politicodiary

In a strange discovery, it has been ascertained that the drones employed to set an attack on the Iraqi PM were actually locally made. This has been determined by a top security official. The actual infiltrator has not been pinpointed though. Hours after the attempt on his life, Iraqi Security forces had to actually close the heavily fortified Green Zone as they tightened security measures hours after the assassination attempt on the prime minister in Baghdad. Mustafa Al Kadhimi was attacked by two drones which were apparently home grown according to National Security Adviser Qassem Al Araji . The attack was carried out inside Baghdad's high-security Green Zone. The PM has asked for no assumptions to be made and that thorough investigations should ascertain the origins of the drone attacks that could have been fatal. The attack against Mr. Al Kadhimi came amid rising tensions over the results of the elections on October 10. Preliminary results of that poll saw the Conquest (...

The prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison has taken the bull by its horns, by challenging Facebook Inc to back the anti-troll defamation law. But there are chanced that Facebook will quit Australia at together. If this happens, then Morrison says that if the social media giant does so, over laws holding it liable for defamation on its platform, it shows that they have no interest in making the online world safe. The global social media companies have threatened to quit Australia early this year in a discussion over laws making them pay media outlets for content appearing on their websites. Australian government wants that global internet companies to share the identity of the people with anonymous accounts, in case there is a charge of defamation on such account by other person. The purpose is to bring the internet companies accountable for the content on their platforms. Failure to provide the required information, it must assume legal liability. The proposal is also to make soc...

  The new variant of Corona virus is now being called Omicron and it is being suspected that it is resistant to the current lot of vaccines doing rounds worldwide. However pharmaceutical companies are now determined to improvise the current vaccine to create a shield of protection against the new fast mutating variant. Named by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the health organization says that classified it as a highly transmissible virus of concern, the same category that includes the predominant delta variant, which is still a scourge driving higher cases of sickness and death in Europe and parts of the United States. The new variant started its spread from South Africa, due to which UK has already banned travel from four of its countries. The actual risks are still to be ascertained about the new highly infectious fast mutating variant. But early evidence suggests it carries an increased risk of reinfection compared with other highly transmissible variants. That mean...

A post Merkel era is going to be a new birth for Germany- growing up from being protected and hand held from running the show on your own, for a change.... Termed as the ‘traffic light coalition’, there is a wave of change to see, with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) having agreed to form a new government headed by the SDP’s Olaf Scholz. It is going to be a rough ride- with all three parties having to come to a common ground and footing. While the Greens are hugely focused on the environment, the FDP is looking at pushing for its agenda of a free market orthodoxy, and the SDP is obsessively for redistributive social democracy. Will they find a common ground to work on after a successful 16 years of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) dominating the highest levels of Germany politics? Time will tell! One can also look at the way all three are functioning vis-a-vie the distribution of ministries is concerned. It s...

Polarization has swept Chile in strange ways, leaving it only two strangely different candidates to be selected towards the first-round of presidential election. Chile has seen a lot of change- from complete conservatism to now same sex marriage coming through. Speaking to a journalist who wrote a column over Chile’s crumbling political powers, Michael Shifter, president of Inter-American Dialogue, said, “In Chile, I think you see what is now the established trend in Latin America — the complete crumbling of political parties with any kind of moderate centrist option. It’s being replaced by high levels of political uncertainty and enormous fragmentation.” Between the older José Antonio Kast and the bearded millennial leader Gabriel Boric, the former seems to be winning more brownie points. Kast speaks for an anti-migrant sentiment, and has impressed the police. The culture wars propelling Kast to the presidency in Chile are similar to the themes that took Trump to the White House...

World Health Organisation’s special envoys are now going all out to gather support for a pandemic preparedness treaty. Owing to a fifth wave of high infections and transmission, several countries are still looking at ways of getting back on their feet. It has been two years of combatting the Covid-19 virus.   Maximum deaths are coming through in the low- and middle-income countries. This has been communicated by special envoys appointed by the WHO. The Director-General appointed six Special Envoys on Covid-19 on February 21, 2020. The intend was to provide strategic advice and high-level political advocacy and engagement in different parts of the world.   The Special Envoys will work in close collaboration with WHO Regional Directors and country offices to coordinate the global response to COVID-19. In a specialized report given by the special envoys, it states, “The trends are seen both in nations with adequate doses of vaccine, as well as in those with very tight sup...

