In this episode, we discuss with various experts how this rising number of pilgrims is fueling a radical makeover of the city. While Mecca has always been changing and under construction, the current developments are of an unprecedented scale. What does Mecca’s radical makeover look like? Who is profiting from these developments and what does it mean for the city’s spiritual character? What does the current building craze mean for older buildings, and what will happen to the hundreds of thousands of people who live in the city’s informal settlements?
21 June 2019
EURACTIV: Orban lost in the European wilderness
Moreover, Orbán’s illiberal rhetoric and cultural war elevated to the European level contributed to the rise of liberals at home as well as in Europe. In Hungary, the party of the former Socialist prime minister, Ferenc Gyurcsány, led by the energetic Klara Dobrev (Gyurcsány’s wife) came second with 16% of the votes. The young, Western educated liberals Momentum secured third place with 10%, giving a sign of hope for the opposition.
In the EU, the new political division lines are climate change and illiberalism – and less so on migration or particularly economic governance that European voters are actually unhappy about. Representing two different angles of behaviour but the same neoliberal economics, Orbán needs French President Macron to maintain his position as much as Macron needs him. [...]
However, Hungary was in a different situation when he took over in 2010. The economy was in tatters, the country needed an almost $26 billion bailout in 2008 after years of high deficit, unsustainable debt levels, very low social spending, and mismanagement by the socialist-liberal government coalitions. For the majority of Hungarians Orbán is managing the economy better, what is the main reason behind Fidesz`s continuous popularity. Meanwhile, the opposition is oversaturated with previously discredited political figures.
Today in Focus: The story of Grenfell United
In the early hours of 14 June 2017, a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, west London. It killed 72 people, including 18 children. In the chaos that followed, survivors and the bereaved felt abandoned by local authorities and the government, and began to organise into a community group, which became known as Grenfell United.
Today, on the second anniversary of the fire, Natasha Elcock, Ed Daffarn and Karim Mussilhy discuss the work the group has been doing and their attempts to tackle what they see as one of the most devastating aspects of the fire: government inaction. The Guardian’s social affairs correspondent, Rob Booth, has been covering the story of Grenfell since the blaze. He talks to Anushka Asthana about why more progress has not been made.
Al Jazeera: Why a hipster, vegan, green tech economy is not sustainable
Thus, immigrant-owned grocery stores, halal butcheries and community centres will soon be replaced by vegan chain restaurants, hip vintage clothing joints, organic food stores and coffee-shops galore, as landlords push out poor tenants to make space for more well-to-do ones. [...]
Unfortunately, creation by destruction is what capitalism does best, and its damaging practices are anything but green. This market-driven "sustainable" vision of economic activity, ecological-conscious diets and "hipness" within modern capitalism reinforce inequality and still hurt the environment.
Before I proceed further with my argument, I should mention that I am an academic, living in a "hip" part of Montreal and engage in activities that follow a particular aesthetic ethos, all of which make me very much a part of the reality I critique below. My aim is not to moralise, but rather to highlight the dangers of a political and economic system that profits from deceiving perhaps well-meaning self-proclaimed progressive folks into believing that a greener, more efficient capitalism is possible.[...]
Thus, environmental problems became framed as an issue of inefficiency that could be solved by technology and the better management of resources, which effectively neutralised the politically-oriented environmentalism of the 1960s and 1970s. [...]
In other words, the more efficient we are, the cheaper consumption gets, and in an economy predicated on endless growth, the more we consume and waste. The environment will always be at the losing endof this logic.
UnHerd: Is Xi losing his grip on Taiwan?
The more that Beijing gets heavy in Hong Kong, the more the mood in Taiwan turns towards the idea of independence. The idea of ‘one country, two systems’ provided the basis for Hong Kong’s reunification with the People’s Republic in 1997. In January, Xi Jinping proposed it as the model for Taiwan too. But the view here is that it is rapidly becoming a hollow lie in Hong Kong, so why would Taiwan entrust its future to the idea? [...]
Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party must have known this, and yet they pressed on with moves to erode Hong Kong’s special status. Above all things, Beijing seems to fear disintegration; the ruling party is concerned that tolerating local diversity could unravel the country. According to Chi-Ting Tsai, Executive Director of the Centre for China Studies at the National Taiwan University: “One of the greatest fears among the Chinese leadership is fragmentation. There’s a concern that they can’t control what goes on in the provinces.” [...]
