Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold a virtual meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in a show of solidarity ahead of high-level talks between Washington and Moscow. During the talks by video link, Xi and Putin will watch the launch ceremony of an expanded China-Russia nuclear energy project, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Tuesday. It will mark the construction of four new reactors at two nuclear plants in China, in Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces, both of which use Russian technology, according to Chinese media reports. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the two countries aimed to further strengthen bilateral relations and…

A year ago, as the pandemic ravaged country after country and economies shuddered, consumers were the ones panic-buying. Today, on the rebound, it’s companies furiously trying to stock up.  Mattress producers to car manufacturers to aluminum foil makers are buying more material than they need to survive the breakneck speed at which demand for goods is recovering and assuage that primal fear of running out. The frenzy is pushing supply chains to the brink of seizing up. Shortages, transportation bottlenecks and price spikes are nearing the highest levels in recent memory, raising concern that a supercharged global economy will stoke inflation. Copper, iron…

“Israel has the right to defend itself.” These are the words we hear from both Democratic and Republican administrations whenever the government of Israel, with its enormous military power, responds to rocket attacks from Gaza. Let’s be clear. No one is arguing that Israel, or any government, does not have the right to self-defense or to protect its people. So why are these words repeated year after year, war after war? And why is the question almost never asked: “What are the rights of the Palestinian people?” And why do we seem to take notice of the violence in Israel and…

  The second wave of Covid-19 will affect the economy negatively. Most forecasters expect that the fall in output compared to pre-pandemic levels will be less than in the first quarter last year when the full lockdown was imposed. But while the economy will do better than last year, it is expected not to reach pre-pandemic levels this year due to the second wave. Growth forecasts for Indian economy in 2021-22 were in double digits, mostly about 12 to 13 per cent. These have been pared down after the second wave. JP Morgan has predicted that instead of 13 per cent, GDP…

The growing ferocity of Israel’s military offensive on Gaza amid continued rocket attacks by Hamas has largely overtaken the original crisis that triggered it just 50 miles away in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem. The current crisis began earlier this month with Palestinian demonstrations against the imminent expulsion of some eighteen families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in order to put Israeli settlers in their place. The expulsions are part of a broader effort by radical settler groups and Israeli authorities targeting the homes of dozens of Palestinian families. Palestinian demonstrators were met with a massive show of force by Israeli authorities who responded with tear gas, stun grenades, sponge-tipped…