The search for rare earths for energy transition is often regarded as a form of neo-colonialism, and today it is the area in which this phenomenon manifests itself most clearly, especially due to its geopolitical and economic effects. However, there are other neo-colonial practices that are less visible but with equally negative consequences at the local level. One of these is the export of waste to Africa and Asia by Western countries, particularly the export of plastic, clothing, and electronic waste. The export of waste to the Global South is…
Uncle Sam Post
In the first week of Black History Month, President Donald Trump posted a racist depiction of former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on social media — a video clip showing the Obamas’ faces on apes. The post was later deleted, and the White House blamed a staffer for “erroneously” posting it. On Friday evening, Trump refused to apologize for the post: “I didn’t make a mistake,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. The post was one of dozens Trump shared in the middle of the night…
President Donald Trump’s comments on former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino’s podcast this week that he would like to see Republicans “nationalize” elections has some on Capitol Hill playing a guessing game. What exactly did Trump mean when he suggested that Republicans should “take over the voting … in at least many, 15 places”? “If he was on Dan’s show, and he’s catering to Dan’s audience, I’m sure there’s not going to be many Democrats listening to the show,” Rep. Jimmy Patronis, a Republican from Florida, mused about Trump’s comments…
The Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management director updated lawmakers, and outlined a “significant cleanup mission” planned for this summer. Rep. Nellie Jimmie, a Democrat from Toksook Bay, broke down in tears recounting her experience there the night ex-Typhoon Halong made landfall on the west coast of Alaska in October. “We didn’t sleep the whole night, and this was the first time I’ve ever felt so helpless, where I knew I couldn’t protect my own daughter,” she told fellow lawmakers at a joint hearing with the House Tribal…
The cocaine market exploded between 2014 and 2023. Production in Colombia increased more than sevenfold to nearly 2,700 tonnes, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Behind the scenes, drug traffickers find equally illicit ways to pay their suppliers and foot soldiers, or to spend the proceeds of their criminal trade. Their solution? Money laundering. It is estimated that 25% of the funds collected is laundered. Criminals generally launder money in three stages: firstly, they inject it into the financial system; secondly, they layer it with…
In January 2026, the death of Renée Good, a mother of three in Minneapolis, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, and the subsequent fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse, by federal agents, sparked outrage and protests within the US. Nobel laureate Daron Acemoglu of Massachusetts Institute of Technology swiftly diagnosed the malady in a Project Syndicate piece. This could be “a turning point,” he declared. The killings represented “a key distinguishing feature of authoritarian governments” – the ability to deploy excessive force against opponents. The Trump…
Few ideas in global finance generate as much anxiety as de-dollarization. To some Western observers, any attempt to reduce reliance on the US dollar is automatically framed as a political challenge to American power. Yet for much of the developing world, the conversation is far less ideological and far more practical. The push to diversify global payment systems and promote the use of local currencies is not about confrontation; it is a response to economic realities that many countries have lived with for decades. The dominance of the dollar has…
China has executed 11 members of a notorious mafia family that ran scam centres in Myanmar along its north-eastern border, state media report. The Ming family members were sentenced in September for various crimes including homicide, illegal detention, fraud and operating gambling dens by a court in China’s Zhejiang province. The Mings were one of many clans that ran the town of Laukkaing, transforming an impoverished backwater town into a flashy hub of casinos and red-light districts. Their scam empire came crashing down in 2023, when they were detained and…
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump once again turned on the klieg lights by launching a new major international initiative – the “Board of Peace.” Though this multilateral body is supposed to start with managing the post-conflict restoration and future development of the Gaza Strip, many argue that its real goal has a larger scale and might reflect the US president’s ambition to find an efficient alternative to the UN, which he shows no respect for. If the pilot Gaza project turns out to be a success story, this model…
A total of 377 San Diegans took their lives in 2024, a 3% increase in the suicide rate from the previous year, according to a report released Tuesday by the county’s Suicide Prevention Council. The number of suicides in San Diego County is a decrease from 8% in 2016 and 4% from 2020. The council’s 2025 Report to the Community provides an overview of deaths from suicide, emergency department visits from suicide attempts and data from people who have thought about, considered or have planned suicide. “The data we are…