The Globalist (February 7, 2024): We discuss the bill worth $118bn (€109bn), which will be debated by the US Senate today.
Plus: protests in Senegal after parliament delays the presidential election, Marine Le Pen meets with the Alternative for Germany party and we catch up with J A Bayona, director of ‘Society of the Snow’.
The Globalist Podcast (February 5, 2024) – We discuss Antony Blinken’s fifth Middle East trip since the 7 October attacks and how US strikes in the region are affecting talks.
Plus: Pakistan’s elections, Liz Truss’s comeback bid and the headlines in Southeast Asia.
The Globalist Podcast (February 5, 2024) – The latest on the US response to the drone attacks in Jordan, assess how Azerbaijan’s presidential election will impact the wider region and review the day’s papers.
Plus: we meet designer Camille Jaillant of Olistic The Label and look at last night’s Grammy Awards.
The Wall Street Journal (January 5, 2024) – Iran-backed groups connect to form a land bridge across the Middle East and form an alliance that Tehran calls the ‘Axis of Resistance.’ This land bridge can be used to transport equipment and personnel, but also allows for positions in Iraq and Syria to attack U.S. interests or threaten Israel closer to its borders.
Video timeline: 0:00 ‘Axis of Resistance’ 0:37 Iran’s allies 1:44 Iran’s history 3:22 U.S. in the Middle East 4:14 Attacks since Oct. 7
WSJ explains what to know about the alliance that includes Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
The country’s historic ascent is levelling off. That need not make it more dangerous
The rise of China has been a defining feature of the world for the past four decades. Since the country began to open up and reform its economy in 1978, its gdp has grown by a dizzying 9% a year, on average. That has allowed a staggering 800m Chinese citizens to escape from poverty. Today China accounts for almost a fifth of global output. The sheer size of its market and manufacturing base has reshaped the global economy. Xi Jinping, who has ruled China for the past decade, hopes to use his country’s increasing heft to reshape the geopolitical order, too.
Safartas Videos (May 2, 2023) – A walking tour in the old markets of Damascus, Syria, starting from Bab Al-Jabieh Gate ( باب الجابية ) all the way to Umayyad mosque.
Damascus is the capital of Syria, the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth holiest city in Islam. Known colloquially in Syria as aš-Šām and dubbed, poetically, the “City of Jasmine”, Damascus is a major cultural center of the Levant and the Arab world.
The Economist (April 18, 2023) – The outbreak of violence in Sudan isn’t an anomaly; the world’s civil wars are growing longer and deadlier. Robert Guest, The Economist’s deputy editor, explains why.
Video timeline:00:00 – Civil wars are getting longer 00:58 – Complexity 02:14 – Criminality 03:12 – Climate change 04:52 – The road to peace?
Uploaded March 26, 2023 – A walking tour in Jamilah market in Aleppo, the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, on Thursday, March 23, 2023.
Aleppo, Arabic Ḥalab, Turkish Halep, principal city of northern Syria. It is situated in the northwestern part of the country, about 30 miles (50 km) south of the Turkish border. Aleppo is located at the crossroads of great commercial routes and lies some 60 miles (100 km) from both the Mediterranean Sea (west) and the Euphrates River (east).