Trump is Right (No Pun Here)

I am with Donald Trump on the Ukraine issue.

The West cannot win this war. Europe is an ailing military power. The EU is high on rabble and low on military power, not withstanding the exalted claims of the UK, France (both nuke powers), and Germany. The Ukraine conflict has laid bare the military vulnerability of the EU: no large arsenals and certainly none of the much-vaunted tide-turning cutting edge technology on display.

The EU, especially the larger economies of the UK, France, and Germany, in an economic shithole. They are nothing more than glorified Middle Powers, like Iran, albeit with better technology and clout. But that's about it.

The EU cannot win the war in Ukraine against the Russians. Putin may be alone, but he sure weighs heavily on the minds of the liberal establishments in most of the EU nations.

The biggest threat the world faces, which the Russophobic-EU ignores, is the rise of a militaristic China.

China represents the single biggest threat to the U.S., India, the EU, and most of the southeast Asian nations.

If the U.S. gets out of the Ukraine quagmire, it can focus on countering China, which today is hellbent on owning not just the South China Sea but the Pacific Ocean as well.

Compared with the military threat from China, Russia is small change. The sooner the Russophobic-West, especially the EU, realizes this uncomfortable truth, the better will the chances of the anti-China brigade, including the U.S. and India, in countering the rising dangers of an aggressive and militaristic China.

U.S.-China Trade War: A Lowdown

A short explainer on the trade war between the U.S. and China. 

U.S. trade in goods with China  

(latest info, as of November 2018, sourced from www.census.gov, a U.S. government website)

• Imports from China: U.S.$493.49 billion
• Exports to China: U.S.$111.16 billion
• Trade Balance: minus (–)U.S.$382 billion

Why

The U.S. accuses China of high tariffs (taxes) on American products, which make them expensive for the Chinese to buy.

Also, Washington has accused Beijing of doing nothing to prevent theft of intellectual property rights (like counterfeit goods and pirated software) and stealing of trade secrets (including through corporate espionage or by breaking into computer systems of American companies to gain access to cutting-edge technologies). The U.S. estimates the damages from China’s bad behaviour at around $600 billion.

Tariffs & Impact

To punish China for its bad behaviour and inaction, the U.S. imposed high tariffs on around Chinese goods (like handbags and heavy machinery) with $250 billion. Tariff increases ranged between 10% and 25%.

China hit back with $110 billion in tariffs on American goods.

The U.S. has postponed imposing another of tariffs on Chinese goods (worth $200 billion) as negotiations are underway to broker a better trade deal.

As of today, the Chinese have agreed to buy more American goods, especially agricultural products (like soybean). Farmers are among the major vote banks of Donald Trump. However, to push Trump to buckle down, China has imposed higher tariffs on goods (like coal and chemicals) made in Republican strongholds.

Beijing has also agreed to reduce tariffs on some American products to help those products gain wider market access.

Tariffs (taxes) on Chinese goods would make American products cheaper (comparatively) in the home market. This would induce Americans to buy more American goods (and not expensive Chinese goods).

China’s exports to the U.S. make for nearly 25% of its total exports. A drop in its exports to the U.S. could harm Beijing a lot more than it is willing to admit; of course, bragging aside, Beijing knows that a drop in exports to the U.S., especially amid a slowdown in its economic growth, could lead to industrial contraction, higher unemployment, and social unrest.

Status today

Both the U.S. and China have dug in their heels, though both countries cannot afford to do that for a long haul. Washington and Beijing are waiting for the other to blink, though both parties are staring at each other.

Datagraphic: India's Top 5 Export & Import Partners

Datagraphic: Top 7 Economies by GDP (Nominal)

India was ranked the sixth biggest economy by GDP in 2017; however, it is back to being the seventh  biggest economy. 

The Explainer: The Kim Family of North Korea

With today's post I am back to blogging. I intend to keep writing on a regular basis. 

In the last couple of months, North Korea tested a nuclear bomb and launched a slew of missiles that has rattled global capitals. Alarm bells have gone off in Seoul, Tokyo, Washington, and Beijing. Some of the North Korean missiles flew above North Japan while a couple of them landed within 200 miles off the Japanese coast. North Korea has even threatened to attack Guam, an overseas military base of the United States in the Pacific Ocean. 

