Author: Micheal Webb

As the state-sponsored persecution of transgender Americans continues across large swathes of the United States this year, Tennessee has earned the dubious distinction of being the first state to pass a law banning drag performances in the presence of minors. How it will be enforced remains to be seen, but the law, which Republican governor Bill Lee signed along with a ban on gender-affirming care for minors early this month, goes into effect in just a few days, on 1 April. It stipulates that a first offence constitutes a misdemeanour punishable by a fine of $2,500 and up to one year in jail. A…

Washington | The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday (Thursday AEDT) designed to loosen controls on sharing military technology under the AUKUS agreement with Australia and Britain. The legislation would direct the US State Department to report to Congress on efforts to implement the advanced capabilities pillar of the AUKUS alliance, and to identify key export controls that Congress must ease to make the pact a success. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced earlier this month details of the AUKUS pact to deliver a new AUKUS submarine in Australia…

K-pop girl group BLACKPINK and Lady Gaga have been invited to perform for US president Joe Biden and South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol at an upcoming state dinner. According to a report by South Korean news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, the pop stars have been invited to perform at an upcoming US state dinner between US president Biden and South Korean president Yoon. Yoon is set to make a state visit to the US on April 26, which will feature a joint cultural event at a state dinner with the US president. The dinner will reportedly begin with an opening ceremony, at which BLACKPINK and Lady…

The US State Department has identified a number of “significant human rights issues in Poland”, including concerns over the rule of law, free speech, the treatment of migrants and ethnic minorities, LGBT rights, and access to sexual and reproductive health services. However, in its annual report on human rights practices, the State Department also praised Poland for its “quick, decisive actions to protect refugees from Ukraine” following Russia’s invasion last year. In the introduction to its country report on Poland, the State Department notes that “significant human rights issues included credible reports of: problems with the independence of the judiciary; restrictions on freedom…

The German federal government can’t find a strategy for Uzbekistan – and the most populous country in Central Asia is getting closer and closer to Russia and China.  For decades, the government of Central Asian Uzbekistan has been pursuing a “multi-vector foreign policy” and within the framework of this has expanded or curtailed relations with various major powers. But no matter how close Uzbek relations with Russia, China or the USA were: the country always had special relations with Germany – until now. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, there were mass movements for their own states in the Baltic…

The United States will provide the Czech Republic with $200 million, which will be partially used to compensate for the cost of weapons transferred to Ukraine. The US Embassy in the Czech Republic reports this. “The United States will provide another 200 million hryvnias under the military financing program in the Czech Republic. The money is intended to strengthen the Czech defense capability, protect against the increased threat from Russia, and help restore the Czech military potential after military supplies to Ukraine,” the message says. According to the CTK news agency, this is the second military grant the Czech Republic…

The practice of wooing peripheral states is as much a part of today’s budding U.S. rivalry with China as it was during the actual Cold War with the former Soviet Union. Indeed, the PRC has gone to tremendous lengths trying to create a sphere of influence in Washington’s backyard. In 2000, Chinese trade with Latin America sat at $12 billion. By 2021 the region had done over $430 billion worth of business with the PRC. China is in the business of resource acquisition, perhaps above any other type of business, and the commodity-rich states of Latin America have remained a…

US President Joe Biden may send a message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the Russians in a speech he is preparing to deliver in Poland. This was announced by the representative of the White House on national security John Kirby. “But I think you will hear messages in the President’s speech that will certainly resonate with the American people, will certainly resonate with our allies and partners, will no doubt resonate with the Polish people who have done and continue to do so much. And I — I suspect you will hear him send a message to Putin as well as…

Cars are designed and built all over the world, but one doesn’t tend to think of Canada as the focus of automotive manufacturing, electric or otherwise. And while several major car manufacturers, including the likes of Stellantis and GM, are investing in Canadian EV production, there has not been an all-Canadian EV – until now. Project Arrow, an all-Canadian effort, unveiled its electric prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last week. What is Project Arrow? The Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association (APMA) of Canada launched the first, original, full-build, zero-emission concept vehicle in response to Prime Minister…

When Avery Nixon started college in fall 2021 at Montclair State University in New Jersey, she was anxious about her writing proficiency after struggling academically in high school. But on her first day of a freshman composition course in college, her professor explained he would not be grading on grammar, spelling, punctuation, vocabulary or even the quality of the work. Instead, grades would focus on tasks like regular attendance and getting work in on time. Students meeting such requirements would get a B. “At that moment, I don’t think I had ever been so relieved in my life,” Nixon later wrote in her…