Archive for August 2016

Donald Trump meets Enrique Peña Nieto

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Donald Trump meets Enrique Peña Nieto

ONE week ago, the idea that the president of Mexico would share a dais with the Republican presidential candidate would have seemed absurd. And yet on August 31st Donald Trump, the scourge of Mexico, briefly visited the country to discuss bilateral relations with Enrique Peña Nieto—a man who back in March compared the American’s rhetoric to that of Hitler and Mussolini.

After their hour-long meeting, both men were keen to talk up the closeness of the Mexican-American relationship, referring to the 6m American jobs that depend on trade with Mexico, the 40 cents of American-made product in every dollar of goods that Mexico exports there, and the one million daily border crossings. Some familiar themes were aired. Mr Trump reiterated his opposition to the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement for being “of far greater benefit to Mexico than to the United States”. Mr Peña, in a nod to Mr Trump’s plans to deport illegal immigrants, reiterated how the job of the Mexican president was to defend the interests of Mexicans “wherever they are”.

The invitation to Mr Trump was delivered on August 26th (along with one to...Continue reading

Source: United States http://ift.tt/2c1FbSL

Syria’s president, a former doctor, is turning hospitals into death traps

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Syria’s president, a former doctor, is turning hospitals into death traps

ON A wintry morning in February warplanes fighting on the side of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad launched a series of missiles that slammed into a field hospital in northern Syria. Medics raced towards the thick cloud of grey dust that mushroomed above the building before clambering over breeze blocks and fallen trees to pull the wounded from the rubble.

About 40 minutes later, the jets—either Russian or Syrian, no one is sure—circled back and dropped another bomb on the medics as they worked. The air strikes killed 25 civilians, including nine medical workers, making it the single deadliest attack on medical personnel since the war in Syria began in 2011. Unsatisfied with the death toll, the jets tracked the ambulances carrying the wounded to another field hospital three miles north. They hit the hospital entrance with another missile and then, ten minutes later, dropped yet another bomb. “There’s no way on that day they didn’t know what they were doing,” says Dr Ahmed Tarakji, president of the Syrian American Medical Society, which funded the second hospital hit that day.

In the euphemistic lexicon of war, these attacks are...Continue reading

Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2ceSz6R

France argues over burkinis as its presidential race kicks off

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France argues over burkinis as its presidential race kicks off

THIS week France came back from the beach for la rentrée, the return to school and work after the holidays. The summer had been far from restful. It began with two terrorist attacks in Nice and Normandy, followed by a weeks-long political fixation with the “burkini”, a cross between a burqa and a swimsuit, which dozens of mayors of seaside resorts tried to ban from their beaches. The resurgence of identity politics in France, at a time of heightened tension over Islam and security, now looks likely to frame next year’s presidential election.

The row over the burkini will probably abate as the beaches empty. On August 26th, France’s highest administrative court suspended a ban imposed in the Mediterranean resort of Villeneuve-Loubet after it was challenged by human-rights groups. The court ruled that the mayor had not proved any risk to public order, and that the ban constituted a “manifestly illegal” infringement of “fundamental liberties”.

Had France not been under a state of emergency, the matter might not have flared up as it did. But the French are hyper-sensitive to signs of overt Muslim religiosity. Politicians, roused...Continue reading

Souce: Europe http://ift.tt/2ceOsYt

99 years old and still a model of good manners..

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99 years old and still a model of good manners..


ARE the British too polite? I ask this following a recent incident on a bus which left me thinking that this etiquette business may be getting out of hand.

Source: Daily Express :: Comment Feed http://ift.tt/2c9NYzT

Surely Uzbekistan’s next president can’t be worse

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Surely Uzbekistan’s next president can’t be worse

WHETHER Islam Karimov, who has ruled Uzbekistan with astounding brutality for the past 27 years, is dead or alive, his era is almost certainly drawing to a close. Two questions now hover over his hapless people. Who will succeed him? And will they get a better deal? The one they have suffered under for so long could hardly be worse. Of the five post-Soviet regimes in Central Asia, Uzbekistan’s is widely regarded as the nastiest, its leader the most mercilessly paranoid.

News of Mr Karimov’s death went viral among Central Asia watchers on Twitter on August 29th, when it was reported by Ferghana News, an independent Moscow-based agency that writes about Central Asia, citing unidentified sources. Rumours of the 78-year-old president’s imminent demise have circulated for years in Tashkent, but this time they were more solid. In its first official announcement concerning the president’s health, the secretive regime revealed that Mr Karimov was in hospital with an undisclosed ailment. His daughter, Lola Karimova-Tillyaeva, then took to Instagram, disclosing that Mr Karimov had suffered a brain haemorrhage. His condition, she said, was stable, his...Continue reading

from Asia http://ift.tt/2c5XymY

University of Chicago triggers a fresh debate about free speech on campus

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University of Chicago triggers a fresh debate about free speech on campus

IT IS safe to say that no welcome letter to incoming university students has attracted more attention, or inspired more tweets, than the missive John Ellison, the dean of students at the University of Chicago has sent to freshmen. After telling the class of 2020 that “our commitment to freedom of inquiry and expression” is one of the “defining characteristics” of their new academic home, Mr Ellison noted a few things the newbies will not find on campus: “Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called ‘trigger warnings’, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces’ where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.” "Trigger warnings" alert students to potentially distressing passages in literature or speeches.

His comments sparked predictably polarised responses. Many cheered the letter for standing up for cherished academic values. Geoffrey Stone, a law professor who...Continue reading

Source: United States http://ift.tt/2bxYXr3

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