Pegasus: the spyware technology that threatens democracy Pegasus, the winged divine horse from Greek mythology, symbolises a range of things. The mythological salad can include many symbolic narratives — ranging from soul’s immortality to poetic inspiration — even the Marxist eschatological myth of the withering away of the state. The Pegasus Project is a raging …
US may annoy adversaries but means no harm
The US Congress in night session after rioters were evicted and Capitol building was sanitised, Washington, DC, January 6, 2021 Atonement becomes an inevitable process as the decline of a superpower begins accelerating. But imperial powers find it genuinely difficult to learn to become a ‘normal’ country. That dichotomy could cause traumatic events. The sack …
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The endgame in Belarus is in view
Massive protests in Minsk after lull of few weeks, Oct 25, 2020 After a lull of the past 3-4 weekends, the anti-government protests in Minsk, Belarus, roared back to life today. This comes in the wake of three things. One, there are some incipient signs that Moscow feels frustrated with the Belarus strongman President Alexander …
Pompeo threatens to light the fuse in Persian Gulf
The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz transits the Strait of Hormuz as the flagship of US Carrier Strike Group, Sept 18, 2020 (US Navy photo) The US Fifth Fleet announced on September 18 that a Carrier Strike Group comprising USS Nimitz passed through the Strait of Hormuz with the guided-missile cruisers USS Princeton and USS Philippine …
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A high-flying US senator warns Modi against Putin
Russian Ka-226T helicopter to be produced under ‘Make in India’ is advantageous in high-altitude environments. (File photo) The Nikkei Asian Review, well-known for its anti-China reportage, featured an article in the weekend titled India should ignore Putin’s offer to broker accord with China. The author is none other than Marco Rubio, the high-flying Republican senator …
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Australia ‘decouples’ from US China policy
“Shared values but independent thinking”: Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne (L) & US State Secretary Pompeo, Washington, Jul 29, 2020 The Asian chancelleries have a great deal to mull over after the extraordinary joint press conference by the US and Australia following the AUSMIN meeting of their foreign and defence ministers in Washington, DC, on …
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India shouldn’t align with Five Eyes
The Five Eyes has been in the vanguard of Hong Kong protests Against the backdrop of border tensions in Ladakh, the Indian media narratives have ascribed to our foreign-policy lurch toward the Quad and the overall tilt to the US, the breakdown of mutual trust in India-China relations. Chinese statements have repeatedly expressed regret that …
Russian bounty killing forces Trump’s hands on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan
Pakistan army chief Gen. Qamar Bajwa (L) met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (R) in Kabul, June 9, 2020 As expected, the controversy over Russia’s alleged bounties for killing American and NATO troops in Afghanistan is steadily snowballing. The New York Times has come out with more leaks such as bank transfers from accounts identified with …
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China warns Trump not to risk trade deal
The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry operates with the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan in the Philippine Sea on May 30, 2020. If there is one template on which the Carnegie Endowment of Peace for International Peace, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post can agree with China’s Xinhua news agency and the CGTN in the present-day …
Pompeo and the capricious virus
Sanitising the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh against the coronavirus in the holy city of Qom, Iran, February 25, 2020. File photo Iran has delivered a devastating blow to the ego of the Trump administration, puncturing it beyond repair, by its announcement Sunday that mosques will start reopening in low-risk areas of the country from May …