This short piece will focus on the Kim Family that rules North Korea like a family enterprise.

An Orwellian State 
A great deal of secrecy shrouds the political regime in North Korea; little or no information flows out of the country – this is perhaps the precise reason for Pyongyang’s actions being so scary. Before we explore the past and the present, let me share a short note on the Kim family that controls North Korea like a family fiefdom.

As is the case with Orwellian States, there is very little information available in the public space about the Kim family. This should be seen in the light of the fact that all information and propaganda flow in an Orwellian State, especially of the communist type, is tightly controlled by the rulers.

Kim Il–sung, officially titled ‘The Great Leader’, ruled North Korea since the Korean peninsula was split in half by the Korean War (1950–53), till his death in 1994. He laid the foundation of the dictatorship of the Kim family, shaped the communist polity within the country (especially the ‘Juche’ philosophy; ‘Juche’ means self-reliance) while his outlook on the world became the country’s foreign policy.

Upon his death in 1994, Kim Il–sung was succeeded by his chosen heir, Kim Jong–il, officially called ‘The Dear Leader’. The son consolidated the military apparatus through his ‘military first’ policy and accelerated the pace of the country’s chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and missile development programme. During his regime, millions of his countrymen died due to starvation even as he spent considerable resources on building a formidable nuclear weapons and missile arsenal. He died in 2011. Kim Il–sung and Kim Jong–il are together called ‘Eternal Leaders of the Juche Korea’.  

Kim Jong–il was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong–un. The world saw hope for a time – the fact that Kim Jong–un was educated in the west, exposed to the ideas of democracy and individual freedoms – could turn to be positively different, that he would give up his country’s antagonistic foreign policy (especially against South Korea, Japan and the U.S.), roll back the weapons programme, including the nuclear weapons programme, and usher in greater freedoms in his country.

As events turned out, all hope crashed after Kim Jong–un revved up the development of nukes and intercontinental ballistic missiles (which could reach the U.S. west coast). Kim has proved to be a hard nut to crack; even China, which traditionally has been the only major ally of Pyongyang, is unable to moderate Kim’s behaviour.    

Today, North Korea is widely seen as an international pariah, a view that contrasts sharply with the global perception of the democratic South as a technologically and economically advanced nation. 

The Explainer: China's Xinjiang Problem

The chilling warning of the Islamic State issued to the Chinese government of launching terror attacks has turned spotlight on the ethnic cauldron that’s engulfing the Xinjiang province in western China. The dangerous conflict between the native Turkic Uighur and Beijing is symptomatic of the many dangers that China faces because of its demographic and political policies.

Read The Explainer: China, IS, & Uighurs

While Beijing blames the extremist Uighur Muslims for the terrorist violence, the latter have accused the former of repression and use of excessive force against them. They also blame the Chinese Government of resorting to demographic means of subverting the Uighurs by destroying their ethnic identity in their own ancient land. Also, they have charged the Chinese Government with economic discrimination. For several years now, the Uighurs have called for secession from China.

China launches ‘Go West’ policy  
Taking a serious view of the Islamists’ call for secession of Xinjiang from China, Beijing has used, and continues to use, demography as a controlling tool. To this end, they launched the ‘Go West’ policy to encourage the migration of Han Chinese, which is the biggest ethnic group in China, to Xinjiang.

The policy of increasing the presence of the Han Chinese in a traditionally Turkic Uighur-dominated province has paid rich dividends for Beijing. Such has been the impact of this policy that the Han Chinese, who constituted a mere 6 per cent of the total Xinjiang population in 1955, now make up about 40 per cent of the total population in Xiajiang!

Economic impact of the ‘Go West’ policy

The sharp rise in the population of the migrant Han Chinese has led to a massive loss of economic opportunities for the native Turkic Uighurs. Today, most of the provincial administrative jobs go to the educated Han Chinese; also, the Han Chinese own major business and economic resources while the Turkic Uighurs languish on the margins of the society.

