TOP NEWS

Political situation in India  

Analysis: West Courts Modi – Ignoring Red Flags  

 

This spring, it is time for parliamentary elections in the world's most populous country, India. Narendra Modi and his conservative and nationalist BJP are predicted to have renewed support, despite ten years in power.  

 

The Indian prime minister is popular for six reasons, writes Allison Meakem in an analysis in Foreign Policy: "He is hard working, a skilled orator, has weak political rivals, speaks to Hindu nationalists, does crafty social media propaganda and is emotionally intelligent."  

 

But for at least as many reasons, Modi is a danger to the country's democracy and the international order, according to Meakem. During his time in power, he has, among other things, weakened several democratic institutions and cracked down on dissenters and journalists. 

 

"The US and other Western powers have tried to court India as a partner against China, while ignoring Modi's democratic regression and marginalization of minority populations," Meakem writes. 

 

In Modi's India, even the national hero Mahatma Gandhi has become irrelevant, writes the Washington Post's Rana Ayyub.  

 

"Seventy-five years after Gandhi's assassination, he has fallen victim to India's drive towards Hindu nationalism," she writes.  

 

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The Israel-Hamas war|The attacks 

Lebanon's leader: "Israel wants to drag us into a new phase"  

 

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemns the drone attack on a Hamas compound south of Beirut on Tuesday, AFP reports. Israel, which has not commented on the incident, has been singled out by Lebanon as being responsible for the attack. 

 

"The attack aims to drag Lebanon into a new phase of confrontation with Israel," the prime minister's office wrote in a statement.  

 

One of those killed in the attack was Saleh al-Arouri, deputy chairman of Hamas' political bureau and the founder of the terror group's military wing. In a statement, Hamas writes that the death notice will not undermine the "courageous resistance" in Gaza.  

 

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The Israel-Hamas war|The reactions 

Experts: Sweden should take a stand against Israel's threat  

 

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir want Palestinians to emigrate and Israeli settlements to be established in Gaza. Sweden must take a clear stand against that, say two experts to DN. 

 

- Forcing a population to leave a territory is a clear crime against humanity, says Lena Halldenius, professor of human rights at Lund University.  

 

She is supported by Pål Wrange, professor of international law at Stockholm University. He considers the statements to be "very disturbing" - enough that the outside world should send clear signals to Israel that it is unacceptable.

 

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Political situation in Somalia  

Agreement is expected to increase tensions: "Unsets the balance"  

 

Somalia will defend its territorial integrity regardless of costs. This is what Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre says after a cabinet meeting on Ethiopia's new agreement with the breakaway region of Somaliland, according to Bloomberg.  

 

But despite harsh tones from Somalia, the parties do not seem to want to back down from the new agreement.

  

- Somaliland has the authority to sign agreements with whoever they want and does not need the approval of anyone else, says Edna Adan, an envoy for the talks between Somaliland and Somalia.  

 

The agreement will give Ethiopia the right to facilities in the Gulf of Aden that can be used as a military base and for commercial purposes. According to Rashid Abdi, chief analyst at Sahan Research, this is likely to increase tensions in the Horn of Africa.  

 

- It can upset the military balance. Countries in the region, especially Egypt, will not appreciate this, he says. 

 

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Criticism of Claudine Gay  

Harvard's pressured chancellor Claudine Gay resigns 

 

Harvard Chancellor Claudine Gay is resigning after less than six months in the post, reports the student newspaper The Harvard Crimson. 

 

In an open letter to colleagues and students, she writes that it is "with a heavy heart" that she has come to the conclusion that it is best that she resigns, so that the focus can be shifted from her person back to the university.  

 

Gay has been dogged by a series of allegations of plagiarism in his research and inadequate handling of anti-Semitism on campus.  

 

She was heavily criticized for her answers during a congressional hearing last month, where she was asked whether calls for the genocide of Jews violated university rules.  

 

- It depends on the context, was the answer.