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Shutdown ends. Who gained? Who lost?
Finally, the wait is over. The longest government shutdown in American history ended on November 12th. As the end buries many questions, new ones are cropping up. Among them, one stands out in particular: who benefited from shutdown’s end? Naïve watchers will say the gainers are the Republicans. Their belief stems from the fact that the House of Representatives has cleared a Senate-okayed…
Takaichi triggers torrid Chinese activity around Senkaku islands
Tensions over Taiwan have the potential to hit people and student exchanges between Japan and China. The two realised this recently after Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi swore to save Taiwan militarily from a Chinese invasion. The Takaichi threat had a fallout elsewhere – China deployed its coast guards and directed its military drones around the Senkaku islands, aka the Diaoyu islands,…
The Trumpian counter-threat to lay off a lot of Democrats
Democrats refused to back president Donald Trump’s funding plan. For reasons they felt were major. One, this is the first shutdown in nearly seven years. Two, the Democrats are sure the Republicans are jeopardising America’s healthcare through a partisan bill. Yet the US government shutdown began on October 1st. As the plan to expand the funding for federal departments failed to elicit support…
The Trumpian counter-threat to lay off a lot of Democrats
The Democrats have refused to back president Donald Trump’s funding plan. For reasons they felt are major. One, this is the first shutdown in nearly seven years. Two, the Democrats are sure the Republicans are jeopardising America’s healthcare through a partisan bill. Yet the US government shutdown began on October 1st. As the plan to expand the funding for federal departments failed to elicit…
“Israel will remain deep inside the Strip for the foreseeable future”
Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, aka Bibi, is an implacable foe for Hamas. Fearfully, Israel and Hamas agreeing to the first phase of American president Donald Trump’s peace plan may not take peace too far. For starters, neither Israel nor Hamas has an implementation-ready plan of peaceful actions for what may follow Israel’s so-called pull-out from Gaza. None of them seems prepared to…
The arrogant secretary and the apocalyptic billionaire
Does the US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick have an attitudinal problem? Why does the United States think its duty is to fix countries? As president Donald Trump speaks and acts weirdly these days, the US has begun to think increasingly about its right to fix nations like India, Switzerland and Brazil. Mr Lutnick was indeed talking in terms of these three nations’ trading ties with America.…
Strange how former judges speak
For quite some time now, India’s former chief justice Dhananjay Chandrachud has been keen to be controversy’s favourite child. Proving this, he said recently in a September interview to the Indian web publication Newslaundry: “The very erection of Babri Masjid in the 16th century was a fundamental act of desecration.” This is controversial and contradictory. More so as he was on the five-judge…
Mr Sarkozy’s corruption trial is bad news for the French far right
Former presidents often exude extraordinary confidence. More so when they are sentenced and sent to jail for criminal charges. The former right-wing French president Nicolas Sarkozy is no exception. Set to start his five-year jail sentence in the La Sante prison south of Paris for raising campaign funds from Libya’s dictator Muammar Qaddafi, Mr Sarkozy sounded supremely confident on October 21st.…
Is it a pathetic Takaichi moment?
Women breaking the glass ceiling is a rarity in Japan. That is why Takaichi Sanae’s election to the nation’s highest office as its prime minister was not only rare, refreshing too. But that feeling of goodness evaporates fast when ground realities get you down to earth. Ms Takaichi is not only a conservative hardliner, a right-leaning revisionist too. She is Japan’s first woman prime minister,…
Not knowing who to rub and how much
High-powered talks create a highly charged atmosphere. More so when they are about Pakistan. Here is what happened on October 10th in New Delhi where Afghanistan’s acting foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi confabulated with India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. It was a super huddle in a long time. When Pakistan’s two border nations get into such a high-powered huddle, it is…
Tech and the doom-prepping mania
Until not very long ago, doom prepping was only heard in some scary science fiction. Worse, doom preppers were largely seen as insecure apocalyptic insurers straight out of a Stephen King thriller. No longer. Doom prepping is now business as usual in Silicon Valley. So much so that tech czars are getting ready for the doomsday as never before. Why are tech billionaires feeling overwhelmed by an…
ETF proliferation is a red flag
Active exchange-traded funds are on a roll. More so in the fixed- income segment. These surging ETFs are fast reshaping the market. They are set to make the market hit the $5tn mark in the next five years. Market pros are betting on the ability of active ETFs to lift the indices. The speedy rise of active ETFs is turning many investment aces into major ETF aficionados. So much so that BlackRock’s…
What is starvation in Gaza all about? Horrible strategies or heartlessness? It is both
Israel is becoming notorious for nixing all wise options in its war against Hamas. Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s fatal obsession with Hamas’s extermination is making Israel and his government to choose bad strategies over beneficial moves. It shows Israel’s irresistible urge to opt for all the bad options. The fast-spreading man-made hunger and starvation in Gaza mirrors that urge. Worse,…
Britain and France to recognise a Palestinian state. Why are they taking the risk?
The decisions are noble and the intentions are nice. But results and consequences from the decisions will upset their equations with American president Donald Trump. Yet, not perturbed, Britain and France decide to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. As worsening starvation conditions in Gaza influence them, they are ready to take this risk. Also, because the…
An intentional conflict is going international
Thailand’s offensive in Cambodia has been intentional from the start. Despite Thai fighter jets raining non-stop on Cambodia, the latter’s retaliatory hits failed to present a purely professional approach. As Cambodia was bent on encircling the ruins of two ancient Thai temples in a grand show of escalation, the exercise offered a curious sight of modernity masquerading around old monuments.…
10 reasons why permanent peace is not possible between Thailand and Cambodia
Long-running disputes between two nations cannot be resolved so easily with the mere intervention of a publicity-seeking politician. More so when that politician happens to be America’s president Donald Trump. The rationale: neither Mr Trump truly loves nor do the warring nations worship peace. This is reason number one behind the belief that peace is not possible so soon between Thailand and…
Trump’s about-turn brings Ukraine anguish and not relief
By now, it is all too familiar. For Ukraine, long used to Donald Trump’s sharp about-turns, even his most serious soothing declarations bring anguish and not relief. It was no different on July 7th when the American president reversed his earlier order stopping all weapon shipments to Ukraine. Worse, the reversal has come in the same month. For Trump-adoring Republicans, such U-turns may be…