Author: Jeff Pratt

Since the current Israeli government was established in December 2022, Israeli-Palestinian escalation has seemed inevitable. The far-right composition of the coalition, its initial actions, and the early statements made by key members all indicated things were heading in a negative direction. In the months that followed, despite some international efforts toward de-escalation, tensions steadily mounted: In March-April, during the month of Ramadan and its overlap with Passover, violence erupted in Jerusalem; in May, there was a new round of fighting between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip; and in July, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out…

Earlier this month, the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), joined Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) to visit the provinces of Papua, West Papua, and Highland Papua for the launch of a new initiative to accelerate development in the region. The Papua Collaborative Governance Indonesia Project (USAID Kolaborasi) is a five-year, $10 million program to support Indonesia’s Master Plan for the Acceleration of Development for Papua. USAID Kolaborasi will work with the government to strengthen its cooperation with development partners, businesses, and other stakeholders, while assisting the provinces of Papua and West Papua to…

A UK-based company is planning to set up a semiconductor fabrication unit in Odisha’s Ganjam district with an investment of Rs 30,000 crore in the first phase, officials said. The SRAM & MRAM Technologies and Projects India Pvt Limited, the Indian unit of UK-based SRAM & MRAM Group, had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government on March 26 to set up the semiconductor unit in the state. After visiting some sites near Chhatrapur in the district, its Indian company officials headed by its chairman Guruji Kumaran Swami held a meeting with the district administration at Chhatrapur…

The US ambassador to Russia was allowed to meet with jailed American journalist Evan Gershkovich for the second time since his imprisonment. Ambassador Lynne Tracy said the Wall Street Journal reporter was in good health and remained strong. Accused of espionage, he was arrested on 29 March and is the first western journalist detained in Russia since the Soviet era. The US, the Wall Street Journal and Mr Gershkovich deny the allegations. Russia had been brushing aside US requests for more visits since the ambassador’s initial meeting with the reporter in April. “Ambassador Tracy reports that Mr Gershkovich is in…

China is restricting the exports of two metals key to the manufacturing of semiconductors, its commerce ministry said late Monday, a warning to Europe and the United States in their escalating technological trade war over access to microchips. These new regulations — imposed on grounds of national security — will require exporters to seek a license to ship some gallium and germanium compounds starting Aug. 1, China’s commerce ministry said. Applications for these export licenses must identify importers and end users and stipulate how these metals will be used. This move is part of an intensifying global battle for technological supremacy — with China…

The United States has confirmed that top diplomat Antony Blinken will visit China this week, a long-anticipated trip that had been postponed in February amid increasingly fraught tension between the two superpowers. Blinken will become the highest-ranking Biden administration to visit China on a trip that spans June 16 to 21 and will also include a visit to London, the Department of State said on Wednesday. In Beijing, Binken will meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the “importance of maintaining open lines of communication” between the US and China, the statement said. It did not specify which officials. The top US diplomat…

The gross national debt exceeded $32 trillion for the first time on Friday, underscoring the country’s unsettling fiscal trajectory as Washington gears up for another fight over government spending. A Treasury Department report noted the milestone weeks after Congress agreed to suspend the nation’s statutory debt limit, ending a monthslong standoff. The $32 trillion mark arrived nine years sooner than prepandemic forecasts had projected, reflecting the trillions of dollars of emergency spending to address Covid-19’s impact along with a run of sluggish economic growth. Republicans and Democrats have expressed concern about the nation’s debt, but neither party has shown an appetite to…

LONDON/KYIV, May 24 (Reuters) – A two-day incursion from Ukraine into Russia’s western borderlands could force the Kremlin to divert troops from front lines as Kyiv prepares a major counteroffensive, and deal Moscow a psychological blow, according to military analysts. Though Kyiv has denied any role, the biggest cross-border raid from Ukraine since Russia invaded 15 months ago was almost certainly coordinated with Ukraine’s armed forces as it prepares to attempt to recapture territory, the experts added. “The Ukrainians are trying to pull the Russians in different directions to open up gaps. The Russians are forced to send reinforcements,” said…

WASHINGTON, May 26 (Reuters) – U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in April, boosting the economy’s growth prospects for the second quarter, and inflation picked up, which could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates again next month. The growth picture was further brightened by other data from the Commerce Department on Friday showing a surprise rebound last month in orders of manufactured non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans. The reports added to labor market resilience, a rebound in factory production and pickup in business activity in suggesting that the economy was experiencing a spring revival…

Murals in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC, have transformed public spaces into outdoor art galleries. Local, national and global artists use buildings throughout the Capital Region as their canvas to create murals depicting everything from social and political statements to abstract art and more traditional graffiti-inspired street art. Take a tour of the region’s public art for an in-depth experience of American history and culture. Murals in Washington, DC While the mural movement came to Washington, DC at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, street art still thrives in the nation’s capital. U Street: Dive into a neighbourhood rich in…