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The US decision to authorise long-range Ukrainian strikes could help Kyiv defend the foothold in Russia’s Kursk region that it seized as leverage in any war talks, but may come too late to change the course of the war, analysts said.Two months before leaving office, President Joe Biden lifted some restrictions that have blocked Kyiv from using US-supplied weapons for strikes deeper into Russian territory, in a major policy change, Reuters reported on Sunday.Military analysts said the impact on the battlefield, where Ukraine has been on the back foot for months, would depend on what limits remained. But while the shift may shore up the Kursk operation, it was unlikely to be a game-changer overall.“The decision comes late, and like other decisions in this vein, it may be too late to substantially change the course of the fighting,” said Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.“Long-range strikes were always one piece of the puzzle, and had been overly freighted with expectations in this war.”There also is no way to know how long the new policy will last. It was criticised by Richard Grenell, one of the closest foreign policy advisors of returning president Donald Trump, who replaces Biden on January 20. Trump has long criticised the scale of US aid to Kyiv and has vowed to end the war quickly, without saying how. A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Ukraine has lobbied for the change for months, arguing its inability to hit areas inside Russia, and in particular military airbases hosting warplanes involved in strikes on Ukraine, was a major handicap.Russian forces, which have been on the offensive for more than a year, have been advancing at their fastest rate since 2022 in eastern Ukraine and exerting pressure in the northeast and southeast.Russia says Ukraine cannot fire the missiles at targets inside Russia without direct help from Nato allies, calling this a major escalation. On Monday, the Kremlin said any such decision would mean the United States was directly involved in the conflict.The first Ukrainian strikes could happen in the coming days and are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles (306km), Reuters reported.A central European defence official told Reuters the strikes would give Kyiv a greater chance to defend itself from aerial attacks, but would not decisively swing the conflict in Ukraine’s favour.Russia had already moved many of its air assets beyond the reach of Western weapons in Ukraine, the official said, although the range would cover beyond the area of Kursk occupied by Ukraine.Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said he was not celebrating just yet as it was unknown how many rockets the Ukrainians had and whether they had enough to impact the battlefield. The decision to authorise the strikes only after months of Ukrainian lobbying follows a pattern repeated throughout the war as the Biden administration tried to balance its support for Ukraine with concern about escalation.Previously, Washington vacillated for months before approving giving Ukraine long-range missiles, tanks and planes.Some military analysts say such delays gave Moscow time to recover from early failures and reinforce defences of occupied territory, contributing to the failure of a major Ukrainian counteroffensive last year.Being able to attack Russian territory with missiles could have its most direct impact in Kursk, where Ukraine aims to hold a salient it captured after its first major cross-border assault in August. The Russian land could be a bargaining chip in any negotiations after Trump enters the White House.Kyiv says Russia has massed 50,000 troops to try to retake the territory in Kursk, and that it has deployed 11,000 North Koreans, some of whom it says have joined the fight. Russia has neither confirmed nor denied the deployment.“ATACMS missiles can hold at risk high value Russian and North Korean targets. This would help Ukrainian forces defend the Kursk salient, which is under pressure,” said Kofman.Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Philadelphia-based Foreign Policy Research Institute, said it would be difficult for Ukraine to hold its ground in Kursk in the long term, but its fortunes there would depend on resources.“Ukraine has committed some of its best units there, so they may be able to hold for some time if they continue to receive enough ammunition and combat replacements,” he said.Kyiv-based military analyst Serhii Kuzan said there were an array of targets in Russia at a depth of up to 500km from Ukraine that Kyiv’s forces saw as priorities, but many of which would still be out out of range of ATACMS.France and Britain have not spelled out whether they would follow the Americans by allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles, which have a range of 250km (155 miles).“Russia can shoot down Storm Shadow and ATACMS, so the salvo size that can be launched is also an important consideration,” Lee added.On the streets of Kyiv on Monday, the general feeling was that the decision would help, but that it had come far too late.“This should have been used either as a preventative measure, or as a sharp reaction in February or March 2022. Now it does not play a big role,” said Olga Korovyachuk, 21. - ReutersKremlin vows responseRussia has accused US President Joe Biden of escalating the war in Ukraine, promising to respond to his decision to allow Kyiv to use long-range missiles supplied by Washington to strike targets inside Russia.Biden, who in January hands over the White House to Donald Trump, a sceptic of US support for Ukraine, urged a gathering of world leaders at the G20 Summit — attended by Russia’s foreign minister — to follow the US lead in backing Ukraine.Ukraine says strikes in Russia will help it prevent aerial bombardments that have levelled entire districts of towns near the front line and decimated energy facilities across the country.“It’s obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends... to continue fuelling the fire and provoke a further escalation of tensions,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.Speaking at the G20 summit in Brazil, Biden urged other leaders to support Ukraine’s “sovereignty”.“The United States strongly supports Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Everyone around this table in my view should as well,” Biden told the meeting.A US official told AFP the major policy shift was in response to Russia’s deployment of thousands of North Korean troops to aid its war effort.Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had clearly expressed Moscow’s position in September when he declared that using the missiles would put Nato “at war” with Russia.Putin said then that if Ukraine attacked Russia with long-range missiles, Moscow would “take the appropriate decisions” — a point the foreign ministry echoed on Monday.“Kyiv’s use of long-range missiles to attack our territory would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia,” the ministry said in a statement, vowing an “appropriate and palpable” response. - AFP

