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The Ukraine war entered its 134th day on July 7 giving no signs of ending. In the initial days, there were some efforts for active negotiations but since then, it has been converted into an open confrontation between Russia and Ukraine backed by the USA and NATO. Sanctions against Russia by the western nations have failed to make any deep adverse impact on the Russian economy though the high energy prices have wrecked the western economies.

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global tourism industry left not only tourism companies but also the tourism-driven economy in dire straits. Shutdowns and travel restrictions led to the disappearance of international travel. For example, China opened international flights after nearly two years on July 5, with India still not on the list of countries allowed to operate flights to the neighbouring country.

Indubitably, Pakistan is nowadays passing through one of the most turbulent periods in its recent history. On the surface, it is a serious political turmoil. But, intrinsically, it is an amalgamation of financial and political tribulations which are dragging the country into the slough of uncertainty. The whole saga started in mid-March this year, when the Opposition submitted the no-confidence motion against former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the National Assembly. Since then, the political arena of Pakistan has been witnessing many swirling ups and downs on daily basis for all the players, but there is only person who is finding himself being continuously whirled into the quagmire of despondency and anguish, without any hope of respite in the near future. This is none other than Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The world is on the edge of a serious threat of use of nuclear weapons by Russia and NATO as both have threatened their use during the on-going war between Russia and Ukraine. Presently there are approximately 13,000 nuclear weapons on earth, many of which are on high alert and could be launched within minutes. Concerned with this threat in mind the members of the state parties who have clearly voted for nuclear weapons abolition and the Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) along with other organisations working for the cause decided to gather at Vienna in Austria to reinforce their commitment and to chart out an action plan to make the world nuclear weapons free.

Renowned US based bank, J.P. Morgan, has observed that oil prices could top $380 per barrel in a short time. The bank made its prediction on the basis of trends in the oil markets and supplies from major producers. The current geo-politics, in which Russia faces extensive sanctions from America and its western allies, is one of the primary causes.

It’s a good time, almost 12 years after the world soccer body, FIFA, awarded Qatar the 2022 World Cup hosting rights and five months before the tournament, to evaluate the campaign to reform the country’s erstwhile onerous labour system and accommodate fans whose lifestyles violate restrictive laws and/or go against deeply rooted cultural attitudes.

If business as usual path continues, the world cannot achieve zero hunger target (SDG2) by 2030, and South and Southeast Asia is likely to suffer the most, with 2.7 billion population in the region. It is 34 per cent of the global population, and almost half live in India.

On June 19, Colombian voters elected left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro as president of their country. It was a historic breakthrough in Colombia’s political history since it first gained independence from Spain in 1819. For many years, Colombian politics seemed immune to the left-wing currents elsewhere in Latin America.

By now, the cryptocurrency story has become extremely queer. The phenomenal rise in the value of bitcoin (BTC) in 2021 stands completely reversed today. For the investors, it is a saga of disappointments and frustrations. From an all-time high of about $69000, BTC has nosedived to $20,000 levels in a matter of six months. The story is far worse for other coins (altcoins) that rose by hundreds of times during 2021 and have fallen equally sharply, pulling down the market cap of the crypto industry from nearly $3 trillion to under $1 trillion.

About a week back, Pakistan’s Finance minister was urging its citizens to consume less tea as the country was scraping the bottom of the barrel to organise even essential imports. Foreign exchange reserves had sunk to cover just a few days imports. Every leaf of tea consumed in the country has to be imported.