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In the vibrant heart of Riyadh, amidst its soaring skyline and lively thoroughfares, a momentous gathering of global leaders, policymakers, and influential business figures recently unfolded. The occasion? The World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting in the Kingdom-an event of profound significance, highlighting Saudi Arabia’s escalating prominence on the international platform and marking a pivotal juncture in the region’s course. As delegates from every corner of the globe converged, the conversations transcended mere economic discourse, delving deeply into the intricate realms of geopolitics, ideological currents, and the very future trajectory of the Middle East.

LONDON: The Tories are imploding. That is the story of local election results following the polls to the councils throughout Britain, hundreds of Conservative seats lost, and gains for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens.

India has witnessed rising tide of religious bigotry and worsening prejudices against minorities since 2014. Ascendency of the Hindutva outfits has posed existential threats to secularism (religious neutrality), democracy and diversity. Attacks on Christians jumped from 147 in 2014 to 687 in December 2023.

Regular workers’ real wages have been declining by one per cent every year under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s regime. However, BJP’s election manifesto and Modi’s guarantees have left this issue untouched, and used the word “wages” only twice, while giving the guarantee of periodic review of national floor wages. There is no guarantee of protection from declining real wages.

The obnoxious speech of Narendra Modi on April 21 at Banswara, Rajasthan was notable for its vicious attack on Muslims and demonising any redistribution policy as a handing over of the gold and property of Hindus to the “infiltrators”. The bigotry displayed in this speech has understandably attracted widespread condemnation. But there is another aspect of the speech that exposes the extreme rightwing view of Modi and the BJP which results in the visceral hatred for any proposal for redistribution of wealth and incomes to tackle the high degree of inequality that exists in India.

In Modi’s India there are no pocket-boroughs, says BJP's diehard cadre. Except Wayanad in Kerala, which is ‘Rahul Gandhi’s pocket-borough’. Not Amethi, which Rahul gave up to Smriti Irani in 2019 and doesn't want anymore. A couple of months ago, Sonia Gandhi fled Gandhi family pocket-borough Raebareli, which will now send Rahul Gandhi to the Lok Sabha, another among a string of Nehru-Gandhi MPs elected from the constituency. Wayanad or Raebareli, which one will be Rahul Gandhi’s pocket-borough?

The death of the prominent peasants leader of the country Atul Kumar Anjaan at the wee hours of Friday, May 3 has come as a big shock to the farmers organisations and the Left movement in the country. Atul, the national secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) and the general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, was only 70 when he breathed his last in a Lucknow hospital.

US President Joe Biden is receiving criticism from many groups for describing India and Japan as "xenophobic" because they do not desire an influx of immigrants. This has raised concerns about a possible diplomatic mistake, considering the United States' enhanced relations with these Asian countries as part of its strategy to counter China.

India lives in her villages. Though not often taken into consideration like many other sayings of Mahatma Gandhi, the powers that be at the Centre have paid its share of lip service to the residents of the villages- the farmers.

The 50th anniversary congress on the New International Economic Order concluded in Havana on May 1 giving a call to the nations belonging to the Global South to reform the world system by changing the pattern of governance in the international bodies and brining more equity in the economies. The three day conference drew a roadmap for a global South insurgency to remake the world system.