A deal at the COP29 climate talks on trading carbon credits could see billions of dollars move into emissions-reduction projects this decade but after a string of scandals, the market will first need to win over wary countries and communities.Carbon trading is seen as one way for richer countries to meet their emissions reduction targets at the same time as helping poorer countries move to greener energy and to improve their resilience against climate change.A UN-backed global market for creating and trading carbon credits has been discussed for at least 10 years. In its absence, a patchwork of voluntary standards has led to a number of situations where credits were found to not be delivering the climate benefits they claimed.While an early deal last week saw nations agree on some quality standards, points still to be hammered out include what a global registry to track trades and label carbon credits would look like, and what information projects will need to disclose.If a deal can be reached this week in Baku, Azerbaijan, “the main impact would be a confidence boost”, said Andrea Bonzanni, international policy director at the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA).“It would provide both countries and the private sector with the signal that there is consensus on the rules of the game. And that would mean that companies would invest with more confidence,” he added.IETA has said a UN-backed market could be worth $250bn a year by 2030, and count towards offsetting an extra 5bn metric tons of carbon emissions annually. Governments including Bolivia, Singapore and Switzerland have struck dozens of agreements already to do carbon credit trades under the impending UN rules, backing investments in clean cookstoves and solar power. Others are expected to join in as they face pressure to show progress towards their national emissions-cutting targets.Private sector buyers could include airlines, under a UN-backed plan to scale up their purchases launching in 2027, as well as companies looking to burnish their green credentials with customers and investors.The boss of carbon project backer Key Carbon, Luke Leslie, said his firm would look to expand its investments in countries that quickly get their local market up and running.While the prospect of selling credits could offer a boost to cash-strapped governments, some remain wary - or outright opposed.Environmental group Greenpeace has called offsets a “smokescreen” while the WWF opposes their use. Some local communities are also against using them.Eriel Deranger, executive director of campaign group Indigenous Climate Action, and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in northern Alberta, Canada, said carbon credits distracted from calls for more public funds for climate action, and for companies to simply cut their own emissions.“It’s going to do substantively nothing to actually reduce our emissions,” she said.For those countries which do opt to sell credits, African Development Bank Chief Executive Akinwumi Adesina warned against doing so too quickly or too cheaply, to avoid being “short changed”.Uganda’s energy minister, Ruth Nankabirwa, said her country was seeking to attract investment in clean cookstove projects, but had yet to use credits.“It isn’t clear how one can benefit, how the auditing is done of carbon credits,” she said.Nkiruka Maduekwe, director general of Nigeria’s national council on climate change, agreed, describing high integrity carbon credits as “the key”. The rules of the registry being addressed at the COP talks will be central to answering those concerns, but governments are struggling to agree. The European Union — which has ruled out using credits to meet its domestic climate goals — wants a registry that can issue and manage credit trades, to help poorer countries access the market, people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters.The United States, however, is advocating for a registry that only tracks credit trading, arguing that empowering it to execute trades could risk giving a UN seal of approval to credits with weak environmental credentials, the sources said.Even if a deal is reached between countries, companies may still need government incentives to buy in, given their pledges so far have been voluntary and boards are concerned about reputational risk, said Sheri Hickok, chief executive at carbon project developer Climate Impact Partners. Flooring company Interface and Australian telco Telstra Group, previously big buyers of credits, both told Reuters a UN deal would not change their decisions to exit the carbon markets, as they focus on cutting their emissions directly.

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When he takes office in January, President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a raft of national security challenges, including major wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.Less discussed are the growing nuclear threats facing the United States, including from Russia, China and Iran.Here are the five most pressing nuclear arms challenges confronting Trump:RussiaTrump will have to manage the gravest tensions with Moscow in more than 60 years, in part fuelled by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threats to use nuclear weapons in his war against Ukraine and his development of exotic new weapons systems.Overseer of the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal, Putin has been modernising his nuclear forces and has rejected talks with Washington on replacing New START, the last US-Russia arms limitation pact, when it expires on February 5, 2026.US officials say Putin remains within the limits set by the treaty despite his 2023 “suspension” of the pact that holds Russia and the United States to deploying 1,550 strategic nuclear warheads on 700 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarines and bombers.President Joe Biden and Putin agreed to an extension in 2021 but, as written, the pact can’t be extended further. Trump opposed an extension in his first term, calling instead for a new treaty that included China, which spurned the proposal.Putin cited Washington’s support for Ukraine in rejecting Biden’s invitations for unconditional talks on replacing New START. But both sides say they will adhere to the treaty’s limits as long as the other does.ChinaChina - which long had a smaller nuclear arsenal - is building up its strategic nuclear forces.The Pentagon in 2020 estimated that Beijing’s operational nuclear warhead stockpile numbered in the low 200s and was expected to double by 2030.That estimate was revised two years later, with the Pentagon saying China likely would have 1,500 nuclear warheads by 2035 if the pace of its buildup continued.Beijing and Washington held their first nuclear risk reduction talks in nearly five years in November 2023.But China, which has a “no-first-use” doctrine, in July formally halted further bilateral arms control discussions in protest against U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, the democratically ruled island claimed by Beijing.United StatesTrump will have to craft a policy on deterring nuclear threats from Russia and China even as he confronts the expiration of New START.The Biden administration says the United States might have to deploy more strategic