Welcome back to Global Overview, where we focus on spillover in US-Israel war against Iran, Nepalimportant parliamentary elections, and low GDP growth targets China.
The Iran War
Less than a week after the US-Israel war against Iran, the strikes have now struck more than twelve countriesit killed hundreds of people, and threatened to draw several other nations into the conflict.
Welcome back to Global Overview, where we focus on spillover in US-Israel war against Iran, Nepalimportant parliamentary elections, and low GDP growth targets China.
The Iran War
Less than a week after the US-Israel war against Iran, the strikes have now struck more than twelve countriesit killed hundreds of people, and threatened to draw several other nations into the conflict.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan the suspect Tehran on Thursday launched four drones in Nakhichevan, a region of Azerbaijan bordering Iran, injuring four people. “We will not tolerate this unprovoked act of terrorism and aggression against Azerbaijan,” President Ilham Aliyev told the UN Security Council. “Our military forces have been ordered to prepare and execute appropriate retaliatory measures.” It is unclear what the steps might be.
Iran denied launching the drones, instead placing the blame on Israel, which has not responded to the allegations. Iran has also denied Turkey’s claims that it fired a missile on Wednesday into Turkish airspace that NATO air defense systems were forced to intercept.
“Iran is exporting war, trying to spread it to as many countries as possible to create chaos,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. he said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials have condemned the attack by a US submarine on Wednesday that attacked an Iranian warship in international waters off the southern coast of Sri Lanka, killing at least 87 people, and about 60 others are still missing. Washington will “great regret” this attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote on X day on Thursday. The Iranian warship was returning home after participating in international naval exercises organized by India, and the attack has put pressure on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, especially as Abbas noted that the ship was “a guest of the Indian Navy.” Opposition MPs in India have asked Modi to issue a statement. But Modi’s party he argued on Thursday that New Delhi should not be held responsible since the attack happened far from India’s maritime territory.
Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka Vijitha Herath he called for “diplomatic dialogue to restore regional peace” even if the island allowed the second Iranian ship to dock in one of its ports on Thursday.
Yet such a diplomatic solution to the war remains elusive. Araghchi said NBC News on Thursday that Tehran is prepared for a possible US ground invasion, although there is no indication that the US is currently planning such an operation. According to Araghchi, Iran has not requested a cease-fire agreement with he refuses to discuss with Washington. “The truth is that we don’t have a good experience negotiating with the United States, you know, especially with this administration,” Araghchi said. “We negotiated twice last year and this year, and then in the middle of the negotiation, they attacked us.”
The United States and Israel have insisted that they are ready keep fighting for the foreseeable future, even as the White House does big claims about the success of Operation Epic Fury. “They don’t have a navy. They don’t have an air force. They don’t have space detection capabilities,” US President Donald Trump said of Iran. “Everything is wiped out. Their radar is wiped out. Their army is down. All they have is guts.”
At the same time, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Thursday that the US and Israel have sought Kyiv’s expertise in dealing with Iran’s Shahed drones.
Also on Thursday, Trump said Axios that he should be personally involved in choosing Iran’s next supreme leader, suggesting that US involvement in Iran will not be limited to military action despite claims by Trump officials that the war is not about regime change.
Today’s Most Read
What we’re after
Who will lead Nepal? Nepal held parliamentary elections on Thursday, nearly six months after massive youth-led protests forced then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign. The initial results are expected on Friday, although the country’s Electoral Commission said full results could take a week. However, all eyes are on rapper-turned-politician, Balendra Shah, whose generational change efforts have attracted the same voters who turned out to vote. Political accounts of Nepal.
Protests against the government first started last September, when Kathmandu prohibited 26 social media platforms for reportedly failing to register and submit to government oversight. Young people took to the streets in response, saying the ban was a state-sponsored control tool aimed at punishing political opponents. A quick demonstration are out of control after 77 people to be killed in the ensuing government crackdown, and, eventually, Oli was forced to reverse the social media ban and step down.
Now, Shah and his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) are expected to take over the prime ministership. However, RSP is not without competition. 65 political parties and about 160 Gen Z candidates (of which about half are listed as independents) he participated in Thursday’s election. To feel change of tideone of Nepal’s largest political parties—a left-wing center in the Nepali Parliament—also ousted its estranged president earlier this year in favor of a 49-year-old successor.
Beijing’s economic outlook. China set its GDP growth target for 2026 at 4.5 percent to 5 percent on Thursday, indicating the weakest estimate recorded in the decades apart from 2020, when Beijing chose not to set a target because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a modest target reflects growing concerns over weak domestic demand, upward pressure on prices, and falling trade tensions with the United States.
“Rarely over the years have we encountered such a complex and difficult environment, where external shocks and challenges intersected with domestic problems and difficult policy choices,” Chinese Premier Li Qiang said during Thursday’s annual meeting of the National People’s Congress.
Due to low domestic consumption, the second largest economy in the world uses banks technology development to remain competitive. On Thursday, Beijing outlined a five-year plan to boost the country’s scientific prowess. This will include investments in mass computing, bio-based manufacturing, connected energy, and 6G mobile networks, among others. “In the midst of fierce international competition, we must win a strategic plan,” the road map. statesmentioning artificial intelligence alone more than 50 times.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to host Trump in early April to discuss extending a trade agreement. Analysts expect the White House to use the visit to push China tight its technological ambitions. But Beijing is likely to waive Washington’s demands, especially if China has begun fill the void left by the US tax war.
Reducing EU emissions. European Union states overcame months of political opposition on Thursday and turned it on a major weather target. Under the new policy, European industries will be required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 85 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2040. For an additional 5 percent reduction, the EU will pay countries that continue to reduce emissions on behalf of the union.
Although the overall target of 90 percent is more stringent than many macroeconomic commitments, including those of China and the United States, it is still weak than the original proposal of Brussels. As part of the agreement, the EU could consider expanding its use of carbon credits to cover from 5 percent to 10 percent of the required emissions reductions, softening the need for domestic reforms. But it still falls short of the recommendations of the EU’s climate science advisers, who have said that domestic emissions reductions should be 90 percent.
Meanwhile, the European Council is expected to meet on Friday to discuss reducing energy prices. “Clean domestic energy is the only viable solution to lower energy prices by the end of the decade,” the commission said in a document seen by Bloomberg on Thursday. This comes amid concerns that Europe is still dependent on oil imports at a time when the war against Iran is escalating. oil and gas prices.
Odds and Ends
The works in Michaelangelo’s proven oeuvre number in the hundreds, from Florence’s “David” statue to the painted ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. But Renaissance scholars worry that new, unverified claims of the artist’s work may be mistakenly attributed. Just two days before the 551st anniversary of Michaelangelo’s birth on Friday, an independent researcher. he demanded that the headstone of Jesus (which is in the Roman church) is by a famous artist. Many prominent art historians, however, have chosen not to comment on the “rediscovery,” fearing that it could adversely affect the statue’s value; just last month, a painting attributed to Michelangelo, but believed by some to be a copy, was sold for 27.2 million dollars.
