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China
September 10, 2018 Under President Xi, China’s most powerful leader since Mao, religious believers are seeing their freedoms shrink dramatically even as the country undergoes a religious revival. China’s government is ratcheting up a crackdown on Christian congregations in Beijing and several provinces, destroying crosses, burning Bibles, shutting churches and ordering followers to sign papers renouncing their faith. As he consolidates his power, Xi is waging the most severe systematic suppression of Christianity in the country since religious freedom was written into the Chinese constitution in 1982. A Christian pastor in the Henan city of Nanyang said crosses, bibles and furniture were burned during a raid on his church on Sept. 5. Chinese law requires religious believers to worship only in congregations registered with the authorities, but many millions belong to so-called underground or house churches that defy government restrictions. In Beijing, the Zion church was shut on Sunday by around 60 government workers who arrived at 4:30 p.m. accompanied by buses, police cars and fire trucks. All of China’s officially recognized religions appear to have been affected by the crackdown. In the most extreme example, an estimated 1 million Uighurs and other members of Muslim minority groups in the country’s northwest have been arbitrarily detained in indoctrination camps where they are forced to denounce Islam and profess loyalty to the Communist Party. China has an estimated 38 million Protestants, and the country will have the world’s largest Christian population in a few decades. (Source: AP)
Iran
September 7, 2018 Iran and Russia today backed a military campaign to retake the last rebel-held stronghold in Syria as Turkey pleaded for a cease-fire, narrowing the chances of a diplomatic solution to avoid what many say would be a bloody humanitarian disaster. The trilateral summit in Tehran involving Iranian President Rouhani, Russian President Putin and Turkish President Erdogan puts further pressure on the rebel forces still operating in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, including about 10,000 hard-core jihadists and al-Qaida-linked fighters. The U.S. has found itself largely on the sidelines of the possible offensive as Iran, Russia and Turkey - all nations that Washington has imposed sanctions upon - discuss Idlib’s future. Although the U.S. has about 2,000 troops and outposts in Syria, President Trump has said he wants to pull those forces out after the war against the islamic state group dislodged the extremists from vast territories it once held there and in Iraq. (Source: AP)
Japan
September 4, 2018 A Japanese team working to develop a "space elevator" will conduct a first trial this month, blasting off a miniature version on satellites to test the technology. The test equipment, produced by researchers at Shizuoka University, will hitch a ride on an H-2B rocket being launched by Japan's space agency from southern island of Tanegashima next week. The test involves a miniature elevator stand-in - a box just six centimetres long, three centimetres wide, and three centimetres high. If all goes well, it will provide proof of concept by moving along a 10-metre cable suspended in space between two mini satellites that will keep it taut. The mini-elevator will travel along the cable from a container in one of the satellites. Japanese construction firm Obayashi, which is collaborating with the Shizuoka university project, is also exploring other ways to build its own space elevator to put tourists in space in 2050. The company has said it could use carbon nanotube technology, which is more than 20 times stronger than steel, to build a lift shaft 96,000 kilometres above the Earth. (Source: phys)
Kirgizisztán
2018. IX. 3. Magyarország készen áll a magyar-türk együttműködés új fejezetének megnyitására – jelentette ki Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök a türk nyelvű államok együttműködési tanácsának VI. ülésén. Megdőlt a régi világrend, amelynek dogmája szerint a tőke és tudás Nyugatról áramlik Kelet felé, hogy ott olcsó munkaerőt keressen. Az új világrendet alapvetően a Keleten felemelkedő államok fejlődése határozza meg – mutatott rá. Magyarország 2014 óta megfigyelő a türk nyelvű államok parlamenti közgyűlésének munkájában, 2017-ben pedig csatlakozási kérelmet nyújtott be a nemzetközi türk akadémiához. Törökországgal, Azerbajdzsánnal és Kazahsztánnal évek óta stratégiai partnerség szintjén vannak a kapcsolatok, és ez a cél Kirgizisztánnal, illetve Üzbegisztánnal is – mondta. A sporttal és ifjúsággal kapcsolatban arra hívta fel a figyelmet: a magyar állam 595 állami ösztöndíjat fizet a hat türk nyelvű ország Magyarországon tanuló fiataljainak, és ezt a számot emelni fogja. A magyar Eximbank pedig 1,5 milliárd dolláros hitelkeretet nyitott meg a hat türk nyelvű országgal való gazdasági együttműködés, a befektetések fejlesztése érdekében – tette hozzá. (Forrás: MagyarIdők)