nuclear weapons in the future and Trump could do just that. In his first term, Trump’s nuclear weapons policy called for new capabilities, reversing decades of US arms reduction efforts, and he opposed extending New START.But he will confront the soaring costs of America’s own modernisation of each leg of the US nuclear “triad” - ICBMs, bombers and submarines - major parts of which are behind schedule and far over budget.The costs of the effort, which has grown to include new warhead designs, missiles, a bomber and a submarine, are projected by the Arms Control Association advocacy group to exceed $1.5 trillion over the next 30 years.Experts say that amount is certain to rise, threatening to divert funds needed for conventional US military forces or for non-defence programmes. “At a certain point, we will hit a constrained budgetary environment,” warned a congressional aide, speaking on condition of anonymity.IranIran may decide to build nuclear weapons following tit-for-tat strikes with arch-foe Israel and Biden’s failure to revive major power talks with Iran on restoring curbs on its nuclear programme.Washington and its European allies will lose leverage over Tehran when a UN Security Council resolution allowing a “snapback” of international sanctions on Iran expires next October.The sanctions were lifted in return for Iran accepting strict limits on its programme under a 2015 deal designed to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons.Trump withdrew the United States from the pact in 2018, leading Iran to breach its limits. The time Iran would need to make enough highly enriched uranium for a warhead has now been cut from a year to just weeks or days, US officials say, although Tehran would need some more time to build an actual bomb.Iran denies US and UN nuclear watchdog assessments that it shuttered an effort to build a nuclear warhead in 2003 and has offered to reopen nuclear talks.But the Israeli strikes could prompt Tehran to resuscitate that effort. Following the strikes, a top Iranian official said Tehran possibly could review its self-imposed ban nuclear weapons development.North KoreaTensions with North Korea have grown over Pyongyang’s co-operation in Moscow’s war against Ukraine and an October 31 test of a new ICBM that underscored the country’s ability to hit most of the United States with nuclear weapons. A recent US Defence Intelligence Agency report said Pyongyang continues expanding stockpiles of materials for its nuclear weapons program.It also noted that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un set out a defence plan in 2021 calling for producing tactical warheads, “lighter nuclear weapons” and “ultra-large nuclear warheads”. The Federation of American Scientists estimates that North Korea, which has conducted six underground nuclear test blasts since 2006 and more than 100 missile launches since 2022, has enough fissile material for up to 90 warheads, but “potentially” has assembled just 50. Biden’s administration has been unsuccessful in persuading Kim to revive denuclearisation talks that collapsed after Trump failed in 2019 in the last of three meetings to convince the North Korean leader to abandon his nuclear weapons.

The Big Tech is betting big on artificial intelligence (AI) and spending billions as leading players look to avoid falling behind in the race.At the same time, doubts are rising if it’s all worth the hype.There is now a growing narrative in the Silicon Valley and Wall Street: The breakthroughs from large AI models may be slowing down.Since the frenzied launch of ChatGPT two years ago, AI believers have maintained that improvements in generative AI would accelerate exponentially.The reasoning was that delivering on the technology’s promise was simply a matter of resources; pour in enough computing power and data, and artificial general intelligence (AGI) would emerge.AGI typically refers to hypothetical AI systems that would match or exceed humans on many intellectual tasks.The capital expenditures of the four largest internet and software companies — Amazon.com, Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Alphabet — are set to total well over $200bn this year, according to a recent Bloomberg report.Executives from each company have also warned investors that their splurge will continue next year, or even ramp up.The spree underscores the extreme costs and resources consumed from the worldwide boom in AI ignited by the arrival of ChatGPT.However, there appears to be problems on the road to AGI.Industry insiders are beginning to acknowledge that large language models (LLMs) aren’t scaling endlessly higher at breakneck speed when pumped with more power and data.One fundamental challenge is the finite amount of language-based data available for AI training.According to Scott Stevenson, CEO of AI legal tasks firm Spellbook, who works with OpenAI and other providers, relying on language data alone for scaling is destined to hit a wall.Sasha Luccioni, researcher and AI lead at startup Hugging Face, argues a stall in progress was predictable given companies’ focus on size rather than purpose in model development.The AI industry contests these interpretations, maintaining that progress toward human-level AI is unpredictable.“There is no wall,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman posted recently on X, without elaboration.Nevertheless, OpenAI has delayed the release of the awaited successor to GPT-4, the model that powers ChatGPT, because its increase in capability is below expectations, according to sources quoted by The Information.Now, the company is focusing on using its existing capabilities more efficiently.After years of pushing out increasingly sophisticated AI products at a breakneck pace, three of the leading AI companies are now seeing diminishing returns from their costly efforts to build newer models, according to Bloomberg.At Alphabet’s Google, an upcoming iteration of its Gemini software is not living up to internal expectations, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.US-based Anthropic, meanwhile, has seen the timetable slip for the release of its long-awaited Claude model called 3.5 Opus.The companies are facing several challenges. It’s become increasingly difficult to find new, untapped sources of high-quality, human-made training data that can be used to build more advanced AI systems.The recent setbacks also raise doubts about the heavy investment in AI and the feasibility of reaching an overarching goal these companies are aggressively pursuing: AGIThe chief executives of OpenAI and Anthropic have previously said AGI may be only several years away.Still, AI companies continue to pursue a more-is-better playbook. In their quest to build products that approach the level of human intelligence, tech firms are increasing the amount of computing power, data and time they use to train new models — and driving up costs in the process. As costs rise, so do the stakes and expectations for each new model under development.Noah Giansiracusa, an associate professor of mathematics at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, said AI models will keep improving, but the rate at which that will happen is questionable.

