Gulfnews

Research shows link between institutions and prosperity Acemoglu urges democracies to reclaim better governance Johnson says Nov. 5 a 'stress test' for US democracy Past winners include Milton Friedman and John Nash Economics was final prize awarded in 2024 Nobels Three US-based academics won the 2024 Nobel economics prize on Monday for research that explored the aftermath of colonisation to understand why global inequality persists today, especially in countries dogged by corruption and dictatorship.Simon Johnson and James Robinson, both British-American, and Turkish-American Daron Acemoglu were commended for their work on 'how institutions are formed and affect prosperity', the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.'Reducing the vast differences in income between countries is one of our time's greatest challenges,' said Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences.'They have identified the historical roots o...

North Korea's military has ordered artillery units along the border with South Korea to be fully ready to open fire, state media has reported.'The Korean People's Army issued a preliminary operation order Oct. 12 to the combined artillery units along the border and the units taking on an important firepower task to get fully ready to open fire,' read the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.The North Korean military ordered eight artillery brigades fully armed in a wartime mode to be on standby to open fire, and reinforced anti-air observation posts in Pyongyang, it added.North Korea's defense ministry said that South Korea had sent unmanned drones carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month, according to South Korea's (Yonhap) news agency.'We warn repeatedly that we will take action according to our judgment, regarding any drones to be spotted again as the ones from the ROK and deemi...

SpaceX, in its fifth Starship test flight yesterday, returned the rocket’s towering first stage booster back to its Texas launch pad for the first time using giant mechanical arms, achieving another novel engineering feat in the company’s push to build a reusable moon and Mars vehicle.The rocket’s first stage “Super Heavy” booster lifted off at 7.25am CT (1225 GMT) from SpaceX’s Boca Chica, Texas launch facilities, sending the Starship second stage rocket toward space before separating at an altitude of roughly 70km (40 miles) to begin its return to land – the most daring part of the test flight.The Super Heavy booster re-lit three of its 33 Raptor engines to slow its speedy descent back to SpaceX’s launch site, as it targeted the launch pad and tower it had blasted off from.The tower, taller than the Statue of Liberty at over 400 feet, is fitted with two large metal arms at the top.With its engines roaring, the 233-foot (71m) Super Heavy booster fell into the launch tower’s enclosing ...

Just like the dwindling group of survivors now recognised with a Nobel prize, the residents of Hiroshima hope that the world never forgets the atomic bombing of 1945 - now more than ever. Susumu Ogawa, 84, was five when the bomb dropped by the United States all but obliterated the Japanese city 79 years ago, and many of his family were among the 140,000 people killed.“My mother, my aunt, my grandfather, and my grandfather all died in the atomic bombing,” Ogawa told AFP a day after the survivors’ group Nihon Hidankyo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Ogawa himself recalls very little but the snippets he garnered later from his surviving relatives and others painted a hellish picture. “All they could do was to evacuate and save their own lives, while they saw other people (perish) inside the inferno,” he said.“All nuclear weapons in the world have to be abandoned,” he said. “We know the horror of nuclear weapons, because we know what happened in Hiroshima.” What is happening now in the ...

Spokesperson for external affairs at the Peter Stano said that the Israeli occupation's attacks on the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were unacceptable. He added during a press conference in Brussels that any deliberate attack on peacekeeping forces constitutes a serious violation of international humanitarian law and relevant Security Council resolutions. Stano said that the issue was very high on the European Commission's agenda, and that it will definitely be discussed by the EU Foreign Ministers at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting next Monday. UNIFIL had reported that its soldiers were injured due to repeated Israeli bombardments on its headquarters and nearby sites in southern Lebanon amid escalating tensions along the Blue Line recently. source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/692369/international/european-commission-condemns-attack-on-unifil-forces-in-lebanon

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau renewed his call for a ceasefire in Lebanon and Gaza.Radio Canada International that Trudeau made the statement in response to the killing of a third Canadian in Lebanon due to an Israeli airstrike. He emphasized the need to put an end to this violence, advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, increase humanitarian aid, release the hostages, and a reliable pathway towards a two-state solution.Lebanon has been under Israeli attack since October 2023, which has intensified recently with increased air and artillery strikes extending to the capital, Beirut. This escalation has resulted in thousands of Lebanese casualties and forced over a million people to flee their homes, coinciding with the ongoing devastating conflict in Gaza that has persisted for over a year. source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/692368/international/canadas-prime-minister-renews-call-for-ceasefire-in-lebanon-and-gaza

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday reiterated his call for an end to arms exports to the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, adding it was the sole means at hand to end the two conflicts pitting Israel against Hamas and Hezbollah.'This is in no way a call to disarm Israel (...) but a call to stop any destabilisation in this part of the world', said Macron at a press conference in Cyprus at the end of a meeting of Med9, which brings together the EU's Mediterranean countries.The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah erupted a year ago when the group began launching rockets at northern Israel in support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas at the start of the Gaza war, which followed a bloody rampage by Hamas through communities in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people in a matter of hours.The conflict has intensified in recent weeks, with Israel bombing southern Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley, killing many of Hezbollah's top l...