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Este archivo solo abarca los artículos del periódico incoporados a este sitio a partir del 1 de mayo de 2007.

ReflexionesSocial,

My little boy, who is not quite 9, would like to go to a professional football game here in Britain where we live. I have often felt an overwhelming sense of community when sitting in the stands at football tournaments.

But I’m reluctant to take my son along. I can’t help but worry about the attitudes he might encounter there toward people of color like us. That’s because the “beautiful game” we both love has a shameful racism problem.

The problem is in the spotlight yet again following the vile abuse directed at Black Brazilian  Vinícius Júnior during a match between his team Real Madrid and Valencia.…  Seguir leyendo »

Russian President Vladimir Putin toasts with then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev next to Sergei Surovikin, the commander of Russian troops in Syria, after a ceremony to bestow state awards on military personnel who fought in Syria, at the Kremlin, in December 2017. Kirill Kuryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

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The world awoke Wednesday morning to the  latest threat from Russia’s former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Writing on Twitter, Medvedev, who is currently the deputy chair of Russia’s Security Council, attacked the United Kingdom as Russia’s “eternal enemy” and accused it of leading an “undeclared war” against Russia. He announced menacingly that “any of its public officials…can be considered as a legitimate military target” by Moscow.

Medvedev, who has a lengthy record of outlandish pronouncements, was responding to a comment by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, who said Ukraine has “the right to project force beyond its borders” as part of its self-defense. …  Seguir leyendo »

Delivery riders wait to collect orders from a restaurant in Mumbai, India, in July 2021. Millions of young gig economy workers like this crisscross major cities at all hours of the day. Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg/Getty Images

MundoAsia,

Around this time last year, a stranger sent me a message on WhatsApp saying his life was under threat.

Only two months earlier, 32-year-old Indian national Raju Rai had answered a job ad on Facebook for a sales consultant in Thailand.

Dissatisfied with his low salary at an IT company in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, Rai took the first flight out to Bangkok, so he could earn in US dollars and send money home.

But things didn’t go according to plan. After arrival, Rai was picked up by locals representing his new employer who drove him inland for eight hours to a riverbank and then put him on a boat crossing the border into Myanmar.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Those expecting that the upcoming Ukrainian counteroffensive will be a shock and awe bombing campaign  similar to the 2003 US strikes on Iraq will be disappointed.

To be sure, there is a sort of unspoken pressure on the administration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to press ahead with its planned counteroffensive as soon as possible – and demonstrate that the billions of dollars of Western military aid is capable of pushing Russian President Vladimir Putin at least back to pre-2022 full-scale invasion lines.

Ukrainian leaders and military planners need also to be mindful of developments across the Atlantic, where its most powerful ally, the United States, could see the return of Donald Trump in 2025 to the White House – and with that,  a likely drop in support.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

“We are here, we will not surrender to this darkness!”  declared dozens of well-known Turkish women in an open letter urging their peers to vote in Sunday’s  runoff elections for the presidency of Turkey.

“Let’s build a country where fear has no place, where equality and freedom prevail”, said the women, including academics, artists and politicians.

Days later, it seems those dreams of equality and freedom won’t be realized any time soon.

The victory of incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan — securing 52.1% of the vote against opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu’s 47.9% — gives him another five-year term.

This was a very strong result for the opposition, given the difficulties of competing against an autocrat who has  increasingly stifled dissent. …  Seguir leyendo »

MundoAméricaEuropa, , , , ,

As Russia prepares for an imminent  Ukrainian counteroffensive, and America’s 2024 presidential race  takes shape, it is becoming increasingly apparent that Russian President Vladimir Putin believes one possible path to victory in his so far unsuccessful war runs through the US election.

The latest evidence that Putin may just expect Western support for Ukraine to end – if only Russian forces hold on until there’s a new president in the White House – came tucked away in a blistering announcement from Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Friday, declaring entry into the country would be “closed for 500 Americans”.

The blacklist, Moscow explained, targets individuals “involved in the spread of Russophobic attitudes and fakes”, as well as principals in companies supplying weapons to Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

Iranian couple Nasrin Sotoudeh and Reza Khandan, with their friend and fellow activist Farhad Meysami (center) after being released from prison earlier this year following a lengthy hunger strike. Reza Khandan

MundoOriente Próximo,

In the Spring of 2018, two men in Tehran had a humble but risky plan to show support for women who were protesting Iran’s compulsory hijab laws.

Reza Khandan is a graphic designer, the husband of renowned human rights attorney  Nasrin Sotoudeh, and a father of two. Farhad Meysami is a physician, teacher and textbook publisher.

