Global Courant
Putin, Xi and Modi met virtually
The leaders of Russia, China and India – the three largest powers attempting to reform a US-dominated world order – gathered via video at a virtual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, each focusing on their own driving problems.
The annual meeting – set up in 2001 by China and Russia and in which Pakistan and Central Asian countries participate – offered no dramatic explanation of changing alliances. But it did provide a glimpse of how a regional bloc formed to counter Western influence could coalesce and navigate their competing priorities.
China and India: There was no mention of growing friction between Beijing and New Delhi over border disputes and India’s membership in the Quad, a security-oriented coalition with the US that sees China as a tool to contain it.
Xi Jinping, China’s president, instead reiterated long-held grievances against the US by calling for an end to “hegemonism” and “power politics”. Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, urged the forum to condemn countries that “use terrorism as an instrument of their policies” – a veiled reference to Pakistan, which accuses India of supporting militants in the disputed Kashmir region.
Russia: President Vladimir Putin called for a new “multipolar” world, trying to show solidarity with powers not aligned with the West. He tried to show strength and domestic stability in the aftermath of the Wagnerian mercenary group’s uprising.
Violence in Israel and the West Bank
Eight people were injured in a car-ramming and stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, raising fears of tit-for-tat violence as the Israeli army conducted a second day of operations in the West Bank city of Jenin. The Palestinian militant group Hamas praised the attack, which Israeli authorities called an act of terrorism.
The Palestinian death toll in the Jenin operation, the highest Israel has sustained in years in the area, has risen to 12, according to Palestinian health officials. At least 120 people were injured, 20 of them in serious condition, the Palestinian health ministry said.
A day after Israel launched the operation, an effort to wipe out Palestinian armed groups, about 1,000 troops continued to search the camp yesterday. Although gunshots and explosions could still be heard occasionally, the situation in the refugee camp was “calmer today than yesterday,” Jenin’s deputy governor said.
Civilians: Up to 3,000 of the camp’s approximately 17,000 residents have sought shelter in schools and other public buildings, or with families elsewhere. A Jenin official said there was no electricity or running water in the camp because of the devastation caused by the operation.
Background: Long a militant stronghold, Jenin was at the center of escalating tensions and violence in the year leading up to the raid.
India’s growing space ambitions
When the pandemic started, India had only five aerospace technology start-ups. Now there are at least 140. The new companies give the country a competitive edge in the global space industry and are poised to transform the planet’s connection to the final frontier.
Space tech is one of India’s most sought-after sectors for venture capital investors, with start-ups raising $120 million in new funding last year, at a rate that doubles or triples annually. And there’s a big global market, especially for launches.
The Indian Space Research Organization’s “workhorse” rocket, the local version of NASA, is one of the most reliable in the world for heavy payloads. With a success rate of nearly 95 percent, it has halved the cost of insurance for a satellite, making India one of the most competitive launch sites in the world.
Geopolitics: The US is calling for more cooperation between US and Indian companies in the space economy. Both countries see space as an arena in which India can emerge as a counterbalance to China. Russia is no longer globally competitive since it invaded Ukraine.
THE LAST NEWS
Asia Pacific
Vietnam has banned Greta Gerwig’s upcoming film ‘Barbie’ over its use of a map in the South China Sea. The scene in question features the so-called nine-dash line, a U-shaped dotted line on a map that indicates territory that both China and Vietnam claim as their own.
ART AND IDEAS
25 years of Bridget Jones
In 1998, when Bridget Jones, Helen Fielding’s ditsy heroine, was introduced to the American public in the novel “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” she became an instant sensation. The book follows a year in the life of a single London woman in her thirties who navigates personal and professional turmoil.
At the time The Times said: “People will pass around copies of ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’ for a reason: it nicely portrays how modern women balance between ‘I’m a woman’ independence and a pathetic girlish desire to be everything to all men. . ”
On the 25th anniversary of the publication, my colleague Elisabeth Egan re-evaluated Bridget, who compulsively tracked her weight and endured sexual harassment. Bridget is witty, sure. But she deserved better, writes Elizabeth. All women did.
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to cook
Dress this up watermelon chaat with cumin and mango powder.
What to read
Beth Nguyen explores how her childhood as a Vietnamese refugee influenced her own upbringing in ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’.
What to watch
“Every Body,” a documentary, is a candid look at the lives of three openly intersex people.
Now time to play
Play the mini crossword and a clue: capital of Egypt (five letters).
