costs introduced to combat inflation, the UK-based Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has predicted in its latest report. The world economy surpassed $100 trillion for the first time ever in 2022 but will stall in 2023 as[Read More…]
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan and Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr and his wife Maria Louise at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on January 4, 2023. Photo: Xinhua In an important development in the south-east Asia region, China and the Philippines have agreed on issues vital for the region and in the[Read More…]
Brazil’s newly elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has scrapped plans to sell off eight state-run corporate giants, including the oil company Petroleo Brasileiro, known as Petrobras, Brazilian news website G1 reported on Monday. Lula was sworn in as Brazil’s president on January 1. He was president also from 2003 through 2010. Imprisoned for false charge of graft in[Read More…]
2023 is expected to be even “tougher” than 2022 as the U.S., EU and Chinese economies slow down, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Ukraine conflict, soaring prices, hiked interest rates and unrelenting Covid in China will continue to exert an impact on the global economy, Kristalina Georgieva told CBS’ Face the Nation program on[Read More…]
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak shared his first in-office New Year message on Saturday, admitting that “it has been a very tough year for the UK” and that the country’s problems “would not go away” in 2023 either. The PM largely blamed Britain’s hardships on Russia and its conflict with Ukraine. “I am not going to pretend that all our[Read More…]
R.P. Amudhan captures the essence of K.P. Sasi in his short movie “Breath to Breath”. Sasi succinctly expresses his views on life, activism, creative work with his quirky humour and witticism. It is a glimpse of Sasi’s life in an unabashed manner. Watch it to relive the memories with Sasi
On Monday, at the UN’s COP15 biodiversity conference in Canada, more than 190 countries approved an agreement to declare 30% of the planet as a protected zone by 2030 and to raise $30 billion per year for conservation in the developing world. Debates over the agreement have been held for nearly two weeks in Montreal, where representatives of about 200 governments[Read More…]
The planet has entered the sixth mass extinction. Pollution, climate change and depleting resources could drive up to 27% of the world’s animal life to extinction, a new paper has claimed. The study used a supercomputer to map out how interdependent food chains could collapse in the coming decades. Published on Friday and authored by European Commission scientist Giovanni Strona[Read More…]
Most of the U.S. citizens are unhappy with the course of their country, their leaders, and the future, finds a new poll. A report by USA Today (Unhappy new year? Poll finds Americans wary of the nation’s course, its leaders and its future ahead of 2023, Dec 19, 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/18/poll-inflation-future-leaders-americans/10903538002/) said: Americans are braced for an unhappy new year. Two-thirds[Read More…]
Global coal demand is set to increase only marginally in 2022 but enough to push it to an all-time high amid the energy crisis, according to a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) released on Friday. Global coal use is set to rise by 1.2% in 2022, surpassing 8 billion tonnes in a single year for the first time[Read More…]
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in an interview published on Thursday: Ukraine has no choice but to fight for the 1991 borders, because the world failed to guarantee its security and Ukraine alone is paying the price of the conflict. The Economist spoke with Zelensky on December 8, but published an edited transcript only a week later. Just two days prior to[Read More…]
More than 100,000 nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland walked off the job on Thursday in the largest strike in the 106-year history of their union, the Royal College of Nursing. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) launched the biggest strike, warning that an NHS staff exodus is “costing patients their lives.” Drivers showed support for thousands of striking[Read More…]
People’s mobilizations in Peru continued Tuesday in many areas. The protesting people reiterated the demand for the closure of Congress, the release of former President Pedro Castillo, resignation of acting President Dina Boluarte and the holding of new elections. Citing community media, a teleSUR report said: Protests that have taken place in Peru included Plaza San Martin, downtown Lima (capital),[Read More…]
Protesters in the Peruvian city of Andahuaylas have seized the airport and set fire to part of the terminals, the Peruvian Corporation of Commercial Airports and Aviation (CORPAC) said. Radio Programas del Peru (RAA) has reported that one protester died during clashes with police while ten other including police officers were injured. Protests are being carried out in Lima and[Read More…]
Peruvian President Pedro Castillo has been ousted and arrested. Following the earlier police statement, the U.S. State Department issued a notice acknowledging that “Castillo is now a former president.” State representative of Peru’s Justice Ministry Daniel Soria has filed charges of a coup attempt and abuse of power against impeached President Pedro Castillo with the Prosecutor General’s Office, the ministry[Read More…]
The total daily volume of crude shipped from Russia rebounded to 2.89 million barrels in the seven days to November 25, with the EU’s price cap deadline approaching, Bloomberg reported on Monday. According to the report, the volume of crude on vessels heading to China, India, and Turkey, plus the quantities on ships that are yet to show a final[Read More…]
“The U.S. government should end its prosecution of Julian Assange for publishing secrets,” the editors of the Times, the Guardian, Le Monde, Der Spiegel and El Pais wrote in a joint letter published Monday. The letter was signed by Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger and the editors and publishers of the Guardian (Britain), Le Monde (France), Der Spiegel (Germany) and El Pais[Read More…]
Protests broke out in China this weekend, with demonstrators in Shanghai, Wuhan, Beijing and other locations demanding an end to the government’s stringent Covid restrictions. Videos shared on social media purportedly show some protesters calling for the downfall of the Chinese Communist Party. Media reports said: Crowds in Shanghai voiced their anger for the second day in a row on[Read More…]
Left and right figures show warming in Europe of the summer half year during the latest four decades, sub-divided for clear-sky and all-sky conditions, respectively. Credit: Paul Glantz/Stockholm University The warming during the summer months in Europe has been much faster than the global average, finds a new study by scientists at Stockholm University (P. Glantz, O. G. Fawole, J.[Read More…]
The European Union must cast aside all doubts about new anti-Russia sanctions and double down on slapping Moscow with new restrictions that would curb its missile industry, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said on Tuesday. Speaking at a regular briefing, Kuleba urged the EU to speed up the work on its ninth sanctions package, which he described as long overdue.[Read More…]
During a speech at the Duma (Russian parliament) on Tuesday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel rejected the unilateral sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies on Russia. A teleSUR report said: “Cuba strongly condemns the unfair unilaterally imposed sanctions against Russia. The reasons for the current conflict must be found in the aggressive policy of the United States and in the[Read More…]
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned: This winter may be a “life-threatening” experience for “millions” of Ukrainians. Hans Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, has warned: Up to three million Ukrainians are expected to migrate “in search of warmth and safety.” Kluge made this warning on Monday during a press conference in Kiev. “We expect 2-3 million more people[Read More…]
The much expected 27th Conference of Parties (COP 27) has come to its conclusion, but without any concluding outcome for the planet. UN secretary general Antonio Guterres’s deep disappointment with the outcome of the COP 27 is sure to be echoed across the world. Guterres said on Sunday that the planet continues to be in the “emergency room” and the[Read More…]
Ukraine has been accused of “openly lying” about a missile that hit Poland killing two civilians, earlier this week, the Financial Times reported on Thursday citing an unnamed diplomat from a NATO country. Ukraine rushed to pin the blame on Moscow, while the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that footage from the site showed “elements of a missile from an S-300[Read More…]
U.S. President Joe Biden has said Tuesday’s blast on Polish territory, which killed two civilians, was caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile, Reuters has reported. The U.S. leader shared the information with his G7 and NATO partners, the news agency wrote on Wednesday, citing an anonymous NATO source. The incident in the village of Przewodow near the border with[Read More…]
An alleged missile strike in Poland Tuesday has killed 2 people. The Polish military and prosecutors have arrived at the scene of the blast, Visegrad 24 reports. The incident has increased tension. The incident occurred amid a large-scale missile attack that Russia launched at Ukraine. The Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushenko called it the “most massive shelling of Ukraine’s energy[Read More…]
Executions, stonings and amputations are possible punishments for crimes once more in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Taliban leader Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada ordered Afghan judges to impose Sharia-law punishments for certain crimes, according to a tweet from Zabihullah Mujahid, Mr. Akhundzada’s spokesman. Mullah Akhundzada has ordered Afghan judges to fully implement sharia law and its punishments, which include mutilations, flogging and executions. The announcement was[Read More…]
