Новости за 02.05.2024

By Gary Grappo

Even among hardcore ideologues of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), caution — sometimes referred to as “strategic patience” — had been the watchword when confronting Israel. That ended on April 13, 2024, when Iran launched a missile and drone onslaught against Israel directly from its territory. It was a first in Iran’s long-running feud with the Jewish state.

New rules in the Iran–Israel war

The unprecedented Iranian attack marks a... Читать дальше...

By Fiona Raval 

Thailand is looking at a new wave of refugees and asylum-seekers with the establishment of mandatory military service in Myanmar. The junta in Myanmar has recently activated the country’s conscription law, creating widespread panic and the possibility of an exodus. Those fleeing are likely to seek refuge in Thailand—Myanmar and Thailand share a long, largely non-demarcated and porous land border, and the latter has  generally been a haven of choice for asylum-seekers since the 1980s. Читать дальше...

The delinking of China’s defence budget from the country’s rate of growth means freedom to enhance its military’s capability.

By Connor O’Keeffe

As the academic year draws to a close, protests have broken out on college campuses across the country. Students are protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza. Generally, they are calling for the United States government to stop arming and funding the war and, in the meantime, for their universities to divest from Israeli businesses.

The current spate of protests can be drawn back to April 17, when the president of Columbia University was brought before Congress to testify about antisemitism at the school. Читать дальше...

After years of mobilization and advocacy, Dolutegravir—a first-line drug in HIV treatment—will be more widely available in Colombia, thanks to a compulsory license issued by the government at the end of April. A compulsory license is when a government allows the production, selling, or import of a patented medicine without the consent of the patent owner. This is the first compulsory license ever issued by the Colombian government for the Ministry of Health to use, and it is expected to ensure... Читать дальше...

The 23rd Summit of Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America—Trade Agreement for the People (ALBA-TCP) was held in Caracas, Venezuela on April 24. The summit was the first since Venezuelan revolutionary leader Jorge Arreaza took over as executive secretary of the platform in February 2024.

By Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits

Sri Lanka finds itself amid a multitude of challenges, from economic woes to corruption scandals. Domestically, the surge in drug consumption, particularly among healthy-age adults and schoolchildren, poses a grave concern. 

Despite having national and international backing, community-led programs in prevention and rehabilitation fall short of making any impact. This is because they lack root-level eradication strategies. It is also believed that... Читать дальше...

By Zachary Abuza

The jockeying for leadership in Hanoi is underway – more than 18 months ahead of the Communist Party of Vietnam's 14th Party Congress, which is expected to be held in January 2026.  

Under party rules, to be eligible to serve as CPV General Secretary one has to have served two terms on the Politburo. With the forced resignations of Pham Binh Minh, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Vo Van Thuong, and Vuong Dinh Hue since December 2022, that leaves only three candidates as eligible for the top job... Читать дальше...

By Ahmad Syamsudin

José do Santos was once a construction foreman in Dili who oversaw the rise of buildings symbolizing Timor-Leste’s progress after its triumphant vote for independence from Indonesia nearly 25 years ago.

Now, he barely makes ends meet navigating the city’s streets as a minibus driver.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, life has been hard,” he told BenarNews. 

“There are no more jobs in Dili. Construction workers are all from China and Indonesia... Читать дальше...

By Beka Chedia

On April 29, the ruling party of Georgia, the Georgian Dream, staged a so-called “Russian march” in the center of Tbilisi (YouTube/TV Pirveli, April 29). The march was organized in support of the law on foreign agents, which was reintroduced to formalize the country’s move from a pro-Western political course toward Moscow. 

At the rally, the informal leader of both Georgian Dream and the country, Bidzina Ivanishvili, announced his party’s intentions to distance... Читать дальше...

Not enough is being done to support Christians in the Arab world, particularly those who are under siege by Israel.

The American governmental scheme is sliding ever closer towards a pervasive authoritarianism.

By Andrew Moran

Have the Federal Reserve’s 23-year-high interest rates finally filtered into the US economy? Investors are spooked after the latest not-so-good GDP report, resulting in a triple-digit nosedive on Wall Street during the April 25 trading session. Once the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released the first-quarter numbers, murmurs of stagflation popped up on social media. But was this minor turbulence in the path to a soft-landing, or is something else brewing?

In this interview, Emeritus Professor Timothy Uzodinma Nwala, the Chairman of Alaigbo Development Foundation(ADF) Congress, a Nigerian-based Pan Igbo Socio-Cultural and Political Organization, explains that African leaders have come to the awareness of the unique manifestations of the bleak past, but a lot still depends on the background and character of those in control of their national political affairs in the emerging multipolar world.

"As we celebrate the Labour Day let us celebrate the women of the world, because it is the women who are holding this world together..." so said Betty Ogwaro, Member of Parliament and former Agriculture Minister of South Sudan, while speaking at a special session of Gender Equality Talks, focussing on "invisible labour at home: the unpaid care work." Women shoulder the hardest of labour (paid and unpaid, visible and invisible) but seldom get recognition, rights, and justice.

By Najia Houssari

For more than six months, an undeclared war has been raging along Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, leading to the displacement of some 92,000 Lebanese citizens and the destruction of homes, businesses and agriculture.

The front line of this conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli armed forces stretches some 850 km, incorporating parts of the UN-monitored Blue Line, with missiles fired by both sides reaching up to 15 km into their respective territories. Читать дальше...

A major misunderstanding of the Biblical concept of God choosing a people or a prophet is caused by the use of the word 'the' chosen when a better translation would be 'a' chosen prophet or people. The word 'the' has a connotation of the only one or the authentic one.  

In his recent article entitled “Kazakhstan: Independent Kazakh YouTube Bloggers Inflicted A Crushing Defeat On Mme Balayeva’s Information Ministry”, this author shared his following observations about what had been going on in the Kazakh information field during recent flood peaks in Kazakhstan: “The recent sharp rise in popularity of blogs and social networks amid severe flooding in several areas in Kazakhstan has provided an impetus for serious consideration of what has been happening lately in the Kazakh information field. Читать дальше...

The General Elections of India, 2024 are going on and this will continue for another month. Meanwhile, long-term climate-induced heatwaves keep intruding into socio-economic and political aspects of human lives as several cities of Odisha -- a province of India have touched new heights of day temperature and some of them have recorded all-time high with global ranks of second (Baripada), third (Balasore) and tenth (Bhubaneswar) on 30th April 2024. The news that was covered by almost all the leading Indian newspapers in their front page. Читать дальше...

The rage and protest against Israel’s campaign in Gaza, ongoing since the October 7 attacks by Hamas, has stirred student activity across a number of US university campuses and beyond.  Echoes of the Vietnam anti-war protests are being cited.  The docile consumers of education are being prodded and found interested.  University administrators and managers are, as they always tend to, doing the bidding of their donors and funders in trying to restore order, punish the protesting students where necessary and restrict various forms of protest. Читать дальше...