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TOPIC: united kingdom

Geopolitics

AUKUS: Bold Deterrent Or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Of A Future War With China?

AUKUS, the security pact between the US, the UK, and Australia, is beginning to take shape. Its aim is to deter China, but it risks drawing the Indo-Pacific region into a military conflict.

-Analysis-

You might remember AUKUS, the security pact between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Under the pact, the US and UK will assist Australia in acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.

For France, its foundation 18 months ago meant the termination of the French submarine mega-contract with Australia. The process of reconciliation with these countries was gradual: first with the United States, then with Australia thanks to a change of government, and finally with the British, who were closer and therefore more difficult to forgive.

But AUKUS (the acronym for Australia-United Kingdom, United States) hadn't been mentioned much until Monday, when U.S President Joe Biden welcomed on a San Diego submarine base his British and Australian counterparts, Prime Ministers Rishi Sunak and Anthony Albanese. The aim? To give weight to this alliance between the three English-speaking powers in the face of an opponent that’s never been addressed: China, of course.

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Nicola Sturgeon's Surprise Resignation: Three Big Questions Left Open For Scotland

For both her party and her longtime quest for Scottish referendum, Sturgeon leaves several crucial dossiers wide open.

When Jacinda Ardern resigned as New Zealand’s prime minister a few weeks ago, Nicola Sturgeon assured voters she still had plenty left in the tank. Yet apparently, Scotland’s first minister had been thinking about her own future for some time. She said so in her resignation speech on Wednesday, which came as a surprise to much of Scotland.

Despite a recent and consistent wave of difficulty and controversy over the gender recognition reform bill, the quest for another independence referendum, a finance investigation into the Scotland National Party (SNP) and an ongoing “ferry fiasco”, there was no clear indication that Sturgeon was going to quit.

Having been in parliament since the age of 29 and Scotland’s leader since 2014, Sturgeon is both the first female, and longest serving, first minister. She said she will stay on until her successor is elected. But that successor will inherit a government wrestling with several controversies and constitutional questions.

Sturgeon’s life’s mission of Scottish independence remains unfulfilled – and Scotland is deeply divided about a second attempt at the referendum of independence from Britain — dubbed “indyref2”.

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Zelensky In UK, Balloon Debris Up Close, LeBron’s Record Night

👋 Hay!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to visit some of the areas affected by the earthquake that has killed more than 11,000 in Turkey and Syria, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky is on a surprise visit to the UK, and LeBron James breaks an NBA record that has stood since 1984. Meanwhile, Portuguese-language digital magazine Questão de Ciência boldly makes the distinction between Star Trek science-fiction and pseudoscience.

[*Aklan, Philippines]

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This Happened — February 4: The Yalta Conference Begins

On this day between in 1945, following the events of World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt of the United States, Winston Churchill of the United Kingdom, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union met to discuss the postwar reorganization of a war-torn Europe.

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In The News
Ginevra Falciani & Renate Mattar

New $2 billion Ukraine Aid Package, Peshawar Suspects Arrested, The Last 747

👋 Ekamowir omo!*

Welcome to Wednesday, where the U.S. is readying another $2 billion in military support to Ukraine, suspects are arrested in the Peshawar mosque bombing and the long (jumbo) life of Boeing’s 747 reaches a final milestone. Meanwhile, French daily Les Echos reports on the emerging haute cuisine culture rising around gluten-free.

[*Nauruan, Nauru]

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LGBTQ Plus
Laura Valentina Cortès Sierra, Riley Sparks, and Hugo Perrin

LGBTQ+ International: UK v. Scotland On Gender, Uganda Ends “Vagabond” Laws — And Other News

Welcome to Worldcrunch’s LGBTQ+ International. We bring you up-to-speed each week on a topic you may follow closely at home, but can now see from different places and perspectives around the world. Discover the latest news on everything LGBTQ+ — from all corners of the planet. All in one smooth scroll!

This week featuring:

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Ideas
Siddharth Varadarajan

Rishi Sunak, One British Lesson That India Should Heed

Britain has a new prime minister of Indian origin, Rishi Sunak. In India, Muslims are regularly stigmatized and excluded from public life. Sunak taking the UK's top job is a proud moment, but it should also be a moment for introspection.

-Essay-

NEW DELHI — I lived in London from 1979 to 1986 — as a student rather than as a migrant — but saw enough of British life then to appreciate exactly how far the country has travelled in the 36 years since I left its shores.

