The UN's new humanitarian coordinator, Sigrid Kaag, said Tuesday that no organization can replace or substitute the "tremendous capacity" of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
"I think you've heard the Secretary-General and other agencies, and they've been very clear. At the moment, beyond political decisions, which are GA (General Assembly) bound, there is no way any organization can replace or substitute the tremendous capacity, the fabric of UNRWA, their ability and their knowledge of the population in Gaza," Sigrid Kaag, the United Nations Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, said during a news conference following a closed session on Gaza at the UN Security Council. Some of UNRWA's staff were allegedly involved in the cross-border attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. At least 12 countries — Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, Finland, Australia, the UK, the Netherlands, the US, France, Austria and Japan — have suspended funding for UNRWA, which was established in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees across the Middle East. UNRWA said it terminated contracts with several employees following the Israeli allegations. The main issues discussed during the UN Security Council session were supply routes to Gaza and distribution across the enclave as well as the establishment of the UN mechanism, according to Kaag. "This is not about counting trucks," she said. "This is about volume, quality, speed and continuous delivery of humanitarian and commercial goods to reach the civilians of Gaza, and the mechanism went up and running and can really help facilitate that. It helps us to track, it helps us to enhance the transparency that we know what's coming in…It helps with the verification and obviously to know if it really reached the civilian population," she added.
0 Comments
Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt, accompanied by city officials, visited the captivating contemporary art exhibition titled “Cat’s Testicles Rule the City” (CATSANOVA 2024) on Tuesday.The exhibition, part of the ongoing Bangkok Design Week 2024, is being hosted at Poh-Chang Academy of Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Rattanakosin until February 4. CATSANOVA 2024 has a unique objective – to employ art as a medium to address the surging problem of stray cats in Bangkok while promoting their adoption. The governor and city officials explored the exhibition to gain insights into the creative endeavours addressing this social concern. Key activities within the exhibition include a hands-on painting activity, encouraging participants to create artwork featuring cat’s testicles. This artistic initiative doubles as a campaign aimed at advocating for the responsible control of the stray cat population and their overall well-being. A significant facet of CATSANOVA 2024 involves finding new loving homes for stray cats brought in from the Animal Control Centre in Bangkok’s Prawet district. The event is being supported by the Department of Health and the Veterinary Public Health Office. In collaboration with SOS Animal Thailand and Pettinee Company, the event offers valuable support for adoption efforts. This includes motivating factors, online veterinary health consultation (relevant) and online vaccination records accessible through the LINE OA system at no cost. Visitors are encouraged to make contributions to support the stray cat neutering project, which aims to control the population of stray felines in the capital.
Several aid workers with the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA helped kidnap Israelis and arm Hamas during its attack on October 7, the New York Times claimed on Sunday citing the contents of a secret Israeli government report.
The dossier allegedly details Israel’s claims about 12 UNRWA employees said to have been involved in the raid. Seven were teachers with the agency and two more worked at its schools in other capacities, while the other three were a clerk, social worker, and storeroom manager. Ten of the workers were also allegedly members of Hamas, whose civilian wing remains the legally elected government of Gaza despite its classification as a terrorist group by Israel, while another was said to be affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. A school counselor from Khan Younis supposedly worked with his son to kidnap an Israeli woman, while a social worker from Nuseirat reportedly removed a dead Israeli soldier’s body back to Gaza and helped distribute vehicles and ammunition ahead of the raid. Another three men allegedly received text messages summoning them to meeting points on October 7, with one ordered to bring rocket-propelled grenades. Two US officials told the New York Times that while they had been briefed on the Israeli allegations, they had not verified the details. Washington was nevertheless first to cut off UNRWA’s funding on Friday, followed by Canada and over half a dozen more on Saturday. Because UNRWA lacks any emergency cash reserves, it may have to curtail the vital services it provides to some 5 million Palestinians starting in February. The funding cutoff comes at