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Youth (age group 15-24) are almost five times more likely to be unemployed than adults across the Asia and the Pacific, and when they secure a work it is often in the informal economy with low wages and poor working conditions. After the COVID-19 pandemic, they are now facing additional labour market barriers with long-term repercussion for their earnings and life chances.

As the year 2022 rolled in with a focus on new FTP (Foreign Trade Policy) for 5 years, which became overdue, global trade underwent major changes with US-China trade conflict, followed by COVID 19 and Ukraine invasion by Russia. The major deterrents as a fallout are the supply chain constraints and hindrances in energy supply, owing to China being the power house of global workshop and Russia being the behemoth for energy supply.

Most developing member countries (DMCs) are facing serious gaps in student learning outcomes, that the World Bank calls learning crisis. Half of the students in Grade 5 in India cannot do two-digit subtraction or read connected text, and half of the students who complete primary schools in Bangladesh and Pakistan cannot read. COVID-19 crisis has further worsened the situation.

After the defeat in the French presidential polls, the socialists and the left-wingers of all hues in France arrived at a historic compromise on May 4 to form an alliance for the legislative elections in June this year to meet the dual challenge of both President Emmanuel Macron’s party and the powerful far-right party led by Marine Le Pen. This total unity was not possible before the presidential election’s first round on April 10this year, even though the French communists have been sounding warning bells for long saying that the “noose is tightening around democracy”.

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan was a geopolitical watershed. Its shockwaves continue to reverberate and are magnified by the wars in Ukraine and Yemen. Coupled with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US withdrawal removed a major obstacle to Iranian projection in Central Asia and created an opportunity for Iran to potentially enhance its influence, increase trade, and expand security cooperation in Central Asia.

W.E. B. Du Bois is still the most famous black American Communist in US history, and the godfather of what has been called the black radical tradition. Best remembered for his remarkable work Black Reconstruction in America, he remains a vital reference point for those organizing against the violent forward march of capitalism.

No external credit can save Sri Lanka from its current deep financial crisis. The country is simply not in a position to repay its huge outstanding external loans — sovereign or commercial. Tourism, tea and garments export and overseas employment are among its 22.40-million strong population’s key sources of income. Foreign jobs contribute highly to the country’s external income. Almost 90 percent of expatriate Sri Lankan workers are West Asia based. While unpaid commercial loans may at best be settled through attachment of property with the help of law courts, there is no way to recover stricken sovereign debts. The latter are payable only when the country is able.

With repeated rhetoric of use of nuclear weapons between Russia and Ukraine, fear has gripped the minds of people around the globe. Rightly so, as the use of nuclear weapons would lead to unprecedented catastrophe. If the war doesn't stop soon there is likelihood of direct involvement of other countries particularly the US and NATO. In such situation the use of nuclear weapons will be more imminent.

Elon Musk wants to give everyone on Twitter full and final rights to free speech and the ‘blue tick’, which is now only the headband of a privileged few, the majority of who were of the Jack Dorsey bent of mind. Dorsey and his successor Parag Agarwal may not have any role in Twitter post 2022, and their idea of censorship will be out the window, like it should have been years ago.

When US Defence Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III declared that Washington wanted to see Russia so “weakened" that it would no longer be able to invade a neighbouring state, he lifted the veil on US goals in Ukraine. He also held out the prospect of a long-term US-Russian contest for power and influence.