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The outcome of the US presidential election was more of a Democratic loss than a triumph for Donald Trump. The Democrats lost not because US President Joe Biden stayed in the race too long, and not because Kamala Harris is unqualified, but because they have been losing workers and failed to win them back.The party ceased to be a home for American workers long ago, owing to its support for digital disruption, globalisation, large immigrant inflows, and “woke” ideas. Nowadays, those most likely to vote for Democrats are the highly educated, not manual workers. In the United States, as elsewhere, democracy will suffer if the centre left does not become more pro-worker.While the Democrats did win some previous elections with support from Silicon Valley, minorities, portions of organised labour, and the professional class in large cities, this was never sustainable. Such a coalition is alienating to workers and the middle class in much of the country, especially in smaller cities and the South. The problem was already obvious after 2016, which is part of the reason why Biden adopted a pro-worker industrial strategy in 2020.The Biden economy did deliver for the working class by creating jobs and strengthening the US industrial base. Wages at the bottom rose rapidly, and policies started moving a little toward the views of American workers on immigration, protectionism, support for unions, and public investment. But the party establishment – especially the highly educated activists concentrated in prosperous coastal cities – never internalised workers’ cultural and economic concerns. Instead, Democrats often seemed to be lecturing or scolding them.Here is my own test for understanding the relationship between the Democrats and American workers: If a member of the Democratic elite is stranded in an unfamiliar city, would he prefer to spend the next four hours talking to a Midwestern American worker with a high-school diploma, or to a professional with a postgraduate education from Mexico, China, or Indonesia? Whenever I pose this question to colleagues and friends, they all assume it’s the latter.With her emphasis on the middle class and patriotism, Harris initially seemed ready to address this problem. If credible, a true effort to win back workers may well have won the election. But by the end, the campaign had centred around the issues that mattered most to the base. The biggest attempt to broaden the coalition came from using Liz Cheney (a Republican former congresswoman who has been banished from her party) to appeal to suburban women on the issue of reproductive health. Reproductive freedom may be a critical issue, but it was never going to win over the working class, certainly not working-class men.On the economy, Democrats can talk about opportunity and jobs until they turn blue, but unless they distance themselves from the tech and global business elite, such messaging will not translate into a real pro-worker agenda – and workers will see right through it. With even Silicon Valley starting to leave the Democrats (ironically), there is no better time to change course.But a redirection will be difficult now that Trump and JD Vance’s Republican Party has become the main home for workers – especially those in manufacturing and smaller cities – and now that Democratic elites are so culturally disconnected from workers and much of the middle class.The great tragedy is that while Biden’s agenda had subtly started paying off for workers (proving that globalisation and rising inequality are not just blind forces of nature), the next administration’s policies will almost certainly support plutocrats. High tariffs on imports from China will not bring back jobs that have left the country, and they certainly won’t help keep inflation in check. While Biden’s pandemic-era policies (coming on top of Trump’s own stimulus measures) did fuel inflation, the US Federal Reserve managed to restore price stability. But if Trump pressures the Fed for more rate cuts (to boost his own popularity), inflation could return.Moreover, Trump’s championing of the crypto sector will probably allow for more scams and bubbles, while doing nothing for American workers or consumers. His promised tax cuts will primarily help corporations and the stock market, with any resulting increase in investment going largely toward the tech sector and automation.More broadly, the next four years of technology policy could turn out to be a disaster for workers. While Biden issued a major executive order on AI, this was merely a first step. If not regulated properly, AI will not only wreak havoc on many industries; it will also lead to pervasive manipulation of consumers and citizens (just look at social media), and its true potential as a tool that can help workers will go unrealised. By supporting large companies and venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, the Trump administration will fuel the trend toward labour-replacing automation.Trump’s threat to US institutions also poses a big risk for workers. It is no secret that he will further weaken democratic norms, introduce uncertainty into policymaking, deepen polarisation, and undermine trust in institutions like the courts and the Department of Justice (which he will try to weaponise).This behaviour will not lead immediately to economic collapse, and it may even encourage some investment by his favoured companies (including the fossil-fuel industry) in the short run. But in the medium term (say, ten years or so), weaker institutions and loss of public trust in the courts will take a toll on investment and efficiency.Such institutional weaknesses are always economically costly, and they could prove truly disastrous in an economy that depends on innovation and complex, advanced technologies, which require greater contractual support, trust between parties, and confidence in the rule of law. Without expert-led regulation, much of the economy – from health care and education to online business and consumer services – will be awash in snake oil, rather than high-quality products.If the economy can no longer foster innovation and productivity growth, wages will stagnate. Yet even in the face of such adverse outcomes, many workers will not return to the Democrats unless the party truly takes their interests on board. That means not only adopting policies that support workers’ incomes, but also speaking their language, however foreign it may be to the coastal elites who have run the party aground. — Project SyndicatelDaron Acemoglu, a 2024 Nobel laureate in economics and Institute Professor of Economics at MIT, is co-author (with Simon Johnson) of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity.

Germany’s political parties agree on few things after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition collapsed last week following months of budget wrangling, but protecting the Constitutional Court from the far left and right looks likely to be one of them.The departure from the coalition of the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) deprived Scholz’s government of its parliamentary majority and left in limbo dozens of laws the coalition had been scheduled to pass in its remaining time.Last Tuesday, new Finance Minister Joerg Kukies said the government would concentrate on passing laws that were already well advanced through the legislative process.An election to choose members of the federal parliament is expected to be held on February 23 next year.What’s planned for Constitutional Court?Seen as the ultimate guarantor of German democracy, the court could be vulnerable if populist right and left parties win a third of the seats in parliament after the elections, as polls suggest they might.That would allow the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) or the populist left Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance to block appointments of new judges indefinitely, leading to caseload backlogs and gumming up the wheels of justice.Measures to make blocking