May, 2021

• 29 May

  China Seen Expanding Military Capability In Space, But Not Yet On Mars Or Moon – Analysis

  China’s military may be examining its decades-old space program for ways to improve data collection and disrupt the satellites of other countries if needed, analysts said this week following a Mars landing and a debris crash into the Indian Ocean. Earlier this month China placed a rover on Mars, the …

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• 29 May

  Why Economic Models Can’t Provide A Realistic Picture Of Human Behavior – Analysis

  While in the natural sciences a laboratory experiment can isolate various elements and their movements can be followed through, there is no equivalent in the economic discipline. The introduction of econometrics and model building is an attempt to produce a laboratory where controlled experiments can be conducted. The idea of …

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• 29 May

  Economics And The Study Of Race – Analysis

  In the wake of last summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, many have asked themselves what they are doing to tackle racial injustice. For economists, one central question is the extent to which the profession has examined the causes and consequences of racial inequality. This column reports evidence that race-related research …

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• 29 May

  WFP boosts assistance in Lebanon as economic crisis deepens

  The World Food Program said on Wednesday it is tripling its assistance to Lebanon, offering cash assistance to nearly 300,000 people amid an unparalleled financial and economic crisis. Lebanon’s national currency has lost nearly 85% of its dollar value since late 2019, sending prices of basic goods soaring in a …

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• 29 May

  Houthi missiles fall on border village in southwestern Saudi Arabia

  Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said on Wednesday that several missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthi militia from inside Yemen landed in the Kingdom. Lt. Col. Mohannad bin Jasser Zailai, deputy media spokesman for the Civil Defense Directorate in Jazan region, said authorities attended the site to find five missiles near …

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• 29 May

  Bitcoin Bandits Banned from Burrowing, Blamed for Bleeding Burdened Battery

  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday announced a four-month ban on all cryptocurrency mining, citing widespread power outages that have hamstrung the Islamic Republic earlier than usual this year. “Today everybody has a few miners laying around and are producing bitcoins,” the frustrated Rouhani told his cabinet. The practice of …

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• 29 May

  Blinken Departs Middle East After Crammed Visit

  US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his two-day visit to the Middle East Wednesday evening, after meeting regional leaders in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Cairo and Amman in an effort to shore up the Israeli-Hamas cease-fire reached last week. During his trip, the US’s top diplomat made several announcements of …

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• 29 May

  Iran’s Guardian Council Predetermines Election Results

  Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday expressed his support for the nation’s Guardian Council decision, announced Wednesday, to disqualify a string of reformist candidates from running in the upcoming presidential elections. The move, which all but ensures victory for hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi, who currently serves as Iran’s chief …

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• 29 May

  ‘No Case’: Serbian Marijuana Probe Points, in Vain, to North Macedonia

  Despite grounds for suspicion, prosecutors in North Macedonia are not investigating the country’s link to an illegal marijuana operation in Serbia. In February this year, prosecutors in Serbia sent a letter to their counterparts in neighbouring North Macedonia requesting their help on an investigation into an illegal marijuana operation discovered …

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• 29 May

  Albanians Question Benefit of US Ban on Berisha

  Following the shock decision to designate Albania’s former president and PM ‘corrupt’, experts are divided on whether the gesture will do Albanian democracy more harm than good. The US State Department decision to declare Albania’s former prime minister and president Sali Berisha persona non grata for corruption shocked many Albanians, …

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