Mario Draghi helped restore the country’s influence and reputation. With his resignation as prime minister, stability in Italy and the rest of Europe is unclear.
Those executed were a former National League for Democracy lawmaker, a democracy activist and two men accused of violence after the country’s takeover by the military last year.
Confronting Russia and China has become the main talking point as Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss try to ‘out-hawk’ each other
During the upcoming televised debate, British Conservative leadership candidate Rishi Sunak, who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Boris Johnson’s government, is expected to promise resolute action against China, which he accuses of “being the biggest long-term threat to the UK.”
Claiming that Beijing is now “infiltrating our universities” and “stealing our technology,” racist scaremongering talking points which originated from the Trump administration, Sunak will call for strengthening NATO cooperation against China and will pledge to close all 30 Confucius institutes in the country (which teach Chinese language but have been frequently and baselessly accused of espionage and political interference).
To most Tory hawks, however, Sunak’s rhetoric isn’t convincing. Only as recently as January did he in fact vow to deepen business ties between China and the UK. His change of course is blatantly motivated by his desire to become the leader of the party and pander to a right-wing populist base who overwhelmingly favour his opponent Liz Truss, who models herself quite explicitly after Margaret Thatcher. As the first ever ethnic minority candidate for Conservative leadership, it isn’t rocket science to see why he is at a disadvantage in such circumstances, a sad but uncomfortable truth.
With Sunak’s previous positions on China also being fairly reasonable, this has also quickly turned into a line of attack against him by the right-wing press, with the Daily Mail recently claiming he was supported by China’s Global Times, which, it said, was “the endorsement nobody wanted.”
However, nobody would seriously think that Sunak is going to ‘out-hawk’ Truss, who has been fanatical in her confrontational approach to diplomacy against both China and Russia, and her zealous obsession with democracy – or rather, the rhetoric construct of “democracy” so often used as a rallying cry by Western leaders.
For Britain as a whole, this is disastrous news, but few people will be realizing it. Despite talk of “global Britain” and “free trade,” whoever should succeed Boris Johnson (and it will probably be Truss) will put Britain on a collision course with the world’s second-largest economy, the largest in terms of imports and exports, despite the lingering impacts of Brexit, and of course whilst simultaneously pursuing an aggressive proxy war in Ukraine, where Truss wants nothing less than the defeat of the Russian state. One might pause and ask, what on Earth has gone wrong with British foreign policy? In light of all this, and of Brexit, how could it have become so unhinged and self-defeating? It is demonstrative of the sheer madness which has captured the political mainstream in the light of Brexit.
Modern Britain has always, at every point in history, been arrogant and aggressive, completely unrepentant of its imperial legacy. Attributing Brexit as the starting point of such unbridled chauvinism might lead one to forget about the destruction of Iraq, Libya and Syria, and of course Britain’s continuing toadyism to American foreign-policy preferences and clear lack of independence in its own direction. After all, the United Kingdom has on paper participated in every single US-led war after World War II. The sole exception was Vietnam, thanks to Harold Wilson, a Labour Prime Minister who truly defined the “swinging sixties” in Britain and refused to assist. But he was the exception.
Thus, whilst it was always there, Brexit has manifested itself as probably the highest and most chauvinistic form of Anglophone exceptionalism and ideological elitism yet, specifically because it has suffocated the post-war debate concerning Britain’s post-imperial identity and the bid to be part of Europe. Instead of moving on from the past, it has doubled down on it, and in turn has merged with a brand of extreme neoconservatism to become even more subservient to the United States and wage hyper-aggression against certain countries, in this case Russia and China, in the name of British civilisation. Any pragmatism, any reason, balance and humility that might have otherwise restrained Conservative politicians has evaporated in the name of populism.
Now we’re at the stage where an Indian-origin British politician feels he can solicit political gain for himself by weaponizing fear, hate and scaremongering against Chinese people, betraying the diverse and open country where his parents settled and which allowed him to become so successful. It is a sorry state of affairs, and this aggressive pursuit of burning bridges and geopolitical confrontation will undoubtedly, as it has already, place further strain on the British economy, already beset by surging inflation, shrinking incomes, growing industrial unrest and eye-watering inequality. While of course, Liz Truss looks to be an almost inevitable victor, the fact someone like her is in this position speaks volumes about not her ascent, but about Britain’s descent. If you thought Boris Johnson was bad (he was personally incompetent but politically restrained by the standards of others), things are about to get a whole lot worse. On multiple fronts, we’re going to see the UK now take the deep turn of right-wing regression the US has been experiencing.
Moscow will cut off gas deliveries ‘sooner or later’, the EU leader has claimed
The European Union should prepare for the worst-case scenario of a complete halt in natural gas supplies from Russia, the European Commission president warned in an interview with Germany’s DPA news agency, published on Monday.
When asked about the EC’s emergency energy plan presented last week, Ursula Von Der Leyen stressed the importance of making the bloc energy-independent from Russia, insisting that it was only a matter of time before Moscow decided to completely sever gas deliveries to the EU.