Cultural impact of the ‘Go West’ policy

The Uighurs are ethnically closer to the Islamic traditions of Central Asia than to the cultural traditions of the ethnic Chinese groups. However, most Uighurs practice a moderate form of Islam, unlike the ultra-orthodox Wahabbi type (brought in from Saudi Arabia by religious extremists), which is followed by the more radical elements in Central Asia.

In Xinjiang, Beijing keeps a hawk’s eye on the mosques that dot the landscape of the massive province. The secret services, Beijing’s eyes and ears, are always on the prowl looking for secessionist and terror elements. Often, such is the control that Beijing extends over the mosques that whenever there is violence, they are asked to close down for an indefinite period. 

Muslims are barred from observing fast in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan; in some extreme cases, people are forced to shave off their beards and ordered not to wear any garment that makes for public display of their faith (like burqa/yashmak/hijab).

China and War on Terror

The September 11, 2001, attacks in the U.S. and the subsequent launch of the War on Terror came in as a shot in the arm for Beijing. Soon after, in a master-stroke, Beijing labeled the radical Islamists, especially the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) members, in Xinjiang as part of Al-Qaeda network. As a result, the U.S. and major European nations banned the ETIM. By aligning its local fight with the international effort against the Islamists, Beijing won the sanction of the international community in its fight against the extremist members among the Uighurs.

In fact, Beijing cited the capture of 22 Uighurs, reportedly linked to Al-Qaeda, by the U.S. as evidence of the growing radicalisation of the Uighurs. However, Beijing suffered a major embarrassment when the U.S. released these 22 Uighurs, after a long detention period at the Guantanamo Bay prison, when it found that they were not terrorists!

Cutting the ethnic umbilical cord

Over the years, Beijing has strengthened diplomatic ties , especially economic ties, with Central Asian nations, which are linguistically and ethnically linked with the Uighurs.

To this end, it took initiative to form the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), whose members include Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan (all former Soviet provinces with majority Muslim populations). Over the years, its diplomacy has paid off as these countries have cut off potential sources of support for the Uighurs from radical sources in their territories.

The Pakistan Connect

In the recent past, China also said, for the first time ever, that the Uighur separatists underwent training in Pakistan’s numerous terrorist training camps. Given that Pakistan considers China as an all-weather friend, the accusations shocked the Pakistani establishment. However, this accusation is unlikely to change the relationship equation between the two countries, though it is widely believed that Pakistani leaders have been told by their Chinese counterparts in no uncertain terms that such terror camps which export extremists to fight the Chinese State should be shut down immediately.

My Take

China is increasingly worried over the developments in Xinjiang. It believes that if the Xinjiang problem is not tackled in the ‘right’ way, it has the potential to ignite similar fires around its vast peripheral areas.

It is a fact that political rights need economic contentment, because together they give a sense of belonging and empowerment to all involved. Appropriate management of the needs and aspirations of varied groups is critical to the State’s ability to ensure good governance and provision of security. In the light of this, the major challenge that China today faces is to absorb and resolve the clashes that may arise between contending interests between the Turkic Uighurs and ethnic Chinese groups.

The Explainer: China, ISIS, & Uighurs

                                                                                                                                                                                         Source: VOA

In its first-ever direct threat against China, the Islamic State’s Uighur fighters have vowed to return home to Xinjiang, a province in western China, to launch jihad against China. The Uighur extremists, in a video, have vowed to ‘shed blood like rivers’ against the Chinese State. 

The Islamic State (IS) is also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)/Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). For the sake of simplicity, I have used the name ‘Islamic State’ in this explanatory article. 

The Uighurs in China accuse the Chinese government of suppressing their voices and unleashing repression against them.

So, who are the Uighurs?

The Turkic Uighurs are a predominantly Islamic community with deep racial and ethnic ties to Central Asia. For centuries, the Uighurs have co-existed with about 12 other ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

Till about 1912, Xinjiang was a part of the Qing Empire. After the demise of the Qing dynasty in 1912, the status of Xinjiang has swayed between autonomy and complete independence. In 1933, Turkic insurgents broke free from Chinese control and established the Islamic Republic of East Turkestan (also known as the Republic of Uighuristan or the First East Turkistan Republic).