a precarious time for Gaza’s residents, many of whom already face hunger and starvation. Over 85% of them have been displaced from their homes since the war began, according to the UN. Israel’s accusations came just days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take action to prevent genocide in Gaza, including by allowing more aid deliveries to reach the territory’s besieged residents. While the ruling indicated the court found South Africa’s genocide case against Israel to have some merit, it stopped short of issuing an immediate demand for a ceasefire. Israel had been sitting on the information regarding the UNRWA workers for weeks, three unnamed diplomats told Israel Hayom on Saturday, claiming the government had kept it quiet because “there was an understanding in the Israeli political system that UNRWA must be preserved in Gaza, because it is the only functioning body in Gaza and without it, the chaos would be even greater.” However, Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Saturday called for UNRWA to be “replaced with agencies dedicated to genuine peace and development,” demanding the resignation of its director, and Israel has previously claimed the agency is a Hamas front. The UN launched a probe into the allegations, and immediately terminated staff members suspected of terrorist activity, but Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Western nations not to penalize all relief workers indiscriminately. China’s troubled real-estate giant the Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate, a move that could deal a new blow to confidence in the world’s second-largest economy. A Hong Kong court made the ruling on Monday after the company failed to convince a judge it had a workable plan to restructure some $300bn in debts. “It would be a situation where the court says enough is enough,” judge Linda Chan said. “I consider that it is appropriate for the court to make a winding up order against the company, and I so order.” The ruling follows 18 months of legal wrangling after creditor Top Shine, in 2022, filed a petition to wind up the developer in a bid to recoup its losses. Evergrande, the world’s most indebted developer, had been granted a brief reprieve in December after arguing it needed time to refine its restructuring plan. Chan said the court had in December “made it very clear it expected to see a fully formulated and viable proposal”. Evergrande Executive Director Shawn Siu called the ruling regrettable but said the group would do “everything possible to safeguard the stability of its domestic business and operation”, which he said is independent of its Hong Kong arm. Evergrande’s default on repayments to international investors in 2021, after Beijing began cracking down on excessive borrowing for real estate, sent shockwaves through China’s property sector, which accounts for an estimated 15-30 percent of the economy. More than 50 Chinese real-estate developers have defaulted or missed payments during the past three years, according to credit ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P).
Hong Kong-listed shares in Evergrande plunged by more than 20 percent following the ruling on Monday, before the city’s stock exchange halted trading in the stock. The move is the latest in a series of warning signs for China’s $18 trillion economy, whose post-COVID recovery is facing challenges ranging from crackdowns on private industry to a declining population and an exodus of foreign capital. China’s official gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 5.2 percent last year was the worst performance in decades, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic. “Evergrande’s liquidation will pose more challenges to itself and other developers, but it will only have a limited impact on the already battered property sector and the macroeconomy,” Gary Ng, an economist at Natixis in Hong Kong, said. “Household sentiment is already very cautious of units from troubled developers, and it is unlikely to worsen further. However, it may still delay the recovery of the home market and the weaker confidence may linger longer.” After Monday’s ruling in Hong Kong, the fate of Evergrande’s asset sheet is uncertain. While China signed an agreement with Hong Kong to recognise insolvency and restructuring proceedings in the Chinese cities of Shenzhen, Shanghai and Xiamen, it is unclear whether mainland courts would sanction liquidators seizing the developer’s assets in the country. Hong Kong’s common law system, adopted during the British colonial era, is distinct from China’s Communist Party-controlled courts. In 2021, a Shenzhen court recognised insolvency proceedings in Hong Kong for the first time when it accepted the standing of liquidators for the paper manufacturing firm Samson Paper. “As most of Evergrande’s assets are in mainland China, there are uncertainties about how the creditors can seize the assets and the repayment rank of offshore bondholders,” Ng said. The French government is scrambling to get a whole lot of tractors off the nation’s major highways. Good luck with that when 89% of French citizens back the protesting farmers, according to a new Odoxa poll.