nominations harder are seen as more urgent after regional votes in the autumn in which the AfD won blocking minorities in two states. Legal experts fear far-right parties could turn the Supreme Court into an instrument of their power, as governments in Poland and Hungary have done.The three coalition parties and the conservatives had already agreed on measures to protect the court before the collapse, meaning a last-minute push to get the message through is likely.Army deploymentsGermany’s armed forces answer to parliament, not the government, meaning it will need to vote to prolong the mandates for four foreign missions whose authorisations are set to expire.Which laws’ fates are certain?The Deutschlandticket, a signature achievement of Scholz’s government, gives unlimited travel on local and regional transport for a monthly flat rate of 58 euros for next year. Though popular, its €1.5bn price tag needs to be approved for next year. The Greens would like to extend it until next year. Conservative leader Merz was non-committal when asked about it on Tuesday.Measures to address fiscal drag from inflation on tax bands and child benefits are also uncertain to pass: while the Greens would like to see them advanced before the elections, Merz was sceptical.Most parties have made positive noises about the prospects of extending support for Ukraine before the elections, though there is some disagreement on how much legislation is needed to do this.Which laws will fall by the wayside?A law that would promote the building of hydrogen-ready power stations was set to be sent to regional governments for consultation when the coalition collapsed. Though the extra capacity is urgently needed to complement wind and solar power, ministers do not believe there is time to get it through parliament.There is no time to pass the 2025 budget, Kukies said on Tuesday.The SPD’s plan for a guaranteed minimum pension of 48% of the average wage is also expected to be dropped.A plan to reintroduce a limited military service obligation is also expected to fail. - Reuters

When I arrived at Hamad International Airport in early 2015, a prominent slogan greeted me: "Qatar deserves the Best." This powerful message not only promised excellence but also painted a vision of Qatar's ambitious drive toward becoming a global digital hub. As we approach 2030, this vision is rapidly becoming a reality, with Qatar not just meeting but setting new benchmarks in its journey toward a knowledge-based economy.This transformation is evident in every aspect of Qatar's development. The nation's Digital Agenda 2030 is ambitious, focusing on harnessing cutting-edge technology, developing smart cities, and fostering a robust digital economy. The recent launch of the National Cyber Security Strategy (NCSS 2024-2030) reinforces this commitment, setting a clear direction for securing Qatar's digital landscape as it moves towards an advanced digital society.However, with this rapid digital transformation come new challenges. As Qatar's digital economy flourishes, it unfortunately becomes a larger target for cyber threats, which are growing both in sophistication and frequency. Analysts estimate that by 2030, the Global Digital Economy will constitute at least 20% of the Global GDP, with nearly 10% potentially lost to cybercrimes. These startling figures highlight an urgent need for comprehensive cybersecurity measures integrated across all sectors.This need for enhanced security is particularly evident in Qatar's emerging smart cities. Lusail, for instance, exemplifies the future of urban living, blending autonomous transportation, AI-driven public services, and IoT-enabled infrastructures with smart healthcare and education. To protect these interconnected systems, technology leaders like Huawei are helping implement robust, auto-evolving cybersecurity frameworks that ensure operational continuity and public safety.As the dependency on digital infrastructure grows, cloud security becomes increasingly critical. More businesses, public services, and government operations are transitioning to cloud-based platforms, necessitating a new approach to security. The focus has shifted toward embedded security, where protection is integrated directly into the digital architecture rather than added as an afterthought. This includes advanced encryption, AI-powered threat detection, and strict data privacy standards to safeguard cloud environments against evolving threats.Harnessing Emerging Technologies for Enhanced Cyber DefenseQatar is actively embracing emerging technologies to strengthen its cyber defenses. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning stand at the forefront of this technological revolution, capable of predicting and quickly responding to potential cyber threats by analyzing patterns and anomalies in data much faster than human capabilities.This AI-driven approach complements other advanced security measures, such as blockchain technology, which offers unprecedented capabilities for securing data transactions. By implementing blockchain across networks, Qatar can minimize the risks of data tampering while enhancing transparency and data integrity throughout its digital infrastructure.Looking further ahead, quantum cryptography emerges as the next frontier in our cyber defense strategy. As quantum computing begins to pose potential threats to traditional encryption methods, Qatar is positioning itself to pioneer quantum-safe communications vital for national security.These advanced security measures are particularly crucial as Qatar expands its 5G infrastructure. 5G is not merely about increased speed; it represents a fundamental shift in how our digital society operates, enabling everything from autonomous transportation systems to telemedicine and smart energy management. As Qatar advances toward 5G-A (5G Advanced), Huawei's significant investments in research and development are helping ensure that networks are not only cutting-edge but also secure, incorporating internationally recognized standards such as the Network Equipment Security Assurance Scheme (NESAS) and the 5G Cybersecurity Knowledge Base (CKB).Building a Collaborative Cybersecurity EcosystemYet technology alone cannot guarantee security. In a world where cyber threats transcend borders, international collaboration becomes essential. Qatar is actively enhancing its cybersecurity posture by partnering with global entities to share threat intelligence, develop international standards, and participate in joint cyber defense initiatives. These collaborations strengthen Qatar's defenses and contribute to regional and global cybersecurity resilience.This collaborative approach extends to the local level, where public-private partnerships are proving crucial. By bringing together government agencies, research institutions, businesses, and technology providers, Qatar creates a robust ecosystem where security is inherent rather than an afterthought. Within this framework, education and awareness programs ensure that every stakeholder understands their role in maintaining digital security.Looking AheadAs we progress toward Qatar's Digital Agenda 2030, it is clear that success depends on more than just technological advancement. We are building a society where security, trust, and innovation form the foundation of every digital initiative. The robust cybersecurity framework guided by the NCSS 2024-2030 will be central to unlocking Qatar's digital potential, ensuring that our transformation supports economic growth while maintaining the highest privacy and security standards.Reflecting on that promise of "Qatar deserves the Best," it is evident that achieving our ambitious goals requires a collective commitment to cybersecurity. This commitment will enable us to protect our national interests and lead by example in the global digital economy. As stakeholders in Qatar's future, it is incumbent upon us to advocate for, invest in, and implement cutting-edge cybersecurity measures that will secure our achievements and propel us toward a prosperous 2030 and beyond.

