Новости за 14.04.2024

By Michael Lipin

Iran has launched an aerial attack on Israel from Iranian territory, marking a major escalation in a long running conflict between the two rival regional powers. 

Iran’s top military force, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, issued a pre-dawn statement on Sunday saying that it launched “dozens of missiles and drones” from Iranian territory toward Israel. It said the attack was in retaliation for what Iranian officials say was an Israeli strike that killed... Читать дальше...

Israel is under attack by incoming Iranian drones and ballistic missiles. The Jordanian skies lit up with passing missiles and drones as they made their way to the Israeli depth. 

By James Broughel and John Berlau

The Biden administration has launched yet another attack against the cryptocurrency industry–an environmental impact “survey” to bolster a politically motivated attack on the crypto mining industry.  

Specifically, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA  — a statistical agency within the US Department of Energy, responsible for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating energy information — sought what it deemed to be an “emergency survey”... Читать дальше...

The author, a former Director General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, lays down the reasons for recognising the State of Palestine in order to create the conditions for a sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

By Brendan Brown

“Fast thinking” is a corrupting short-cut in mental processes which the late Daniel Kahneman identified by experiments in financial decision-making. Fast thinking plagues the market-place as it responds to the new threat of responses to Fed-led inflation. That threat had emerged even before the post-pandemic inflation starting in late 2022 cooled from its peak levels. The most recent surge in prices had materialized even though its symptoms in goods markets were tamed... Читать дальше...

The majority of the 2,440,000 people living in Russia’s enormous Arctic zone are working-age men who are often do not remain there for long even with high wages because the conditions of life are so difficult, according to Anatoly Shirokov, deputy head of the Federation Council’s committee that oversees the region.

By Yu Tao

Contrary to its depiction as an external influence, Christianity is deeply woven into modern China’s historical, cultural and political tapestry. Its presence has been notable in various pivotal movements, from the Taiping and Boxer Rebellions in the 19th century to the Christian presidents Sun Yat-sen and Chiang Kai-shek during the Republic of China era.

Yet, after the Communist Party established and consolidated its rule in the mid-20th century, the state’s approach to Christianity changed significantly. Читать дальше...

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is tying himself up in knots as he grudgingly, and only to a limited degree, bows to US President Joe Biden’s demands.

By Zachary Abuza

The State Administrative Council, as the junta is formally known, was shaken by the incursion of some 29 drones flown into Naypyitaw on April 4 that targeted the military headquarters, the Aye Lar airbase and leader Min Aung Hlaing’s palatial residence.

None did significant damage and the military claims to have brought down 13 drones. Anti-junta rebel forces claimed to have caused five casualties. 

While there was little physical damage, the psychological impact is more important. Читать дальше...

(RFE/RL) — The Israeli military late on April 13 said Iran had launched an extensive attack of drone aircraft toward Israel and that the flight time could take hours, which comes after Tehran seized an Israeli-linked ship in the Strait of Hormuz, stoking fears off a widespread Middle East conflict.

Six months into the Gaza war, and world opinion – widely in support of Israel’s initial onslaught on Hamas following the horrendous events of October 7 – has steadily hardened and turned.  Appeals for a pause in the fighting have grown ever more strident, culminating in the Resolution passed on March 25 by the UN Security Council calling for an immediate ceasefire.  The Resolution, while also demanding the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages held by Hamas, did not link the ceasefire call to the hostage release. Читать дальше...

Trump’s first criminal trial — the first criminal trial of a former president, ever — is scheduled to begin Monday. The 34-count business falsification case may be the only case against Trump to reach a verdict before the November election.

As two close Southeast Asian neighbors and natural partners, a robust Indonesia-Singapore partnership is crucial for regional stability and prosperity. In 2024, ongoing cooperation on critical issues, along with cognizance of possible pitfalls, will help steer this relationship forward.

By Andrés Henríquez

The third Sudanese civil war has terribly affected the entire country but especially the local Catholic Church, which — according to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) — has no seminarians and has practically disappeared from the country.

Since April 15, 2023, armed clashes have broken out in Sudan between the Army, commanded by President Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group led by Mohammed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo... Читать дальше...

By Daoud Kuttab

There is no doubt that the once-powerful, seemingly omnipotent Israeli intelligence services failed the country on Oct. 7. But the failures are not limited simply to the fact that they were unable to predict and prevent the attacks by Hamas; the biggest failure has been what has happened since then.

The first failure following the attacks was their inability to correctly survey and assess the likely results of a war on Gaza, in particular the ability to ensure... Читать дальше...

From robotic vacuum cleaners and smart fridges to baby monitors and delivery drones, the smart devices being increasingly welcomed into our homes and workplaces use vision to take in their surroundings, taking videos and images of our lives in the process. 

700 light years away from Earth in the constellation Virgo, the planet WASP-39b orbits the star WASP-39. The gas giant, which takes little more than four days to complete one orbit, is one of the best-studied exoplanets: Shortly after its commissioning in July 2022, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope turned its high-precision gaze on the distant planet.

An international group of researchers has uncovered significant insights into pre-industrial aerosol formation processes through a study conducted in a pristine Finnish peatland. The investigation aimed to understand atmospheric particle formation in an environment with minimal human influences, shedding light on historical climate conditions.  

Adults with heart disease risks who received daily reminders or incentives to become more active increased their daily steps by more than 1,500 after a year, and many were still sticking with their new habit six months later, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health that published in Circulation. The findings were simultaneously presented as late-breaking research at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Session.

Conspiracy theorists get a bad rap in popular culture, yet research has shown that most Americans believe conspiracy theories of some sort. Why then, if most of us believe conspiracies, do we generally think of conspiracy theorists as loony?  

In the rugged terrain of the western United States, where wildfires rage unchecked, a surprising connection emerges with the tumultuous skies of the central US. A recent study published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences explores the intriguing relationship between wildfires in the West and hailstorms in the Central US. At the core of this pioneering study led by Jiwen Fan, who was at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and is currently at Argonne National Laboratory, lies the innovative application... Читать дальше...

A study by the University of Southampton has found that market forces have provided good food price stability over the past half century, despite extreme weather conditions.

Concurrent occurrences of heatwaves and extreme short-term sea level rises at the same coastal locations significantly increased between 1998 and 2017 when compared to the preceding twenty years, reports a study published in Communications Earth & Environment. The study also suggests that these events may be five times more likely to occur between 2025 and 2049 under a modelled high emissions scenario.