IF you go to the bluff at Kings Park in Perth, Australia, you can overlook the Swan River and enjoy a remarkable view. Across the bay, there is a phalanx of steel and glass buildings that rise to the skies. Each of these buildings carries a sign that glistens in the sharp sun: BHP, Rio Tinto, Chevron, Deloitte, and others. Kings Park no longer survives merely with the patronage of the British King, who continues to claim sovereignty over Australia. It is now named Rio Tinto Kings Park, needing the corporate profits from this enormous mining company to sustain its charms.

IN September 2024, the US secretary of the air force, Frank Kendall told a meeting about China and the Indo-Pacific that ‘China is not a future threat. China is a threat today’. The evidence for this, Kendall said, is that China is building up its operational capacities to prevent the United States from projecting its power into the western Pacific Ocean region.

IN February 2024, two years into the war in Ukraine and five months into the Israeli genocide in Palestine, the European Union released data on the mood of the European public. In terms of Ukraine, large majorities continued to support the provision of humanitarian aid to Ukraine and to welcome Ukrainian refugees. But increasingly, there was growing scepticism about the enormous tranches of funds going toward the Ukrainian armed forces to prolong the war and about the increased military spending in their own countries due to pressure from the United States.

ISRAEL assassinated Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (1960-2024) because he refused to stop the attacks on northern Israel until the Israelis ended the genocide against the Palestinians. During the brief Israeli ceasefire, Nasrallah’s organisation –Hezbollah – paused their attacks also. When the Israelis resumed fighting, so did Hezbollah.Nasrallah was killed because he was unrelenting in his support for Palestine.

SINCE the Russian military entered Ukraine, there have been six United Nations General Assembly resolutions about the ensuing war (ES-11/1 to ES-11/6). The voting record of the Global South countries, particularly the 54 African states, on these resolutions is notable. In only one resolution, which was about the referendum held in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts (ES-11/4), did most African states (thirty of them) vote against Russia, with 24 states abstaining (none voted for the legality of the Russian referendum).