2018. IX. 3. Magyarország mindig is figyelemmel kísérte a türk identitású országok együttműködését. A modern világban is megőrzi nyelvét, kultúráját, hagyományait, tiszteli, ápolja türk gyökereit – mondta a kormányfő. A magyarok Attila kései leszármazottainak tekintik magukat, a hun-türk eredet alapján állnak, nyelvük a türk nyelvekkel áll rokonságban - fűzte hozzá. (Forrás: Origo)
2 September 2018 Opening ceremony of third World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan (Source: FaceBook / RT): https://tinyurl.com/ycelk7je
2018. IX. 2. Kirgizisztánban rendezik immáron harmadjára a Nomád Világjátékokat, ahol a magyar miniszterelnök a megnyitón is jelen van. Részben ott, részben később találkozik Erdogan török, Aliyev azeri, Nazarbajev kazah és Mirzijojev üzbég államfővel. A Nomád Világjátékokon egykori szovjet tagállamok és jelenlegi orosz régiók lakosai hagyományos népi sportokban mérkőznek meg egymással szeptember 2. és 8. között a kirgizisztáni Iszik-köl tartományban. Szijjártó külügyminiszter bejelentette: Magyarország megfigyelői státust nyert el a Nemzetközi Türk Akadémiában. Orbán a játékokon túl részt vesz a Török Nyelvű Államok Együttműködési Tanácsának konferenciáján is, Kazahsztán, Azerbajdzsán, Törökország és Üzbegisztán vezetőinek társaságában. (Forrás: Index)
2018. IX. 2. Harmadszor rendezik meg a nagyszabású Nomád Világjátékokat Kirgizisztánban. A Világ legnagyobb tradicionális sport viadala a magyarországi Kurultáj –Magyar Törzsi Gyűlés testvér rendezvénye. A Nomád Világjátékok európai partnere pedig a Kurultájt is szervező Magyar Turán Szövetség, amely azt a megtisztelő felkérést kapta a kirgiz szervezőktől, hogy a hagyományőrző völgy ünnepélyes megnyitóját valósítsa meg, amely egy lovas harci elemeket tartalmazó (a hun és honfoglalás korát idéző) hadi viseletes bemutató lesz. Mindezek mellett a hatalmas jurta városban magyar kiállítást is szervezünk, amelyet a Magyar Természettudományi Múzeum és a Magyar Turán Alapítvány közösen valósít meg. A jelentős sport viadalon a sztyeppei lovasnomád kultúra hagyományőrző sportjaiban vetélkedik majd 78 ország sport küldöttsége és 35 sportágban mérik össze az erejüket. A magyar csapat, amely a megnyitót és a záró ünnepséget is megvalósítja, nagyszámú sportolóval érkezik a világjátékokra. A magyar küldöttség összesen 52 főből áll, a delegáció vezetője Bíró, a Magyar Turán Szövetség elnöke, a Kurultáj főszervezője. A fő nomád sportágakban a Magyar Turán Szövetség által szervezett előválogatókról kerültek be a válogatottba a sportolók. Lovasíjászatban 4 férfi 2 hölgy, gyalogos tradicionális íjászatban 8 férfi 2 hölgy indul. Tradicionális íjász távlövésben 1 férfi 1 hölgy indul. Mindhárom sportágban a győzelemre és érmekre esélyesek a versenyzőink. 2 fő indul lovasbírkózásban, 2 fő kuresz–ben (tradicionális birkózás), 3 fő övbirkózásban, 3 fő alish (kötött övbirkózás), 4 fő bothúzásban, 2 fő mangala vetélkedőn (szellemi taktikai sport) indul. Az elmúlt évben a világjátékok programjába bevették a szkandert, szumó-t és a szambót, A szkanderban öt, a többi sportokban egy–egy versenyző indul magyar színekben a Nemzeti Versenysport Szövetség (NVESZ) szervezésében. (Forrás: Kurultáj): https://tinyurl.com/yazmuboo
United States
7 September 2018 Following a week of revelations that hit his team, President has a list of 12 prime suspects in furious hunt for 'treasonous' op-ed writer who anonymously torched him in the New York Times. First came excerpts from journalist Woodward's forthcoming book 'Fear,' which paints the president as an ill-prepared and crude leader whose lack of impulse control drove senior aides to protect him from himself. In one vignette, Woodward describes then-chief economic adviser Cohn literally swiping a draft memo from the Resolute Desk to derail Trump's goal of ending a crucial Korean trade agreement. The culprit could be a non-Republican lurking in his administration, Trump suggested, or 'it may be a deep-state person that's been there a long time'. Senior aides scrambled yesterday to disown day before yesterday's op-ed that slammed the president's leadership style as impetuous, petty and ineffective. The publication of Wednesday's unsigned op-ed, which the Times claims was penned by a 'senior' administration official, struck a variation on the same theme. Its central claim is that a winking, nudging cabal of aides considers its primary mission to save the republic from Trump's ham-fisted ways. 'Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations,' according to the still-unidentified writer. FBI Director Wray became the latest top official to deny being the author. Trump warned about 'unelected deep-state operatives' who have tried to take his government into their own hands in a soft coup. (Source: DailyMail)