The following year, China reabsorbed the region. In 1944, emboldened by the support of the Soviet Union, Turkic Uighur rebels once again declared independence to set up the Second East Turkistan Republic.

However, the Turkic Uighurs’ dream of an independent state was short-lived. In 1949, the Communist Party of China (CPC) came to power after establishing full control over the whole of China and creating the People’s Republic of China (PRC).  The same year, the Communists regained complete control of Xinjiang while in 1955, Beijing classified Xinjiang, which accounts for about 16 per cent of the country’s area, as an ‘autonomous region’ of the People’s Republic of China.

Today, the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is home to about 2.3 crore people from thirteen major ethnic groups, the largest being the Turkic Uighur community.

Nostalgic of the times when there was an independent Xinjiang, some Uighurs see China’s presence in the province as a form of imperialism. The more radical among these, like those belonging to the extremist East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), have called for secession from China.

Practice of Islam in Xinjiang
The practice of religion in a Communist State is either undercover, if such practice is illegal, or controlled by the State, if such practice is allowed. China practices the latter method; it tightly controls the citizens’ right to practice faith.

In Xinjiang, China keeps a hawk’s eye on the mosques that dot the landscape of the massive province. The secret services, Beijing’s eyes and ears, are always on the prowl looking for secessionist and terror elements. Often, such is the control that Beijing extends over the mosques that whenever there is violence, they are asked to close down for an indefinite period.

In 2014, the Chinese government banned Muslim staff from observing fasting and engaging in other religious activities in the Muslim holy month of Ramzan (also Ramadan).

The practice of one’s faith is a matter of personal choice, at least for folks like us in India; in China, it is a matter of State policy.

The second and concluding part of this article will appear tomorrow. 

The Explainer: List of disputes between U.S. & China

A seemingly innocuous phone call between the U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump and Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen ignited a war of words between China and Donald Trump.

In a series of short articles, I will focus on the historic and current status of the relationships between the U.S.-China, U.S.-Taiwan, and China-Taiwan.

The following are the major issues that characterize the uneasy relationship between the U.S. and China. 

(a) Tibet and the Dalai Lama;

(b) Taiwan, especially arms sales to the island nation;

(c) Xinjiang and Uighurs;

(d) China's claims over the South China Sea;

(e) Beijing’s abysmal human rights record, including denial of political freedom to political dissidents;

(f)  disagreement over climate change, especially on measures to tackle it;

(g) trade-related disputes like currency valuation;
(h) China’s behaviour in international forums, like in the UN on the Syria issue;

(i)  Chinese espionage, especially industrial and defence, and

(j)  cyber-attacks on American corporations;.

Of the above, there are two that cause China the greatest discomfort: Tibet and Taiwan. In the coming series of short posts, I will explain some of these disputes.

My Thoughts on Barack Obama's Foreign Policy

I am not a fan of Barack Obama's foreign policy. 

When the announcement of awarding the Nobel Prize for Peace to Obama was made even before he took office of the President of the United States, I squirmed at the stupidity (I know it is a strong word) of the prize committee -- how can they give away the most prestigious prize just based on Obama’s poll promises of ushering a more peaceful world? Obama promised to close down the notorious Guantanamo Bay prison (Camp Delta; where America locks away dangerous terrorists/folks suspected of terrorism), bring back American soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq, and focus on the Asia Pivot, including a constructive relationship with China (something like G2).

Now, let us look at his ‘achievements’.

The Guantanamo Bay prison is still operating; there are still thousands of American soldiers on the ground in Afghanistan and the country is in a bad shape with militant groups, like the Afghan Taliban, controlling large swathes of the country. The withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq (though there is still a substantial presence in Baghdad) without putting in place a robust non-sectarian military and administrative system, has left the country singed by multiple fires (The emergence of the Islamic State is a case in point.)

China continues to be a belligerent on all fronts – economic, military and political. Gathered by stealth or espionage or indigenous development, its technological advancement, in business, space, and military, is there for all to see. It has cocked a snook at the U.S. and its allies in the Far East (Japan) and South East Asia (Indonesia). Even in the face of intense American pressure, China is building airstrips and military installations in the South China Sea; in fact, Beijing has threatened the U.S. and its allies of serious consequences if the latter meddled in its sovereign issues. (I will keep China’s tough and lop-sided economic relationship with the U.S. out of this note.)

