Is the European Union missing in action on the Israeli-Palestinian issue? Shutterstock The day after the barbaric attacks by Hamas on Israel, the EU’s Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Oliver Varhelyi of Hungary, announced the suspension of aid to the Palestinians. He was soon rebuffed by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign … Read more
To be sure, the doubling down by Washington provoked a sharp reaction from Pyongyang and a vicious circle is forming in the absence of any interest on the American side to re-engage with Pyongyang. In effect, therefore, Americans are escalating the situation under the pretext of supporting South Korea. Indian Punchline
476 suicides reported in Singapore in 2022; highest in more than 20 years 2020년 우리나라의 자살자 숫자는 1만 3,195명으로 전년 대비 604명(-4.4%) 감소하였고, 자살률은 25.7명으로 전년 대비 1.2명(-4.4%) 감소하였다. 우리나라의 자살률은 24.6명(’19년)으로 회원국 중 가장 높고, OECD 평균(11.0명)보다 2.2배 높다. 싱가포르 인구는 약 600만 명이므로, 우리나라 인구의 약 12%이다. 우리나라 자살자가 약 28배나 많다! 이렇게 … Read more
Ashraf Amra/ AAP Millions of men, women and children have converged on Mecca this week for the Hajj pilgrimage. The Saudi government says it will be the largest crowd ever for the pilgrimage. The Hajj pilgrimage is, at its core, a pilgrimage towards God. This presents a paradox of sorts. If God is beyond time … Read more
An aging population, a tired economy. Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images Around the world, nations are looking at the prospect of shrinking, aging populations – but none more so than South Korea. Over the last 60 years, South Korea has undergone the most rapid fertility decline in recorded human history. In 1960, the nation’s total … Read more
Blink and you could have missed it. Within 36 hours, the challenge mounted against the Kremlin by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the mercenary private military company the Wagner Group, was over. On Friday June 23 2023, Prigozhin ordered 25,000 of his troops on to a “march for justice”, which duly set out to confront … Read more
Gavriil Grigorov/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP It is increasingly clear that a rattled Vladimir Putin’s political end is approaching. All that really matters now is whether it comes sooner or later. Having appeared on national television to warn of a coup attempt by traitors – and an impending civil war – Putin abruptly reversed his position only … Read more
Prigozhin Press Service/AP Never during the 23 years of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rule has he faced the kind of challenge posed by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s insurrection over the weekend. The gravity of the crisis was underlined by Putin’s televised address on Saturday. He likened the insurgent’s “criminal adventure” to the catastrophe of 1917, … Read more
Open defiance in Rostov-on-Don. Feodor Larin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Less than 24 hours after the mutiny began, it was over. As the rebelling Wagner column bore down on Moscow, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko brokered a deal under which Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to drop criminal charges against the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and … Read more
Wagner has assisted rebel leader Khalifa Hiftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces GettyImages It is easy to understand what African rulers see in the mercenary group Wagner. Its fighters can be deployed quickly. It brings sophisticated arms with it and can apply force speedily and ruthlessly. Alternative sources of military muscle have flaws: United Nations missions … Read more
