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What is the United States ‘gun lobby’ and how powerful is it?

~ Trần Đình Hoành ~ Bình luận về bài viết này

President Joe Biden has called on legislators to ‘stand up’ to the gun lobby following a massacre at a Texas primary school.

Columbine
Advocates say the powerful gun lobby in the US has prevented federal gun control reforms for decades [File: Brennan Linsley/Associated Press]

By Joseph Stepansky

Published On 25 May 202225 May 2022 Al Jareaza

A massacre at a Texas primary school has again drawn attention to the powerful gun lobby in the United States, with Democratic officials blaming Republican legislators for remaining beholden to influential pro-gun interests that advocates say have stalled national gun reforms.

President Joe Biden, speaking hours after an 18-year-old gunman stormed the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, fatally shooting 19 children and two teachers on Tuesday, asked: “When, in God’s name, are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?”.

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Former President Barack Obama, who was in office when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012, said the US “is paralysed, not by fear, but by a gun lobby and a political party that have shown no willingness to act in any way that might help prevent these tragedies”.

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Council on Foreign Relations: Monitor World Conflicts

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Council on Foreign Relations: Monitor World Conflicts
  
 Tensions in the East China Sea The Global Conflict Tracker identifies conflicts around the world, follows their evolution, and assesses their impact on U.S. national security. Our newly redesigned and expertly researched tool from CFR’s Center for Preventive Action includes live data, background information, the latest developments, and critical resources to provide insight on the world’s strife.
Explore the Immersive Map
 
 
Conflict in Ukraine
Conflict status: Worsening
Russia’s military invasion risks a wider European conflict. Stay up to date.
War in Afghanistan
Conflict status: Worsening
Decades of instability continue amid the 2021 Taliban takeover. Read about the history.
North Korea Crisis
Conflict status: Unchanging
The nation’s leader continues to provoke a global crisis with his nuclear ambitions. Learn about attempts at rapprochement.
Conflict with Al-Shabab
Conflict status: Unchanging
Up to 450 U.S. troops return to Somalia for a mission against the al-Qaeda affiliate. Stay current.
Monitor Conflicts and Their Effects
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‘Looty’ project launches digital art heists to reclaim African artifacts

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'Looty' project launches digital art heists to reclaim African artifacts
View of a computer-rendered image, with an added design to a looted artwork from Nigeria, that now resides in a British museum, with project’s aim to give part of its non-fungible token (NFT) sale proceeds to fund young African artists, in this handout obtained May 23, 2022. Looty Art/Handout via REUTERS
'Looty' project launches digital art heists to reclaim African artifacts
Screenshot of the design process on an image of a looted artwork from Nigeria, that now resides in a British museum, with project’s aim to give part of its non-fungible token (NFT) sale proceeds to fund young African artists, in this handout obtained May 23, 2022. Looty Art/Handout via REUTERS

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What a Nobel laureate’s take on Donald Trump reveals about today

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Opinion by Jane Greenway Carr

Updated 1734 GMT (0134 HKT) May 22, 2022, CNN

'It is White supremacy': CNN speaks to son of Buffalo massacre victim

(CNN) Shortly after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison wrote in The New Yorker: “Unlike any nation in Europe, the United States holds whiteness as the unifying force. Here, for many people, the definition of ‘Americanness’ is color.” Reflecting on efforts — largely by White men — to define themselves by sustaining that poisonous definition, Morrison argues that those “who are prepared to abandon their humanity out of fear of black men and women, suggest the true horror of lost status.”

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Hints of a new North Korea nuclear strategy

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Hints of a new North Korea nuclear strategy

An earlier version of this article appeared in The Japan Times.

For more from this author, visit his recent chapter of Comparative Connections.

Make no mistake: North Korea leader Kim Jong Un truly believes he needs nuclear weapons.

For years, that need reflected a single objective: the protection and maintenance of his regime. A nuclear arsenal was a defensive tool—a deterrent—to ensure that no foreign power would attack his country and end the Cold War division of the Korean Peninsula. Kim’s rationale for possessing nuclear weapons seems to be shifting and his rhetoric and accompanying military developments indicate a new focus—the acquisition of a war-fighting capability.

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NATO Expansion? That’s (Maybe) Gonna Be a No From Turkey, Dawg

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Foreign Policy situation report,May 19, 2022

After months of flirting with it, Finland and Sweden have finally decided they want to tie the knot with NATO and join the military alliance. (Thanks again, Russian President Vladimir Putin.) The two countries are meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday morning.

Joining NATO, however, isn’t a simple process, even for two developed democracies with strong militaries that seem like just the right fit for the alliance.

It takes unanimous consent from all 30 NATO members, ratified by votes in parliaments (and in the United States’ case, the Senate) across Europe and North America.

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Why Africa needs non-traditional partners like Vietnam

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The Africa report – Posted on Monday, 18 April 2022 08:04

New buildings are seen along the Saigon river in southern Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon City), Vietnam, April 26, 2015. REUTERS/Kham –

Much of Africa has been on the receiving end of the North-South development cooperation where Western donors and multilateral institutions provide aid and technical assistance to countries on the continent.

