Comparative Politics

16 year old Asra Panahi was beaten to death by security officials who raided the Shahed girls high school in Ardabil on October 13. There have been many reports of this happening a lot but they are often covered up.

UN envoy claims that Haiti's economic and political crisis has lead to a humanitarian crisis. Food aid warehouses are being attacked, which is destabilizing the nations food security. There is an increase in the rates of gang violence, as well as protests demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry.

It's truly a waking nightmare in the RF right now; it has not been this bad since WWII. There's no way to encapsulate all the information in a comment like this, or even in an article like the one attached - that's just an overview. Russia is in a de facto total mobilization. There are no rules, every man 18-"50"(70) is eligible so long as the recruiters have quotas to fill. People are being detained and drafted at their jobs, homes, on public transportation and at the border. The number Vladimir Vladimirovich touted was 300,000 recruits; it's looking more like several million, from a nation of officially 140, believed to be 120 million people. Prisoners have been all offered freedom if they fight - no need to worry about the long term consequences after they come back. Needless to say society is in a state of collapse, but that does not at all imply the state is. The state is doing a-ok, barely bruised by the riots. State operatives will continue to perform their duties, because the second they slip up their replacements will send them to the front with the rest. What is Putin's goal? Who knows! The most sensible answer is that he's actually just having fun in his own degenerate way. I was born during the most democratic and economically promising period in recent Russian history. Putin and his court have brought it all the way here.

Your comment is powerful, Slava, and your inside perspective on Russia is so informative. Thank you for posting this article and commenting so thoroughly.

Hurricane Ian strengthened into a Category 4 storm as it approaches Florida today (Wednesday), with the center of the storm on track to make landfall on the state's west coast during the late morning or early afternoon. Maximum sustained winds were near 155 mph, with higher gusts. That is just 2 mph away from being upgraded to a Category 5.

It's interesting to me how widely covered the hurricanes are but we don't look at the reasons why. The frequency of hurricane is abnormal and likely due to climate change but I rarely see it discussed.

Just reached Category 5 and made landfall in Florida, causing massive amounts of damage.

the EU proposed new sanctions on Russia in response to so-called "referendums" in four Ukrainian regions. more import bans on russian products. Expected to deprive Moscow of an additional $6.7 billion.

Florida has begun evacuations to prepare for flooding due to hurricane Ian. They are also bracing for tornadoes, and Cuba is also bracing for impact.

It's very interesting to read this article after seeing how big hurricane Ian has transformed in just 2 days. I have some friends in Florida and they were telling me all about there preparations for the storm last night on a call. It's very sobering, especially when you look at predictions for future storms due to climate change.

Japan is holding a state funeral for Shinzo Abe, the country's longest-serving prime minister, who was assassinated in July at a political rally. The event has sparked controversy, however, with a protest of around 10,000 people today in Tokyo after a man set himself on fire near the PM's office earlier this week. The pushback is associated not only with the cost of the funeral, at around $11 million, but primarily with disagreement around giving such a high honor to a relatively unpopular political figure. Japanese state funerals have been historically reserved for members of the imperial family with only one other politician receiving a state funeral since WWII, back in 1967.

This is disappointing but not unexpected considering the elderly conservative demographics of Japan now. Abe has so much on his record that should have disqualified him from such an honor. At his core, he was a war crime apologist. His government had Japanese educational texts redacted to gloss over the crimes of the Japanese Empire in WWII, including the crimes of his beloved grandfather, who was nicknamed "The Monster of the Showa Era". He denied that Japan exported "comfort women" for their soldiers from conquered nations, and pressured the victim countries into silence. He refused to recognize the Ainu people - the indigenous people of the Japanese isles - until 2019. He tried to remilitarize Japan to bolster nationalism, thankfully unsuccessfully. The Japanese people and East Asia as a whole will be better off with his apologist mouth shut for good.

These nuclear "exchanges" between NATO and Russia are starting to seem much more like a Cold War #2.

Seems like Putin is getting very desperate, and a very real question as to whether he would take the bet on using the nuclear option in return for a chance at winning the war.

Given its potential implications for both Russia's advance into Ukraine and the safety of Russian land it seems hard to tell whether Putin is bluffing or not, but given his history the current situation is frightening.

Interesting how abortion has completely upended the midterms and seems to have almost shot the republicans in the foot, turning the elections from a sure-fire win to a 50-50 chance of them retaking the senate and house.