France is joining a movement that now encompasses nearly 20% of the EU, with farmers in five of the bloc’s 27 countries convoying and blockading major roads. Farmers in Poland, Romania, Germany, and the Netherlands have now been joined by their counterparts from the country virtually synonymous with revolution. And one particular incident here in France has just shifted the nascent movement into overdrive. Alexandra Sonac, a 35-year-old cattle and corn farmer from the south of France, and two of her three family members were struck by a car in the dark early morning hours at a farmers’ highway blockade near Toulouse. Sonac and her 12-year-old daughter were killed, while her husband is in intensive care. The incident is still under investigation, but to add insult to injury, the three Armenian occupants of the vehicle that struck the family were reportedly under an expulsion order. The symbolism here is glaring. A productive farmer resisting government economic oppression was killed by someone who has enjoyed the benefits of government laxity. Just 12% of expulsion orders were carried out by France between 2015 and 2021, one of the lowest rates in Europe, according to recent statistics. French farmers’ complaints converge with those of their counterparts across the EU. They’re angry with their own governments, but only because these elected officials have insisted on sliding into the fitted straitjacket imposed on them by the unelected technocratic tyrants in Brussels and their top-down, ideologically driven policies. There’s a good reason why French farmers this week have ripped up and burned the same EU flag that President Emmanuel Macron insists on placing alongside the French tricolor in his various appearances. Farmers all across the bloc have similar demands. They want a fair price for energy while the EU not only has imposed costly climate policies that treat fossil fuels like the plague, but has also decided, “for Ukraine,” to destroy its own supply of cheap Russian gas that drove Europe’s economy. Then, again for Ukraine, they decided to lift import duties on goods and services from Ukraine, allowing the EU to be flooded with truckers who undercut local providers and with equally undercutting farm products that don’t even meet the EU standards with which European farmers are forced to comply at their own expense. Farmers don’t want handouts, but they want governments to lay off the increasingly heavy taxation as their solution to filling state coffers emptied as a result of their constantly misplaced priorities. They also want their national governments to defend their interests against Brussels’ attempts to replace them with cheap foreign imports through endless free trade deals with countries whose farmers don’t operate under the same regulatory diktats, all while Brussels pushes member states (notably the Netherlands) to buy out farms whose cattle waste doesn’t serve its climate change policies. It’s no surprise that the average person sympathizes, since they’re equally fed up with their incompetent heavy-handed government serving as a white glove for Brussels’ iron fist. They see that their gas and electricity costs are endlessly climbing, and their buying power is circling the drain, all while the French defense minister, for example, talks about how the Ukraine conflict, that has served as a convenient pretext for Europe’s transfer of wealth from the people to the elites, is such a wonderful opportunity for the military industrial complex. And when the French National Assembly approved themselves a €300 ($327) a month increase in their own allowances this week, just to offset the inflation that’s crushing the average citizen, it serves as yet another example of their total tone-deafness. On the afternoon of January 24, a massive row of tires and manure was set ablaze by angry French farmers right in front of the prefecture of Agen, in southwest France. Some farmers present denounced the move, others voiced their support, but all agreed to being fed up. More tellingly, police and firefighters on the scene dragged their feet in reacting as the smoke extended almost to the height of the adjacent building, considered a symbol of the French state. Apparently, even frontline workers who serve the state’s institutions are getting fed up with the establishment elites. And not just in Europe, but elsewhere in the West. Canadian Freedom Convoy truckers and their supporters were vindicated in Canadian Federal Court this week when a judge ruled that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government constitutionally violated fundamental rights and freedoms when it evoked the Emergency Act against protesting opponents to the government’s Covid mandates, which they considered a violation of basic rights and freedoms. The fact that the government ordered bank accounts blocked as a deterrent against protesting should have been the first big hint of growing authoritarianism, but apparently it took a federal judge to spell it out. German farmers and truckers who began convoying across the country earlier this month told me in Berlin that they were inspired by the Freedom Convoy as they railed against the German government’s imposition of more taxes on the diesel that fuels their farm vehicles, already pricy as a result of the government’s misguided energy policies driven by ideological, knee-jerk opposition to fossil fuels and to cheap gas from Russia. In both the Freedom Convoy and farmer cases, grotesque attempts by government officials to portray protesters as some kind of right-wing radicals, to absolve elites from responsibility, have fallen flat among the general population. Peavey is “reviving a classic for the modern era” as it marks the return of its Vandenberg Signature Series with three new finishes. The range looks to mix nostalgia with modernity as it puts a contemporary spin on Adrian Vandenberg's cult classic signature guitar.The models are available in a choice of Rock-It Pink, Purple Flame (which is actually red, deceptively) and a comparatively tame Matte Black. Each variation comes equipped with a Floyd Rose floating bridge and high-performance Seymour Duncan pickups. Notably, the