politicodiary

 Sri Lankan economic crises is not getting any better by the passing day. Residents are now reeling under severe power cuts, shortage of medical equipment and medicines to name a few issues facing the country. What has led to this mayhem is a critical lack of foreign currency that has crippled their economy, forcing them to miss out of payments for vital imports, leading to dire shortages in everything from life-saving medicines to cement. Troubled over long lines for fuel that start forming before dawn, Sri Lankans are now complaining bitterly about government mismanagement and are fretting over how to feed their families as food prices skyrocket. Meanwhile, India has come to their rescue, as hospitals are going without medicines and facing medical crises. Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs are already reached out to Sri Lankan government offering help in life saving surgeries. Many hospitals have suspended surgeries due to lack of medicines in Sri Lanka. Trucks at the por...

A secret blanket policy of seizing phones of those entering Britain through the English Channel has been exposed in the judicial courts recently. Home Secretary Priti Patel, has been pulled up for explanation as to why this is being done, an act that can be seen as a human riot’s violation. In a particular incident, three such individuals were caught on the channel. Out of them, one who was a victim of human trafficking and had escaped through this clandestine method reported the same to the courts, also disclosing how this method was used to extract data off her phone as well. All three complaint of the inability to contact their families back home. Their lawyers also claimed that thousands of others arriving to the UK in small boats had their phones confiscated, and hundreds of others had their data cloned. Phone of these three were confiscated between April and September of 2020.  They were also given no access to emergency contacts or other numbers of their phones. Ms. Pa...

NATO has made it clear to China that there is just no need to support Russia in its war with Ukraine. This has been suggested by the head of the Western military alliance, adding that the 30 member nations has plans to discuss Beijing's role in the war Moscow is waging on its neighbour. The discussion has happened in Brussels.   As world leaders meet today in Brussels, the G7, NATO and European Union participants are expected to approve major increases in its forces in Eastern Europe at an emergency move as Ukrainian President seeks support. This has been confirmed by NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg. It is also confirmed that as of now, four new battlegroups will be sent to Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania. US President Joe Biden is already in Brussels for the special NATO summit today. It is now been said that indeed Russia is responsible for carrying out war crimes in Ukraine. Ahead of the summits, Ukraine President Volodymr Zelensky has warned Western leader...

A man with a golden heart, David Beckham has done it yet again as he has handed over his plush and plum social media accounts to a Ukrainian doctor who is trying to save lives in a prenatal hospital in war torn Ukraine. It’s a harrowing time for the Ukrainians, especially expecting mothers as the Russian forces have left no stone unturned to destroy hospitals and medical facilities. The accounts are now being run by Irina Kondratova, head of Kharkiv's Regional Perinatal Center. She describes the plight of saving lives amidst bombing and constant sounds of shelling. Beckham — who has 71.5 million followers on Instagram and 56 million on Facebook — passed the social-media reins to a woman named Iryna, a child anesthesiologist and head of the city's perinatal center. Several outlets, including the Belarusian TV channel Nexta TV, already know the doctor as Irina Kondratova. Showing her grit and determination to save lives, she takes viewers through a 24/7 job and journey wher...

As anticipated, the Houthis have rejected to participate in the proposed GCC peace talks in Riyadh, a confirmed report has said. The talks are to fall between end of March and beginning of April. Mediated by Jordon, this is the latest Gulf Cooperation Council offer to broker comprehensive peace talks between the warring factions. But as anticipated, the Houthis are not interested in ending the war in Yemen, Middle East’s most poor country at the moment. Hundreds of Yemeni politicians, activists, civil society leaders, and even outspoken politicians have been invited to the conference with the single aim of brokering a peaceful resolution to the whole problem. Apparently, Houthis already have preset demands to be met. They have asked the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen should first look at easing alleged restrictions on Sanaa airport and Hodeidah seaport. Till then, they intend to reject holding peace talks in Riyadh.    Meanwhile, the government has positive...