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As of this writing, Donald Trump has received about 75.1mn votes in the US presidential election, and Kamala Harris about 71.8mn. Though the numbers will continue to rise as absentee and mail-in ballots are counted, Trump’s final tally will be only slightly higher than his 2020 total of 74.2mn votes. For Harris, though, we will see a disastrous decline from the 81.2mn votes that Joe Biden received, and this despite the fact that the voting-eligible population has increased by four million.In other words, Trump gained almost no support in his four-year campaign for redemption. If all the voters were the same, one could even say that he merely got his 2020 supporters to vote for him again. In fact, about 13mn people (most of them eligible voters) have died, and about 17mn have become voter-eligible, implying that Trump replaced his losses about one-for-one, while a decline in turnout cost the Democrats nearly 10mn votes.These numbers cast grave doubt on explanations of the result that focus on economic conditions, and still more on the impact of advertising and get-out-the-vote campaigns. Advertising, rallies, and the “ground game” were heavily concentrated in the swing states, yet the results there mirrored those across the whole country – including in states such as Massachusetts and Texas, where the outcome was never in doubt. The biggest proportional shifts toward Trump were in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and California. So much for the billion dollars that the Democrats spent on campaigning. Four years ago, Biden did better from his basement.The results also deflate analyses based on the “American voter”. Racism, sexism, and anger over the economy, migration, or reproductive rights (the Democratic “hope” issue this year) no doubt exist. But they do not appear to have affected the results any more (or less) than in past years. Those who went to the polls appear to have voted as they did last time. There are always a few “swing voters,” but there is a reason reporters seek them out in the way that anthropologists once sought out cannibals: they are rare.The real story is that one side voted at peak strength, and the other did not.There are no reliable data on the ideological motives of non-voters. But exit polls do indicate that the shift in the mix of voters was greater at lower income levels; the share of voters with annual incomes below $50,000 who voted for Biden was greater than for Harris. Among Hispanics, notably relatively low-income voters along the Texas border (in very small counties, to be sure), the shift toward Trump was dramatic.After we have ruled out the implausible, at least three reasonable conjectures remain. The first concerns the conditions of voting. In 2020, owing to the pandemic, voting was more accessible than ever before. Millions cast their ballots through early voting, vote-by-mail, drive-through collection points, 24-hour voting, and other convenient methods, and turnout (as a proportion of the eligible electorate) was the highest it had been since 1900 – long before the civil-rights era, and two decades before the enfranchisement of women.In 2024, some – though not all – of these expedients no longer existed, after already declining in 2022. It is standard in America to use the structure of voting to help determine the outcome: long lines at the polls discourage turnout, especially among working people with limited time.A second plausible explanation concerns voter registration. Students and low-income minority citizens move more frequently and usually must re-register every time their address changes. It is highly probable that this burden falls more heavily on Democrats.The third hypothesis turns on the long-standing divisions within the Democratic Party, which is about 70-80% centrist and 20-30% “left”, but completely controlled by its centrist majority. This has been the case ever since George McGovern’s defeat in 1972, but the control now extends to the point of candidate selection for congressional seats and national-party funding for federal campaigns.The Clintons and Obamas are currently the de facto heads of the centrist faction, and Biden and Harris were their appointees. Bernie Sanders carried the torch of the left in 2016 and 2020 but threw his support behind Biden in exchange for concessions on policy.In 2024, there was no Democratic left, because there was no real primary or contest of any kind, only a last-minute closed-door candidate replacement. Some of the left’s remnants – Robert F Kennedy, Jr (denied access to the Democratic primary ballot) and Tulsi Gabbard – went over to Trump’s camp. The actual left in 2024 was a movement called “Palestine”. It had no home in either party.The Democratic leadership engineered this situation and must therefore desire it. Win or lose, it remains in control of a vast shadow apparatus: consultants, pollsters, lobbyists, fundraisers, key positions on Capitol Hill. Any concessions to new forces within the party would undermine this control, whereas losses to Republicans do not. The Democratic leadership would far rather lose an election or two – or even become a permanent minority party – than open the party to people it cannot control.The 2024 election was, therefore, a suicide. The Democratic leadership was, at best, indifferent to the erosion of voting access, negligent in retaining 2020’s new voters, and proactive in ensuring the abstention of what little remains of its “left” wing. It tried to cover this up, as usual, with celebrity endorsements and identity politics. As usual, it did not work. But the party’s mandarins and their apparatchiks will be around next time to try again. — Project SyndicatelJames K Galbraith, Chair in Government/Business Relations and Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin, is the co-author (with Jing Chen) of the forthcoming Entropy Economics: The Living Basis of Value and Production.

A huge drop in the population of African elephants in a half century, as revealed by researchers recently, should worry not only conservationists but also anyone with a passion for nature. African elephants are Earth’s largest land animals, remarkable mammals that are very intelligent and highly social. Fresh evidence of the peril they are facing has come in a study that documents alarming population declines at numerous sites across the continent, Reuters reported.Researchers unveiled last week what they called the most comprehensive assessment of the status of the two African elephant species - the savanna elephant and forest elephant - using data on population surveys conducted at 475 sites in 37 countries from 1964 through 2016. The savanna elephant populations fell by about 70% on average at the surveyed sites and the forest elephant populations dropped by about 90% on average at the surveyed sites, with poaching and habitat loss the main drivers. All told, there was a 77% population decrease on average at the various surveyed sites, spanning both species.Elephants vanished at some sites while their populations increased in other places thanks to conservation efforts. “A lot of the lost populations won’t come back, and many low-density populations face continued pressures. We likely will lose more populations going forward,” said George Wittemyer, a Colorado State University professor of wildlife conservation and chair of the scientific board of the conservation group Save the Elephants, who helped lead the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.Poaching and habitat loss due to agricultural expansion are among the main threats. The forest elephant population is estimated to be about a third that of savanna elephants. Poaching has affected forest elephants disproportionately and has ravaged populations of both species in northern and eastern Africa.“We have lost a number of elephant populations across many countries, but the northern Sahel region of Africa - for example in Mali, Chad and Nigeria - has been particularly hard hit. High pressure and limited protection have culminated in populations being extirpated,” Wittemyer said.But in southern Africa, elephant populations rose at 42% of the surveyed sites, with strong growth in populations in Botswana, Zimbabwe and Namibia. “For populations showing positive trends, we have had active stewardship and management by the governments or outside groups that have taken on a management role,” Wittemyer said.The study did not track a continent-wide population tally because the various surveys employed different methodologies over different time frames to estimate local elephant population density, making a unified head count impossible. Instead, it assessed population trends at each of the surveyed sites. A population estimate by conservationists conducted separately from this study put the two species combined at between 415,000 and 540,000 elephants as of 2016, the last year of the study period. It remains the most recent comprehensive continent-wide estimate.“The loss of large mammals is a significant ecological issue for Africa and the planet,” said conservation ecologist and study co-author Dave Balfour, a research associate in the Centre for African Conservation Ecology at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa.The world’s third extant elephant species, the slightly smaller Asian elephant, faces its own population crisis, with similar factors at play as in Africa.Of African elephants, Wittemyer said: “While the trends are not good, it is important to recognise the successes we have had and continue to have. Learning how and where we can be successful in conserving elephants is as important as recognising the severity of the decline they have experienced. Not only one of the most sentient and intelligent species we share the planet with, but also an incredibly important part of ecosystems in Africa that structures the balance between forest and grasslands, serves as a critical disperser of seeds, and is a species on which a multitude of other species depend on for survival.”