Purple Flame model sports twin humbuckers, whilst the Pink and Black options offer single coil pickups in the neck. Visually, the guitar offers a slightly glitched-out take on the Strat shape, with black hardware the choice for the Pink and Black models. The Purple Flame build, which boasts a quilted maple top, stands out with its gold hardware. For both their bodies and necks, the trio recruits high-grade mahogany, whilst ebony is the choice of wood for the fretboards. Size-wise, they comprise a 24.75" scale length and 15-inch radius. Those fretboards are adorned with Vandenberg signature inlays, with red diamond inlays exclusive to the matte black model. They all feature Seymour Duncan pickups, which Peavey believes can offer a “tonal palette that spans from searing, high-gain leads to nuanced, dynamic cleans.” There’s a three-way selector switch and a master volume control for each. There’s also a TB-6 humbucker in the bridge of each, though – as alluded to above –there are two choices of neck pickups on offer: there’s an STK-S6 Custom Stk Plus in the Matte Black and Rock-It Pink models, and a SH-6 in the Purple Flame. The original Vandenberg signatures were released in the late '80s and comprised a poplar body with a two-piece maple neck. The new edition, then, sees the signature guitar receive something of a glow-up. “The reintroduction of the Vandenberg Signature Series is a celebration not only of a groundbreaking guitar, but an influential artist's journey,” says Peavey. The Dutch guitar He would later join Whitesnake and deliver that solo in Here I Go Again. He also co-wrote the band’s platinum-selling album, Slip of the Tongue. That saw him sharing guitar duties with Steve Vai, who is currently out with the reunited original G3 line-up, on the subsequent tour. “Made to his specifications and road-tested over the years, Vandenberg guitars have become highly coveted on the resale market,” Peavey’s statement continues, “with Reverb currently selling some at a little over $3,000. Now the coveted guitar of the ‘80s is back. Reviving a classic with a perfect blend of '80s nostalgia and modern precision, it offers modern appointments for discerning players.” Vandenberg sat down for a chat with Guitar World back in August and his rhythm playing was an integral part of what was discussed. He stated that “rhythm playing is the backbone of whatever a guitar player is trying to say – and it’s become deeply undervalued today.” He also discussed the return of his beloved Peavey model, taking the opportunity to pay tribute to the “absolutely amazing” craftsmanship it showcased. “As the years passed, people kept asking me if I had any Peavey Vandenberg guitars and if I'd part with them,” he said of the guitar's return. “And since I had a few, I never bothered to answer. And then Facebook groups started popping up in tribute to the guitar, and I saw all these fans. “So, eventually, Peavey approached me about bringing it back around a year ago; I said, 'Yes,' and we started working on it. That guitar has taken on a life of its own, which I certainly never expected.”
The revised Vandenberg signature guitars will be available to order soon. They will be sold for $2,999 each. Mad Professor Amplification’s first products were made in 2002 and the company says that they are a culmination of decades of work with guitars, amps and pedals. Since that first pedal arrived, there have been many additions to the catalogue, some of which have had real longevity, while others have been discontinued. One of the last Mad Professor pedals we took a look at (back in issue 445) was the Loud’n Proud, which offered the sound of a vintage Marshall amp with a fuzzbox in front of it. It is now discontinued, but the one we’re looking at today is a stalwart of the range and never out of production. The Sweet Honey Overdrive is Mad Professor’s take on the low- to mid-gain overdrive pedal, typically used to add a little hair to clean amps or to drive already dirty amplifiers a little harder. There’s an easy-to-dial-in three-knob control surface here with self-explanatory Volume and Drive knobs, plus a Focus knob that the brand says is for adjusting the feel and dynamics of the pedal, as well as overall EQ. The pedal is capable of a small but practical clean boost with the Drive at minimum and a decent guitar amp-like raunch at maximum. What is particularly notable is the response to playing dynamics, which really is quite amp-like – you can play softer for the clean-ish sounds, while bolder strokes can really bring out dirt. All of this expressive nature can be tempered with the Focus knob, providing plenty of variation on the driven theme. At its lower settings, there’s a smooth, warmer rounded sound and the dynamics are such that you have to dig in that little bit harder to get overdriven sounds, but as you turn it up you’ll get an increase in top-end presence and an easier transition into driven sounds. This is the sort of pedal you may wish to keep on all the time, but it also stacks really well as a booster in front of other drive pedals. The company also has a limited-edition version with its ‘Fat Bee mod’ that essentially tweaks the bottom-end.
Specs
After that effort failed, Pyongyang has now effectively “given up.” It believes it has no options left, and has continued developing its nuclear program and increasingly hardening its position, emboldened by the geopolitical context in respect to Russia and China. It might be noted early on that this assessment does not give “hard” evidence of North Korea pursuing such a path, and relies only on changes in Pyongyang’s rhetoric to argue that the DPRK’s claims are not “bluster” but a true reflection of its strategic position. Many things have changed since 2019 that should be taken into consideration: the Biden administration has no interest in negotiating with North Korea, a hostile Presidency has came to power in Seoul under Yoon Suk-yeol, who is pro-Japan and has abandoned the reconciliatory approach of Moon Jae-in, while the US’ confrontation against both Russia and China has given the DPRK new options to try and subvert the isolation it experienced during the era of American unipolarity.