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Turkish-Kurdish militia group, which is banned in Turkey as a terrorist organization, said on Monday that it was not involved in the Sunday explosion in Istanbul. “We have nothing to do with this incident and it is well-known by the public that we would not target civilians directly or approve of actions directed at[Read More…]
It is the fall of 2022. Close to 33,000 delegates across the world are in Egypt. Not in Cairo, Giza, or Alexandria, but across the Gulf of Suez in Sharm El Sheikh. These delegates have failed to outnumber the 60,000 (reportedly, that is the number) incarcerated in their host’s prisons. If COP will ever be remembered, this one would be[Read More…]
Tomorrow, November 15, 2022, is predicted to be the day that the global population reaches eight billion. The projection is revealed in the UN’s World Population Prospects 2022 report, which also shows that India is on course to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023. The latest UN projections suggest that the world’s population could grow to[Read More…]
Figure 1Surface average atmospheric CO2 concentration (ppm). Since 1980, monthly data are from NOAA/GML (Dlugokencky and Tans, 2022) and are based on an average of direct atmospheric CO2 measurements from multiple stations in the marine boundary layer (Masarie and Tans, 1995). The 1958–1979 monthly data are from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, based on an average of direct atmospheric CO2 measurements from the Mauna[Read More…]
A tiny number of persons produce the same level of carbon emissions as of entire France’s population, says a new climate report – Carbon billionaires The investment emissions of the world’s richest people (Nov. 22, 2022, https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621446/bn-carbon-billlionaires-071122-en.pdf?sequence=14) The study, published by Oxfam, an international NGO, found that the investments of 125 of the world’s richest individuals have a carbon footprint equivalent[Read More…]
Analysis of earnings reports and estimates carried out by S&P Global Commodity Insights for the Financial Times finds: Aggregate net income for publicly listed oil and gas companies operating in the U.S. exceeded $200 billion for the second and third quarters of the year. Citing the analysis, the media outlet reported over the weekend: U.S. oil producers have cashed in[Read More…]
The past eight years were the eight hottest ever recorded, says a new UN report. The report by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicates: The world is now deep into the climate crisis. Earth has warmed more than 1.1 degrees Celsius since the late 19th century, with roughly half of that increase occurring in the past 30 years, the report said.[Read More…]
The Biden administration is privately encouraging Ukraine’s leaders to signal an openness to negotiate with Russia and drop their public refusal to engage in peace talks unless Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is removed from power, the Washington Post reported on Saturday. The leading U.S. daily quoted unnamed people familiar with the discussions as saying that the request by U.S. officials[Read More…]
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution condemning the U.S. embargo on Cuba for the 30th year in a row. Only the U.S. and Israel voted against the measure on Thursday, while Ukraine and Brazil abstained. Cuba celebrated a new victory in its struggle against the U.S. blockade, by achieving overwhelming support in[Read More…]
Glaciers across the globe – including the last ones in Africa – will be unavoidably lost by 2050 due to climate change, the UN says in a report. A third of glaciers located in UN World Heritage sites will melt within three decades, a UNESCO report found. Mount Kilimanjaro’s last glaciers will vanish as will glaciers in the Alps and[Read More…]
U.S. troops are now on the ground in Ukraine, where they are monitoring NATO arms deliveries to the country, an anonymous Pentagon official told several U.S. media outlets on Monday. It is unclear how many personnel are involved, or where they are located. While Americans have fought and died in Ukraine of their own accord, Monday’s announcement marks the first[Read More…]
The Russian military closed the so-called “grain corridor” used to ship Ukrainian agriculture products through the Black Sea on Monday. The move was provoked by the actions of Ukraine, which used the route to launch attacks on Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said. “Any navigation through the security corridor designated under the Black Sea grain shipment initiative would be halted[Read More…]
After enduring lawfare , jail, and persecution, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was once again elected president in Brazil. Former president Lula da Silva has clinched victory over his right-wing rival Jair Bolsonaro in a tightly contested second round of Brazilian election on Sunday. The country’s election authority announced Lula’s victory with 50.90% of the vote to Bolsonaro’s 49.10%. At 00:18 (local time) this[Read More…]
Herman Daly passed away on 28th October. He was an ecological economist who championed steady state economics. In 1996, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for “defining a path of ecological economics that integrates the key elements of ethics, quality of life, environment and community.” Daly’s death is a great loss to humanity and ecological economics. Countercurrents.org has published a[Read More…]
Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled Prague’s central square, on Friday, to decry rampant inflation amid the Czech government’s support for anti-Russia sanctions and aid packages to Ukraine. Media reports said: The protesters called for direct gas talks with Moscow and the resignation of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and his cabinet. Participants chanted “resign”, “resign” while waving Czechian national flags.[Read More…]
Energy prices in France will grow by 15% early next year, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned as European governments continue to search for ways to curb high inflation. “There will be a 15% increase in electricity and gas prices in the first months of 2023,” Macron said during an interview on TV channel France 2 on Wednesday, adding that,[Read More…]
Climate hazards threaten nearly 70% of population of a third of world cities, finds a new report by the CDP, a London-based non-profit which runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. The analysis in Protecting People and the Planet, (https://www.cdp.net/en/research/global-reports/protecting-people-and-the-planet) released on October 13, 2022, is based on responses of 998 cities from across the[Read More…]
The U.S. legislators group known as Congressional Progressive Caucus retracted a letter that was sent on Monday calling for U.S. President Biden to pursue a diplomatic end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, saying it was not properly vetted prior to its release. Thirty members of the roughly 100-member group of Democratic legislators signed it. Media reports said: “The letter was[Read More…]
Russia’s defense chief warned Sunday: Ukraine was preparing a provocation involving a radioactive device. An AP report said: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the allegations in phone calls with his counterparts from the U.S., Britain, France and Turkey. Shoigu voiced concern about “possible Ukrainian provocations involving a ‘dirty bomb,’” a device that uses explosives to scatter radioactive waste. It[Read More…]
The Japanese yen hit its weakest exchange rate against the U.S. dollar since 1990 on Thursday, dropping to 150 yen to the greenback. The Nikkei 225 stock index was also down, losing nearly 1% during morning trading to 27,006.96 points. The Topix index shed 0.51% to 1,895.41. A Yen previously slid in June, when it hit 132 against the dollar,[Read More…]
The United Nations is expected to vote this week on sanctions against a powerful gang leader in Haiti who has blocked supplies of food, fuel and drinking water as the impoverished Caribbean country struggles with a cholera outbreak. The U.S. and Canada have sent “security equipment”, including tactical and armored vehicles, to Haiti to help the country tackle a political, economic and security crisis,[Read More…]
French workers took part in a nationwide strike Tuesday to demand higher wages to keep pace with the soaring cost of living. The strikes, principally in schools and transport, are an extension of the industrial action that has disrupted France’s major refineries, causing severe fuel shortages. Half Of All Trains Cancelled Transport Minister Clement Beaune said today there were severe[Read More…]
At least 603 people have been killed by flooding in Nigeria, and all but three of the 36 states in the West African nation have been impacted. The floods have been caused by unusually strong rainfall. Citing the Nigerian humanitarian affairs ministry, media reports said on Sunday: The Nigerian national government also announced that more than 1.3 million people have been[Read More…]
Massive protests marched through the streets of Paris on Sunday to voice discontent over the rising cost of living. It comes as France’s largest trade union continues a refinery strike that has closed gas stations across the country. Organizers of the march claim that 140,000 people joined the march, French broadcaster BFMTV reported. According to Paris police, only 30,000 attended[Read More…]
The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4% last month after gaining 0.1% in August, the U.S. Labor Department said in its report. In the 12 months through September, the CPI increased 8.2% after rising 8.3% in August. The White House noted that inflation over the last three months has averaged 2%, at an annualized rate. That is down from[Read More…]
The post-Cold War era is “definitively over,” the Biden administration declared in a new national security strategy, describing its intention to compete ferociously against China and Russia — while also collaborating with them on global threats like climate change. The long-awaited U.S. National Security Strategy, delayed by the invasion of Ukraine, serves as a reference point for Biden administration officials[Read More…]
