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Two Donalds and one determination

Not just their first names, Donald Trump and Donald Tusk have a lot more in common. For Europe, therein lies the rub. https://poliphoon.com/two-donalds-and-one-determination/

[poliphoon]

Two Donalds and one determination

Not just their first names, Donald Trump and Donald Tusk have a lot more in common. For Europe, therein lies the rub. https://poliphoon.com/two-donalds-and-one-determination/

[poliphoon]

This politics of pardon is unpardonable

President Donald Trump has not let his first-day-first-show fans down. In a sweeping show of political sectarianism, he has showered pardons and commutations on nearly 1,600 rioters charged for crimes connected to the Capitol attack on January 6th 2021. The amnesty is a new milestone in the sham politics of pardons in America. Sham because Mr Trump’s pardons are meant for seditious Republican…

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Aggressive AfD spells more trouble for Germany and Europe

Germany is getting ready for imbibing a deadly cocktail. A far-right party in power in neighbouring Austria, an immigrant-hating president in the United States and an excited Elon Musk in his backing best. The trio may not be the risky party-trapping ‘firewall’ Germany’s hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is talking about. Yet the political climate prevailing around the world is helping the…

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The Gaza ceasefire is not quite a done deal yet

Ceasefire deals have always offered glimmers of hope. Not surprising that the Gaza ceasefire deal struck on January 15th, between Israel and Hamas, is filling Gazans’ hearts with hopes. The sense of relief is so strong that in Gaza no one is realising that the ceasefire is not quite a reality. Yet embattled Gazans are celebrating. For two reasons. One, the ceasefire deal gives Gazans respite from…

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Neros nitpick as furious fires ravage California

Nitpicking Neros take the podium in an ongoing fire-spewing contest in America. Even as furious fires ravage California, American politicians are keen to demonstrate their undying love for quibbling and nitpicking. The latest to do so are Gavin Newsom, California’s Democratic governor, and the president-elect Donald Trump with his pals. Sensing a sparkling political opportunity, Mr Newsom has…

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The new expansionist America eyes Greenland

Expansionist America is only a sleeping idea. When presidents, expansionists at heart, emerge on America’s political landscape, such ideas rear their ratty heads. Just ten-odd days to his second stint, Donald Trump has let a cat among Greenland’s pigeons. He wants to buy the world’s largest island. Not to lose precious time, Donald Trump Jr visits Greenland as a tourist. None of these get the…

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The rebellion that will not make America great again

Business-friendly America is bewildered. MAGA Republicans are fighting a war of wretched words. Irate businessmen among the Republicans, Tesla chief Elon Musk particularly, are spewing swear words. The fight is over H-1B visas for skilled workers. Why is this visa inflaming tensions among US businessmen? How is this visa a cause for rebellion within the Republican party? What the H-1B visas have…

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The lacklustre story of a lame-duck prime minister and a loud-mouthed president

Feminists and environmentalists do not always get what they deserve. The Liberal party leader and the Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau proves the timeliness of this truism. He is quitting his twin position. Most Canadians must be happy that their baby-faced prime minister is finally going for good. The so-called advocate for the rights of refugees and indigenous people may feel he has been…

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How Elon Musk’s SpaceX-Starlink is changing Manipur’s ethnic conflict

Elon Musk has a knack for wading into civil wars fuelled by the world’s right-wing politicians. Mr Musk’s invidious choice now is the strife-torn state of Manipur in India’s north-east. Even when internet shutdowns, as a strife-control step, are in force in the state of Manipur, Mr Musk’s SpaceX-Starlink satellite internet devices are being smuggled in. This is helping Manipur’s Meiteis and…

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The Islamic State is alive and attacking

Donald Trump could not have begun 2025 in a more attacking way. The Bourbon Street attack in New Orleans is so full of messages that the killing of the attacker by the cops is regrettable. Yet the dead attacker from Texas, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, is telling a bloodier story. Whether the attack is part of a new pattern or not, its scarily strong message is that the Islamic State is alive and attacking.

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10 lessons from Dr Manmohan Singh’s political life

India’s first Sikh prime minister was no ordinary head of government. As India’s finance minister, Dr Manmohan Singh was responsible for ushering in free-market reforms in 1991 that transformed India into an economic engine. Later, he was made the prime minister by the Congress Party. He led the government from 2004 to 2014. These 10 years were replete with rich lessons for politicians.

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The pernicious politics of presidential pardons

Wholesale mercy makes a mockery of the criminal justice system. In an act of dubious clemency, the American president Joe Biden has extended relief to 37 of the 40 federal death-row inmates. Their death sentences have been commuted now. This is dangerous. More so as his sympathy spree makes him pardon Hunter Biden, his own son, who is a felon convicted on tax and gun offences.

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A year of elections, emotions and eruptions

Many of our stories in 2024 were about wars, conflicts and clashes. The year began with Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine that was already in its 23rd month. As the year moved on, the other two wars – in Sudan and Gaza – too turned intense. The year is drawing to a close and the three wars do not look like ending anytime soon. Surely, 2024 was a year of wanton wars. Viewed through the prism of…

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What does Chrystia Freeland’s resignation mean?

Trump tariffs are creating a stir in neighbouring Canada as well. As tensions over Trump tariffs were souring ties between Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy minister-and-finance minister Chrystia Freeland, the latter resigned from the cabinet on December 16th. Exiting with sound and fury, she heaped hate over how Canada was facing ‘grave challenges’ from Mr Trump.

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Europe has a worry: the German government has collapsed now

Not surprising that chancellor Olaf Scholz has lost the confidence vote. Germany has turned turbulent, politically and economically. Even that is not surprising. The real surprise, rather the real shock, is because this has happened at a terrible time for the European Union. The war in Ukraine is going from bad to worse as Russia looks determined to escalate the conflict. Worse, president-elect…