From the incarceration of up to a million Muslims in detention camps in Xinjiang province, to the suppression of Tibetan identity, to the imposition of policies intended to supplant the Cantonese language in Hong Kong, the aim appears to be the eradication, or at least the minimisation, of difference. Xi Jinping’s vision of national unity demands it.
In the past few years, members of the Politburo have repeatedly spoken of the need for ethnic minorities to follow the ‘five identifications’. They must identify with the motherland; with the Chinese nation; with Chinese culture; with the Chinese socialist road and with the Communist Party.
Politico: Is Putin Losing the Trust of Russians?
Every year, Russian President Vladimir Putin stars in a big show, an hours-long televised question-and-answer marathon in which the president hears the people’s complaints, promises to tackle their problems and explains his views on a wide range of subjects. With more than a million questions submitted, organizers can choose carefully. But there was a hitch with this year’s annual extravaganza. On Thursday, somehow, the wrong questions got on the air—like one that flashed on the screen, “Only one question: When will you go away?” [...]
Putin remains firmly in command, without an imminent threat to his rule. But recent events now suggest a possible tipping point: On a number of fronts, at home and abroad, Putin has faced embarrassing failures, and the population, disenchanted, has lost trust in him, becoming restless enough to challenge his authority boldly. At the very least, this is a trying time for the Russian president. Retrospectively, we may find that it marked the end of his peak power—the results of which would surely reverberate across the world. [...]
Meanwhile, the Russian economy, though out of recession, is barely growing. The economic boom that fueled Putin’s popularity faded after oil prices collapsed years ago. Living standards are falling, and the government’s efforts to curb expenses have sparked a furious reaction. Ever since last year’s move to raise the retirement age to just below the life expectancy of the average Russian man, Russians have been protesting with more fervor. Anti-corruption activists, despite repeated arrests, find their message resonating with protesters too. It’s easier to tolerate the sight of Putin’s friends becoming billionaires when your life is improving. Not now. While Putin’s bold moves across Russia’s borders once boosted Russians’ sense of patriotism, the cost of foreign adventures is taking a toll on family budgets. [...]
The economic stagnation is eroding Putin’s once-stratospheric approval ratings. The leader who strode bare-chested across Siberia is now trusted by just 31.7 percent of Russians, according to state pollster VTsIOM, down from more than 71 percent in 2015, after the Crimea invasion. (After that 31.7 percent was reported earlier this year, the Kremlin demanded an explanation. The pollster revised its methodology, and the poll leapt back to 72 percent.) Putin’s approval rating, a slightly different measure, remains at 60 percent—respectable but sharply lower than his near-90 percent a few years ago.
The Guardian: US Catholic archdiocese cuts ties with school that refused to fire gay teacher
The Archdiocese of Indianapolis has announced that it will no longer recognize a Jesuit high school as Catholic because it refuses to fire a teacher who is in a same-sex marriage. [...]
“Whether they teach religion or not, all ministers in their professional and private lives must convey and be supportive of Catholic Church teaching. The Archdiocese of Indianapolis recognizes all teachers, guidance counselors and administrators as ministers,” the archdiocese said in a statement on Thursday. [...]
“The targeting of LGBT employees in Catholic institutions must cease, and Brebeuf and the Jesuits are here standing with the marginalized,” Martin said in an email. “Despite what the Archdiocese says, this is the most Catholic thing that the school could do.”
Politico: Tory members prepared to break up party, United Kingdom for Brexit
Asked whether they would rather stay in the EU if Brexit would lead to Scotland or Northern Ireland breaking away from the U.K., 63 percent and 59 percent of party members (respectively) said they would prefer the United Kingdom break up. [...]
There's only one thing most Tory members couldn't stomach in their pursuit of Brexit: A Prime Minister Jeremy Corbyn. Fifty-one percent said they'd rather stay in the bloc than allow the Labour leader to move into No. 10 Downing Street, though 39 percent said it was a price they were willing to pay.
Just over half of Tory members said they thought Britain remaining in the EU would damage their party so much it would never lead the country again, while 52 percent said leaving the bloc would mean victory for their party at the next election.
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