Because of this, the US has completely lost its ability to hold North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs to account, with new sanctions now being blocked at the UN by Moscow and Beijing, and existing ones not enforced. North Korea is increasingly capable of hitting the American homeland with ICBMs. This is also making unilateral, pre-emptive military action by the US against the DPRK an increasingly unrealistic prospect. But why would this enable Kim Jong-un to pursue a war of choice against South Korea and, should he start one, would he truly have a chance of winning it? North Korea’s entire diplomatic strategy from the 1950s onwards has always been to exert maximum leverage for itself as a small country, by creating crisis. This is the Juche ideology’s ultimate focus on independence and sovereignty at all costs, even to its own population. To this end, the DPRK has always been provocative, whether it be killing US soldiers with axes, capturing the US spy ship USS Pueblo, shelling South Korean islands indiscriminately or even sinking a South Korean warship during an exercise. In doing so it aims to force the hands of not only its enemies but also of those who are friendly to it. Recognizing its critical strategic position, Pyongyang has absolutely no problem dragging Moscow and Beijing into a crisis whether they like it or not, and was happy to cause significant trouble during the Sino-Soviet split. Therefore, in an era when China and Russia are both in a state of tensions –even confrontation– with the US, North Korea ultimately calculates opportunity for itself and extended leverage. Kim Jong-un will recognize that neither state in such a geopolitical situation could tolerate the fall of his regime and the reunification of the Korean peninsula on US-centric terms, which, for China, places an American military presence right next to its own border. Indeed, even though Kim Il-sung started the Korean war in 1950 and subsequently faced defeat from the US and its allies, China still saved him – and back then it was much weaker than it is now. So, would Kim Jong-un fancy his chances in unleashing a full-scale war again on the Korean peninsula on the premise China would be forced to intervene? That isn’t beyond the realm of possibility. Does Kim want the US and China to normalize and improve ties? Of course not, because it means they will cooperate against him to force him to denuclearize. As for the benefits of such a reconciliation for the global economy – why would Kim care about that when his country is impoverished and isolated from said global economy anyway? So where does this leave the DPRK? It leaves Kim Jong-un with a window of time to achieve a series of geopolitical objectives and goals, in a context which is favorable to him, and therein raises the prospect of a serious escalation of tensions in some way. We’ve already seen how similar considerations led to a full-scale war, or two now, in the Middle East. We can’t determine whether they will lead to the outbreak of a conflict on the Korean peninsula, but it would be foolish to rule out the possibility, given the world we live in today. Multipolarity has arrived and it heralds the collapse of the US-centric, unipolar order which imposed stability by force as a one-way street. Many obviously assume the DPRK’s Soviet-era military could be destroyed by overwhelming US and allied power in the same way Saddam Hussein’s was in 1991 and 2003, but that was a different world. Here, you have a nuclear capable DPRK that has overseas backers who, while never wanting such a conflict, can’t afford to see the state fail. North Korea has made attempts at peace but met with America’s absolute unwillingness to compromise – therefore, what options does Kim have left to deal with South Korea? Close to one out of three (28%) Americans between the ages of 18 and 25, known as Generation Z, identified as LGBTQ in a survey published earlier this week by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).
The figure was the largest percentage recorded for any generation by the pollster, which conducted its research during August and September on a sample of over 6,600 people. Nearly half of the non-heterosexual Gen Zers said they were bisexual, amounting to 15% of all Gen Z adults. Gays and lesbians (5% of total) were outnumbered by “other” (8%). Generation Z was far more likely to identify as something other than straight than previous generations. Among millennials, 16% said they were some form of LGBTQ, with gays and lesbians nearly as common as bisexuals (5% vs 7%). Among Generation X, gays and lesbians actually outnumbered bisexuals (3% vs 2%) among the 7% of the total age group who said they weren’t heterosexual. Even fewer Baby Boomers (4%) and members of the Silent Generation (3%) said they were LGBTQ. Generation Z was also more racially diverse than any other age group surveyed. Just 52% of adults – and only 50% of teens – described themselves as white, compared to 62% of the total US population. Additionally, they were less likely to politically identify as Republican and more likely to identify as liberal. The survey even suggested there are more LGBTQ Gen Zers than there are Gen Z Republicans, who comprise just 21% of the age group compared to 27% of the total population.The PRRI did not speculate on possible reasons for the trend, which has accompanied a rapid liberalization of attitudes about homosexuality in American society. Despite this shift, 