David Gardner, Financial Times
Trump’s benevolence towards the Russian president cannot be relied on
Sen. Mitt Romney with Bush Institute
Senator Mitt Romney’s role on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he leads a subcommittee on the Middle East, places the Utah Republican in the middle of debates over the modern clash between democracy and authoritarianism. Of course, his role as the 2012 GOP presidential nominee also gave him a prominent platform to discuss America’s role in the world.
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A. Vacroux, Russia Matters
The coronavirus hit Russia late, but is now gathering steam. This week, identified cases have been increasing by around 6,000 daily. As elsewhere, we can assume that unidentified infections are spreading much faster. How has Russia reacted? Among other things Russia has responded by drawing on some of its useful experience controlling tuberculosis since the collapse of the Soviet Union, by suffering from the weaknesses of an imperfectly reformed health system and... Читать дальше...
Christian Oliver, Politico EU
Thomas Hobbes is emerging as the philosopher of the pandemic, but was he really advocating a superstate?
Laya & Bartenstein, Bl.
Out of cash and desperate for help in propping up its oil industry, Venezuela is raiding its gold vaults and handing tons of bars to its long-time ally Iran, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
M.G. Barbera, BI
Rights activists and fact checkers are questioning the legitimacy of the methods that the authorities are applying to curb the transmission of fake news – and whether they are working.
Economist
Shelly Kittleson, Al Monitor
An uptick in Islamic State (IS) attacks in Iraq’s Diyala province, which borders Iran but also stretches south to the outskirts of the capital, has concerned Iraqi officials and analysts.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/04/iraq-isis-diyala-jelawla-terrorism-security.html#ixzz6L7mKQLm3
Vladimir Kara-Murza, The American Interest
New developments in Prague, involving a suitcase of ricin and a diplomatic spat, suggest that Putin still is afraid—over five years after Nemtsov’s grisly demise.
Benjamin Wilhelm, WP Review
China’s nearly half-century-long run of growth came to a screeching halt earlier this month, as data released by the Chinese government revealed that its once-booming economy shrank year-on-year during the first three months of 2020. It was one of the most remarkable signs of the destruction inflicted on the global economy during the COVID-19 pandemic: an end to an economic boom that had weathered calamities like...
Katherine Walla, Atlantic Council
On the heels of news that Africa may be spared the worst impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, African officials and advisers are calling for vigilance across the continent. While the hardest-hit countries still boast fewer than six thousand cases, “in the past four weeks or so, they have seen a 500 percent increase,” warned Dr. John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for...
Andres Oppenheimer, Miami Herald
According to Venezuela’s official statistics, the country has one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world. In reality, Venezuela may be the biggest untold coronavirus story around — and a time bomb ready to explode.
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