As war wages on and people try and look for shelter, Ukraine is getting drone support from America, that were apparently used in Afghanistan too. There are 100 armed drones being sent to meet the onslaught that has seen merciless attacks on a theatre and school where civilians were taking refuge.     The decision comes after America refused to declare area over Ukraine as a no flight zone, that would pit it directly against Russia and participant to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Over the weekend, the US said it was in discussions with Poland about a potential deal in which Poland would supply Ukraine with MiG-29 fighter jets that Ukraine has requested, and the US would then provide Poland with American F-16s.   If a Russian attack extends into one of the bordering NATO countries, it could trigger Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty, which is the principle that an attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all members. If Article 5 is i...

Fukushima has been rocked again by a powerful earthquake, something that happened a decade ago and had led to a nuclear disaster then. The recent earthquake has been at a 7.3 rector scale and left the country without power. As of now, there are thoughts about re-starting the dormant nuclear power plants and some ruling party lawmakers have urged the government to hasten the restart. But safety concerns continue to reel the options of not going ahead with it as of now. The Fukushima nuclear power plant faced a big mishap in 2011, when Japan was rocked by a massive earthquake. Since then, the nuclear power plants have been kept out of commission. As of now, there is a reeling tsunami concern over the country as well, as the country struggles with a no power situation. Power from nuclear plants slid to almost zero by 2014 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, but now stands at about 3% of total energy production. The government wants to expand that to 20%-22% by 2030. But people ...

There have been repeated overnight attacks in Iraq by Iran. This time, it is in Erbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region . It is been seen as an act of weakness and desperation. While its political power has been reduced in Iraq, it wants to send off a message that militarily, it still can rustle up some feathers. It is with such a mindset, that probably, an under-construction US Consulate Complex was hit by an Irani missile in the city of Erbil. Beyond Iraq, the attack is also Iran trying to grab attention as the world focuses on the Ukraine crisis. New Russian demands for guarantees on sanction-free trade with Tehran in a potential deal are almost certainly unacceptable for the US and its allies, making the agreement that Iran so desperately needs suddenly unlikely. As Iraq fights to establish its own governance and moves off the shadows of Iran, it is getting difficult for Tehran to accept its failure. The attack in KRG region is a serious act of desp...

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) might not be a conflict zone anymore. As India and China have agreed to come on mutually acceptable conditions, the tension on the Indo-China border might be a thing of the past, after all. In order to maintain stability on ground, both the countries will maintain military and diplomatic channels to discuss a way forward. This will also help them reach a conclusion on the remaining issues amongst themselves. This has been marked as the 15th round of diplomatic talks between the nations. The Corps Commander-level meeting was held at Chushul-Moldo border on the Indian side, nearly two months after the last round of talks took place. While both the countries will hold further talks to resolve the row in eastern Ladakh, it was decided to maintain the stable position in the western sector. The two sides "agreed to maintain the security and stability on the ground in the western sector in the interim. They agreed to maintain dialogue via military and dip...

The effect of war between Russia and Ukraine has affected the Russian oil prices to a large extend. This effect can be seen in Asia and Europe, the countries where Russia exports the oil, as well as other countries like USA. We cant look at American gas prices in isolation; it is important to understand the global supply chain for oil as well.  Oil prices are dependent a lot on the global requirements as the global commodity market is interconnected. Therefore, disturbances in one part of the world affects the overall price scenario. Currently, Russia exports the largest volumes of oil globally. The export of Russia in December 2021 was 8 million oil barrels and oil products, out of this there were 5 million crude oil barrels. Out of these, the export to USA was meagre 90,000 barrels in December 2021, therefore the over-all supply to USA is substantially low. As the nature of business, the oil prices are controlled by the global commodity market. Due to lower supply,...

A digital divide troubles refugees tor remains documented in South Africa, a report has recently confirmed. Apparently, there is a new online system meant to help register and apply for renewals. But the system is working against the refugees and asylum seekers. They feel the system runs the risk of deportation and harassment. It’s a known fact that undocumented refugees have a tough time of basic rights guaranteed under the labor law. Currently, the government faces a backlog of refugee applications in South Africa. Many refugees struggle to use new online permit renewal system. Undocumented refugees lose access to bank accounts, their children and extended family have issues completing their education too. Suddenly, you become undocumented and that creates a sense of shame too. The new online system that went live in April 2021 was supposed to be a lifeline for refugees and asylum seekers who had not been able to renew their permits since refugee reception centres closed...

