After their annual Central Economic Work Conference, which finished on Thursday, China’s leaders promised to “vigourously” boost consumption. New economic figures released on Monday will illustrate the size of the task ahead of them. Retail sales probably grew by about 4.5 percent in nominal terms in November, compared with a year earlier. That would be slower than the previous month, which was boosted by an early start to the “Singles’ Day” shopping festival. Consumer-price inflation, which has already been released, was only 0.2 percent, another symptom of weak spending.
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Dispute over Military Operation Planning between the US and Ukraine
A war of words has broken out between the outgoing Biden administration and Ukraine’s president. Several US senior ranking officials have recently argued that Ukraine’s biggest problem is lack of manpower, and that it needs to lower the minimum age of conscription from 25 to 18. A government spokesman said that if Ukraine changes its policy, America will arm and train the recruits. Zelensky retorted that allies had fully equipped only a quarter of the ten brigades that he had requested earlier in the year.
Fall of Dictators and Unfinished Revolutions in the Middle East
The Middle East in 2011 witnessed a wave of revolutions that was called the Arab Spring, through which people rose in revolt against decades-old dictatorships and oppressive regimes. For the first time, social media played a greater role in mobilising people and raising their voices over the world. Among the Middle East, one country receiving great traction to the movement was Libya. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has ruled the nation for 42 years. Although the regime was infamous for human rights violations, suppressed dissent and censorship, the country remained politically stable and economically in good flowing condition.
Assad’s Fall: An Outcome of the US-Russia Extended Cold War
Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and now Syria, the list of nations now in chaos after the fall of its governments is growing. There is a common pattern to the beginning of political storms in all these nations, which is the external interference in their domestic affairs by the United States. This model of toppling governments and replacing it with friendly options have failed everywhere. But the US is not reluctant to meddle with the affairs of other nations and especially when it comes to Asia, where they have geopolitical interests.
South Korea’s President Faces a Reckoning
Welcome back to the World Brief, the flagship newsletter of The Viyug delivered to you directly from the Editor’s desk, catching you up on 24 […]
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s Takeover of Syria is Another Chapter in Islamist Revival
Last week, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, one of the better-known rebel groups by another name – the Commission for the Liberation of the Levant, took over Damascus. They took Aleppo again and captured the mighty 46th Regiment of the Syrian Army. Second, HTS seized Hamam, the country’s second-largest city, thereby securing its largest territorial gains to date. The victory has wide-ranging implications on the world level, despite HTS’ attempts at rebranding itself as a “post-jihadist” entity committed to the fight against transnational Islam.
COP29: Disappointment at Baku
The multilateral UN Framework on Climate Change, which was established to address climate change, once again revealed disappointing results from the pledges made by developed countries at its COP29 climate financing summit in Baku, Azerbaijan. The unsettling start from the Azerbaijani president’s stirring statement that fossil fuels are a “gift from God” kicked off the meeting drawing disparagement from figures such as Greta Thunberg who referred Azerbaijan as “an authoritarian petro-state.”
Gaza Starts to Feel Forgotten amid Syrian Crisis
Many Palestinians in Gaza cheered the scenes in Syria this week, as rebels overthrew Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Last month they watched the war in Lebanon end; now Syria’s 13-year civil war might be at a close too. But Israel’s war in Gaza drags on. At least 28 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Thursday, according to Palestinian medics.
A Nudge for Europe’s Economy
The European Union’s (EUs) economy is only about 1 percent bigger than it was a year ago. And inflation, at 2.3 percent in November, is close to the European Central Bank’s target of 2 percent. The prices of services across various member countries among EU have been rising by around 4 percent a year and there is sustained pressure from growing wages – the Netherlands, which has the most up-to-date figures, estimates these as rising at 6.5 percent.
Racial Slurs: A Study of Words that Wound
The term “Pajeet.”, originally confined to undercover illegal internet corners, is a slur used to refer to Indians, particularly Hindus. It has gradually crawled into mainstream discourse under the garb of referring to the right political language and woke ideology. It is not surprising to see South-Asians themselves designating Indians as “Pajeet” and believing they will escape bullying in America or elsewhere.