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America’s infrastructure crisis: Israel, Iran and the growing pressure on Washington

America’s nationwide aviation shutdown has exposed serious weaknesses in its ageing infrastructure. Meanwhile, Israel’s Mossad chief has travelled to Washington as Benjamin Netanyahu presses Donald Trump to resume military action against Iran.

Small towns are collapsing across South Africa. How it’s starting to affect farming

Wandile Sihlobo, University of the Witwatersrand Farming and agribusiness play a crucial role in sustaining the economies of small towns and rural areas. There is a lot of evidence of this in the economic literature and in the popular media. This dependency has its inherent risks. International literature tends to focus on the devastation of

Luke Harding proves he is the Western security establishment’s ‘useful idiot’

Johanna Ross is a journalist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Last Thursday an article was published in The Guardian which took the Russian Twittersphere by storm. And for once, those on both sides of the Russia debate – Russophiles and Putin critics – were united in their scepticism of Luke Harding’s latest ‘revelations’. Just when we

Global anti-dumping rules affect states’ tax sovereignty

Lucas Leiroz, research fellow in international law at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. The G20 has taken a historic step towards global corporate tax. The group’s finance ministers and central banks’ presidents agreed during the last summit to profoundly review the international tax system and move forward with the project of a global

European Parliament breaks protocol by politicizing Beijing Winter Olympic Games

Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst The European Parliament passed a resolution calling on European Union leaders to decline China’s invitation to attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. However, their attempt to politicize the Winter Olympics by calling for diplomatic boycotts, thus smearing China, will mostly fall on deaf ears. The non-binding European Parliament resolution was

The GOP Filibusters Dem Legislation

William Stroock, author of military fiction, commentator It finally happened. On 22 June Senate Republicans used the filibuster to defeat the Democrats HR1, the For the People act. All 50 Republicans voted against ending the debate and bringing HR1 to the floor for a vote. HR1 would ban voter ID and mandate mass mailing of

TAU SA dissatisfied with quarter-billion rand payments to SAFDA

TAU SA is dissatisfied with evidence that the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has given more than R246 million to the South African Farmers Development Association (SAFDA) over the past five years. According to a parliamentary reply to the DA, Minister Thoko Didiza said her department paid R246 664 290 to SAFDA,

Firearms Act: Stand together and act, ad hoc group requests

The time has come for organisations to work together to strengthen South Africa. This was the message that was confirmed by almost all role players during yesterday’s meeting of the ad hoc group for the protection of property rights. This group decided to convene all interested groups to discuss the controversial firearms bill. These amendments

Northern Ireland crisis could escalate into trade war and more violence

Uriel Araujo, a researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts. Some expected that during the G7 summit (which took place in England this weekend), some advances would be made towards solving the current Northern Ireland (NI) crisis. That wasn’t so. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, with

U.S. unlikely to tempt Greece away from Russia and China

Paul Antonopoulos, independent geopolitical analyst On June 10, Pew Research published survey results that measured how the people of ten NATO countries (Italy, Netherlands, Canada, UK, Belgium, U.S., Germany, Spain, France, and Greece) viewed the alliance. Of the 10 countries, Greece was the only one where the people had less than a 50% approval rating

Boris Johnson delays lifting of Covid restrictions as public frustration mounts

Johanna Ross is a journalist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was supposed to be ‘Freedom Day’; June 21st when people could begin living much as they did before the pandemic took hold. However, with Covid rates rising again, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced to a dismayed British public on Monday evening, that he

UK braces itself for a third Covid wave as it may delay lifting of lockdown restrictions

Johanna Ross is a journalist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It’s being hailed perhaps the ‘hardest UK policy decision of the last 18 months’ by senior government advisor Jeremy Farrar. Britain is at a critical juncture in the coronavirus pandemic, as Boris Johnson must decide whether to lift Covid restrictions on the 21st of June with

London High Court case alleges Qatar funnelled millions of dollars to terrorists in Syria

The London High Court opened a proceeding that threatens to impeach a former prime minister of Qatar, two banks of the kingdom, and numerous leading members of the royal dynasty. They are suspected of having transferred hundreds of millions of dollars into the accounts of Al-Nusra, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda. The court’s decision, only

Family size: why some Nigerian men want more children

Fertility levels remain relatively high in Nigeria. The rate is slightly over five children per woman. This is one of the highest fertility rates in the world. With almost seven children per woman, Niger has the highest rate in the world, followed by Mali. Many studies have suggested targeting men in family planning programmes to