A decline in US influence in Africa means US President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will have to grapple with blind spots in its understanding of a fast-changing continent increasingly allied with China and Russia and threatened by spreading jihadist insurgencies.Interviews with eight current and former officials along with a review of US government watchdog reports show that a dearth of staff and resources under President Joe Biden at embassies in Africa undermined efforts to implement Washington’s goals. The US racked up diplomatic setbacks over the past four years, including losing America’s major spy base in Niger and failing to negotiate a deal with any ally to reposition those assets. It is now caught without a foothold among the Sahel region’s Russia-backed military juntas just as the region becomes the world’s terrorism hotpot.In soft power terms, a Gallup poll published this year showed that China surpassed the US in popularity in Africa.Cameron Hudson, a former CIA analyst who worked on Africa in a number of roles for both Democrat and Republican administrations, said the lack of resources had led to missteps.These include being caught by surprise when war erupted in Sudan in April last year, he said, and bungling talks with Niger’s junta over its airbase.“We have huge blind spots in our understanding of political dynamics, military dynamics in the countries where we are active,” Hudson, now at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, told Reuters. “This is a mega issue that U.S. diplomacy faces, and it’s particularly acute in Africa.”In response to Reuters questions, the US State Department said applicants for posts in Africa were dissuaded by insufficient schools, health care, and the remote nature of many postings, adding that monetary and non-monetary incentives were in place to encourage service in what it called difficult posts.Other signs point to America’s decline in a region long considered to be a low priority for US foreign policymakers. Washington has made little progress towards advancing access to vast reserves of African minerals that it says are critical for national security. A flagship US-backed railway project to export resources through Angola to the West is still years from completion.Biden made sweeping political promises to Africa that he has yet to keep, including visiting during his presidency, which ends in January. He vowed to support the addition of two permanent seats for Africa at the UN Security Council and for the African Union to join the G20, but neither has happened.Two former senior officials that served in Trump’s 2017-2021 administration said they expected him to pursue a more pragmatic approach than Biden, seeking tangible returns for US spending in the region.Competition with China will be a major focus, they both said, along with fresh support for US businesses. The US may also revisit its politics towards military leaders in the troubled Sahel, with less focus on democracy and human rights, they said.“Africa policy needs a bit of realism,” said Tibor Nagy, a retired career ambassador and former Trump envoy to Africa. “I’m hoping that with a second Trump administration, where policy is more transactional, you can actually end up with more successes.”The Trump campaign did not respond to emails requesting information about its plans for Africa. Brian Hook, a former Trump official overseeing the diplomatic transition at the State Department, did not respond to a request for comment.‘The lights were off’The troubled US diplomatic footprint on the continent is visible in US government data and official reports that are publicly available but have not appeared in the media.Numerous reports by the State Department’s watchdog, the Office of the Inspector General, detail staffing problems at embassies that undermine US goals including promoting political and economic stability.One example is the situation in the Central African Republic, a gold-producing, increasingly authoritarian state that pays Russian mercenaries for protection while receiving millions in US aid, according to a watchdog report in June.The report described how embassy staffing shortages meant the US ambassador in the country often had no note-taker at meetings. Sending documents could take hours due to a weak internet connection at the embassy.Over $2mn worth of inventory was lost in 2023, linked partly to theft and fraud by local hires, the report said. Even in places where the US wants to compete with Beijing, a top national security priority, staffing problems are severe. At one point in 2023, a US congressional official said, the political section was vacant in Guinea, home to the world’s largest bauxite reserves, with exports mostly destined for China.“The entire department was empty, the lights were off,” the official told Reuters, on condition of anonymity to speak candidly.In Togo, a coastal West African nation threatened by jihadists, the small US embassy was unable to keep up with Washington’s demands after Togo was selected to pilot the bipartisan Global Fragility Act, a US strategy to promote political stability around the world through 10-year plans, an inspector general report published in mid-2023 described.The report blamed a lack of both staff and experience, with almost every US official at the post serving in their job for the first time. The embassy declined additional funding for security assistance because it didn’t have the resources to spend it, the report said.The State Department declined to comment on specific questions about embassy operations in the Central African Republic, Guinea and Togo.Cuts, cuts, cutsWith major wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, Africa may well be low on Trump’s foreign policy priorities. He has yet to appoint an Africa team, in contrast to his defeated opponent US Vice-President Kamala Harris, who named a team for the region in the days before the November 5 election. During his last administration, many in the region were enraged when Trump reportedly referred to African nations in a derogatory way. Close allies were hit with travel bans. Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Tanzania were among 13 countries on the list when he left office.Peter Pham, a former top Trump envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes and Sahel region, said he did not expect a major drop in US aid for Africa with the new government but that with Trump there was a higher chance assistance would be cut off if a country was perceived to be acting against US interests.