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Boyko Borisov at an EU summit in Brussels - Credit: POOL/AFP via Getty Images There are few European leaders more colourful and controversial than Bulgaria s Boyko Borisov. Now, demographic forces unleashed by the pandemic could topple him and offer a new start for the EU s poorest nation The beginning of the end for Bulgaria’s bruising former bodyguard turned prime minister Boyko Borisov came last summer, when a photo surfaced showing him in bed with a handgun on his side table and bundles of 500 euro notes stuffed in a half-open drawer. Despite Borisov’s claims that it was doctored, this image perfectly encapsulated the thuggish corruption with which many Bulgarians have come to associate his government. ....
Brazil is a global standout in the fight against modern slavery. Since 1995, when the Brazilian government acknowledged the existence of the problem in the country and set up the institutional architecture and devoted resources to combat slave labor, more than 55,000 individuals have been removed from conditions analogous to slavery in Brazil. Brazil’s extraordinary achievements with addressing cases of slavery in the past twenty-five years were facilitated by innovative and effective initiatives that seek to root out the problem. An example is the renowned “dirty list” a public register of entities found to employ slave labor in their supply chains which has proven to be an effective naming and shaming tool to hold businesses responsible for the incidence of slavery in their supply chains. Brazil is also well ahead of other nations on providing publicly available data that illustrates the nature and extent of modern slavery. Such initiatives as the Labour Inspection Secr ....
Is Washington prepared for a geopolitical ‘tech race’? As Biden passes 100 days in office, how is the administration’s thinking shaping up on China? When Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sat down with Chinese officials in Anchorage, Alaska for the first high-level bilateral summit of the new administration, it was not a typical diplomatic meeting. Instead of a polite but restrained diplomatic exchange, the two sides traded pointed barbs for almost two hours. “There is growing consensus that the era of engagement with China has come to an unceremonious close,” wrote Sullivan and Kurt Campbell, the Administration’s Asia czar also in attendance, back in 2019. How apt that they were present for that moment’s arrival. ....
In south-western Niger, organised banditry could reinforce mistrust between ethnic groups and foster insurgencies that jihadists could exploit. The Nigerien authorities should take action to remedy the injustices experienced by communities living off livestock, initiate intercommunal dialogues and better supervise fledgling self-defence groups. ....
Chinese enterprises outnumbers the US on Fortune 500 list for the first time chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2021-04-16 14:21 Share CLOSE LONGi s employees check a solar power station at Tongxin county, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, in Northwest China, in September 2018. [Photo provided to China Daily] Chinese enterprises outnumbered the US on Fortune 500 list for the first time in 2020, according to a Handelsblatt newspaper report on Thursday, which said the China s industrial leaders are conquering the world s market. A total of 124 Chinese enterprises figure on the list, with 91 among them State-owned. The State-owned enterprises are considered the mainstays of the country s economy, the German paper said, adding China s private firms have also acquired advantages to compete abroad via targeted financing and advantage of domestic market. ....