2018. IX. 8. Biológiai fegyver alkalmazásának gyanúja miatt kerülhetett karanténba három repülő amerikai reptereken. Egy biztonsági kutatóintézet néhány éve lemodellezte azt a helyzetet, amikor terroristák fekete himlővel megfertőzött öngyilkos merénylőket küldenek szét a világban. A járvány fél év alatt 300 millió áldozatot követelne a tanulmány szerint – mondta Gyarmati. (Forrás: Híradó)
5 September 2018 Ten passengers removed from a quarantined Emirates flight at New York's JFK. Cases involve fever, coughing, and flu-like symptoms. Fears abound that the sickened passengers could have contracted MERS - Middle East Respiratory Syndrome - which Saudi Arabia has been battling to control since 2012. (Source: Mail)
Brazil
3 Sep 2018 Brazil’s oldest and most important historical and scientific museum has been consumed by fire, and much of its archive of 20 million items is believed to have been destroyed. It was the biggest natural history museum in Latin America. The museum was part of Rio’s Federal University but had fallen into disrepair in recent years. Its impressive collections included items brought to Brazil by Dom Pedro I – the Portuguese prince regent who declared the then-colony’s independence from Portugal – Egyptian and Greco-Roman artefacts, “Luzia”, a 12,000 year-old skeleton and the oldest in the Americas, fossils, dinosaurs, and a meteorite found in 1784. Some of the archive was stored in another building but much of the collection is believed to have been destroyed. At the scene, several indigenous people gathered and criticised the fact that the museum containing their most precious artefacts has burned down seemingly because there was no money for maintenance of hydrants, yet the city had recently managed to find a huge budget to build a brand new museum of tomorrow. Rio’s fire chief Colonel Robaday said the firefighters did not have enough water at first because two hydrants were dry. Some Brazilians saw the fire as a metaphor for their country’s traumas as it battles terrifying levels of violent crime and the effects of a recession that has left more than 12 million people unemployed. (Source: TheGuardian)
Globalization
Sep 10, 2018 Seventeen years after Sept. 11, Al Qaeda may be stronger than ever. Estimates say it may have more than 20,000 militants in Syria and Yemen alone. It boasts affiliates across north Africa, the Levant and parts of Asia, and it remains strong around the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. Iraq: The United States went to war against Iraq in 2003. In victory, the U.S. disbanded the Iraqi army, putting hundreds of thousands of disgruntled men with military training on the street. Many rose up against what was perceived as a foreign invasion, feeding an insurgency that has never stopped. The insurgency gave birth to Al Qaeda in Iraq, a local affiliate that pioneered the use of terrorist attacks on Shiite Muslims, regarded as apostates by Sunni extremists. Yemen: After the twin tower attacks, Bush hailed Yemen’s then president, Saleh, as a vital partner in the war on terrorism. Saleh received what he called “limitless” U.S. support to fight the jihadists. He in turn gave the U.S. a free hand to conduct attacks against the group’s operatives, including controversial drone strikes, which began in 2002. But by January 2009, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula had emerged, and was soon considered the group’s most dangerous branch. President Obama unleashed special forces teams to hunt down those operatives. He also ramped up drone strikes, launching roughly 200 from 2009 to 2016. President Trump has launched 160. The strikes and raids often killed more civilians than militants. In late 2014, Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim rebels known as Houthis swept in from the country's northwest to seize the capital, Sana. Mukalla, Yemen’s third largest port became the centerpiece of an Al Qaeda fiefdom. The group rebranded itself as Ansar al Sharia (the supporters of Sharia), and slowly introduced Al Qaeda’s harsh form of Islamic law and governance. Under Trump, the United States has largely continued Obama’s policies in Yemen. It has given full support to an air campaign led by Saudi Arabia against the Houthis, despite criticism blaming the strikes for most of the 16,000 civilian casualties in Yemen since the war began. Somalia: The fall of Somalia’s government in 1991 led to the rise of Islamic Courts Union, a collection of clerical organizations that formed a sharia-based judiciary. Washington, suspecting links to Al Qaeda, supported the group’s enemies, and enlisted the Ethiopian army to crush it, which it did in 2006. In the de-facto occupation that followed, the Islamic Courts Union’s radical youth wing, the Shabab, grew as an independent resistance movement that took over most of Somalia’s central and southern regions. Despite its unpopular application of fundamentalist Wahhabi doctrine, residents tolerated it because it fought the Ethiopians, who are mostly Christian and have a long-standing enmity with Somalis. In 2012, it was declared as the new Al Qaeda