Georgia Meloni, the leader of one of Italy's far right parties and quite possibly Italy's first female prime minister, is set to win her election this Sunday. With her probable victory, some Italians worry her and her party's leadership might mean a swing towards fascism.

It is interesting that this election had the lowest voter turnout thus far. It seems that many Italians do not approve of her politics.

Liz Truss was elected UK prime minister and is the UK's third female prime minister. She says she will tackle the UK's high cost of living and economic problems.

Yes, and the trick is in how? Truss faces an enormous challenge this fall and winter with the price of oil and gas. . . could raise heating costs by 80% over last year, whch would have a huge economic impact.

I'm curious to see how Truss continues to handle the Brexit situation if she can "ride out the storm" of Britain's present housing and energy challenges. While her plans to roll back or not add new taxes seem somewhat helpful to their present situation, in the long it does not seem like an incredibly new approach compared to Britain's last couple of prime ministers.

Major hurricane Fiona affects Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. There are injuries and deaths, and power went out.

This is probably an example of how future natural disasters will look in the coming years across the world. It brings up the question of whether some of the more recent bills being passed to combat climate change will be effective or if it is too little too late.

Bakhmut, a city with a prewar population of 70,000, is critical to Russia's objective of taking the rest of the mineral-rich Donbas region. On battlefields in the rolling hills of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine, and near the Black Sea in the south, Ukrainian troops have tried to inch forward without losing control of territory. However, they face an opponent whose forces have been bolstered by inmates-turned-fighters and by Iranian drones.

Japan has been hit by Typhoon Nanmadol, forcing 8 million people to evacuate from around 3.7 million households. Kyushu, Japan's southern island and the third largest, was predicted to get at least 20 inches of rain on Sunday- which is an amount that hasn't been seen on the island in decades. The possible danger was increased by high winds, exceeding 110 mph, which caused heavy waves. A small number of injuries have been reported, but no deaths. Damages haven't been calculated.

It's truly the end of an era. In theory, they will hold a funeral, Charles will take the crown, and things will continue as normal. However, British interest in the monarchy has only waned in recent years, the royals are seen by many as out-of-touch parasites eating up public money - and they aren't not that. The people that still support the crown are mostly the older generations; according to recent surveys, only 31% of Brits under 25 believe there should be a monarch. There exists a possibility that the monarchy will end this decade.

I wonder. . . the largely powerless Monarchy also serves a uniting role. I wonder what the under-25s will think when they are 35?

Britain's new PM is considered a foreign policy hawk, which could mean stronger relationship with US when facing challenges with Russia and China. Also has no apparent plan to solve economic issues at home, and much of her policy similar to that of Boris Johnson.

"She has pledged to deliver an emergency budget, and promised that there would be no new taxes on Britons." It's so tragically funny how she can promise to keep letting things get worse and worse. Hey, hopefully this means Northern Irish repatriation and Scottish independence in the coming years. The UK will keep rotting away unless the Tories are unseated.

Ouch, Slava! (And yes). The UK is in a perilous situation and, as with the Brexit vote a few years ago, the country is split between isolationists and internationalists. Seems like the more diverse Britain's urban population becomes, the more conservative those with a lot of wealth and the mostly anglo-ethnic people who live in villages and rural areas become. Similar to the US?

Record heat throughout the Western US. Power grid managed to avoid rolling blackouts among soaring demand, but some outages still happened throughout the Bay Area.

Climate change is beginning to rear its ugly head; will the terrible conditions not justa t home but abroad signal a rapid change in policy, or will it be business as usual?

Yes, and the fire at 35th Ave and 580 on 9/17; and rain coming through over the next few days?

Talking about how zero covid is making it a lot harder for the large portion of migrant laborers to get a good job and move of the socioeconomic ladder. In my opinion, China's zero covid policy, while in part sensible due to their large portion of elderly unvaccinated population, is simply delaying the inevitable opening of borders at a terrible cost.

Agreed, Alec. Also, I am glad to see you reading The Economist!

As China enters an economic slowdown and Russia is being pushed back in Ukraine relations between the two, mostly China's support of Russia, have become complicated as the two countries become more defensive.

I, for one, hope the two countries' strategic friendship weakens even further in favor of their focusing on domestic issues. Both countries have huge internal chalenges.

This new president is the result of the first stable/peaceful election in decades for Kenya. At the beginning of the event, a stadium collapsed crushing and injuring 60 people, nevertheless, the event continued.

Oy. Progress in the developing world continues to be uneven. Why?