Category Archives: Politics

Political Analysis: Is Taiwan Part Of China?

If countries were people, the relationship between China, America and Taiwan would be a love triangle like no other.

Taiwan is by some reckoning the most dangerous flashpoint between China and America. Though Taiwan is in most respects an independent country, China insists it is part of the People’s Republic and is not ruling out taking the island by force. If that were to happen it could ignite an all-out war between America and China. This film explains how this precarious situation came about and how might it play out.

Morning News Podcast: Biden Speech Highlights, Markets, Amazon Workers

A.M. Edition for April 29. WSJ White House reporter Sabrina Siddiqui on key moments from President Biden’s speech to Congress as he pushes a broad economic agenda. 

A look at the markets as the president marks 100 days in office. Amazon workers are set for a pay raise. Marc Stewart hosts.

Analysis: Russia’s Military On Ukraine’s Border (WSJ)

Clashes between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists continued after Moscow’s large-scale military maneuvers at the border. WSJ’s Georgi Kantchev reports from the front line of a conflict that is seen as a test for the Biden administration. Photo: Anastasia Vlasova for The Wall Street Journal

Morning News Podcast: EU-Britain Trade, Female Soldiers & China’s Oscar

Europe’s parliament has overwhelmingly voted to extend a stopgap trade agreement. But the rancour behind the vote, and the deal’s thin measures, say much about future relations.

Female soldiers are entering armed forces in big numbers, but they still face barriers both in getting the job and in doing it. And China’s homegrown Oscar-winning director is scrubbed from its internet.

News: Top 5 Stories For April 27, 2021 (Reuters)

Five stories to know for April 27: North Carolina shooting, Justice Department’s probe into Breonna Taylor’s death, Republicans’ drive to recall Gavin Newsom, India’s COVID deaths near 200,000 and fighting in Myanmar.

1. Attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., a Black man shot by sheriff’s deputies in North Carolina during an attempted arrest last week, said body camera footage showed Brown had been “executed”.

2. The Justice Department launched a civil probe of the Louisville, Kentucky, police department whose officers last year fatally shot Breonna Taylor in a botched raid.

3. A Republican-led effort to recall California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has garnered enough valid signatures to make the ballot.

4. Vital medical supplies poured into India as hospitals starved of life-saving oxygen and beds turned away coronavirus patients, while a surge in infections pushed the death toll towards 200,000.

5. Ethnic minority Karen insurgents attacked a Myanmar army outpost near the Thai border in some of the most intense clashes since a military coup threw the country into crisis.

Morning News Podcast: Housing Markets, Tech Earnings & Italian Coffee

A.M. Edition for April 27. WSJ’s Nicole Friedman discusses the new WSJ/Realtor.com housing list. Major tech companies are set to release earnings this week. 

 The U.S. and other nations offer assistance as Covid-19 surges in India. A clash over coffee in Italy. Marc Stewart hosts.

Politics Monday: Tamara Keith And Amy Walter On Biden’s Ratings & Speech

NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report join Judy Woodruff to discuss the latest political news, including President Joe Biden’s approval rating, his upcoming joint address to Congress, and the expected Republican response.

Tours: The International Court Of Justice (ICJ), The Hague, Netherlands

This virtual tour of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) leads the viewers through the rooms of the Peace Palace used by the judges in carrying out their judicial functions.

FAQ ——

What is the International Court of Justice?

The Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It was established by the United Nations Charter, which was signed in 1945 in San Francisco (United States), and began work in 1946 in the Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands).

The Court, which is composed of 15 judges, has a twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes between States submitted to it by them and, second, to give advisory opinions on legal matters referred to it by duly authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

The Court’s official languages are English and French.

Who may submit cases to the Court? Only States are eligible to appear before the Court in contentious cases. The Court has no jurisdiction to deal with applications from individuals, non-governmental organizations, corporations or any other private entity. It cannot provide them with legal advice or help them in their dealings with national authorities. However, a State may take up the case of one of its nationals and invoke against another State the wrongs which its national claims to have suffered at the hands of the latter; the dispute then becomes one between States.

What differentiates the International Court of Justice from the International Criminal Court and the ad hoc international criminal tribunals?

The International Court of Justice has no jurisdiction to try individuals accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity. As it is not a criminal court, it does not have a prosecutor able to initiate proceedings. This task is the preserve of national courts, the ad hoc criminal tribunals established by the United Nations (such as the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), mandated to take over residual functions from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR)) or in co-operation with it (such as the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon), and also of the International Criminal Court, set up under the Rome Statute.

News: Top 5 Stories For April 26, 2021 (Reuters)

Five stories to know for April 26: Academy Awards 2021, vaccinated Americans to visit Europe, India COVID cases and the sunken Indonesian submarine.

1. ‘Nomadland’ won the Oscar award for best picture and its director Chloe Zhao made history winning the best director. She is the first Asian woman and only the second woman ever to take home the prize. Britain’s Anthony Hopkins won the best actor trophy for his role as a man battling dementia in “The Father.” The Oscar had been widely expected to go to the late Chadwick Boseman for his final film, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

2. Following one of the most consequential court cases in recent U.S. history, Hollywood wasted no time in reflecting on the state of race relations and police use of force at the Oscars.

3. Summer travel to Europe could be on the horizon for vaccinated Americans. Ursula von der Leyen said the continent will ease existing travel restrictions.

4. India: COVID-19 cases hit a record for a fifth day, as countries including Britain, Germany and the United States pledged to send urgent medical aid.

5. A missing Indonesian submarine has been found, broken into at least three parts, at the bottom of the Bali Sea.