Progress has been made from this type of cooperation, but much is still needed to transform the continent.

The Chinese have arrived on the scene with the Belt and Road initiative to a mixed reception. While the North-South relations and the Chinese influence will continue to be a critical part of development cooperation for Africa, leaders on the continent are increasingly seeking more horizontal partnerships based on equity, trust, and shared prosperity.

What Vietnam has achieved in the last thirty years, and what it is on course to achieve in the next, makes the country a good candidate for low- and middle-income countries in Africa to partner with for shared prosperity.

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Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh ahead of U.S.-ASEAN Summit – Toàn văn bài phát biểu của Thủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính tại CSIS Hoa Kỳ

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May 11, 2022 CSIS

John J. Hamre: My name is John Hamre and I want to welcome all of you. This is a largest group we’ve had at CSIS in two years. And it’s great to have you here. I want to say a special thank you to the Prime Minister. We are honored to have him here. We have been privileged to have hosted several very important previous leaders in Vietnam. Back in 2015, we had the secretary general of the Communist Party. That was Nguyen Phu Trong. That was in 2015. In 2013, we had President Truong who was here with us. And so today it’s a real privilege to have Prime Minister Pham.

You know, it was just very interesting because today I had a meeting with my Board of Trustees and we spent much of the morning talking about the remarkable changes that are going on in the world today, especially in Asia. You know, the aftershocks of COVID, the kind of difficulties with supply chains, companies wanting to see more reliability in supply chains, and in almost every part of the conversation one country came up. And it was Vietnam. Everybody said, Vietnam is an important new partner here. But there was also an additional sentence, which is: Vietnam is being held back because it doesn’t have the infrastructure that it needs to become this leading partner in global supply chains. And so I think there’s an agenda that America and Vietnam could be working on.

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Vietnam seeks to boost domestic coal production amid rising import prices

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Vietnam seeks to boost domestic coal production amid rising import prices
FILE PHOTO: A worker shovels coal as he loads a truck at a coal port in Hanoi February 23, 2012. REUTERS/Kham

11 May 2022 11:45AM(Updated: 11 May 2022 11:45AM)

HANOI : Vietnam’s state-owned coal miner Vinacomin will boost domestic production to meet rising demand for the fossil fuel amid surging global prices, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said on Wednesday.

The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing powerhouse, earlier this year warned of electricity shortages due to tight coal supplies.

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How US policy on abortion affects women in Africa

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Published: May 6, 2022 12.52pm BST, The Converstion

Authors

  1. Boniface UshieResearch Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center
  2. Kenneth JumaAfrican Population and Health Research Center

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Boniface Ushie works for the APHRC, which receives funding from Sida.

Kenneth Juma works at the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), which receives funding from Sida.

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A demonstrator holds a sign during a rally in support of abortion rights on May 3, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. David Ryder/Getty Images

Policies and decisions made in the United States echo around the world and often have widespread implications. Take sexual and reproductive health, for example. Decisions made in the US have caused, and could cause, severe damage to progress in access to these services in developing countries.

The first US policy with implications for healthcare in other countries is the global gag rule, first enacted by Ronald Reagan in 1984. Under this policy, non-US organisations that receive US government funding cannot provide, refer for, or promote abortion as a method of family planning. Successive US presidents have decided whether to enact or revoke the policy. President Joe Biden set it aside when he took office in 2021.

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US Supreme Court draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade published by Politico – Pelosi, Schumer Joint Statement on Reported Draft Supreme Court Decision

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By Tierney Sneed, Ariane de Vogue and Joan Biskupic, CNN

Updated 0331 GMT (1131 HKT) May 3, 2022

'Stunning on so many levels': CNN legal analyst breaks down draft opinion from Politico

(CNN)In a stunning breach of Supreme Court confidentiality and secrecy, Politico has obtained what it calls a draft of a majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that would strike down Roe v. Wade.

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Climate change triggering global collapse in insect numbers: stressed farmland shows 63% decline

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theconversation.com

Speed read

  • The world may be facing a devastating “hidden” collapse in insect species due to the twin threats of climate change and habitat loss.
  • UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research has carried out one of the largest-ever assessments of insect declines around the world – assessing three-quarters of a million samples from around 6,000 sites.
  • The new study, published in Nature, finds that climate-stressed farmland possesses only half the number of insects, on average, and 25% fewer insect species than areas of natural habitat.
  • Insect declines are greatest in high-intensity farmland areas within tropical countries – where the combined effects of climate change and habitat loss are experienced most profoundly.
  • The majority of the world’s estimated 5.5 million species are thought to live in these regions – meaning the planet’s greatest abundances of insect life may be suffering collapses without us even realising.
  • Lowering the intensity of farming by using fewer chemicals, having a greater diversity of crops and preserving some natural habitat can mitigate the negative effects of habitat loss and climate change on insects.
  • Considering the choices we make as consumers – such as buying shade-grown coffee or cocoa – could also help protect insects and other creatures in the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.

Long read

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