I was 14 when my father was posted to London, and 21 when I moved to New York. In those seven years, I completed my ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels from a comprehensive school in a South London working class neighborhood and went on to read economics at the London School of Economics.

Margaret Thatcher was prime minister throughout this time, casual racist violence by fascist thugs from the National Front and British National Party was a fairly routine occurrence and the racism of the police — especially towards young people from the Black community — was a fact of life.

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Economy
Alan Shipman

Rishi Sunak — It's The Economy, Smarty

Nobody questions the new British Prime Minister's intelligence, or even his performance as Chancellor of the Exchequer. But the economic conditions after the debacle of his predecessor Liz Truss leaves little margin for error for Rishi Sunak.

As the incoming UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak has the immediate advantage of perceived success in his two years as chancellor.

His tenure ended last July when he resigned due to a difference of opinion with then-prime minister Boris Johnson over the economy. But during his time as chancellor, he is credited with rescuing households and businesses from the effects of the COVID pandemic lockdowns by launching an innovative and impressively timely furlough scheme. He reversed a “small state” approach to become the private sector’s temporary paymaster, spending an unprecedented £70 billion to shorten the recession.

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In The News
Anne-Sophie Goninet, Laure Gautherin and Bertrand Hauger

Sunak Eyes 10 Downing, Battle For Kherson, Cheating Hats

👋 Salaam alaykum!*

Welcome to Monday, where Boris Johnson pulls out of the race to replace Liz Truss, China’s leader Xi Jinping gets reelected for a third time, and the fight against cheating at exams gets creative in the Philippines. Meanwhile, London-based, Persian-language daily Kayhan spoke with a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who is undermining the regime’s crackdown of the month-long protest movement.

[*Somali]

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Ideas
Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd*

Rishi Sunak May Become Britain's First Hindu Prime Minister — A Lesson For India

Rishi Sunak, a Hindu of Indian origin, is in the running to become the UK's next prime minister. His religion has not factored at all into debates — a fierce contrast to a religiously divided India.

This article was updated on October 23 at 5:45 p.m. EST

-Analysis-

NEW DELHI — Rishi Sunak, a British politician of Indian origin, is now the clear frontrunner to be the next prime minister of the United Kingdom after Boris Johnson''s announcement that he won't seek the leadership of the Conservative party following the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss.

Sunake is the most recent person of Indian descent in the West to try to reach the political pinnacle, coming on the heels of Kamala Harris’s arrival as U.S. vice president.

Britain was once the colonial master of India. From an Indian point of view, the British prime minister is the historical political head of an empire of exploitation – and also, let us remember, an empire of reform. Were it not for British colonial rule, and the rights-oriented struggle for freedom against it, India would not have become a democratic, constitutional republic in 1947, however loudly we claim that the roots of our democracy lie in our ancient structures, whether Hindu or Buddhist.

All major aspects of our freedom struggle and colonial life were linked to the British political system. Particularly from the beginning of the 20th century, Indians considered the British prime minister the symbol of colonial rule, the man to revile or to appeal to.

Given this historical context, that a man of Indian origin stands a realistic chance of becoming the British prime minister shows how the world is changing.

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Geopolitics
Etienne Lefebvre

Liz Truss Is The Sorry Face Of Post-Brexit Britain

Liz Truss' record-setting short time in office showed that the UK cannot do whatever it pleases — even now that it's left the EU.

-Analysis-

PARIS — The “next Margaret Thatcher” didn't stay in office very long. And in view of her radical project and personality, this is clearly no surprise — she actually had very little in common with the Iron Lady.

Liz Truss remained in 10 Downing Street for exactly 45 days, the shortest stint ever for a British prime minister. But this was already enough time to prove just how empty her economic program was.

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Geopolitics
Bertrand Hauger

“Lady Disastro”: 25 International And UK Front Pages As Liz Truss Resigns In Record Time

Calling it quits after just 44 days in office, Liz Truss now has the dubious honor of being Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister.

Prime Minister Liz Truss’s extra short reign is likely to go down as a (double) footnote in the history books — easily forgotten after a record-setting reign of only 44 days, though squeezing in the honor of being prime minister during the passage of the crown from Queen Elizabeth to King Charles.

But for at least one (more) day, at least, Truss was a front-page sensation Friday both on UK newspapers and tabloids mocking “the worst PM we’ve ever had” and the rest of the world looking on at the sad state of British politics.

Here is our selection of front pages, from London and beyond:

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