Given the scale of poverty and inequality in contemporary Britain (and indeed in the United States), no right-thinking person can presumably be fully happy with the organization of a system of rewards that leaves so many people under daily and…
Category: Int’l relations
IFC calls for over-all Teesta treaty, not sharing at border
New York, May 14 – The International Farakka Committee New York on Saturday called for a comprehensive treaty on the Teesta and other common rivers instead of signing a water-sharing at the border. The call was floated at an opinion…
IPU hails positive developments on Korean peninsula
The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) has welcomed the historic Inter-Korean Summit held recently in the town of Panmunjom by both leaders, Kim Jong-un and Moon Jae-in.
Dozens killed in Gaza as US Embassy opens in Jerusalem
Israeli fire killed at least 41 Palestinians during mass protests along the Gaza border on Monday, marking the deadliest day of violence there since a devastating 2014 cross-border war and casting a pall over Israel’s festive inauguration of the new…
The crisis of globalisation: Inevitable war? war
In her most recent book Kari Polanyi Levitt observes that the word “globalization” cannot be found in the Oxford Shorter English dictionaries predating 1994 nor in the spell-check programs of that era. It emerged from nowhere at that time and…
Why Macron in not the new left
Since his election in May 2017, international observers have fairly unanimously welcomed Emmanuel Macron as today’s modernizing figure in French politics and depicted him as a pro-European Social Democrat with an assertive reformist touch. Yet, it took no longer than…
Paris work progamme to be coherent and balanced
14 May, Bonn (TWN) — The UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA), one of the main bodies responsible for enabling the implementation of the Paris Agreement (PA), adopted conclusions at its closing plenary on 10 May,…
Powerful storms kill at least 40 across northern India
Lucknow, May 14 (AP/UNB) — Powerful wind and rain storms have swept across northern India, with authorities saying at least 40 people have been killed.
Israel starts US Embassy celebration, boosts border force
Jerusalem, May 14 (AP/UNB) — Israel on Sunday started festivities to celebrate the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, even as it bolstered its forces along the Gaza border and in the West Bank in anticipation of mass Palestinian…
Pakistani Taliban ambush army vehicle, killing 7
Dera Ismail Khan, May 14 (AP/UNB) — Pakistani security officials say militants have ambushed an army vehicle on patrol in a northwestern tribal region, killing seven soldiers before fleeing back to neighboring Afghanistan.
Suicide bombers attack Indonesia’s Surabaya police HQ
Attackers on motorbikes carried out a suicide bombing at a police headquarters in Surabaya, a day after a wave of deadly blasts in the Indonesian city.
18 killed 54 hurt in Pakistan rainstorm
At least 18 people were killed and 54 others injured in rain-related incidents in different areas of Pakistan’s northwestern region on Saturday, local media and officials said.
BSF picks up 3 Bangladeshis at Thakurgaon border
Dhaka – Members of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) detained three Bangladesh nationals from Paria border in Baliadangi upazila in Thakurgaon early Sunday.
9 dead, 40 wounded as bombs hit 3 Indonesian churches
Jakarta, May 13 (AP/UNB) — Three attacks including one by a suicide bomber disguised as a churchgoer targeted three churches in Indonesia’s second largest city of Surabaya early Sunday, killing at least nine people and wounding dozens, police said.
One killed in Paris knife attack, claimed by IS
Paris, May 13 (AP/UNB) — A knife-wielding assailant killed a 29-year-old man and injured four others in a lively neighborhood near Paris’ famed Opera Garnier before he was killed by police Saturday night. The Islamic State group claimed the attacker…
EU reforms its emissions trading system
The European Council formally approved the reform of the EU emissions trading system (ETS) for the period after 2020. The revised ETS directive is a significant step towards the EU reaching its target of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by at…
Rockefeller Collection sold for record-smashing $832
NEW YORK, May 12 – In what was billed as the “sale of the century,” the art collection of Peggy and David Rockefeller, comprising 1,500 pieces, sold at auction for a record-breaking $832.5 million, Christie’s said Friday.
Ukraine computer involved in Tennessee elections
USA, May 12 – Investigators found evidence of a “malicious intrusion” into a Tennessee county’s elections website from a computer in Ukraine during a concerted cyberattack, which likely caused the site to crash just as it was reporting vote totals…
UN’s top nuclear inspector resigns suddenly
Berlin, May 12 — The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog says its top inspector has quit with immediate effect, just as the agency’s work in Iran is once again in focus.
Global Pact for Environment raises questions – Moscow
The Global Pact for the Environment continues to raise questions about ways to harmonize it with the current international rules, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, commenting on Russia’s decision to vote against a resolution to take steps…
Defeated Malaysian leader, wife barred from leaving country
Malaysia’s Immigration Department said Saturday that former scandal-ridden Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife are barred from leaving the country, shortly after he announced plans for a short holiday.
Local groundstations successfully get test signal from B-1
Florida, May 12 – Minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palak has said that following the successful deployment to geostationary orbit of the country’s first communications satellite, the Bangabandhu-1, local groundstations in Gazipur and Betbunia have successfully received initial test signals…
Singapore natural choice for Trump-Kim first meet
SINGAPORE, May 11 – With one foot in the East and one in the West, ultra-modern and secure — to the point of sometimes being mocked as dull — Singapore was a natural choice for the historic first meeting between…
EU Company Mobility Package: Implications For Social Europe
Will the ‘freedom of establishment’ – one of the basic freedoms in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) – mean that companies can pick and choose the national regulatory regime most favourable to them? Or will…
Riyadh will pursue nuclear weapons if Tehran does
Saudi Arabia is ready to build nuclear weapons if Iran restarts its programme, the kingdom’s foreign minister said. In an interview with CNN, Adel Jubeir said Saudi Arabia would “do whatever it takes” to protect its people following US President…
‘Respect for HR principles important to achieve development’
Dhaka, May 11 – A panel discussion and film screening event took place on Thursday evening in the city that laid emphasis on respect for fundamental human rights principles which is important to achieve sustainable and inclusive development.
How Europe’s band-aid ensures Greece’s bondage
By Yanis Varoufakis All the happy talk about impending “debt relief” and a “clean exit” from Greece’s third “bailout” obscures an uglier truth: the country’s debt bondage is being extended to 2060. Worse, by ossifying Greece’s insolvency, while pretending to…
Bangladesh’s first satellite launching Friday
Bangladesh is set to step into space on Friday as it will launch its first communication satellite ‘Bangabandhu-I’ into the orbit.
Malaysia’s Mahathir invited to form govt
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10 – Malaysian ex-leader Mahathir Mohamad, 92, has been invited to form the next government and will be sworn in later Thursday, a palace statement said, after a shock election win against the country’s long-ruling coalition.
How to stop Trump
Why did working class voters choose a selfish, thin-skinned, petulant, lying, narcissistic, boastful, megalomaniac for president?