Russia is cold and distant; Washington continues to treat Moscow as if it were still a Cold War threat. Of course, Moscow has not done anything extraordinary to earn the friendship of the world’s lone superpower. On the contrary, Moscow’s dubious role in Ukraine (including the annexation of Crimea) and Syria (siding with Bashar al-Assad) has riled the West (including the European Union). The U.S.-Russia game of one-upmanship is also playing out in Syria, mostly with disastrous results.

The Israel-Palestine relationship is fractious as ever. Obama’s perceived/real hostility toward Israel’s unilateral actions (like building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank) has earned him the wrath of the Israeli Establishment (cutting across the political spectrum). The Israelis have treated Obama with greater contempt than they have ever treated any American president.

The Arab Spring, a name synonymous with the popular movements against dictatorships in Muslim countries like Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria, lies in a shambles. Almost all of these popular movements were backed by the U.S. President Barack Obama. Let me give you a bird’s eye view of what’s the current status in these countries:

• Yemen – major sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims; Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Wahabi nation, has, for the last several months, carried out air attacks against Houthi rebels (who practice Shia Islam and are supported by Iran, the biggest and powerful Shia Muslim nation).
• Libya –  various radical Islamist groups are vying for control of the country’s polity and abundant oil wealth.
• Bahrain – Sunni monarchy (Sunnis are in minority), backed by the Wahabi Ibn Saud ruling house of Saudi Arabia, is taking it out on the Shia majority (allegedly backed by Iran) who rebelled against the administration.
• Egypt – a popular movement dethroned the dictatorship of the pro-U.S. Hosni Mubarak; elections were held which brought a political wing of the ultra-radical Muslim Brotherhood to power; few months later the military grabbed power in a coup (of course, it legitimised power grab through a farcical election), ousted a popularly elected (radical) president, tried him in a military court and sentenced him to death.
• Syria – the regime of Bashar al-Assad, a Shia and backed by Iran and Iraq (along with Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shia militant group), is battling for its survival (with major help from Russia) against the ultra-extremist Islamic State and moderate rebel forces.

The hypocrisy of the U.S. and by extension its chief proponent of democracy, President Obama, is there for all to see: they have done precious little to restore democracy in Bahrain, Yemen, Libya and Egypt. Well, because it suits the American interests, they ran into Syria to fight against Bashar (who is hated by the wider Arab World for being a Shia). Under pressure from its allies like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the U.S. has spearheaded its oust-Bashar campaign even though it knows there is no leader/group to fill in the power vacuum in Syria. The last time the Americans did this -- in Iraq where they removed Saddam Hussein from power -- they left the country in tatters and bloodied.

As you can see, Barack Obama might preach the virtues of democracy and peace to the world but when it comes to practice, he falls way short.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Barack Obama knows that it is not enough to have good intentions; it is equally important to have the courage to make them true. Obama’s lack of gumption is myopic and he leaves a world which is more violent today than it was when he moved into the White House eight years back.

Please share your views in the comments space.

(I have deliberately left his relationships with the EU, India and personal equations with Prime Ministers Dr Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi out of this short piece; will write later, maybe.)

Vertical Ambition, GST & China

• What is 'vertical ambition'? (BBC) 

• Kevin Roberts, chairman of the global advertising giant Saatchi and Saatchi, resigned after saying women lacked "vertical ambition" and that is why so few made it to the top. Financial analyst Louise Cooper has her thoughts.