affiliate. The change of status attracted a significant number of foreign fighters, including some from the U.S. US drone strikes along with support for African Union peacekeeping forces, flushed the Shabab out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011. It lost most of Somalia’s towns and cities. And in September 2014, a U.S. drone strike killed its leader, Godane, also known as Zubair. The group held sway in rural areas, where its estimated 4,000-6,000 militants make it one of Al Qaeda’s largest franchises. They carry out guerrilla attacks on African Union forces and civilian targets, and have launched attacks in others parts of East Africa, including the 2013 attack on the Westgate mall in Nairobi. Syria: On Dec. 23, 2011, a car bomb struck a residential neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, that was home to the State Security Directorate. The building was all but destroyed. That attack marked the debut of the Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s branch in Syria. U.S. officials, including former CIA director Petraeus, suggested arming and deploying the Al Qaeda jihadis to fight their former comrades in Islamic State. The group enjoyed popular support from civilians tired of dealing with rapacious opposition factions more interested in looting than fighting. The group (now known as the Organization for the Liberation of Syria) is estimated to have anywhere from 10,000-15,000 fighters, including foreign militants from as far afield as Albania and China. Libya: such as Belhaj, the former head of the Fighting Group, who fought with Laden in Afghanistan and was renditioned by the U.S. after 2001, have become powerful Islamist leaders, with a significant role in Libya’s chaotic politics. (Source: LATimes)
September 3, 2018 Total global debt is a whopping $169 trillion, up from $97 trillion on the eve of the Great Recession, Global debt soars, along with fears of crisis ahead. The loss of investor confidence in the Turkish lira, which has surrendered more than 40 percent of its value this year, is only a preview of debt problems that could engulf countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Russia and Indonesia. Argentina this week asked the International Monetary Fund to accelerate a planned $50 billion rescue as the peso crashed to a historic low. While previous debt crises involved U.S. households and, later, profligate European governments such as Greece, this time the concern centers on companies in emerging markets that borrowed heavily in dollars and euros. In Turkey, for example, companies and banks borrowed in recent years to finance bridges, hospitals, power plants and even a mammoth port development for cruise ships. Foreign investors, particularly European banks, lent freely in search of the higher returns these markets offered at a time when the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank were keeping interest rates low. Turkish borrowers, like those in other developing countries, may not have the dollars and euros to pay them back. That is in part because the Fed is raising interest rates in the midst of a healthier U.S. economy. The stronger dollar - along with the sinking lira - makes it increasingly expensive for Turkish borrowers to repay their dollar debts. Paying off a $100,000 loan at the start of this year would have required 379,000 lira. Now, that same loan would take more than 660,000 lira. Money is fleeing Turkey and similar markets precisely when many of the loans their companies took out in recent years are coming due. Globally, a record total of up to $10 trillion in corporate bonds must be refinanced over the next five years. Authorities in the United States and Europe took steps after the 2008 crisis to avoid a repeat episode. U.S. regulators required banks to hold significantly more emergency reserves. U.S. consumers whittled down their debts. In Europe, authorities forced overspending governments to embrace austerity programs. Yet debt has grown furiously and is almost 2 1/2 times the size of the global economy. Chinese borrowers have been the most active among developing markets, but 95 percent of corporate bonds in China are issued in yuan, minimizing the financial dangers. But for other emerging markets that borrowed in dollars and euros, rising interest rates will make it more expensive to borrow new money or refinance existing debt. That could trigger a wave of defaults by corporate borrowers, with problems spreading far beyond Turkey and ultimately into the United States. Among the chief casualties from Turkey’s plight will be European banks, especially Spanish institutions that have loaned Turkey more than $82 billion. The rising dollar also will erode the sales that major U.S. companies book overseas, which amount to roughly 40 percent of revenue for members of the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. (Source: SavannahNow)
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