Neewday 365

For some time now, South Korea has been a striking textbook case of the depopulation problem plaguing the developed world. Almost all rich countries have seen their birth rates stabilize below replacement level, but this generally means it is around 1.5 children per woman. For example, in 2021, the United States was at 1.7, France at 1.8, Italy at 1.3, and Canada at 1.4.But South Korea stands out for falling into below-replacement territory in the 1980s, but has recently seen an even bigger decline – falling below one child per woman in 2018 to 0 .8 after the pandemic and now, in preliminary data for the second and third quarters. by 2023, to only 0.7 births per woman.It's worth understanding what this means. A country that maintained a birth rate at this level would have, for every 20...

The UN fears an “even more hellish scenario” in Gaza Lynn Hastings, United Nations (UN) humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, has expressed strong fears about the ability to continue humanitarian operations in the Gaza Strip, while Israel tightens its grip on the Palestinian territory. Since the resumption of hostilities on December 1 after a seven-day truce, “Israeli military operations have expanded into southern Gaza, forcing tens of thousands more to flee into increasingly concentrated spaces, in desperate need of food, water, shelter and security »she declared on Monday in a press release. “The conditions necessary to provide aid to the people of Gaza do not exist. If it is possible, an even more hellish scenario is about to come tru...

Faced with this difficult situation, the Israeli Red Team suggests a radical alternative: Israel should call for a permanent ceasefire which would be followed by an immediate Israeli withdrawal of all military forces from Gaza on the condition that Hamas returns all the hostages he left behind. , civilians and soldiers, as well as all the dead. But Hamas will not receive any Palestinian prisoners in exchange. Just a clear agreement: Israeli withdrawal and permanent ceasefire in exchange for more than 130 Israeli hostages.There would, however, be an Israeli asterisk, which would not be written, but everyone would understand that it is there: Israel reserves the right in the future to bring to justice the senior leaders of Hamas who planned this massacre. But as it did after the Munich m...

Security officers and supporters escort a vehicle carrying former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during an election campaign meeting for the Punjab provincial assembly, in Lahore on March 13, 2023. ARIF ALI / AFP An appointment was made at the end of the day at a large school, whose name remains anonymous, so as not to expose its director. The district, located in the suburbs of Karachi, the economic capital of Pakistan, is plunged into darkness, subject to incessant power cuts due to the dilapidated infrastructure. A group of students, young men in a westernized style, young girls, wearing headscarves and traditional dresses, are gathered in a room so sealed that no sound is likely to escape. Mohammed, 22, is boiling. His hero...

Vice President Kamala Harris’s trip to the Middle East over the weekend was both a major foray into wartime diplomacy and an effort to show that the administration is taking a harder line with Israel about the civilian toll of its war against Hamas.The message was aimed at leaders in the region as Israel begins a new phase of the eight-week-old war, which has killed thousands of civilians. But the vice president was also speaking to disaffected voters in the United States, especially the young voters and people of color who helped propel President Biden to the White House in 2020.Over the course of just three hours at the U.N. climate summit in Dubai, Ms. Harris juggled four high-stakes meetings or calls with kings and presidents. Her message on the war, privately and publicly, was one of ...