China is making good use of Cambodia in every which way. Earlier it was bringing down the US build facilities without notifying or discussing the same with Washington. Then it was constructing Chinese facilities on the same structures. It seems China is expanding its reach and the Cambodian PM had nothing to say but that they had a right to protect their own turf without having to give an explanation to Washington.   Now, it seems, Cambodia is being used as a vaccine storage facility by China too. Strangely, almost all of the vaccines used to date in Cambodia are Chinese (Sinovac and Sinopharm). Political analysts believe there are political, diplomatic and financial reasons behind this decision.Indeed, it isn’t wrong to say that vaccine diplomacy has been aptly given free rein in the kingdom of Cambodia. Washington has had an eye on Cambodia ever since it razed the US facility at its Ream Naval Base. There are reasons that it feels that Prime Minister Hun Sen has sought to posit...

Construction at Ream Naval Base at Cambodia’s Gulf of Thailand coast is in full swing, satellite imagery shows. As a part of a China-backed redevelopment plan, this is China’s strategic move into expanding its military prowess at sea. Over August and September 2021, three new buildings have been constructed, while several areas have been cleared off foliage. A road has also been put under development. Surprisingly, the activity comes amid concern by the United States over China’s growing activity at the base. It is worth noting that a US-built facility was razed in 2019-2020.   While this happened, simultaneously, there were indications of changes at the Ream in 2019 itself. A detailed report by an American media house had revealed this with a fact that indeed China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy had signed a secret deal with Cambodia granting it future access to the base. However, Cambodia refuted the report. In October 2020 it then emerged that a building constru...

The Angolan government is now planning to invest over US$445.5 million (392.3 million euros) to build as many as 21 logistic centers for smooth transport logistics. This will be done by 2038 and will help minimize the challenges of goods transport. Angolan logistics are heavily dependent on roads transport. This has been communicated by the Minister for Transport, Ricardo de Abreu who released a formal tender for the concession, construction, operation and commercial management of the Soyo and Luvo Logistics Platforms in Zaire province. All the platforms will complement each other, concretizing the fact the indeed Angola is taking steps to diversify their economy. “We are doing this by way of stimulating increased production in other sectors and reducing dependence on oil, and it is therefore fundamental to establish an optimized logistics network, integrated by the maritime, land, rail and air sectors,” said Abreu. By 2022, Angola intends to put into operation six logistic platf...

 In a recent incident, Belarus made and statement for an “unscheduled repair” on a branch of the “Friendship pipeline” carrying oil supplies from Russia through their country to a number of EU states, stating that the repairs will take three days. Transneft, the Russian energy giant has said that this is a short-term disruption and the repair work should be completed by weekend. Though the monthly supply volumes should not be affected by this halt in supply. The pipeline connects oil fields in Central Russia to consumers in Poland, Hungary, Czechia and Germany. This situation has caused a record-high increase in natural gas prices in Europe. Various factors are aggravating the current situation in Europe, including the unusual cold winter, which demands people to heat their homes for longer than usual. Also, the need for natural gas is higher due to decisions regarding phasing out of coal and a bad year for wind production. The political situation in Europe is also not conduc...

Chilean elections are the talk of the town this year. It will see a huge renewal of the whole Congress- the 155 deputies and 27 of the 50 senators. But the presidential selection is going to be a tough one as the selection looks polarized. The contrasts are stark indeed. There are surprisingly seven competitors. But none exceed the 30 percent of adherence, according to the latest polls. Only 23 percent of voters are still undecided. So electoral participation is going to be big this time and will also become the deciding factor that could tip the balance. The race looks competitive to the top seat at La Moneda. But the competition seems to be stiff only between two contenders right now. On the left, the candidate of the alliance I Approve Dignity, Gabriel Boric is supported by the Broad Front and the Communist Party. He offers a profound agenda of changes, in line with the constituent process. And on the right wing is the leader of the Republican Party, José Antonio Kast. He does n...

