politicodiary

As Palestinians continue to fight for their rights in Israel, those around the world are making a mark in society and are being encouraged to do so She is Palestinian-American is origins and is now in news for her latest twitter hashtag, 'YallaToTheMoon' where Nujoud Fahoum Merancy has pledged to help Nasa plan its Artemis missions. Her latest hashtag is a gesture of extending help. Ms. Merancy started to make news in 2019 when she posted her official Nasa photo, in which she wore a blazer embroidered with Palestinian tatreez, a traditional cross-stitch that she purchased during a visit to her father’s hometown of Nazareth.  She is now a leader for one of the Artemis Missions which are used to fly astronauts to the moon. At 43, she is the chief of exploration mission planning at the US space agency and has been working in the space sector for more than two decades . Her support goes to the Artemis 1 Mission flight which is an unmanned flight around the moon and will test ...

  It’s a shameful moment for Potus as a former leader in the US Central Command has been implicated in sharing classified information with Qatar. The now retired general was actually a lobbyist for the Qatar government and lied about his role . It has been Qatar’s modus operandi to influence key officials and academia to lobby for itself, for freebees, fam trips and monetary gains too. General John Allen now serves as the head of Brookings Institutions, one of Washington’s premium think tanks . His association came to light in 2017 when he was about to retire and yet to join the American think tank. Allen collaborated with Richard Olson, a former US ambassador to Pakistan, and Imaad Zuberi, a Pakistani-American venture capitalist and political fundraiser, who is serving a prison sentence for falsifying records to conceal his work as a foreign agent while lobbying US government officials, tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions. A spokesperson for Allen has justified hi...

With this latest bout in shooting, the US has entered the 233 rd case in mass shooting. This info has been shared by the Gun Violence Archive. In the most recent incident, a gunman is said to have used a rifle and hand gun too, in the shooting on the St. Francis Hospital campus. Four people, including the shooter, were shot to death and several were left injured. While police arrived, shots could be heard from the second floor. Police and public were both taken aback by the sudden outburst of gunshots. The attack might have been condemned but gun violence is becoming a dangerous part of American life and the law genuinely needs to be done with, that gives Americans the right to hold guns. Oklahoma Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has been quoted by the media condemning the incident and saying, “What has happened in Tulsa is a senseless act of violence and hatred.” Mayor GT Bynum has been offered all state resources he might need to respond to those who have lost their lives and t...

  In a recent incident, Boeing has decided to remove 141 planes from its order backlog. The geopolitical situation including the restrictions on sales due to the current situation in Russia and sanctions like those imposed on Russia for its war against Ukraine. The big question in front of Boeing management is whether they will ever be able to sell those planes, stalled due to sanctions. Their current order backlog is 4200 planes. As per the U.S. accounting rules, Boeing regularly can add or remove orders from the backlog, this happens only when a order is cancelled or the buyer's financial problems put the deal in jeopardy. As per a statement by company representatives, the reason for cancellations now is geopolitical. About two third of the 130 Boeing 737s that it removed from the backlog resulted from geopolitical reasons, including sanctions. At present 85 deals out of 90 are affected due to sanctions. Without revealing the final customer’s name, the spokesperson shared...

Photo for representation purpose only There is going to be a new war of raw materials that might reinvent the Electric vehicle dynamics worldwide. The precious material here in controversy in Nickel. With a surge in the EV market, there is more need of batteries that make use of this metal. Not found in large quantities, it takes painstaking effort to mine in from the Earth’s crust. As of now, America has small amounts to spare. In 2020, Tesla's Elon Musk begged miners to “please mine more nickel” and offered a “giant contract” to anyone who could do it sustainably. The problem is acute. Nickel is a key component of electric-vehicle batteries. Thanks to surging EV demand, geopolitics and a lack of new supplies, the high-grade nickel necessary for making electric-vehicle batteries is becoming scarce. As of latest statistics, Australia and Indonesia are tied for the highest nickel reserves in the world, each coming in at 21 million MT. While Australia is only the  fifth larges...

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...

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,...

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 ...

