Author: Jeffrey Gill

Paris/Jakarta (24/7 – 28.57). “Coffee is the common man’s gold, and like gold, it brings to every person the feeling of luxury and nobility.” – Sheik-Abd-al-Kadir A friend recently opened a coffee shop is called after its owner, Muteeya. Though modest, it embodies the burgeoning coffee culture found in Paris, London, the US, and now Jakarta. The coffee is steaming hot, and soft tunes fill the air. Outside, rain pounds against the window, streaking down and forming small puddles on the street. As I gaze through the glass blurred by water, I take a sip of my warm coffee,…

Europe’s new “Iron Lady”, Estonia’s Kaja Kallas, is one of the strongest voices for an uncompromising stand against belligerent Russia. Brussels (30 June – 28). Having grown up under the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Kaja Kallas was urging EU leaders to take the Russian threat seriously long before the invasion of Ukraine On Saturday, the Reform Party chose climate minister Kristen Michal to replace outgoing Kaja Kallas, who is the EU’s new High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. The unanimous decision to nominate Michal was made following a closed-door meeting by the party’s governing board only two days after…

Former Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova, who officially was dismissed mid-June, fled to France ‘with hundreds of millions of dollars saved in cryptocurrency.’. Tsargrad and other Telegram channels report this with reference to several sources, although confirmation or refutation of this data has not yet been received. If she fled to France, it must be a deal with the French security service, as she is sanctioned in Europe. There is a version that Shevtsova allegedly cooperated with the investigation against the detained generals, trying to avoid her own charges. According to another version, the generals, to reduce their sentences,…

Tajikistan officially banned the hijab, imposing hefty fines in its latest move to curb Islamic influence. Beni Mellal – The Central Asian nation of Tajikistan officially prohibited the wearing of hijabs and other “alien garments” this week, as the country’s parliament passed a new bill regulating Islamic clothing and Eid celebrations. The bill, approved by the upper house of parliament, Majlisi Milli, on June 19, comes after years of an unofficial clampdown on the hijab in the Muslim-majority country. Under the new law, individuals wearing hijabs or other banned religious clothing could face hefty fines of up to 7,920 somonis…

Russia has reportedly lost a staggering amount of troops over the past 24 hours along with dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles as bloody fighting takes its toll on Vladimir Putin’s men. Russia lost a staggering 1,740 troops in a single day, the highest tally of casualties for Moscow since the start of the invasion in 2022, according to Ukraine. In the previous 24 hours, Ukraine also claimed Russia had lost 30 tanks and 42 armoured vehicles. Death toll and military hardware statistics are difficult to assess with both sides giving different or little information. However, Ukraine’s armed forces have claimed Russia has so far lost an eye-watering…

The Hague: Dutch medical device maker Philips said Monday it had reached a $1.1 billion deal in the United States to settle lawsuits over faulty sleep machines in a case that has rocked the company. Since 2021, the company has been battling a series of crises over its DreamStation machines for sleep apnoea, a disorder in which breathing stops and starts during sleep. Earlier this year, the company said it would halt new sales of the machines in the United States following a series of recalls of the devices made by subsidiary Philips Respironics. Philips said in a statement Monday that…

A U.S. appeals court on Friday struck down a Federal Trade Commission order against Illumina’s (ILMN.O) purchase of cancer diagnostic test maker Grail (GRAL.O), a former subsidiary, saying the agency had applied a wrong legal standard. The New Orleans-based panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a 34-page order that will require the FTC to reconsider the deal. The three-judge panel said the agency had substantial evidence to show the deal would lessen competition as companies seek to bring to market a blood test to detect many kinds of cancer. An FTC spokesperson said the panel’s opinion was “an important…

The Canadian economy added more jobs than expected in November while the jobless rate ticked slightly higher, data showed on Friday, a result that is in line with the central bank leaving interest rates unchanged next week. Canada added a net 24,900 jobs in November, more than the 15,000 gain forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts, while the jobless rate ticked up as expected to 5.8% from 5.7%, Statistics Canada said. Growth in Canada’s population has been outpacing employment growth, Statscan noted. The economy is now averaging a 28,000 monthly employment gain this year, while monthly population growth has…

Copenhagen (14/11 – 40) The massive mobilization and sustained pressure jolted the Sri Lankan presidency of the previously all-powerful Gotabaya Rajapaksa, prompted mass resignations from the government at the time, and solidified existing spaces and created new spaces for dissent and discussions on much-needed reforms. Sri Lanka is facing an exceptional political and economic crisis that has sparked months-long protests across the country. The new leadership under President Ranil Wickremesinghe struggles with the economic situation and seemingly failed to uphold basic human rights and pursue accountability for grave crimes towards the people of Sri Lanka. Despite troubling trends of authoritarianism,…

The hearing will feature an 11-judge panel, reviewing the intersection of federal EMTALA rules and Idaho law. This week, a new court ruling on Idaho’s abortion ban from the Ninth Circuit Court. The entire law is not in question, but a specific section of the state’s total abortion ban that concerns EMTALA – the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. The Biden Administration was and is focused on the Idaho law. Back in August 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice sued Idaho in federal court, arguing the state’s near-total abortion ban violates EMTALA.  That federal EMTALA provision requires hospitals to…