  He spent a decade in prison but once was the richest businessman in Russia. Having spent a decade in prison, Mikhail Khodorkovsky was charged with fraud and tax evasion for which he served a long jail sentence. As the former CEO of the Russian oil giant Yukos, he temporarily became Russia's richest man in 2003 with a reported net worth of  $15 billion . In 2001, he founded Open Russia, a diplomacy initiative that was later shut down by Russian authorities. He served a sentence from 2005 for nine years. In 2013, he was actually pardoned by Vladimir Putin himself. Khodorkovsky has now predicted that the Ukrainian war is technically going to reduce Putin’s era of leadership. One wonders why would he speak against the person who pardoned him in the first place? But the fact of the matter was revealed in a 2010 Reuters report where Khodorkovsky said that his imprisonment was actually politically motivated. Putin's former prime minister testified that the Kremlin ordered Khodo...

Russia is not only losing energy bigwigs deserting its business there; it is also losing all the bigger international brands that are winding shop from various cities in Russia. The huge brands have been said to have temporarily closed business and are showing extreme concern about the safety of European nations. The ones to wind up business currently includes Birkin bag maker Hermes and Cartier owner Richemont as the first firms to announce such moves, followed by LVMH, Kering and Chanel as well. In the understanding of critics, everyone is wishing to withdraw any connection with Russia at the moment. The Ukrainian war has already prompted the United States, Britain and the Europe Union to impose sweeping sanctions on Kremlin. A formal statement from the luxury giant LVMH has confirmed that they will close their 124 boutiques in Russia from Sunday but will continue to pay the salaries for its 3,500 employees in the country. They own brands like Christian Dior, Givenchy, Kenzo, T...

Africa is likely to get badly affected by the current situation between Russia and Ukraine. The already affected economy due to Coronavirus is likely to be hit badly with high prices, weak investments and increasing prices of commodities. Africa has high dependency on Russia and Ukraine for wheat, oil and maze and with the shipments on hold, there is extreme shortage and therefore increase in prices. The most affected products will be food stuff like oil and wheat, as these are expected to have the highest effect of inflation. Price of crude oil are ever time high with surge of five times since the start of war, touching the 2008 prices if almost $120. Prices of wheat have increased 50% in last one month, touching the highest point in last 14 years. Europe produces 14% of global wheat, out of this 10% is produced by Russia and 4% is produced by Ukraine. With the sanction on Russia and already tight supplies, the situation is further aggravated. Currently the ports are closed and al...

Joe Biden used his first State of the Union address to ensure the American public that he was going to take Russia to task for its gross disregard for human lives. He highlighted the resolve of a reinvigorated Western alliance too. On the flipside, a leading Russian bank Sberbank has decided to pull out of European markets amid tightening Western sanctions. Biden addressed the nation on his 9pm speech on the national television, seen by the entire world. Days after Russia attacked Ukraine and Biden appointed the first black woman to sit on the Supreme court, his speech gains special importance. America is facing the highest inflation rate in history, caused by coronavirus pandemic. Additionally, the all-time low job market of 37% is another important topic for Americans. For the President this is a difficult task of maintaining balance between the current crisis faced by country and his political legislative wins so far. His leadership position is been tested on the current crisis and ...

In the longest struggle against terrorism, The UN Security Council has finally announced the Yemeni Houthis as a terrorist organization, extending their arms embargo. With this, the council has actually expanded the existing arms embargo on Yemen as it adopted a draft resolution that now targets the leaders of the Houthi militia, including Abdulmalik Al-Houthi, to encompass the entire membership of the Iran-backed group. Houthis have been known to loot humanitarian aid apart from indulging in crimes against humanity. With this resolution, many other restrictions and changes follow. For one, financial sanctions and a travel ban on senior members of the Houthi militia remains renewed for an additional year. It also labels the Houthis as a terrorist group for the first time, following an ongoing series of cross-border drone and missile attacks targeting some key Middle Eastern nations apart from a wide range of violations affecting the Yemeni people and the international community. ...