Heatwaves will become so extreme in certain regions of the world within decades that human life there will be unsustainable, the United Nations and the Red Cross said in a report on Monday. Heatwaves are predicted to “exceed human physiological and social limits” in the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and south and southwest Asia, with extreme events triggering “large-scale[Read More…]
A massive protest of people marched through the center of the Paris on Saturday demanding that France radically change its stance on NATO and the EU. The march was organized by the right-wing Les Patriotes (The Patriots) party led by Florian Philippot, the former deputy head of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally. Dubbed “the national meeting of resistance,” the march attracted[Read More…]
The summer droughts that affected parts of the U.S., Europe, and China were made 20 times more likely by climate change, finds a new study by World Weather Attribution (WWA). China had its driest summer in 60 years, while drought conditions in Europe sparked brush fires and dried up rivers. The scientists with the WWA, an international organization comprised of[Read More…]
A Market Watch report published on Oct. 5, 2022 (https://www.marketwatch.com/story/treasury-secretary-janet-yellen-says-u-s-economy-has-failed-to-live-up-to-the-nations-promise-of-equal-opportunity-for-all-11664975349?siteid=yhoof2) said: The Biden administration announced a slew of new efforts to further racial economic equity during the annual Freedman’s Bank Forum in Washington, D.C. Tuesday. The forum, acknowledging the history of the former Freedman’s Savings Bank that maintained accounts for formerly enslaved people before its ultimate collapse in 1874, served as an opportunity[Read More…]
The Iranian Human Rights Organization (IHRO) announced that the number of people killed in the on-going protests in Iran reached “at least 154 people”. Among this number of deaths 9 were probably “children” and 63 are citizens of Zahedan. Iranian officials report at least forty dead, while independent sources claim it is much higher. Iran’s state TV has reported the death toll[Read More…]
Europe faces “unprecedented risks” to its natural gas supplies this winter after Russia cut off most pipeline shipments and could wind up competing with Asia for already scarce and expensive liquid gas that comes by ship, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. Media reports including an AP report said: The Paris-based IEA said in its quarterly gas report released Monday that European[Read More…]
Jeffrey Sachs and a former Pentagon Advisor expressed their opinions on the Nord Stream leaks. Economist Jeffrey Sachs speculated on Monday that the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines was the work of the U.S. and maybe Poland, to the chagrin of Bloomberg TV hosts who quickly tried to change the subject. Now a professor at Columbia University, Sachs became[Read More…]
Sea level rise will flood huge swaths of the U.S. and submerge billions of dollars’ worth of land, according to a new report. The report – Sinking Tax Base Land & Property at Risk from Rising Seas – (9/8/2022, https://assets.ctfassets.net/cxgxgstp8r5d/2KKeTjnqbFelWrZalnPeRR/9a28719038f3a1dddbdd2e8b78b8455b/CC_Sinking_Tax_Base_20220908a.pdf ) by Climate Central delivers an assessment of sea level rise impact on the tax base of hundreds of coastal[Read More…]
High inflation in Germany and Eurozone is making impact, with possibility of further impacting. Inflation in Germany saw year-on-year growth of 10.9% in September, up from 8.8% recorded in the previous month, official data released on Thursday by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) shows. The readings came in higher than the market expectation of 9.4%, and marked a record high[Read More…]
The world is sliding into a recession due to multiple overlapping crises, the head of the WTO said on Tuesday. Speaking at the opening of the WTO’s annual public forum in Geneva, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala noted that the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have both downgraded their global growth forecasts, and that trade indicators are “not looking too[Read More…]
Switzerland’s glaciers are melting like never before, found a study. Switzerland has the greatest volume of glaciers of any country in Europe. The study, released Wednesday, found with the glaciers’ ice volume declining by 6% this year amid rising concerns about global warming and a summer heat wave that swept across Europe. Media reports said: The Swiss Academy of Sciences[Read More…]
In an important development with serious implication, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (LPR and DPR) along with Kherson Region (87%) and part of Zaporozhye Region (93%) in southern Ukraine have voted to join Russia in referendums that were held between September 23 and 27. Media reports said: In Lugansk, more than 98.42% of voters have supported the idea to[Read More…]
Europe is facing lower-than-expected economic growth as inflation continues to climb, European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde revealed on Monday, explaining that the ECB had raised interest rates by 75 basis points in an attempt to control soaring prices. Speaking before the European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs on Monday, Lagarde admitted that “inflation remains far too high and[Read More…]
The UK pound plunged to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since the British currency went decimal in 1971. In early Asia-Pacific trade on Monday, the sterling fell by more than 4% to $1.0327 before it regained some ground to about $1.05, extending Friday’s 3.61% drop. Media reports said: Chris Weston, head of research at the brokerage firm Pepperstone,[Read More…]
Iranians took to the streets for a 10th consecutive night Sunday, in defiance of a warning from the judiciary, to protest the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody. Images circulated by IHR showed protesters on the streets of Tehran, shouting “death to the dictator,” purportedly after nightfall on Sunday. Witnesses said that protests in several locations were[Read More…]
Norway-based, Iran Human Rights Organization says that they can confirm that at least 31 protesters have been killed in the on-going anti-government, anti-hijab protest across Iran. Iran’s state-run media acknowledged on Thursday that at least 17 people have been killed in anti-hijab protests which have spread across the country. The protests have spread to more than 80 cities and towns across[Read More…]
Russia is going to make a partial mobilization of its reservists. It is a mobilization of 300,000 reservists. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial military mobilization during an address to the nation on Wednesday morning. He said the Defense Ministry had recommended drawing military reservists into active service as the country faces a protracted conflict in Ukraine and Donbass.[Read More…]
Campaigners warn “tens of thousands” may die during the winter unless Prime Minister Liz Truss gets to grips with the cost-of-living crisis, as pressure mounts on the new PM to act following the Queen’s funeral. A Morning Star report said on September 19, 2022: The PM was told today that now the funeral for the Queen was over she needed[Read More…]
The U.S. is falling behind its developed-nation peers in checking the boxes of progress, according to a recent report from the United Nations Office of Sustainable Development. The U.S. last year ranked 32nd out of 193 UN member states has dropped 11 places in a single year and now trails even Ukraine and Cuba on the list, coming in just[Read More…]
The rail strike that threatened to shut down freight traffic across the U.S. has been temporarily averted, U.S. President Joe Biden announced on Thursday. A draft agreement by the industry and union reps reached after 20 hours of negotiations will be sent to workers for ratification after several weeks’ “cooling off” period. “The rail workers will get better pay, improved[Read More…]
Nearly 115,000 U.S. rail workers are poised to go on strike on Thursday at midnight, shutting down 40% of long-distance trade, after negotiations between rail unions and carriers failed to bear fruit. If a deal is not reached by Friday, a strike will begin, shutting down freight rails across the U.S. While the leaders of 10 of the 12 unions[Read More…]
Europe will spiral into a severe recession, as the shortage in energy supplies is set to spike inflation even higher and weigh heavily on Europe’s GDP, BlackRock said in a note on Monday. Media reports said: “The energy crunch will drive a recession in Europe, as we’ve argued since March. The crisis has worsened since then as Russia has halted gas supplies,”[Read More…]
China is willing to work with Russia to take the global order “in a more just and reasonable direction,” Beijing’s top diplomat said, underscoring the depth of the two nations’ ties. A Bloomberg report said: Under the guidance of President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin, “the relationship between the two countries has always been on the right track, and[Read More…]
Europe is in energy turmoil with uncertainty in the coming winter and measures to counter Russia. The EU finds consensus is elusive and solidarity is in short supply. A Bloomberg report said: European ministers sounded defiant as they met in Brussels to deliberate plans aimed at halting the spiral in energy prices. “We will prevail,” European Union Energy Commissioner Kadri[Read More…]
Europe is struggling with energy crisis. Reports by media including AP and ABC News said: Europe is struggling to contain an energy crisis that could lead to rolling blackouts, shuttered factories and a deep recession. The primary cause: Russia has choked off the supplies of cheap natural gas that the continent depended on for years to run factories, generate electricity[Read More…]
Skyrocketing prices of tomatoes, potatoes and onions are putting food out of reach in flood-ravaged Pakistan, raising the specter of inflation hitting 30% that may spur more monetary tightening, said a report. The Bloomberg report said: The South Asian nation already reeling from dwindling currency reserves and the fastest inflation in almost five decades faces a food shortage after torrential[Read More…]
Citing a leaked national strategy paper the Sunday Times reports: UK police fear a sharp rise in certain categories of crime and a risk of civil unrest this winter amid a cost of living and energy crisis. The document compiled by police chiefs warns that “economic turmoil and financial instability” may lead to an increase in offenses such as shoplifting,[Read More…]