The foreign Minister of France, Jean-Yves Le Drian has said that, there is a bit of  progress in Iran Nuclear deal but in order to reach the deal, the time is really short. He has welcomed the efforts of negotiators on the current progress, but his concern  is regarding the short time to negotiate the deal. He also added, that based on the discussions in Vienna, he has convinced that the talks are going in a positive direction, therefore they will reach a deal soon. Talking on television, he commented 'bits of progress have been made in the last few days. Time is of the essence because, if we don't get an accord quickly there will be nothing to negotiate.' Similar sentiments were shared by Britain. During talks with Israel this week, Britain also said that time was running out for a deal. Also, Germany said similar thing, adding that negotiations were 'entering a crucial phase; and that there was 'not much time.' As per comments from Washington, on Tue...

The US government has terminated the continuity for trade benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The government of Ethiopia has shown deep regret on this decision of the US government. In a statement by the ministry, they shared "We strongly encourage the U.S government to reconsider its decision." The statement from Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, also says that “the Ethiopian Government has continued to take measures aimed at restoring peace and stability and consolidating the political and economic reforms over the past three years. They also mentioned about the respect of having a long-standing cordial relationship that has existed between our two countries and good faith maintained with the involved agencies within the US administration to restore our mutually beneficial partnership. The decision to remove Ethiopia from AGAO is expected to further slowdown the cause of human rights in Eth...

  Change of guard has not brought good news for Afghanistan.... In happy days, when kids weren't suffering from malnutrition  Afghanistan has no aid to support its hospitals. Its accounts have been frozen, creating another huge humanitarian catastrophe; the first one of the century being witnessed in Yemen. What this has resulted in is dried out hospital facilities and rising malnutrition amongst children. Food and supplies are scarce in Afghanistan and the way Taliban is moving around trying to assert its mad power, it isn’t too bothered about the welfare of its people either.   It is now common knowledge that since the Taliban’s military took over in August, Afghanistan has been thrown into a deep economic and humanitarian crisis as almost $10 billion in bank funds – most of them private assets – remain frozen and the majority of aid has been put on hold.   As the military style governance now handles their own internal power fights, it is oblivious to the ...

Photo courtesy: www.cnn.com   Anything that does not agree with the towing of the line, especially if it’s the military, does not do well in America. The recent withdrawal from Afghanistan for American troops has seen a US Marine officer relieved off his duties, after he made the cardinal mistake of criticizing military leaders about their handling the withdrawal. US Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stuart Scheller posted a video online posing questions to his superiors. In his video, he was willing to throw it all away, demanding ‘public accountability’ from the military leadership. In an act of retaliation, Scheller was sent a message to be relieved off his duties. Scheller's video was posted the same day that  13 US service members and more than 170 others were killed in an attack outside Kabul's airport, according to the Pentagon and Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Health. Marine Corps spokesperson Maj. Jim Stenger said in a statement that Scheller had been relieved of co...

After much persuasion and pressure from the White House, the former marine has been released from a Russian prison.... Paul Whelan's face looked white and expression less, as if someone had robbed it all from him. That is exactly what will happen to someone who has been deprived of social contact, light and air for a long time.  An American citizen, Whelan was put into solitary confinement in Russia. He was recently released and could finally speak to him family. The whole month he was not allowed to shower or exercise. When he spoke, he was bound to sound weary, but has not lost his mind. Speaking to the media his brother David Whelan said, till date he or his brother does not know charges for which he was put into solitary confinement. According to the Russian media,  "Russian prison monitor Valery Krutov was quoted by Russian media as saying Paul had accumulated 'more than 10' minor infractions." "The prison has not provided this information to either Paul...

Under Biden administration, action is in addressing the root cause of misinformation in Iran- pulling down websites serving the agenda of misinformation  The United States has taken a strong stance on information misinformation being used as a tool by Iran. It has decided to ban all such websites that was serving the purpose of disinformation. Two such websites include those owned by Iranian state-controlled news groups, Press TV and Al-Alam, and of the Al-Masirah TV channel of Yemen's Huthis .   Further, spelled Kataib Hezbollah, KH is one of the main Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups that has also been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States. As of now, as many as 36 such websites have been seized by the United States government. Many of them are associated with either disinformation activities or other violent organizations. Apparently, they are in violation of US sanctions too, and are therefore being taken offline. Strangely, most of them we...

