Timeframe: September 9 to September 15, 2022
Contributors: Affan Bin Saber, G.M. Sifat Iqbal, and Farhan Uddin Ahmed
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1. Politics
Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Clashes emerge again on Azerbaijan-Armenia border
Fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan intensified again on Monday night. Armenian and Azerbaijani troops exchanged artillery shelling near Nagorno-Karabakh, creating an extreme scenario similar to the 2020 war. Both sides blame each other for the initial provocation.
In 1991, the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan was declared a breakaway republic by Armenian ethnic separatists – later known as Artsakh. As a result, the conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region took place.
Armenia says at least 49 soldiers have been killed in fighting along the country’s border with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan claims its forces are acting in self-defense in response to a “large-scale provocation” by the Armenian army.
Russia has urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to stick to the terms of the ceasefire agreement.
Foreign powers have urged both sides to exercise restraint.
Source: DW
Sweden election: PM Magdalena Andersson concedes victory to right-wing opposition
Sweden’s right-wing opposition appears to have won a thin majority in the country’s parliament with nearly all votes counted.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that she would resign and that preliminary results were clear enough to draw conclusions. She said that it was important that Sweden gets a new government as soon as possible.
99.9% of votes from all 6,578 voting districts had been counted by late on Wednesday. If results were confirmed, the right-wing opposition Sweden Democrats would win 176 seats in the 349-seat parliament.
The governing Social Democrats and its coalition would win 173 seats in this instance, the tallies showed.
Never before have the Sweden Democrats, a party that relies on anti-immigration and nationalist rhetoric, been part of a government.
Source: DW
2. Economics & Business
ECB raises interest rates across eurozone by record margin
The European Central Bank has raised interest rates across the eurozone by a record margin to combat soaring inflation that has reached double figures in some of the currency bloc’s 19 member countries.
Setting aside concerns that higher rates would add to the current squeeze on consumers’ disposable incomes and increase the depth of a looming recession, the central bank’s 25-member governing council raised its key benchmarks by an unprecedented 0.75 of a percentage point to 1.25%.
The move follows a similar increase by the US Federal Reserve and is expected to put pressure on the Bank of England to follow suit when its policymakers meet next week to review the UK’s monetary policy.
Source: The Guardian
7 million cubic feet of gas to be expected by BAPEX from oil well in Sylhet
Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (BAPEX) hopes to find seven million cubic feet of gas in Sylhet’s Biyanibazar gas field due to its re digging on Saturday.
This gas field has multiple wells and the being redug is the no.1 well. Since the no.2 well is producing seven to seven and a half million cubic feet of gas daily, its hoped that no1 well does that too. The excavation work was inaugurated in the afternoon this Saturday by the managing director of BAPEX, Mohammad Ali. Md Mizanur Rahman, managing director of the Sylhet Gas Fields Limited (SGFL), was also present.
The re-digging should be completed by December and more gas should be extracted further bumping the gas output of all the plants in Sylhet altogether.
Source: Prothom Alo
India encouraging pearl farming to modernise its fishing industry
In 2016 Narendra Garwa faced financial crisis. His small bookstore in the village of Renwal in Rajasthan was running at a loss.
With a family to support and little education, he scoured the Internet for other money-making ideas. He had some success growing vegetables in plastic bottles, but then saw a potentially more profitable crop – pearls.
Now he has a 40ft by 50ft pond and expects to produce around 3,000 pearls this year, which he can sell for between 400 and 900 rupees (£4-£10; $5-$11).
The Indian government has been encouraging pearl fishing as part of its Blue Revolution, a plan to modernise the nation’s fishing industry.
Under the scheme the government pays for half the cost of setting up a pond for pearl fishing, and so far the Department for Fisheries has given financial support to 232 pearl farming ponds.
Source: BBC
3. Science & Technology
Google loses appeal over record EU anti-trust Android fine
An EU court has largely upheld a record fine against Google for using the Android platform to cement its search engine’s dominance.
The €4.125bn (£3.5bn) penalty is the largest anti-trust fine ever handed down by the European Commission.
It said Google had breached its laws by forcing Android phone-makers to carry its search and web browser apps in order to access the Google Play Store in 2018.
Source: BBC
US Military to transport cargo using rockets
The US military is collaborating with companies which include Space X, Blue origin, and most recently Rocket lab along with 2 other start-ups to dive into the idea of rockets to be used to transport military good all around the world at high speed.
The main reasoning of this is speed. Compared to traditional aircrafts, the more aerodynamic rockets can travel at much higher speed and can be potentially be used to deliver military cargo much faster . US army plans to be involved in this project as early as possible in hopes that the technology would be available for the US and its allies as soon as possible.
However, the main drawback is the cost. Trips with rockets are much more costly than that with planes. Also, rockets are designed to explode once it reaches it location. In order to deliver good, they should reach their destination safely and accurately. Nevertheless, with current trends in the space industry the future of such ‘delivery rockets’ seems inevitable.
Source: CNN
Disclaimer: The information provided here is obtained solely from the aforementioned third parties. Youth Policy Forum (YPF) is not responsible for any misinformation or misrepresentation.