20% of Gen Z adults said they had experienced hostility or discrimination because of their sexual orientation. Homosexual acts only stopped being a federal crime in the US following the 2003 Supreme Court decision Lawrence v. Texas, though many states had already scrapped their sodomy laws by this time. The 2014 Obergefell v. Hodges decision legalized same-sex marriage, which had been illegal across the US since 1996. Individual states have since been required to license and perform such marriages, while same-sex couples have been able to adopt children. Just 35 UN member states allow same-sex marriage. While the PRRI’s numbers echoed previous surveys showing Generation Z is the most LGBT and liberal group to come of age in the US yet, the percentage who identified as something other than heterosexual was significantly higher in this week’s findings than in a similar poll by Gallup last year, which found 19.7% of Gen Z adults aged 18 to 26 self-identified as LGBTQ, compared to 7.2% of the general population. A video that captured the confrontation between a group of Chinese tourists and a piano-playing YouTuber at a train station in London did go viral. A confrontation erupts when British pianist Brendan Kavanag, also known as Dr.K, found himself at the center of a spat with a group of tourists waving Chinese flags at a public piano in the St Pancras International station. In the video, livestreamed on Kavanagh's DrKBoogieWoogie YouTube channel on Jan. 19, he was initially seen engaging with the tourists, referring to them as “Japanese.” At one point, he asks one of the women in the group if she'd like to dance. When she declined, he returned to the piano and commented, “Whatever, I think British girls are more fun.” Tensions escalate later in the video, when members from the Chinese group express that they want to use the piano. After vacating the piano, Kavanagh continued filming, which sparked an objection from a woman in the group. She insisted that he stop as they were filming for "Chinese TV" and their footage was "not disclosable." Kavanagh challenged her, asking which Chinese law prohibited him from filming in a public space. A man from the group reiterated their refusal to be filmed, citing their need to protect their rights and avoid having their images shared online.
As of this writing, the video of the incident got viral as it has so far garnered 4.8 million views and ignited online debates about cultural sensitivity, freedom of expression and the implications of public filming. Kavanagh claimed in a subsequent video that there were attempts to take down the livestream.
Ukrainian model Karolina Shiino has ignited controversy by winning the Miss Japan 2024 beauty pageant. Although Shiino is a naturalized Japanese citizen, she has no Japanese ancestry and her win has angered some viewers in the ethnically homogenous nation.
The 26-year-old model was crowned the winner of the 56th annual Miss Japan Grand Prix on Monday, becoming both the first naturalized Japanese citizen – and the oldest woman – to do so. Shiino was born in Ukraine to two Ukrainian parents, and moved to Japan aged five when her mother remarried. ”I live as a Japanese person, but there have been racial barriers and many instances where I wasn’t accepted,” she said during Monday’s ceremony, according to Reuters. “I’m just filled with so much gratitude that I have really been accepted as a Japanese person today,” she added, speaking in fluent Japanese. Japanese commenters on social media were less accepting. “So, someone who doesn’t have a drop of Japanese blood and has no trace of Japanese-ness is going to represent Japanese women?” one X (formerly Twitter) user wrote. “If she was half [Japanese], sure no problem. But she’s ethnically 0% Japanese and wasn’t even born in Japan,” another wrote, while one user worried that “Japanese people naturally [would] get the wrong message when a European-looking person is called the most beautiful Japanese.” Some commenters claimed that the judges had chosen Shiino to send a signal of support to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia. “If she were born Russia, she wouldn’t have won. Not a chance. Obviously the criteria is now a political decision. What a sad day for Japan,” one person wrote. Pageant organizer Ai Wada told the BBC that the judges had chosen Shiino with “full confidence.” The Ukrainian model “speaks and writes in beautiful and polite Japanese,” Wada said, calling her “more Japanese than we are.” Japan is widely regarded as the world’s most ethnically homogenous developed country, and while its government does not keep track of its citizens’ race or ethnicity, it is believed that 98% of the country’s population is ethnically Japanese. Although the government no longer pays immigrant workers to return to their home countries – as it did in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis – immigrants must meet strict criteria to become citizens, and birthright citizenship is not awarded. Shiino is not the first controversial winner of the Miss Japan title. In 2015, Ariana Miyamoto, whose parents are Japanese and African-American, became the first biracial woman to win the pageant, triggering a national discussion about whether mixed-race contestants should be allowed to enter the competition. The Hungarian government is in favor of Sweden joining NATO and will soon schedule a ratification vote in the parliament, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Wednesday.