Citing anonymous sources CNN claimed on Thursday, U.S. officials helped prepare the Ukrainian military for its counteroffensive against Russian forces in the south of the country. In its article, CNN, one of largest US news organizations, alleged that this assistance included joint “war gaming” analytical exercises designed to help the Ukrainians get a clear picture of how much personnel and[Read More…]
The annual State of the Climate report ( https://ametsoc.net/sotc2021/StateoftheClimate2021_lowres.pdf) report published Wednesday in the U.S. shows that in 2021, greenhouse gas (GHG) levels, global sea levels, and ocean heat reached record highs. The international report was led by scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. “The data presented in this report are clear[Read More…]
Instability in Iraq has not ended in Iraq despite withdrawal of a fighting group. Iraqi supporters of powerful cleric Moqtada Sadr began withdrawing Tuesday from Baghdad’s Green Zone after he demanded fighting end between rival Shiite forces and the army that left 23 dead and hundreds wounded. The violence that erupted on Monday pitched Sadr loyalists against Shiite factions backed[Read More…]
A group of climate scientists have said: Time is short to secure a livable and sustainable future; yet, inaction from governments, industry and civil society is setting the course for 3.2 °C of warming, with all the cascading and catastrophic consequences that this implies. In this context, when does civil disobedience by scientists become justified. The scientists said: The scientific[Read More…]
The U.S. has deployed two of its warships to the Taiwan Strait in a first such mission since the controversial visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, the Navy said on Saturday. Media reports said: USS Chancellorsville and USS Antietam, guided-missile cruisers, are sailing through international waters in the area, according to a statement from the U.S. 7th[Read More…]
The world of trade is having interesting developments. An AP report from Seoul said: South Korea landed a 3 trillion won ($2.25 billion) contract with a Russian state-run nuclear energy company to provide components and construct a turbine building for Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, officials said Thursday. The South Koreans hailed the deal as a triumph for their nuclear[Read More…]
China has issued a nationwide drought warning for the first time in nine years as the country copes with below-average rainfall and one of the strongest heat waves seen in six decades. Authorities are trying to seed clouds to make it rain. The drought is threatening food production, prompting the government to order local authorities to take all available measures to ensure[Read More…]
A group of Kenyan activists filed a case against the UK to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday. Lawyers representing peoples forced off their land in Kenya’s Rift Valley argue the UK has violated the European Convention of Human Rights, to which it is a signatory, by consistently ignoring complaints lodged by the victims of colonial rule.[Read More…]
Politics in Pakistan is again creating turmoil. Media reports said: Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s close aide and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader, Shahbaz Gill’s room at Parliament Lodges was raided by police contingents in the presence of Gill who was brought to the location amid strict security measures. The police team led by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) found[Read More…]
Americans are divided dangerously, said a report by The Daily Beast (Americans Are Dangerously Divided (And Not Just Over Trump) citing a poll. The report said: A new Generation Lab poll (https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22140614/generation-lab-nbc-poll.pdf) of rising college sophomores conducted for NBC News confirms that young Americans are segregating themselves along partisan lines (Daily Beast, Pew Study: Americans Are Self-Segregating Amid Proliferating Partisan Media, https://www.thedailybeast.com/pew-study-americans-are-self-segregating-amid-proliferating-partisan-media(. And as Axios notes,[Read More…]
No school year in the U.S. in nearly a decade saw as much gunfire as the 2021-2022 academic calendar, a report released Friday shows. The report (https://everytownsupportfund.org/press/new-everytown-report-finds-average-number-of-gunfire-on-school-grounds-incidents-nearly-quadrupled-during-last-school-year/?_gl=1*ifxwvo*_ga*ODUyMTMyNDc4LjE2NjA3NjgzMTU.*_ga_LT0FWV3EK3*MTY2MDkyMjczMC40LjEuMTY2MDkyMjc5My4wLjAuMA) was published by Everytown For Gun Safety, a nonpartisan group advocating against gun violence. The gun violence report shows the last school year, between Aug. 1 and May 31, saw 193 incidents of gunfire,[Read More…]
In East Africa, millions of people are facing starvation due to drought. The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that millions of people in East Africa face the threat of starvation. Speaking at a media briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that drought, climate change, rising prices and an ongoing civil war in northern Ethiopia are all[Read More…]
Citing the Russian Defense Ministry media reports said: Ukraine plans to carry out artillery strikes on the Russia-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant on Friday, and then accuse Russia of causing a disaster at the site. The predicted attack will be timed to coincide with the ongoing visit to Ukraine by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The Russian ministry said it[Read More…]
Iraqi finance minister Ali Allawi resigned during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday to protest the political turmoil in the country. Iraq’s political impasse, now in its 10th month, is the longest in the country since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion reset the political order. Nearly 10 months on from the last elections, Iraq still has no government, new prime minister or[Read More…]
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched a second round of military drills near Taiwan to deter “political tricks” by the U.S. and the authorities in Taiwan, following a second trip by a group of U.S. lawmakers to the island, said Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the PLA. Shi said the PLA’s Eastern Theater[Read More…]
Some on the far right have been calling for civil war since an FBI raid on Trump’s Florida home. Some experts say the warning signs for civil war have been emerging in the US in recent years. They say that such a conflict would look very different from the Civil War of the 1860s. A Business Insider report (The far[Read More…]
Taliban fighters violently dispersed dozens of female protesters in Kabul. About 40 Afghan women marched through the capital city demanding rights, before the Taliban broke the protest march up by firing into the air. This women’s protest march occurred almost a year after the Taliban seized power. The protesters chanted demands for “bread, work and freedom”, carrying a banner reading[Read More…]
Increasing night-time heat could have high toll on human health, finds a new research. According to models, by the year 2100, the world could see an up to 60 percent spike in mortality due to rising temperatures at night. Published in The Lancet Planetary Health, data from Japan, South Korea and China show hotter night-time temperatures could lead to a 60[Read More…]
Europe is facing its worst drought in 500 years. More than 60% of the EU and U.K.’s combined lands are now under drought warnings or alerts. Media including Reuters’ reports said: The source of the River Thames has dried up further downstream than ever before, as England looks set to enter a drought that some experts say the country is[Read More…]
Water is more than a commodity to the Indigenous peoples in the U.S. Tribes say water is life itself for the people, plants, animal life and the land itself. But many tribes people in Arizona are facing water crisis. A report by AZCentral | The Arizona Republic — Arizona tribal water settlements stall in courtrooms, agency offices (Aug. 10, 2022,[Read More…]
U.S. Navy ships and planes will transit the Taiwan strait in the next two weeks. U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby condemned Chinese military drills in the area and said the Pentagon had ordered the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and her escorts to remain near Taiwan to “monitor the situation.” The USS Reagan and her accompanying ships are[Read More…]
Joint military exercises around the island of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continued Wednesday with a joint blockade, sea assault and land and air combat trainings, involving the use of advanced weapons including J-20 stealth fighter jets and DF-17 hypersonic missiles after the drills started on Tuesday evening, when U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the[Read More…]
Tuesday’s protest in Taiwan. Photo: Fan Lingzhi/Global Times Civic groups, politicians, and business and industry representatives on the island of Taiwan on Tuesday protested against U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit, amid China’s missile drill. Protest Media reports said: The Taipei-based Chinese Patriotic Concentric Association took to the street at a site near the Grand Hyatt hotel in the Xinyi[Read More…]
The situation across the Taiwan Straits has drastically escalated as the military deployment from the Chinese mainland, U.S. and the island of Taiwan continues creeping up, after US and Taiwan-based media disclosed that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit the island on Tuesday night. Pelosi’s Taiwan visit is seen by China as a serious provocation and violation[Read More…]
Amidst escalating tension in Kosovo, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said: “No matter how difficult it is, there will be no surrender, Serbia will win,” he stated. “We do not want conflict and we do not want war,” Vucic said in his speech. He said: We will pray for peace and seek peace, but let me tell you right away. If[Read More…]