China's closeness to Iran could be a matter of great concern to the rest of the world   China continues to look all gracious ways of keeping nations involved but can exit at any point of time it wishes.   Iran should feel happy that $400 billion deal is coming their way. But it could be retracted at any point of time. This move comes at a point when China is suddenly wishing to get into the good books for Middle East nations.  A recent trip was made by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Y comprised UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Turkey and Iran. However, the most critical part of Wang’s Middle East jaunt was the stopover in Iran. The foreign minister is the first top ranking official to visit Tehran since President Xi Jinping’s visit in 2016 when the two sides signed a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. China has signed a 25 year long treaty to help the bleeding nation. In return, it will get oil and gas access, a commodity that Iran has been desperat...

Biden administration is serious about prioritizing education and they are doing everything possible to get it back on track The Biden administration is taking Covid-19 testing in schools extremely seriously, so much so that they will be investing $10 billion in the whole process. This is being done in order to ensure schools can reopen safely at the earliest. Children have been most affected by the extended periods of lockdown and pandemic spread.   The fund would be allocated towards testing school fraternity staff and student. The Department of Health and Human Services(HSS) has further stated that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as state and local  health  departments will also help schools to set up these programs, and that the final allocations will be made to health departments in early April 2021.     According to HSS and other world health services, testing in the most critical step to prevention of spread and further treatment. I...

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are preparing well for the disaster that Trump is leaving them behind to deal with As the President elect gets ready for action as he takes control of the White House in January, Donald Trump is busy using the White House resources to meet his own personal agendas. HE has mocked the mask wearing compulsion and social distancing protocols innumerable times and remains shameless about it. Meanwhile Biden has all the intentions to urge his fellow American to start off simple- wear a mask for the next 100 days. As the old tradition goes, the effectiveness of any leadership is determined in the first 100 days of taking the seat of power.  He is also going to ensure that the American people can receive the vaccine in time; a point that Trump pushed in his twitters like a spoilt child complaining that he will get no credit for the vaccine after all. Trump was nowhere to be seen as Biden made a public statement on television that he is joining the previous thr...

Coming election, one can only hope the spell breaks and a Joe Biden kiss of good luck can save the sinking ship called America Photo courtsey: buzzpo.com It has not taken rocket science to understand that Mr. Donald Trump was a disastrous choice of leadership for the White House. His coming to power, makes one feel an uneducated India story has been replayed in the West. In fact, most of his vote bank comes from a background of people who are not aware of what is actually happening in the White House, but were taken in by his charisma and hard hitting words full of promises of a rosy future.  The damage that has been done to the American spirit is going to be irreversible- it has taken the badge of honour of being a super power has fallen off. It will only taken some very sound leadership to bring back the lost glory of America.  Mr. Barack Obama was revered for his sensible, and sometimes courageous decision making that had given America a balanced strong hold it needed. A co...

The way some nations have contained the virus speaks volumes about effective leadership  America is exhibiting the worst kind of leadership ever while tackling a pandemic where it would have otherwise spearheaded an active plan of action  The United States has never been so unprepared to handle a disaster as it is today. The country which is known to the super power of all nations has been brought to its knees- thanks to selfish leadership at the helm. The best way to show you care about your nation and are genuinely there as a leader to serve is when you can pre-empt danger, have the right people in place to mobilize resources, take informed and timely decisions and then work in unity to make a solid defense or backup plan. If one was to learn a lesson from these instances, one can see, that it is not just powerful nations that can prevent such outbreaks from becoming epidemics. Instead, it is the head of the nation, whose sound leadership, sound judgment...

Jordon was never consulted before Trump turned the whole Middle Eastern Peace proposal in favour of Israel, forgetting the needs of Palestinians. The result the PM of Jordon Omar Razzaz says could be devastating to the relations between Israel and Jordon. As usual Trump continues to undo whatever good had been done before his presidency. While Clinton had applauded a peaceful treaty between Jordon and Israel in 1994, the status quo has been disturbed by Trump’s skewed peaceful plan that has not been liked by anyone in Palestine. It has been more than a decade that the world is trying to find a solution to the Israel- Palestine skirmish.   Through Trump’s intervention, Israel is now planning to annex a chunk of Palestinian lands, making the people very unhappy. Trump’s plan has favoured Netanyahu only, so much so that the latter was prompted to take back his plea for immunity against charges of bribery and corruption. Trump's plan, political analysts believe, woul...