The pair bought thousands of blank buttons and a small, hand-cranked button-making machine, printed green and red labels, and took turns producing buttons that said, in Farsi, “I Oppose the Mandatory Hijab”.

Their buttons caught the attention of fellow activists – and Iranian authorities. On June 13, 2018, Reza’s lawyer wife Nasrin was arrested for her work defending many of the women who publicly removed their hijabs.…  Seguir leyendo »

A destroyed apartment block in Izium, Kharkiv region, pictured during a PEN Ukraine trip, in April 2023. Maksym Sytnikov

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“Sauna! Lunch! Delivery!” tempts an advertisement by the side of the road. “Mines” reads a fresher sign just underneath. These red warnings bloom all over the scorched earth of eastern Ukraine.

From our minibus, we see village after village erased by the Russian onslaught — houses burnt with phosphorus, forests mangled with missiles, fields littered with the carcasses of tanks.

We are a team of writers, journalists and scholars united by the literary and human rights organization  PEN Ukraine.

We bring aid to the recently liberated towns and villages close to the frontline — but we also bring ourselves to bear witness to Russia’s crimes against our people and our land.…  Seguir leyendo »

It’s no accident world leaders are revisiting this site of nuclear devastation

InternacionalOrden Mundial,

It’s no accident that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida  selected Hiroshima as the site for the 2023 G7 meeting. Shortly after announcing his choice, he  pointed out that, “[a]s prime minister of Japan, the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, there is no better place than Hiroshima to show our commitment to peace”.

Although  many issues will be discussed at the G7 meeting, including climate change, the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic and issues of economic security, Kishida sees the meeting’s location as an opportunity to reflect on the legacy of Hiroshima and reaffirm Japan’s commitment to nuclear disarmament.…  Seguir leyendo »

Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Oksana Markarova, first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, US President Joe Biden and US first lady Jill Biden, meet at the White House in July last year. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Almost 15 months in, there is an intensifying drumbeat of suggestions that negotiations will be essential to any denouement in Russia’s war on Ukraine — and what’s more, that China could play a key role in bringing an end to the conflict.

Indeed, China this week dispatched its envoy and former ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, to Ukraine, as well as Poland, France, Germany and Russia in an effort to move toward Beijing-mediated  “peace talks”.

But Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s indomitable ambassador to the United States, has been largely impervious to any such suggestion of negotiations without one clear end point: liberation of all Ukraine.…  Seguir leyendo »

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-US President Donald Trump shake hands during a meeting at the White House in May 2017. Erdogan faces what is expected to be a tight election this week, while Trump sets his sights on the 2024 US presidential election. Evan Vucci/AP

InternacionalOTAN

Former President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, perhaps two of the world’s most prominent and controversial authoritarian leaders, are fighting for their political lives.

Their fates will reverberate across the globe, shaping history. Among other consequences, the impact will go a long way in determining the future – perhaps even the survival – of NATO, the military alliance of democracies that seemed on the verge of unraveling just a few years ago and now looks as strong and purposeful as it has in decades.

This Sunday, Turkish  voters will decide if, after 20 years of increasingly autocratic rule, they want to reelect Erdogan, a man whose democratic credentials are as questionable as his commitment to NATO.…  Seguir leyendo »

A demonstration against female genital mutilation (FGM), in Nairobi, Kenya, 2007. Across the world, more than 200 million girls and women live with the consequences of FGM. Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images

ReflexionesSocial

I want to begin with a painful experience I went through at age seven. Please be warned that this may be triggering.

magine me then – a lively, happy little girl waking up to a beautiful morning in Mogadishu, Somalia. I noticed a party at my house but also sensed a strange energy in the air. It was unsettling. Only women were there, and I recognised many of my aunties, neighbours and house staff.

I thought: “Today isn’t my or my sister’s birthday”. My mother loved throwing us lavish parties, and this party didn’t look very elegant.

I was standing outside our kitchen when my neighbor’s nine-year-old daughter approached me.…  Seguir leyendo »

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow, April 2019. Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Europa,

For Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s longest serving ruler, Sunday’s upcoming election may be the end of a two-decade winning streak.

Polls show that Erdogan, who has been at the country’s helm since 2003, first as prime minister and since 2014 as president,  is in a tight race and vulnerable to defeat.

This has made many in Brussels and Washington giddy — and hopeful that Turkey, a once reliable ally and partner turned spoiler, will rejoin the Western fold.

At the start of his rule, Erdogan, a pious Muslim who successfully governed Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul, in the 1990s, affirmed the country’s western orientation and ambition to join the European Union.…  Seguir leyendo »

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The announcement was dramatic and the images breathtaking. The Kremlin declared that it had come under attack on Wednesday night, targeted by two drones whose objective it claimed was to  assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was unharmed.