With 161 votes in favour, and eight abstentions*, the UN General Assembly adopted a historic resolution on Thursday, declaring access to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, a universal human right. The resolution, based on a similar text adopted last year by the Human Rights Council, calls upon States, international organisations, and business enterprises to scale up efforts to ensure a healthy environment[Read More…]
Taiwan is a part of China and the 1.4 billion Chinese will not tolerate any challenges to the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, President Xi Jinping told his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, in a phone call on Thursday. Xi’s warning comes amid reports that U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is preparing to visit the island next month, something China[Read More…]
The Pentagon could send additional ships, aircraft and surveillance systems to protect US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi if she proceeds with her plan to visit Taiwan, AP reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials. A “contingency plan,” which is being developed by the U.S. military, involves creating “overlapping rings of protection” for the U.S. House speaker during her flight to[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is expected to return to the country from Singapore, a Sri Lankan lawmaker says. Cabinet spokesperson Bandula Gunawardena told reporters on Tuesday that G Rajapaksa was not in hiding but the date of his return was not known. The former president fled Sri Lanka after mass unrest over an economic crisis. Many protesters say[Read More…]
China’s Foreign Ministry has warned the U.S. of “serious consequences” should U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits Taiwan in a demonstration of developing ties between Washington and the autonomous island that Beijing sees as inalienable part of China’s territory. “The Chinese side has made it clear to the U.S. on many occasions that it is firmly opposed to[Read More…]
In Greenland, last weekend temperatures rose enough to cause 18 billion tons of the country’s ice sheet to melt over three days. Scientists have warned about the fate of Greenland’s ice sheet. Scientists say what happened between July 15 and 17 is the latest massive melting event contributing to an increase in the global sea level. The amount of water from[Read More…]
Japan in its first annual defense report issued since the war in Ukraine mentioned Russia and China’s deepening military cooperation that has included joint air and navy drills is raising security concerns in the region. The defence white paper approved by Prime Minister Kishida’s government identifies China, Russia and North Korea as its main security concerns. Rivalries Are Clear “The[Read More…]
Sri Lanka was braced for more unrest after newly appointed president Ranil Wickremesinghe vowed to crack down on the protests that toppled his predecessor, condemning them as “against the law”. Speaking after being MPs picked him as successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Wickremesinghe made it clear he would not tolerate those he perceived to be stirring up violence. “If you try[Read More…]
The West does not have the stockpiles of weapons needed to sustain a prolonged military campaign in Ukraine or elsewhere, the CEO of one of the Pentagon’s main defense contractors has warned. The military-industrial complex therefore needs a “clear demand signal” from Western governments on what exactly it should produce and whether it will be purchased, Kathy Warden told the[Read More…]
Iran is technically capable of producing a nuclear bomb but no political decision on such an option has been made, Kamal Kharrazi, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has said. “In a few days we were able to enrich uranium to 60% and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium,” Kharrazi told Al Jazeera on Sunday. He[Read More…]
Sri Lankan protesters have vowed to continue their struggle for a complete change of the system by abolishing the presidency, as the popular uprising that ousted Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president marked the 100th day on Sunday. The anti-government protest began on April 9 near the presidential office and has been continuing without a break. “We will continue our fight till[Read More…]
Wildfires ravaged parts of Spain, France and Portugal Friday in the blistering heat, burning forests and prompting widespread evacuations. The ongoing heatwave has already claimed hundreds of lives in the west European countries. There is a spike in heat wave-related casualties in Western Europe. On Saturday, La Vanguardia reported that there were more than 360 deaths in Spain caused by the[Read More…]
Sri Lanka politicians are trying to settle popular unrest as parliament plans to meet tomorrow after the official resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was made today. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said he expected to elect a new President through Parliament within 7 days in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. The Speaker said in terms of the Constitution Prime[Read More…]
On Thursday, the Sri Lanka government announced a curfew in the capital Colombo and its suburbs that would run until 5am on Friday. To stop demonstrators from accessing the Parliament on Thursday, the Sri Lankan Army stationed tanks close to the building. Troops in green military uniforms and camouflage vests arrived by armored personnel carriers on Thursday to reinforce barricades around[Read More…]
The current world population of 7.6 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100, according to a new United Nations report released today. The global population is expected to reach 8 billion by November 15, the UN predicts With roughly 83 million people being added to the world’s population every[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s opposition parties are trying to cobble together an all-party government and pick candidates who can take over after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe agreed to step down, giving in to popular pressure in a country struggling to pay for essentials. Sri Lanka has been plunged into a political vacuum after an economic crisis sparked widespread protests[Read More…]
Sri Lanka’s opposition political parties are trying to agree on a new government a day after the country’s president and prime minister offered to resign in the country’s most chaotic day in months of political turmoil, with protesters storming both officials’ homes and setting fire to one of the buildings in a rage over the nation’s economic crisis. Sri Lankan Army chief General[Read More…]
The worldwide cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world’s poorest countries into extreme poverty, warned the a new report by the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) on Thursday The report said: “The war in Ukraine has severely disrupted global markets for food and energy due to both countries’ large global market shares. Before the war, Russia[Read More…]
More than 700 migrants died or disappeared trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico last year, said a new UN study. A new study has labeled the 2,000-mile (3,200km) border between the U.S. and Mexico the deadliest migration land route in the world. The study, conducted by the Missing Migrants Project and published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), recorded at[Read More…]
A number of U.S. veterans are reportedly training Ukrainian soldiers near the frontlines of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, said the New York Times in an article — In Ukraine, U.S. Veterans Step In Where the Military Will Not — on July 3, 2022, Sunday (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/03/us/politics/american-combat-volunteers-ukraine.html). “Americans are in Ukraine,” states the New York Times, noting that the exact number of U.S. citizens[Read More…]
Oil and gas workers at state giant Equinor are on strike in Norway, the largest producer of oil and gas in Western Europe. The strike is escalating Europe’s natural-gas crisis a week before a key pipeline with Russia shuts for maintenance. Benchmark Dutch natural gas futures surged 10% on Monday on news of the strike in Norway. Operator Equinor has[Read More…]
The G7 countries are “leaving millions to starve and cooking the planet,” Oxfam’s head of inequality policy Max Lawson has declared in a statement issued on Tuesday condemning the mere $4.5 billion the industrialized nations have pledged to fight the worst hunger crisis in decades. Lawson argued that “at least $28.5 billion more” was needed to “finance food and agriculture[Read More…]
Thousands of people marched in Madrid on Sunday to protest the NATO summit. A Reuters report said: Carrying the hammer and sickle flags, thousands protested in Madrid against a NATO summit in the Spanish capital next week. Amid tight security, the NATO leaders will meet in Madrid between 29-30 June. “Tanks yes, but of beer with tapas,” sang demonstrators, who[Read More…]
The People’s Bank of China is building a yuan reserve with five other nations in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements. The countries China is teaming up are Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Chile. Each of the countries will contribute 15 billion yuan — about $2.2 billion — to a Renminbi Liquidity Arrangement, China’s central bank said in[Read More…]
UK trade union RMT members have once again taken to picket lines, in a show of industrial strength, on the second day of national rail strike action. Over 40,000 members are on strike over a multiyear pay freeze and a lack of job security, with Network Rail and the train operating companies threatening thousands of compulsory redundancies. For All[Read More…]
Nepal has decided to shun the U.S. State Partnership Programme (SPP). Media reports said: The Nepal government has decided to not forward the US’ state partnership programme (SPP). The meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Monday took this decision. The Cabinet also decided that every government agency needs to make communications on diplomatic relations via the Foreign Ministry. The government made the decision[Read More…]
Colombia’s president-elect Gustavo Petro is wasting no time in fulfilling his promise of normalizing relations between his country and the socialist government in Venezuela, discussing with Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro the reopening of the border between the two nations three days after winning the election. Media reports said: Petro, a former guerrilla who won the presidential election on Sunday promising[Read More…]