  The world’s busiest coal port in Australia, the Newcastle coal port was put to halt by two climate activists, Zianna and Hannah, who strapped themselves atop equipment at the Port of Newcastle and stopped work there late November 16 th night. They represent the climate group, Blockade Australia, which is focused on “strategic direct action,”. They have to be removed before the port resume normal work. They said, “This is the tenth consecutive day of disruption to Newcastle coal port and its supply rail network.” The group shared that, there were 16 similar activities being conducted over the last week or so, some targeting the rail line near the port, the world’s largest for coal exports. In another incident, a group of activists breached the port and ‘hit emergency stop buttons’ on machines before strapping themselves to different pieces of equipment. Later they were brought down and arrested after ‘several hours’ and are now expected to appear in court in the ...

Gaddafi’s son is now contesting for next month’s elections. This is already causing controversy amongst Libyans. The person in focus is Seif-al-Islam Gaddafi. His father was a dictatorial leader who was slain in 2011. This is Libya’s first ever direct presidential poll to start off on December 24. It is a decisive moment after much of UN’s persuasion to come down to developing a democratic setup. Many residents in Libya are against his candidature. They call it unfair, as the man is still wanted by the International Criminal Court, with many rulings against him. He does not really show himself as any who should be taken seriously. He is known for many crimes against humanity. Registration opened for candidatures on November 15 itself. Seif-al- Islam feels he can restore Libya’s unity. He was already sentenced to death by the Libyan court during the time of revolt. But he was pardoned by a rival administration in the east in a decision that was never confirmed by authorities in Tr...

The growing amity seems to be becoming a reason that Hezbollah as a party in Lebanon might be losing their power and relevance. Regional realignment seems to be adding up towards November 29 running up of the election time and the relevance of the Iran backed party seems to be becoming dim. Of the major regional development seems to be factors like alleged actions by Iran’s proxies in Iraq. These include assassination attempt against Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi as well as Hezbollah’s activities in Lebanon. And then angry comments made by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah were quickly proven wrong and not gone down well with Lebanese either. Nasrallah has said he was in the loop about recent Saudi-Iranian talks in Iraq. He claimed that they did not mention “Lebanon or Hezbollah, neither with regards to Yemen or other issues”. However, Nasrallah’s claim reflects Hezbollah’s anxiety over deals taking place behind its back. So what are the deals happening behind its back? For o...

  The Black desert, a forbidding plateau covered with volcanic rock that stretches between Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia has few guests – Drug Smugglers and Shepherds. It is only these two categories of people who navigate steep slopes, carrying drugs from Assad regime territory in Syria into Arab Peninsula. This is a rugged 50,000 square kilometre desert which serves the booming trade in Captagon. There is a sharp increase in the drug trafficking from Syria this year, says Arab security officials, helping to turn smuggling into a major component of the geo-political struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.  As per local officials, drug trade is growing due to the high profitability to businessman close to the government in the Syrian regime and its allies –including Hezbollah and Iran-backed militias. “The problem is that there is no security partner on the other side of the Jordanian border,” a senior Jordanian official said on condition of anonymity. “In such rugged terrain...

While China has been gaining control over its naval prowess with the help of Pakistan, India will need to double its power to match to enemies. The new battle ground is right in our backyard- the Indian Ocean. India has preparedness to handle Pakistan but China might be another ball game, all together. In a private commissioning ceremony, China delivered the PNS Tughril to Pakistan one of its most advanced state-of-the-art warships. Islamabad is definitely ecstatic to get support from the world’s most powerful economy. The focus point is in the Indian Ocean as India has solidified its position on its land forces. China is hell bent to break the fortress through water force now. Obviously, the Pakistani ambassador to China had reasons to say that adding the frigate to its collection of eight submarines that China will give to Pakistan in 2028, Pakistan’s stands to strengthen its service’s ability to respond to maritime challenges, ensure seaward defence, and maintain peace, stability an...