Moscow accused Ukraine of what it called a “terrorist act”. Ukraine said it had nothing to do with whatever it was that took place that night. (The following day, the Kremlin also accused the US of involvement in the alleged attack, which the US denies).

Video clips on social media showed what looked like drones and a  fiery explosion over the Kremlin, its walls already festooned with banners ahead of the May 9th celebration of Victory Day, when Russia commemorates its triumph over Nazi Germany in World War II and displays its military might with parades.…  Seguir leyendo »

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As Russian forces fled a Ukrainian advance in occupied Kherson late last year, their behavior became synonymous with industrial-scale theft.

The troops seized Ukrainian  businesses, looted  priceless art and even loaded  toilets onto their tanks.

In a surreal twist, footage appeared of one hulking soldier crowded into a child-sized  amusement park train, driving it away in the midst of a Russian convoy.

Sadly, bizarre images like this aren’t unique to Russia’s 2022 invasion.

Writing in 1914, historian Marian Dubiecki  recounted Moscow’s deportation of Polish children following the 18th century  Kościuszko Uprising. He noted that Russian officers “did not hesitate to take loot for themselves even from children’s toys”.…  Seguir leyendo »

Queen Elizabeth II reviews troops in Brisbane, Australia, during her 1977 Jubilee tour. Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

Europa,

As a teenager, I was in favor of scrapping the monarchy for a republic. That had seemed simple common sense, at first. Why should the highest role in the land only be open to those who were born to it?

My parents came to the UK from Ireland and India – both became republics after securing their independence from Britain.

Maybe I figured that, if I wasn’t going to be a republican, who on earth was?

Fast forward a few decades and I will be one of those watching the coronation. I have changed my mind about the monarchy.

The coronation of King Charles is an important moment in history, part of a tradition that stretches back almost a thousand years – and the first time that most of us, everybody under 70, will get to witness this ceremony.…  Seguir leyendo »

Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 19, 2023. Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

InternacionalIglesia Católica

On Wednesday, the Vatican announced that for the first time it would give women a few votes in its Synod on Synodality, its upcoming meeting in October in Rome exploring the broad question of how the church governs itself in the future.

It’s the mother of all synods because Pope Francis wanted bishops across the world to ask their flocks for their views on everything from LGBTQ Catholics, to their priorities on social justice, to the role of women in the church.

The synod will be dominated by hundreds of bishops and cardinals, so the fact that this modest recognition of women’s rights is getting so much attention demonstrates how low our expectations are.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

Some 70 US lawmakers wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week, urging the Biden administration to press Russia for the release of imprisoned dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza.

That correspondence probably won’t prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to free his longtime critic, but it just might help cast a spotlight on the plight of Kara-Murza, which deserves far more international attention than it has generally received.

Much public notice justifiably has been paid in recent months to other individuals who have been unjustly imprisoned by Putin’s ruthless regime. The outrageous detention last month of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich has prompted vocal demands for his release from his employer and from the US State Department and generated international headlines.…  Seguir leyendo »

MundoÁfricaEuropa, , ,

On the day before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, a top general from Sudan was  visiting Moscow. Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo – known as Hemedti – had already made a name for himself leading one of the so-called  Janjaweed militias that helped carry out a genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region decades earlier.

Until last week, Dagalo was also one of the two military men leading a Sudanese government that was meant to be working its way to a democratic transition.

By the time he went to Russia last year, Dagalo and his militia, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), were already the  primary beneficiaries of involvement in Sudan by the Wagner Group, the Kremlin-linked mercenary army that has been fighting in Ukraine recently, but also has a  wide footprint in Africa and other parts of the world.…  Seguir leyendo »

A costumer pays at a greengrocery store in a local market, as Argentina's annual inflation rate tore past 100% in February, the country's statistics agency said on Tuesday, the first time it has hit triple figures since a period of hyperinflation in 1991, over three decades ago, in Buenos Aires, Argentina March 14, 2023. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian. Agustin Marcarian/Reuters

MundoAmérica

As a recent immigrant to the United States, I am sometimes on the receiving end of compassionate efforts as people offer me their condolences for having arrived to the US as a student, no less, during such an economically tumultuous time. They’re not wrong—if my American and green-card-holder friends have anecdotally commented on how hard it is to find a job right now, us visa-less hopefuls are at the  bottom of the labor market food chain.

In the past 12 months, prices in the US have risen at a brisk pace, a level most Americans – and the Federal Reserve Bank – consider far too high. …  Seguir leyendo »