In historic flood in many parts of Bangladesh and Northeast India hundreds of people have died and millions are stranded. About 4 million people were marooned in the northeastern Sylhet administrative division in Bangladesh, which is about a quarter of its population. In India North East state of Assam is worst affected where heavy rains are continuing for over two[Read More…]
The biggest rail strike in a generation in the UK went under way after last-ditch talks failed to reach agreement. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has rejected demands for a pay rise of at least seven per cent Entire cities and towns were cut off from the train network as strike action closes half of Britain’s rail lines. Huge swathes of Britain were without[Read More…]
Tens of thousands of workers demonstrated against the rising cost of living, with many linking the crisis to the NATO’s war and Russia policies. Many demonstrators condemned the US-led NATO alliance and its involvement in the Ukraine war. Many linked their dire economic straits to the EU’s sanctions regime on Russia and with the NATO’s rush to arm Ukraine. Protesters[Read More…]
Gustavo Petro, a former rebel, has been elected Colombia’s first leftist president on Sunday. Petro’s triumph, in one of the most historically conservative countries on the continent, is a stunning example of widespread discontent that is shaking the status quo. It is a powerful rejection of the political establishment that has ruled the South American nation for two centuries. Voters[Read More…]
New centers of power have emerged, the unipolar world order is not coming back, and the “colonial” way of thinking has failed, Russian President Vladimir Putin told the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Friday. When the U.S. declared victory in the Cold War, Americans designated themselves the “messengers of God on earth,” with interests that should be considered sacred and no obligations,[Read More…]
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Saturday stressed that the public needs to keep up its support of Ukraine after nearly four months of war. Media reports said: “The worry that we have is that a bit of Ukraine-fatigue is starting to set in around the world,” Johnson told reporters on the back of a trip to Kyiv. “It is[Read More…]
Former U.S. president Bill Clinton says he has never before been so concerned about the country’s foundational future, lamenting there’s a “fair chance” that the United States could “completely lose our constitutional democracy.” The former president appeared Wednesday on CBS’s “The Late Late Show” and responded to a question from host James Corden that alluded to Donald Trump’s presidency without[Read More…]
The world nuclear weapons spending found a significant increase in 2021, finds the latest International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) report published on Tuesday. In one year, the nine nuclear-armed nations – U.S., China, Russia, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the UK — spent a total of $82.4 billion on upgrading and maintaining their estimated 13,000 nuclear[Read More…]
The U.S. sought to bolster its support in Asia by reassuring nations they do not need to join a coalition against China, drawing a stark contrast with Beijing’s threats to defend its interests with military force, said Bloomberg. The Bloomberg report — US Makes Asia Inroads by Playing Down Need to Oppose China — said on June 13: U.S. Defense[Read More…]
Ukraine’s allies are in disagreement on the question of the war. On June 14, a New York Times report — A Link to Besieged Ukrainians Is Cut, as Allies Question Strategy — said: “The last bridge to the city of Sievierodonetsk fell as battles raged, and some Western officials questioned Ukraine’s ability to keep resisting Russia.” The report said: “Ukraine’s[Read More…]
The world, now more complex, is facing unprecedented polycrisis, the World Trade Organization (WTO) chief has warned. Export restrictions are pushing up food prices and could further exacerbate the global “polycrisis,” WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said at the opening of the 12th WTO ministerial conference in Geneva on Sunday. According to the official, the world has “become more complex” since[Read More…]
Momentum in the Ukraine War has begun favoring Russia, and as a clear signal, the NATO Secretary-General has told Ukraine to decide how much territory it likes to concede in exchange of peace. A New York Times report — “Momentum in Ukraine Is Shifting in Russia’s Favor” (June 11, 2022) — said: Ukraine lacking the weaponry it needs, and Western[Read More…]
Cases of desertion are growing among Ukrainian force, which is suffering significant losses, says report. It is also almost out of ammunition. Media reports said: There has been a rise in desertion as morale declines, says an intelligence report seen by The Independent. Ukraine is now dependent on Western donations of supplies, Ukrainian officials say. Reports are emerging that the[Read More…]
Ukraine acknowledges that it is losing artillery war to Russia. Ukraine forces are almost out of ammunition and can only rely on Western-supplied arms in the battle against Russia, a top Ukrainian intelligence official has said. “This is an artillery war now,” Vadim Skibitsky, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence, told The Guardian on Friday. Ranged combat is going to[Read More…]
The Summit of the Americas, now being held in Los Angeles, U.S., is facing criticism from different countries participating in the summit. Media reports including reports by teleSUR said: The president of Argentina, Alberto Fernández, deplored that all countries were not invited to the 9th Summit of the Americas. Argentina’s President was addressing the summit as the president pro tempore[Read More…]
The U.S. government has better information on Russian troops in Ukraine than on Ukrainian forces, The New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing U.S. officials. Kiev is keeping its biggest military sponsor in the dark, possibly even misleading Washington to protect the generous flow of American military aid into the country, the newspaper claimed in a report (U.S. Lacks a[Read More…]
The World Bank (WB) has cut its global growth projection for this year from 4.1% to 2.9%, warning that many countries are likely to face recession. “Amid the war in Ukraine, surging inflation, and rising interest rates, global economic growth is expected to slump in 2022,” the Tuesday WB press release said. Below-average Growth “Several years of above-average inflation and below-average[Read More…]
Ukraine needs liquefied natural gas (LNG). The country is in discussions with the U.S. on purchasing and financing supplies of LNG instead of pipeline gas, which the country currently receives from EU states, Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko said on Tuesday. Media reports said: Kiev is currently buying reverse gas supplies that those countries resell, after buying from Russia. The head of[Read More…]
Ukraine President Zelensky appealed for more weapons to arrive faster, saying things could become very difficult for Ukraine if Russian forces broke through front lines in Donbas, the eastern region where Severodonetsk is the main city not in Russian hands. Media reports said: Britain has promised to send its first long-range missiles to Ukraine after a similar U.S. pledge which triggered Vladimir Putin[Read More…]
U.S. congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) denounced the U.S. political system as an “oligarchy” on Friday, resuming the long-dormant class-war rhetoric that first attracted so many young voters to her campaign in 2018. “When you look at the fact that our elections are bought, that corporations and… powerful corporate lobbies have more say in our legislation than everyday people, we[Read More…]
Cuba and China have filed the first patent for a vaccine against not just COVID-19 and its many variants, but which could also be effective against several related viruses, the Cuban daily Granma reported on Thursday. In spite of a U.S.-directed blockade against trade with Cuba, the socialist island nation was able to develop five COVID-19 vaccines and inoculated 95% of[Read More…]
Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called out U.S. President Joe Biden in two campaign speeches this week, citing the $40 billion in military aid Washington has pledged to Ukraine. “Biden, who has never made a speech to give $1 to those who are starving in Africa, announces $40 billion to help Ukraine buy weapons,” Lula said on Wednesday[Read More…]
Europe lurched closer to an energy crisis on Tuesday after the Kremlin cut off gas supplies to major buyers including Shell. A Telegraph report said: Russia’s state-owned gas supplier, Gazprom, said supplies to Shell in Germany as well as to Ørsted in Denmark will be cut off on Wednesday after they refused to bow to Putin’s demands to pay in roubles. Gazprom[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine is increasing food prices, which is increasing hunger in Africa. An AP report from Mogadishu, Somalia cited Ayan Hassan Abdirahman, who is now paying twice as much as she did just a few months ago to buy the wheat flour she uses to make breakfast each day for her 11 children in Somalia’s capital. Abdirahman has[Read More…]
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday the Biden administration aims to lead the international bloc opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine into a broader coalition to counter what it sees as a more serious, long-term threat to global order from China. Media reports including a report by AP from Washington DC said: In a speech outlining the administration’s China policy, Blinken laid[Read More…]
Ukraine conflict has now entered in the area of intensive diplomacy. Davos, now the seat of the World Economic Forum (WEF), is rich with Ukraine debate. Media reports said: Veteran U.S. statesman Henry Kissinger has urged the West to stop trying to inflict a crushing defeat on Russian forces in Ukraine, warning that it would have disastrous consequences for the[Read More…]
