by Yvonne Ridley

27 June 2019; MEMO: It never ceases to amaze me how some of the most mediocre and uninspiring people somehow manage to reach the top of their profession. Among the most asinine, in my opinion, are the lacklustre US National Security Adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, men who are to international diplomacy what Boris Johnson is to honesty and fidelity.

by Yvonne Ridley

26 June 2019; MEMO: The Trump administration’s vision for a futuristic-looking Gaza Strip is like something dreamed up by a Hollywood theme park, with pristine beaches reaching out into the calm, blue waters of the Mediterranean. It ignores the fact that these are the same beaches where children playing football in the sand and Palestinian families enjoying a picnic have been killed by Israeli bombs.

By Seema Khan

One of the most crying need and ignored issue today is the need to control the India population, which could be one of the root cause of many problems - social, environmental, civic, crime, unemployment and many other.

by Mohamed Elmenshawy

I was not surprised by the news that the administration of US President Donald Trump intends to postpone the announcement of the political part of the “deal of the century” until the formation of an Israeli government by November. This has raised questions in the US about the feasibility of presenting the plan at all.

by Robert Andrews

Seventy-one years since the Nakba the State of Israel finds itself at the height of its self-confidence and pride. The change in US administration, the spring in Israel’s relations with Arab and Muslim countries, and a burgeoning high-tech industry, have combined to create a more favourable political and social milieu for Israel to pursue its interests.

by Muhammad Hussein

By TOM KRISHER and LUIS ANDRES HENAO

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — As authorities in Argentina try to figure out why electricity surged on a transmission line and touched off a massive blackout covering three nations, experts say power companies should have spotted the problem and taken action to limit the outage.

While government officials say it could have happened anywhere, U.S. industry experts say safeguards put in place after the giant Northeast blackout in 2003 would likely stop a recurrence.

by Yvonne Ridley

18 June 2019; MEMO: Mohamed Morsi will forever be remembered as Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, something that his enemies can never take away from him. Yesterday, he collapsed and died in a Cairo courtroom just moments after he had addressed the hearing from a cage; he was facing ludicrous charges of espionage linked to the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.

by Andreas Spaeth

16 June 2019; DW: The annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Seoul earlier this month was already a harbinger for the changes taking place in the civil aviation industry.

The IATA gathering brings together the world's aircraft makers and their airline customers and normally provides the stage for the competitive rivalry between Boeing and Airbus, which display their business prowess in front of and behind the scenes.

by Xinhua writers Ren Ke, Feng Junwei, Qu Junya

MADRID, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Supported by the Huawei technology, Vodafone Espana commercialized the first 5G mobile services in Spain on Saturday.

The ultra-fast and low-latency 5G network is the infrastructure that can make a huge difference. About half of the population in 15 major Spanish cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Seville are initially involved, which makes the country among the first that rolled out 5G services in Europe.

by Liu Chuntao, Naim-Ul-karim

DHAKA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a leading project of China to foster economic connectivity, promote industrialization and common development of participating countries and people, said the Deputy Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah.

"We highly appreciate the Belt and Road Initiative," the senior parliamentarian of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League party told Xinhua Sunday.

by Teri Schultz

Turkey currently has military personnel in Russia learning how to operate the new surface-to-air missile system it says will be delivered next month. In the United States, Turkish pilots are training on the F-35 fighter jets their government has ordered from Lockheed Martin. 

Washington has made clear to Ankara that if it continues trying to play both sides by going through with the delivery of the Russian S-400, Turkish pilots will leave the US and the F-35s will stay home.