The move will allow Stockholm to become a member of the US-led military bloc after almost two years of delays. Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, citing the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but ran into opposition from Türkiye and Hungary due to ongoing disputes with the two states. The bloc’s rules require unanimous consent before it can accept new member states. “Just finished a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg,” Orban said on X (formerly Twitter). “I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Sweden. I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s accession and conclude the ratification at the first possible opportunity.” Budapest has accused Stockholm of telling “blatant lies” about Hungarian democracy as part of an ongoing dispute within the EU. As of Wednesday, the Hungarian parliament has not put up the ratification vote on its docket. Turkish lawmakers voted to approve Sweden’s membership on Tuesday, sending the ratification bill to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s desk. Ankara had serious differences with Stockholm over human rights, terrorism, and arms trade, which interfered with NATO plans to have Sweden and Finland join the bloc together. Both Scandinavian countries abandoned their longstanding policy of non-alignment after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine, citing it as a threat to their security. When Finland officially joined the bloc in April 2023, NATO doubled the length of its border with Russia. Moscow stated that it had no issue with either country until then, but would have to react if they join NATO. Russia has insisted that the bloc’s expansion eastward, which began in 1999, is a threat to Russian national security and one of the root causes of the Ukraine conflict. Orban has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine and said he would block any attempts by Kiev to join NATO or the EU, as that would mean “bringing the war” into both blocs. Former President Donald Trump has won a commanding victory in the New Hampshire Republican primary, scoring an easy win over his only remaining rival for the GOP nomination, Nikki Haley.
AP called the race for Trump at 8pm Tuesday night, with the outlet tallying 54% of the popular vote for the ex-president with 83% of the ballots counted. Haley – a former South Carolina governor and the last Republican vying for the nomination against Trump – took 43% of the vote. A separate count by CNN noted that Trump had scored 12 delegates against Haley’s 9. In a victory speech after the results were in, Trump thanked his supporters and hurled invective at both Haley and President Joe Biden, saying the Republican candidate “had a very bad night” and is “not going to win.” ”We’ve won almost every single poll in the last three months against crooked Joe Biden, almost, and she doesn’t win those polls,” he added, going on to say that Biden “can’t put two sentences together” or “find the stairs off the stage.” Despite lackluster showings in both New Hampshire and Iowa – where she landed in third place behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis – Haley vowed to remain in the race, saying it was “far from over” with “dozens of states left to go.” In her own speech to voters, Haley took a more conciliatory approach, congratulating Trump for his win while saying “he earned it.” The Democratic Party also held its New Hampshire primary on Tuesday night, with Biden scoring a landslide win over Dean Phillips and Marianne Williamson. While the president’s name did not appear on ballots in the state due to a scheduling dispute between New Hampshire Democrats and the national party, he sailed to victory through a write-in campaign organized by supporters. Biden described his win as a “historic demonstration of commitment to our democratic process,” and went on to issue a dire warning about the alleged dangers of another Trump presidency. ”It is now clear that Donald Trump will be the Republican nominee. And my message to the country is the stakes could not be higher,” he said. “Our Democracy. Our personal freedoms – from the right to choose to the right to vote. Our economy – which has seen the strongest recovery in the world since Covid. All are at stake.” NATO sees no threat from Russia toward any of its territories, the US-led bloc’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Tuesday during a press conference in Brussels. That’s as several alliance members, including Germany and the Baltic states, have raised concerns of a potential future Russian attack.
Answering questions from journalists following the signing of major new investments in artillery ammunition productions, Stoltenberg stated that, “We don’t see any direct or imminent threat against any NATO ally.” At the same time, he stressed that the bloc nevertheless “closely monitors what Russia does” and has increased its “vigilance and presence in the eastern part of the alliance,” in order to prevent any attacks on allied nations. Meanwhile, German news outlets have reported in recent weeks that Berlin was preparing for a scenario in which Russia launches an “open attack” on NATO as early as the summer of 2025 after securing a major victory in Ukraine. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also warned on Monday that his country should be ready to respond to a possible Russian attack even though there is no real threat as of now. “Deterrence is the only effective means of positioning oneself against an aggressor from the outset,” Pistorius told ZDF, calling on Germany and its NATO allies to commit to strengthening their military capabilities. Similar concerns have been voiced by other NATO members, such as Estonia, whose Prime Minister Kaja Kallas suggested last week that the bloc has three to five years to prepare for a possible direct confrontation with Russia. Moscow has dismissed any claims that it intends to attack any NATO members as “complete nonsense,” with President Vladimir Putin arguing that Russia has “no geopolitical, economic … or military interest” in doing so. At the same time, the Kremlin has for decades voiced concerns that it was the US and its NATO allies’ continuous expansion to the east that posed an existential threat to Russia. Moscow has cited this expansion, which it believes threatens its national security, as well as the refusal to rule out Ukrainian NATO membership in the future, as some of the key reasons for launching its offensive against Kiev in February 2022. In the symphony of American politics, the Iowa caucus has once again unveiled its complex dance as the first major contest in the run-up to the presidential election, leaving candidates and observers alike mesmerized in its wake.