“The Kremlin is not a reliable partner for Europe’s energy supply. Gazprom has deliberately kept its storage levels low. In the meantime, Russia only supplies gas in part or not at all in twelve member states,” Von Der Leyen said, adding that “Europe must be prepared for the worst case scenario: a complete halt to gas supplies, sooner or later.”
The Commission chief noted that the EU aims to be completely independent from Russian gas by 2027 at the latest, and that some 300 billion euros will be invested under the REPowerEU plan, in order to save gas and accelerate “the switch to renewables.”
She went on to urge EU members that do not heavily rely on Russian gas imports to join the energy-saving effort. The EC president warned that even if these states barely receive any gas from Moscow, they could still be severely affected in case of a complete halt of Russian energy deliveries to the EU.
“It is therefore important that all member states curb demand, that all save more and share with those members who are more affected,” Von Der Leyen stated, adding that “energy solidarity is a fundamental principle of our European treaties.”
Last week, the European Commission introduced an emergency energy plan called the “Save Gas for a Safe Winter” proposal, which instructs all EU countries to lower their gas consumption by 15% by September – a limitation that is set to last until March 31, 2023. Member states are also asked to switch to renewable energy or even coal, oil and nuclear power to achieve this target, and to instruct their citizens to ration their gas usage.
The plan will be discussed by EU energy ministers on Tuesday. Von Der Leyen expressed her confidence that the scheme will be accepted by the ministers, who “understand their responsibility” to see Europe safely through the next two winters.
However, several EU states have so far resisted the plan, with Spain, Greece and Portugal, Italy, Poland and Hungary accusing the European Commission of failing to consult member states on the scheme.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected the notion that Moscow could cut off gas supplies to the EU, stating last week that Russian energy giant Gazprom was “ready to pump as much as necessary” but that the EU had “closed everything themselves.” He previously called the bloc’s sanctions on Russia “insane and thoughtless,” and accused EU leaders of committing economic “suicide” under the orders of the US.
BERLIN / TERNI, Italy, Jul 25 (IPS) – A growing mountain of data and analysis points to an unprecedented global crisis in the making, due to the convergence of “Four Cs” (Conflict, Covid, Climate and Costs).
DAKAR, Senegal, Jul 25 (IPS) – The current Ukraine-Russia conflict is dominating the global media to the point of overshadowing longer protracted crisis that no longer make headlines, but are still rife. Such is the case with the on-going Sahel crisis, one of the world’s most neglected ones, where acute poverty, the dramatic effects of climate change and rising armed conflicts have become the norm for more than a decade. A situation further exacerbated by the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.
Lebanon’s women-led cooperatives are helping communities to cope with the country’ recent wave of crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial crisis, and the notorious August 2021 Beirut Port Explosion.
A vessel carrying as many as 60 people people capsized off the coast of the Bahamas. The islands have seen a recent increase in human smuggling incidents, as Haitians flee dire conditions back home.
(Image credit: Royal Bahamas Defence Force/Reuters)
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has claimed that the Chinese military has become a greater danger to America and allies
America’s top general is sounding an alarm over the Chinese military, saying it has become increasingly aggressive in encounters with other military forces operating in the Asia-Pacific region, making itself a greater threat to the US and its allies.
“The message is, the Chinese military, in the air and at sea, have become significantly more and noticeably more aggressive in this particular region,” US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday during a visit to Indonesia.
Intercepts of US and allied aircraft and ships by Chinese forces have increased significantly over the past five years, Milley said. The number of such interactions deemed “unsafe” by the Pentagon has escalated similarly. The general recently ordered his staff to compile a report detailing interactions between Chinese forces and the US and its allies in the region.
In one such incident just last month, a Chinese J-16 jet pilot allegedly endangered the crew of an Australian surveillance plane in international airspace over the South China Sea. The pilot allegedly cut in front of the plane and released a bundle of chaff containing small pieces of aluminum, some of which were sucked into the engine of the Australian aircraft.
US officials have increasingly raised concerns over China’s military and foreign policy, including its refusal to join in sanctioning Russia over the Ukraine crisis. Just last month, US Air Force Major General lamented that Beijing is building its arsenal of weapons five to six times faster than Washington and is doing so at a dramatically lower cost. He argued that China’s geopolitical ambitions are “an existential threat to our way of life, to the freedoms that our kids may or may not enjoy.”
Beijing has pushed back. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters last week that the US instigated the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Chinese officials also have accused Washington of raising tensions in Asia-Pacific, including meddling with Taiwan, which Beijing considers a breakaway province.
Chinese officials reportedly warned President Joe Biden’s administration of a possible military response if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) goes through with a planned visit to Taiwan next month.
Milley made his stop in Indonesia as part of a trip through the Asia-Pacific region, culminating with a meeting of defense chiefs later this week in Sydney. Among the concerns likely to be discussed is China’s new security agreement with the Solomon Islands, which was signed in April. The US and Australia have fretted that China may try to build a military base in the Solomon Islands.
“This is an area in which China is trying to do outreach for their own purposes. And again, this is concerning because China is not doing it just for benign reasons,” the Associated Press quoted Milley as telling reporters who are traveling with him on his Asia trip. “They’re trying to expand their influence throughout the region. And that has potential consequences that are not necessarily favorable to our allies and partners in the region.”
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