• Interactive feature on GST (Hindu)
• Can China save the Olympics? (Bloomberg)

Sunday Reads

• The West's decline would hurt China. (Project Syndicate)
• Why you can't switch off at the weekend. (BBC Capital)
• India lifts veil on Army as Narendra Modi prepares to spend U.S.$150 billion (Bloomberg)

Sunday Reads

• Why Turkey's stability matters (BBC) 
• China's South China Sea arguments only prove its own perverse logic of history (FirstPost)
• Why you need to read and how to do it efficiently (Medium)
  

Also read: Man in New Zealand quits his job to play Pokemon Go full-time (BBC)

Indiana Joneses & Other Reads

General Reads

• Calling all Indiana Joneses: Clue to Undiscovered Asokan Inscriptions (Telegraph India)
• What you need to know about India's missile defence shield. Read the comments also. (Dawn - yes, its a Pakistani newspaper)
• China's Cultural Revolution: No desire to dwell on the past (BBC)

Photo Gallery

• Inspire (NatGeo)

Controversial Read

• Reconciling three narratives about global growth (Bloomberg)

Anecdote

In a test match between Australia and West Indies, Ramnaresh Sarwan scored a superb century. In that innings, Glenn McGrath bowled an unplayable bouncer that zoomed past Sarwan’s face. McGrath went up to Sarwan and said, "How does Lara’s d%ck taste, mate?”. Sharp came the reply from Sarwan: ”Go and ask your wife.” 

Sunday Reads

This post comes after more than two months since the last post. 

General Reads

• Inside the Bubble: Aboard the Air Force One. (BBC)
• China's Mediterranean Odyssey (Diplomat)
• Increase your return on failure (Harvard BR)

Photo Gallery 

• Russia's Flourishing Capital (Der Spiegel)

Controversial Read

• All the People God Kills in the Bible (Vocativ)

Anecdote

"How's your wife and my kids?" asked Rod Marsh (Australia) from behind the stumps.

"The wife's fine," replied the England batsman, Ian Botham, "but the kids are retarded."

Sunday Reads

• Larry Summers interview on the global economy. (TIE)

• "I'm the biggest victim of intolerance." (Swarajya)

• Can India, Pakistan ever be normal neighbours? (New IE)

• Spread this JAM thick and wide. (Business Line)

Sunday Anecdote:

Ernst Eduard Kummer (1810-1893), a German algebraist, was rather poor at arithmetic. Whenever he had occasion to do simple arithmetic in class, he would get his students to help him. Once he had to find 7 x 9.  “Seven times nine,” he began, “Seven times nine is er – ah – ah – seven times nine is. . . .” 

“Sixty-one,” a student suggested.

Kummer wrote 61 on the board. 

“Sir,” said another student, “it should be sixty-nine.”  “Come, come, gentlemen, it can’t be both,” Kummer exclaimed. “It must be one or the other.”

  

Sunday Reads

Sunday Anecdote: In 1898, young Albert Einstein applied for admission to the Munich Technical Institute and was turned down. The young man, the Institute declared, "showed no promise" as a student. By 1905, he had formulated his special theory of relativity.

• Is China really scared of horror films? (BBC)

• How Islamic State takes its terror to the Web. (Der Spiegel)

• AAP denying Delhi the Janlokpal bill they deserve. (ET)

• An ecological disaster. (Telegraph India)

Sunday Reads

• Why we should defend the right to be offensive. (BBC) Also read Threat to free expression in Britain. (Economist)

• Amaravati: From mythology to reality. (Hindu)

• What will it mean if the Yuan gets Reserve Currency status? (Bloomberg)

Sunday Reads

• Singapore's students ready to be entrepreneurs. (BBC)

• Everyone hates China's rich kids. (Bloomberg) 

• Neeb Karori Baba: The baba who has been magnet for tech honchos like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs (ET)

Video: World's Smartest Building + Sunday Reads

In the last several years, thousands of large multi-storey buildings have come up in different parts of India. Most of the technology companies have offices in buildings that come with gleaming glass walls, centrally air-conditioning, biometric entry/exit, work stations, open cabins, and food centres. 

If you work, or aspire to work, in such an office building, then watch the video on the smartest building in the world. You may want to work here! 

Click here to watch the video.

• China's economy is stumbling, but by how much? (BBC) Also read How China lost its swagger. (CNN Money) This two pieces are for Ramya (the Physics girl).

• The politics of iconography. (Hindu)

• The enchantment of falling in love and the vortex of desire. (Brain Pickings)

Sunday Reads

• Operation Gibraltar. (BBC)

• OROP: A battle half won. (New IE)

• Why not to worry about China's downturn. (Bloomberg)

• Syrian refugee crisis explained. (Hindu)