Among the cacophony of contenders, one name resonates louder than the rest – Donald J. Trump. The maverick, the disruptor, the maestro of political showmanship, is back, and his showing in Iowa has stirred both supporters and critics into a fervor. As the Iowa caucus unfurled its drama on Monday, Trump’s presence loomed large. Despite the unorthodox scenario of a former president participating in a caucus typically reserved for contenders and the fact that he has refused to participate in televised debates with his rivals, Trump’s decision to engage in the Hawkeye State signaled a reprise of the political opera that had captivated the nation during his presidency. His opening gambit was nothing short of spectacular – a strategic dance between traditional Republican values and his unapologetic Trumpian brand. It was a calculated performance and a firm reminder that the GOP, as it stands today, is unmistakably Trump’s domain. In short: Trump’s influence was palpable and he never had a chance of losing the caucuses. His base, a formidable force that has weathered storms and controversies, mobilized with a zeal reminiscent of a movement rather than a mere political campaign. The Trumpian faithful, armed with red hats and unwavering loyalty, stood as a testament to the enduring impact of the 45th president. As the results trickled in, it became evident that Trump’s resonance with the Republican base remains unparalleled. His unique blend of populism, economic nationalism, and an unfiltered approach to politics has forged a connection that defies the norms of conventional Republicanism. The Iowa caucus, with its intricate dynamics, exposed a conundrum within the GOP. The party finds itself at a crossroads, torn between the allure of Trump’s unapologetic approach and a desire to reclaim a semblance of its pre-Trump identity, with such carbon Republican cutouts as former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former VP Mike Pence. Trump’s shadow, cast long over the proceedings, poses a challenge that the GOP must confront – embrace the Trumpian legacy or attempt a return to a more traditional conservative narrative, the latter apparently next to impossible. As the maestro orchestrates his political comeback, the legacy of Trumpism emerges as a defining force. It’s a legacy that transcends party lines and polarizes political discourse. Trump, with his unfiltered rhetoric and dozens of standing felony charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, continues to be a lightning rod for both adoration and disdain. In Iowa, Trump’s legacy was not merely a campaign strategy; it was a spectacle that showcased the enduring influence of a political outsider who disrupted the established norms. The latest polls show that he is edging out incumbent President Joe Biden in a head-to-head, with the most recent Morning Consult poll having Trump ahead by 2 percentage points. Other polls reflect the same basic direction. Additionally, a recent approval poll by McLaughlin and Associates commissioned by America’s New Majority Project for Biden has him at a 60% disapproval rating. Trump has also been leading Biden in seven swing states since December. Despite all of his controversies, including his failure to responsibly manage the Covid-19 pandemic, his dictatorial handling of the George Floyd protests, and his hints that he wants to transform the US into a dictatorship, Trump has managed to make people nostalgic for a time before Biden. The former vice president was meant to be a technocrat, and someone the American elite could trust to defend their interests and maintain US hegemony. Biden’s administration has failed miserably at this task, consistently losing diplomatically vis-a-vis China and outright losing its proxy war in Ukraine. As the curtain falls on the Iowa caucus, Trump’s encore resonates, setting the stage for a political drama that will unfold across the nation. The GOP, a party at a crossroads, must grapple with the echoes of Trumpism – a force that refuses to be confined to the annals of political history. Trump’s results in Iowa may not be a mere prelude but rather the opening notes of a political saga that promises unpredictability, fervor, and a relentless pursuit of dominance. Some important Democrats recognize this, including Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, who caucuses with Democrats. Sounding the alarm on Trump’s strong showing, he said: “If Democrats hope to win this November, they must stand with working people and fight for an aggressive progressive agenda.” This will never happen. Biden, whose own base does not believe he is a suitable candidate, once famously said during the 2020 elections that “nothing would fundamentally change” if he were elected, and so he was correct: Under his watch, the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and the war machine has kept on a-chuggin’. Biden’s mediocrity has made America yearn for Trump once again, and the results of the Iowa caucus show that Trump is the very clear favorite in this race. |
Thank you for choosing to make a difference through your donation. We appreciate your support.
This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesCategories
All
Archives
April 2024
|