Wheat prices surged to a new record high on Monday after India decided to prohibit exports of the commodity as a heatwave hit production. The price climbed to $453 per ton as the European market opened. Soft red winter wheat for July delivery rose 4.2%. Media reports said: India, the world’s second-largest wheat producer, said this weekend it was curbing[Read More…]
Geopolitical Update: Historic Shifts In Europe’s Balance Of Power As NATO Expands North With Sweden And Finland Joining The Military Alliance Sweden’s ruling party dropped the country’s historic military nonalignment on Sunday and agreed to join NATO, shortly after Finland’s leaders officially announced they would do the same. Media reports from Europe and other places said: The moves were[Read More…]
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke over telephone on Friday, marking the first call between the two since Russia launched the special military operation in Ukraine. Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a brief statement following the call that Austin “urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine and emphasized the importance of maintaining lines[Read More…]
“Is my baby getting enough food? It is a typical fear among new parents — and an acute one now, because of a national shortage of baby formula.” A New York Times report — The Baby Formula Crisis (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/briefing/baby-formula-shortage-us-economy.html, May 13, 2022) — begins in this way. The New York Times report said: ‘A potential bacteria outbreak led to the[Read More…]
Geopolitical developments are expanding quickly in various regions of the world. Media reports from various regions said: Japan and the European Union on Thursday agreed to step up their sanctions against Russia as leaders from the two sides raised concerns about the war’s impact in the Indo-Pacific, where they seek to strengthen their partnership and increase engagement amid China’s growing[Read More…]
At least 500 Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian children died while attending Indian boarding schools run or supported by the U.S. government, a U.S. Interior Department report said Wednesday. The Interior Department said in a statement that federal Indian boarding school policies for more than a century and a half resulted in “the twin goals of cultural assimilation and[Read More…]
Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating mitigation must be done “urgently, using every tool we can,” says a new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Droughts have increased 29% in the space of a single generation, according to a paper the United Nations released on Wednesday, which observed that[Read More…]
From neighborhood gas stations to U.S.’s interstate highway system to the friendly skies, soaring fuel costs amid dwindling supplies look set to further squeeze consumers and businesses alike this summer. A Bloomberg report said: Across the board, fuel prices are at or near records. Average retail gasoline prices have remained firmly above $4 a gallon since early March, while diesel[Read More…]
There is a 50:50 chance of the annual average global temperature temporarily reaching 1.5 °C above the pre-industrial level for at least one of the next five years – and the likelihood is increasing with time, according to a new climate update issued by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). The report was prepared by a team of 11 different forecast centers, including[Read More…]
A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that Americans’ confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court has collapsed over the last 20 months — a period that began with former President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans installing a 6-3 conservative majority ahead of the 2020 election and culminated last week with the leak of a draft opinion signaling that five GOP-appointed justices[Read More…]
The G7 leaders held a video conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday, promising to do more to help poor nations at risk of food crisis due to the conflict between Moscow and Kiev. Media reports said: Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has been “causing global economic disruptions, impacting the security of global energy supply, fertilizer and food provision, and[Read More…]
German officials are quietly preparing for any sudden halt in Russian gas supplies with an emergency package that could include taking control of critical firms. An exclusive Reuters report said: The preparations being led by the Ministry for Economic Affairs show the heightened state of alert about supplies of the gas that powers Europe’s biggest economy and is critical for[Read More…]
Sinn Fein celebrated its election victory in Northern Ireland on Saturday night. To the Sinn Fein, and its supporters, history had been made. Sinn Fein assembly victory fuels debate on future of union. Leader Mary Lou McDonald raises issue of unification as nationalists become biggest party in Northern Ireland. Jubilant Sinn Féin supporters celebrated across the region on Saturday when final vote[Read More…]
The governor of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa said Friday: Japan should focus more on peaceful diplomacy with China instead of on military deterrence as tensions rise around Chinese-claimed Taiwan. He also urged that the burden on Okinawa of hosting a majority of the American troops in Japan be reduced. Media reports said: “We are strongly alarmed,” Okinawa Governor[Read More…]
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement on Friday supporting the secretary-general’s efforts to search for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, in the first such display of unity since February 24. The entire meeting on Friday lasted only about a minute. Russia’s support for the statement, drafted by Mexico and Norway, shows Moscow’s readiness for diplomacy,[Read More…]
The UK and Japan have agreed a defense deal that will allow their national forces to “work more closely together”, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday. The British PM, speaking in Downing Street alongside his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, said he is “so glad” the two nations have agreed a reciprocal access agreement for the armed services. He said allies in[Read More…]
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier admitted that attempts to build the Common European Home failed. He made this statement at a press conference after the talks with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis in Bucharest. The press conference was livestreamed on Iohannis’ website. Media reports said: The German President said: “We all supported the great concept, proposed by Mikhail Gorbachev in the 1980s[Read More…]
Chile authority has imposed new water restrictions for the capital city of Santiago, a city with six million population, as the country enters its 13th year of drought. Claudio Orrego, the governor of the Santiago metropolitan region said: “And we are in an unprecedented situation in Santiago’s 491-year history where we have to prepare for there to not be enough water[Read More…]
Coal is now a major subject of news on India. This is happening in the background of the on-going war in Ukraine and West’s pressure on India to join West’s sanctions on Russia. A Reuters report from Chennai — Power-hungry India halts passenger trains to free up track to move coal — said on April 30, 2022: India has boosted[Read More…]
France’s economy, the euro zone’s second-biggest economy, growth unexpectedly ground to a halt in the first quarter while Germany, Europe’s largest economy, faces possibility of tipping into recession. The war in Ukraine is the major cause of this situation. A Reuters report said: France’s economy growth unexpectedly ground to a halt in the first quarter as consumer spending dropped in[Read More…]
European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni has admitted that the European Union’s economy is facing stagnation. “The situation in Ukraine presents an uncertainty and unpredictability factor for Europe, economic growth will obviously slow down with a stagnation risk,” he was quoted as saying during the Confcommercio-Ambrosetti forum on Thursday by the ANSA news agency. Much depends on “the duration of[Read More…]
The euro plummeted to a five-year low against the US dollar during Wednesday’s trading, amid heightened fears of a possible energy crisis and an economic slowdown in Europe. Media reports from Europe said: As of 11:01am GMT, the euro/dollar exchange rate was down to $1.061 from the previous closing level of $1.0636. Earlier in the day’s trading, the index fell[Read More…]
The military spending of all nations combined set a new record in 2021, exceeding the $2 trillion mark for the first time ever, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) revealed in a report published on Monday. According to the report, while the U.S. defense spending slid by 1.4% compared to 2020, Washington remained the absolute global leader, having lavished[Read More…]
Three members of Boris Johnson’s team and two from Sir Keir Starmer’s have been referred to the new parliamentary watchdog set up amid the #MeToo scandal, The Sunday Times reports. The UK cabinet ministers are among more than 50 MPs reportedly facing allegations of sexual misconduct after being referred to a parliamentary watchdog. Media reports from UK said: Misconduct of 56 MPs[Read More…]
Israel’s central bank has made the biggest changes to its allocation of reserves in over a decade, adding the Chinese yuan alongside three other currencies to a stockpile that last year exceeded $200 billion for the first time ever. A Bloomberg report said: Starting this year, the currency mix will expand from the trio of the U.S. dollar, the euro[Read More…]
The World Food Program, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated action on food security, and appealed to countries to avoid banning food or fertilizer exports. In a joint statement, the leaders of the four institutions warned that the war in Ukraine was adding to existing pressures from the COVID-19 crisis, climate[Read More…]
An OPEC decision on using oil related data indicate further development in ties between Saudi Arabia and U.S. A Reuters report said: ‘A decision driven by Saudi Arabia that OPEC+ should stop using oil data from the West’s energy watchdog reflected concern about U.S. influence on the figures, sources close to the matter said, adding to strain on ties between[Read More…]
