Torbjørn Færøvik's Blog, page 296

Ukraine crisis: Why India is buying more Russian oil

Russia is seeking new markets for its oil exports as Western sanctions tighten - and India has been taking advantage of discounted prices to ramp up imports from the country. The US has said that although these oil imports do not violate sanctions, "support for Russia...is support for an invasion that obviously is having a devastating impact".After the US and China, India is the world's

Filippo Osella: The UK academic who was deported from Kerala

In the early hours of 24 March, Filippo Osella flew into India's southern city of Trivandrum from London on a routine research trip to India. Prof Osella, an anthropologist at the University of Sussex, had been visiting India on work for more than 30 years.The South Asian specialist had spent much of that time in the state of Kerala, of which Trivandrum is the capital. This time Prof Osella was

Shanghai to lock down millions for mass testing as China’s Covid cases surge

Shanghai will launch a phased lockdown to curb an Omicron-fuelled Covid-19 outbreak that has hit China with its highest caseloads since the early days of the pandemic, the city government said. China’s biggest city will lock down its eastern half from Monday until Friday, officials said, followed by a similar lockdown of its western side beginning on 1 April. The metropolis of 25 million people

Is the EU-China Investment Agreement Dead?

“We know we are in a complicated phase of relations with China,” European Union trade chief Valdis Dombrovskis said recently, referencing the upcoming April 1 virtual summit between Brussels and Beijing. The summit arrives at an inopportune and awkward time for both sides. Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine and China’s reluctance to condemn it has caused the EU’s 27 member states to “rethink”

Amid the Ukraine Crisis, China-Russia Economic Relations Remain Lukewarm

Amid Europe’s worst military crisis in decades, countries around the world faced mounting pressure to choose sides between Russia and Ukraine. China, in particular, has faced outspoken criticism from Western officials and foreign policy commentators, who see Beijing as openly supporting Russia. China has meticulously shunned any provocative language, mostly repeating Russian official statements.

Taliban reversal on girls’ education derails US plan for diplomatic recognition

The US was poised to set the Taliban on the path to diplomatic recognition before the plan was derailed by the Afghan rulers’ sudden U-turn on a promise to allow girls’ education, the Guardian understands. The group prompted international outrage and confusion on Wednesday when it reneged on a deal to allow teenage girls to go to secondary school, just a week after the education ministry

A Long Road to Nowhere: 10 Years of the Kim Jong Un Regime

To one of the 20th century’s greatest poets, T.S. Eliot, April “is the cruelest month.” But for the North Korean state, April is the month of festivities. In 1974, North Korean government designated April 15 – the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un – as the nation’s biggest public holiday calling it the Day of the Sun.This April 15

Beatings and forced abortions: Life in a North Korea prison

North Korea is currently more isolated from the world than it has ever been. The country has been ruled by the Kim family for three generations, and its citizens are required to show complete devotion to the family and its current leader, Kim Jong-un. The Covid pandemic has brought even stricter controls both within the country and at the border.Tougher prison sentences have been imposed on those

Solomon Islands reassures an anxious Australia as it works on a China security deal

The Solomon Islands is seeking to expand its security relationship with China, its government confirmed on Friday, after reports that such an agreement was in the works fueled concern from Australian officials.A Solomon Islands government statement said Friday that Honiara was in the process of "diversifying the country's security partnership including with China.""The Government is working to

All 132 people on board crashed China airliner confirmed dead as second black box recovered

All 132 people on board the China Eastern Airlines jetliner that crashed in the densely forested mountains of southern China Monday are dead, China's aviation authorities confirmed Saturday night. For days, rescue teams had been combing through the crash site -- wading through heavy mud and thicket, scattered with debris and plane parts -- in southern China's Guangxi region, while desperate