All favorable and promising talks have not culminated into concrete goals and actions on ground... This year 2021, UK is hosting the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow on 31 October – 12 November 2021. There have been some positive developments, including pledges to end and reverse deforestation, agreement to reduce methane emission levels by 30% by 2030 and new commitments to phase out coal power. No single party is happy with the effectiveness of the carbon emission targets set and countries failing to adhere to them. As of now EU has asked that it  wants the final document of the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to denounce insufficient ambition in the fight to reduce greenhouse gases. In a nutshell, this is what has happened.  Indeed, there is a gap  between the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to fight climate change and the goal to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-indu...

The growing closeness between China and Pakistan is a double whammy for India In a double-handed strategy, China has delivered the PNS Tughril to Pakistan in a commissioning ceremony in Shanghai , confirmed reports have said.   Said to be one of the largest and most advanced warships to be delivered to Pakistan, China has done so keeping its focus clearly on its biggest arch enemy at the moment, India. The dual strategy is to strengthen its naval presence with Pakistan on its side in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean, all put together. The one-of-a-kind ship has been designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) . Taking the delivery of the frigate, the Pakistani Ambassador to China, Moin ul Haque said that this only creates a good balance in the Indian Ocean. He further added that the Tughril-class frigates will strengthen Pakistan Navy's capabilities to respond to maritime challenges to ensure seaward defence, maintain peace, stability and balance...

It needs to be called an Attack and not just an incident that has left many diplomats and secret agents disoriented or with disturbed mental states In a strange commitment towards human rights, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has fallen short of calling the Havana Syndrome an attack but merely an incident. The previous administration had called it an ‘attack’ of a different sorts on its human resource. But moving ahead with his senior in office, President Joe Biden, he has shown that the administration will support all those who suffered with this the aftermath’s of using smart tracing devises. “All of us in the U.S. government, and especially we at the State Department, are intently focused on getting to the bottom of what and who is causing these incidents,” Blinken said in a carefully crafted statement from the State Department, speaking alongside newly appointed officials who will oversee further investigations into the incidents and the medical response for those who appea...

Blue fuel or Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) that is quickly being seen as the new hope of the world, dominates energy needs world over. Europe has been making use of the largest reserves (tapped and untapped) in the Western Siberia region. A new gas pipeline with the name Siberian Force (2) is being pulled along the Western Siberia region crossing Mongolia coming into China. Its Russia’s offering to the China. This new project, with 50 Bcm/y capacity, would deliver Russian gas to China to locations much closer to gas-consuming regions in eastern China. Also, it gives the advantage of utilizing gas resources from the prolific West Siberian Basin. Total distance in Russia and Mongolia are estimated at 2,600 km and 980 km, respectively. The pipeline distance within China is estimated at only 560 km to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) demand center. Everyone is wondering why the developer Gazprom is investing into a new line? The writing might not be on the wall, but while the existi...

On the side-lines of G20 Summit in Rome, there is another news captured by media. Contrary to Trump’s “America First” policy, to confront China’s economic practices which led to massive excess production capacity in steel, Biden looks to mend fences with EU allies, though it looks like a pause to an ongoing dispute. US President Joe Biden and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen announced the agreement to allow greater imports of EU steel and aluminium. This is an agreement for two years, the Trump-era tariffs will remain but only for imports of the metals exceeding set quotas. There was a drop of 50% since Trump imposed tariffs, this move is expected to change the figures to a certain extend. In addition to the 1.1 million tonnes already granted as exclusions to the tariffs, the revised quota will be 3.3 million tonnes of steel annually. Therefore the overall quota would be equivalent to exports in the 2015-2017 period, before tariffs were imports. Further 18,000 tonnes ...

Britain sounds off siren over those responsible really of increasing emission rates doing nothing.... The G20 summit ended at Rome with few commitments and realisations by the world leaders on the importance on concrete action’s to be taken. There have been comments regarding the world’s biggest economies failing to agree on anything significant to climate change. Two days of intensive talks made the global leadership realised the importance of meaningful and effective action by all countries to avoid the global temperatures to rise above 1.5 degree Celsius, set forth by Paris agreement. A joint commitment to hit this goal by 2050, before it turns into a catastrophe was also realised, though China and Russia are pushing this goal to 2060. Additionally, a commitment was reached to stop Publicly financing coal generation. Although the timeline for complete phaseout of coal usage as an energy source was not yet done. United States, United Kingdom China and Russia are responsible for 80% ...