Month: May 2024
The Sanctions against Russia Effectiveness
The EU is pondering strengthening sanctions it imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine but the idea of a wider change in approach is causing jitters in the European financial sector. Despite Western sanctions, Russian imports of battlefield equipment have surged since mid-2022, and are now only 2% below the levels recorded before the military aggression
Japan’s missile-intercepting system
Japan is expected to contribute US$1 billion to a US$3 billion missile-intercepting system under joint development with the United States, as it seeks to counter the reported deployment of highly advanced weapon. Tokyo’s concerns centre on countries with which it has territorial disputes such as Russia, which has reportedly received missiles from North Korea for
Dodging Taxes in Ukraine
Around 6.5m Ukrainians or 15% of the country’s pre-war population—have left the country, shrinking the domestic food market. At the same time, Russia is targeting transport infrastructure, grain silos and other agricultural equipment, which has driven up costs. Many workers have been recruited by the armed forces, and are at the front. Farmers therefore not
Making the Internet safe for Children
Internet Matters, which provides advice on online safety, has just published research which suggests one in seven teenagers aged 16 and under have experienced a form of image-based sexual abuse, with more than half saying that a young person known to them was to blame. One contentious area is how tech firms check whether their
The withdrawal of AstraZeneca Vaccine
After more than three billion doses, the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is being withdrawn. In the race to lift the world out of pandemic lockdowns, the Covid vaccine was developed in record time. A process that normally takes 10 years was accelerated down to about 10 months. Its vaccine was estimated to have saved millions of
Putin’s another six-year tenure
The 2022 conflict in Ukraine, marked as Europe’s largest since World War II, triggered severe Western sanctions against Russia, pushing it closer to alternative alliances with nations like China, Iran, and North Korea. In a solemn ceremony within the Golden Palace of the Grand Kremlin, Mr. Putin placed his hand on the Russian Constitution, pledging
plot to assassinate Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Ukraine has previously claimed knowledge of Russian efforts to kill the Ukrainian leader, and Zelenskyy himself said in 2022 that there had been at least 10 attempts to kill him on Russia’s behalf. Ukraine’s intelligence service says it has intercepted a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of Vladimir Putin’s re-inauguration. Two colonels
The Ban of Tiktok App
Tiktok app is facing increasing limitations and bans on a global scale. TikTok is owned by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, but it insists it runs independently and doesn’t share data with the Chinese government. However, many countries remain cautious about the platform, including the US, which approved legislation on April 23 that will essentially
Temporary Ceasefire in Gaza
That evening Hamas announced that it would accept an Egyptian proposal for a temporary ceasefire and would in return release 33 of the Israeli hostages it is holding in Gaza. This was met with scepticism in Israel. Government sources claimed that Hamas had not accepted the original compromise that Israel had tentatively agreed to. Israel
Chinese President visit to France
The world has changed dramatically since Mr Xi’s previous visit to Europe. A pandemic has swept it, keeping Mr Xi from venturing abroad for more than two and a half years. Russia—China’s “no limits” partner has mounted an all-out invasion of Ukraine, plunging Europe into its biggest security crisis since the cold war. Under President