Finland and Sweden are set to join NATO as early as this summer, extending the organization’s borders alongside Russia by hundreds of miles, U.S. officials told the British newspaper the Times. Finland is expected to submit its application for membership in June, with Sweden to follow. During talks among the organization’s 30 member nations last week, U.S. officials said that NATO membership[Read More…]
Global food prices jumped to a historic high last month on grain and edible oil supply woes brought about by the conflict in Ukraine, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Friday. The FAO said in a statement: “World food commodity prices made a significant leap in March to reach their highest levels ever, as war in the[Read More…]
An immediate ban on imports of Russian oil and gas into Germany is not feasible, Germany’s Finance Minister Christian Lindner said on Wednesday, although he added he was all in favor of an energy embargo. “If I could follow my heart,” there would be a ban on Russian oil and gas in Germany, Lindner said in an interview published by German weekly[Read More…]
The Ukraine conflict will have “enormous economic repercussions in Ukraine and beyond.” This was warned by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a House panel Wednesday. She added that the rising price of energy, metal, wheat and corn that Russia and Ukraine produce “is going to escalate inflationary pressures as well.” An AP report — Yellen: Russia’s invasion will have[Read More…]
The IPCC on Monday released its latest report, which found that nations are falling short of their pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to avert catastrophic climate change. While the technology exists to stay below 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) of average global temperature increase — the goal that virtually every nation agreed to in the 2015 Paris climate agreement and[Read More…]
Major countries in Europe are now engaged with expulsion of diplomats. The move was initiated by NATO-camp countries. Russia has warned of’ symmetrical’ response to Western countries’ expulsion of Russian diplomats A Reuters report said: ‘Russia will respond proportionately to the expulsion of its diplomats from a number of Western countries, Russian ex-president and deputy head of Security Council Dmitry[Read More…]
Chinese leaders have brushed back pressure from the EU to take an anti-Russia stance in the Ukraine conflict, warning that cooperation between Beijing and Brussels is needed to prevent long-term damage to the global economy. Speaking by videoconference on Friday in a summit meeting with EU leaders, Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly said it could take years or even decades[Read More…]
The Kremlin indicated on Wednesday that all of Russia’s energy and commodity exports could be priced in roubles, toughening President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to make the West feel the pain of the sanctions it imposed for the invasion of Ukraine. In the strongest signal yet that Russia could be preparing an even tougher response to the West’s sanctions, Russia’s top[Read More…]
Citing Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who leads the Russian delegation to the talks with Ukraine, an Istanbul, March 29 datelined media report said: Russia has suggested a meeting between Russian and Ukrainian Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Zelensky, be organized concurrently with the initialing of a bilateral treaty by the two countries’ foreign ministers. “After today’s meaningful conversation, we[Read More…]
A representative of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described signatories to the Budapest Memorandum as a reason Ukraine is at war, citing their failure to hold up their end of the agreement. “They signed their obligation to protect Ukraine, to provide the security and safety,” Fedir Venislavsky, President Zelenskyy’s representative to Ukraine’s Constitutional Court, told Fox News. “Which means when Ukraine[Read More…]
A Reuters report said: The Biden administration, seeking to deter China from aiding sanctions-hit Russia, on Wednesday warned Beijing not to take advantage of business opportunities created by sanctions, help Moscow evade export controls or process its banned financial transactions. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that G7 countries would soon announce a unified response to make[Read More…]
A Washington Post report (As allies meet, splits emerge in NATO about how to deter Russia) said: As President Biden landed in Brussels on Wednesday splits were emerging within NATO and in Washington about how to deter the Kremlin from further escalation. Allied leaders are discussing whether it is best to keep Russia guessing about what will trigger a bigger[Read More…]
Vietnam and Malaysia did not support the anti-Russian sanctions and agreed to remain neutral towards the Ukraine crisis, Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob told reporters Tuesday after his visit to Hanoi. “We discussed the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and agreed that Malaysia and Vietnam will remain neutral on this issue,” he said according to the Bernama news agency. “As for sanctions[Read More…]
The war in Ukraine has delivered a shock to global energy markets. Now the planet is facing a deeper crisis: a shortage of food. A New York Times report (March 20, 2022) on global food crisis due to the Ukraine war said: ‘A crucial portion of the world’s wheat, corn and barley is trapped in Russia and Ukraine because of the[Read More…]
Car-free Sundays in cities, working from home up to three days a week and using cost-efficient public transport – are just some of the recommendations made by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to the world. The 10-point action plan aims at cutting back on oil consumption “in the face of the emerging global energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of[Read More…]
Ukraine scene is confusing the West. Today’s Washington Post main headline said: Zelensky’s end game a mystery to the West Mixed signals about the status of a peace deal have heightened anxiety about the trajectory of the talks The Washington Post report said: ‘“There are people in Ukraine who say ‘we don’t want to hear about talks, we want to[Read More…]
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday blamed NATO for the war in Ukraine and said he would resist calls to condemn Russia, in comments that cast doubt over whether he would be accepted by Ukraine or the West as a mediator. “The war could have been avoided if NATO had heeded the warnings from amongst its own leaders and[Read More…]
Ukraine conflict is changing many issues around the world including NATO’s force stance in Europe. An AP report said: On Wednesday, lamenting Russia’s “brutal invasion” of Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that Europe’s biggest land war in decades will “change our security environment” and will have “long-lasting consequences for our security, and for all NATO allies.” In talks at[Read More…]
The ongoing Ukraine conflict got extra look with a mayor in Ukraine, who appeared heroic. Later, it was found that the mayor was ultranationalist. A Yahoo report (Ukrainian mayor, heralded by many, is ultranationalist, by Ben Adler, Senior Editor, Tue, March 15, 2022, 10:18 PM, https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-mayor-heralded-by-many-is-ultranationalist-161819300.html) said: ‘It was an especially inspiring story of Ukrainian bravery, in a war replete[Read More…]
The United Nations chief warned Monday that the war in Ukraine is holding “a sword of Damocles” over the global economy, especially poor developing countries that face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices and are now seeing their breadbasket “being bombed.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that “Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world’s supply of sunflower[Read More…]
In what was touted as a semifinal before the national elections in 2024 in India, the assembly elections in five states including the politically crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the right wing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party is set to form government four out of the five states. Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party is set to retain the State of[Read More…]
Incidents following the Ukraine Crisis are developing dramatically. The world markets are also bearing the Crisis’ brunt. A report by The New York Times said: A digital barricade went up between Russia and the world. Both Russian authorities and multinational internet companies built the wall with breathtaking speed. And the moves have ruptured an open internet. TikTok and Netflix are[Read More…]
Grain prices were rising before the Ukraine conflict. But recent days have seen unprecedented further gains as two of the world’s biggest producers, Russia and Ukraine, are at war. Wheat closed in Chicago at the highest price ever on Monday. Benchmark corn and soybean futures have each surged by 26% this year. Those kinds of increases in food-staple commodities have been associated with social unrest throughout history.[Read More…]
Values for U.S. oil soared Sunday evening, driving prices above $125 a barrel in electronic trade as discussions about a ban on Russian oil heated up following the Ukraine crisis. Oil prices have soared to the highest level since 2008 after the U.S. said it was discussing a potential embargo on Russian supplies with its allies. Brent crude – the[Read More…]
Media reports said: Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Saturday that Ukrainian statehood is in jeopardy and likened the West’s sanctions on Russia to “declaring war,” while a promised cease-fire in the besieged port city of Mariupol collapsed amid scenes of terror. Putin continued to pin the blame for the war squarely on the Ukrainian leadership and slammed their resistance to the invasion. “If[Read More…]
On incidents centering Ukraine, media reports said: French President Emmanuel Macron thinks “the worst is yet to come” in Ukraine after talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. A senior French official said Macron’s warning came after the two leaders spoke for 90 minutes, which did not yield any diplomatic progress. The official said Putin was determined to carry[Read More…]
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