“We have to be more intentional about that, and that means capable partners and accountability,” he said in an interview. The first Trump administration proposed sweeping cuts to the State Department and the US Agency for International Development and struggled to fill posts during its time in office. It also pulled funds from the United Nations and healthcare organisations that supported family planning.The American Foreign Service Association, the union that represents US diplomats, said that a shortage of mid-level staff, red tape and other institutional issues all contributed to the problems in Africa.The State Department has been hiring above attrition for the first time in 15 years, Marcia Bernicat, the foreign service director general, said in an interview in September, citing initiatives to address mid-career shortages.A quarter of the workforce is now made up of people hired since 2020, she said. Two studies are underway to review incentives to draw people to hard to fill jobs.Despite these efforts, staffing levels in Africa changed little overall during Biden’s time in office after falling during the global pandemic.Limited State Department data provided to Reuters shows the number of foreign service officers in Africa dipped to 2,057 in 2023 from 2,175 in December 2018.“It’s frustrating for everyone involved,” Tom Yazdgerdi, the foreign service union president, told Reuters. “It’s not just a staffing issue - it’s a national security concern.” - Reuters

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Global poverty and climate change are deeply interlinked. The relationship among human, ecological and climate systems is multidimensional, as climate change disproportionately affects the world’s poor, and poverty exacerbates vulnerabilities to climate change.Our jobs, health, and even cultural values all stem from our natural surroundings. As a result, climate change has emerged as the most significant challenge of our lifetime and is fast becoming the new paradigm for global development.Climate change worsens economic instability by damaging agriculture, fisheries, and natural resources that many low-income communities rely on for livelihoods.Extreme weather events, such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, often destroy infrastructure, homes, and businesses in poor regions, setting back development.Impoverished communities often depend on deforestation, over-fishing, and unsustainable farming for survival, contributing to biodiversity loss and increased greenhouse gas emissions.Poor regions obviously lack infrastructure, technology, and financial resources to adopt climate-resilient practices, increasing their carbon footprint through inefficient means.That said, governments, multilateral banks, and other major development actors around the world have all stepped up financial commitments for climate change.However, many of these commitments still miss a key ingredient — a distinct focus on the poor and vulnerable, according to some economists at the World Bank.Currently, 90% of climate finance goes towards climate mitigation including clean energy and sustainable transport. While these investments are critical in slowing down the pace of climate change, often, they do not solve the persistent challenges that the poor face.The world’s poorest people typically lack resources — money, physical assets, and knowledge — to cope and adapt to climate shocks, noted World Bank’s Timothy Clay, Nazia Moqueet and Victoria Strokova.They often respond in ways that further degrade their surrounding environment, creating a vicious cycle of poverty and environmental deterioration. Women are particularly vulnerable and are at a greater risk of losing their livelihoods due to a climate shock than men. Therefore, governments must work hard to include the poorest, particularly women, in climate initiatives, ensuring they have the resources to cope with immediate shocks, adapt to long-term climate impacts, and benefit from the budding green revolution.If the poor are left to handle the climate crisis alone, the consequences will be clear: migration, civil disruption, and famine — all of which are already beginning to unfold.As climate impacts become increasingly visible, governments recognise the need to adopt climate resilient development strategies that holistically address the intertwined challenges of poverty and climate change.It is important to note that tackling both challenges simultaneously cannot be achieved through one-off interventions. Reforesting vast landscapes alone does not guarantee improved outcomes for the poor, just as cash transfers, while essential in times of climate disasters, do not ensure enhanced biodiversity.Ideally, programmes should provide an integrated approach that combines poverty and climate objectives, involving various sectors and actors, including social protection, environment, and agriculture.Undoubtedly, governments must work hard to include the poorest, particularly women, in climate initiatives, ensuring they have the resources to cope with immediate shocks, adapt to long-term climate impacts, and benefit from the budding green revolution.

Republican Donald Trump is expected to crack down on illegal immigration and try to restrict legal immigration when he returns to the White House on January 20, following up on campaign promises and unfinished efforts from his 2017-2021 presidency.Here are some of the policies under consideration, according to Trump, his campaign and news reports:Border enforcementTrump is expected to take a slew of executive actions on his first day as president to ramp up immigration enforcement, including deploying National Guard troops to the US-Mexico border and declaring a national emergency to unlock funds to resume construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border.Trump has said he would restore his 2019 “remain in Mexico” program, which forced asylum-seekers of certain nationalities attempting to enter the US at the southern border to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their cases. The program was terminated by Biden, a Democrat who ended his faltering re-election campaign in July, making Vice-President Kamala Harris the candidate. Biden defeated Trump in 2020, pledging more humane and orderly immigration policies, but struggled to deal with record levels of migrants caught crossing the US-Mexico border illegally. Immigration was a top voter issue heading into last week’s election, in which Trump defeated Harris in a stunning political comeback.Edison Research exit polls showed 39% of voters said most immigrants in the US illegally should be deported while 56% said they should be offered a chance to apply for legal status.Trump also would reinstate the Covid-19-era Title 42 policy, which allowed US border authorities to quickly expel migrants back to Mexico without the chance to claim asylum, he told Time magazine in an interview.He would use record border crossings and trafficking of fentanyl and children as reasons for the emergency moves, Time reported, citing comments from advisers.Trump has said he will seek to detain all migrants caught crossing the border illegally or violating other immigration laws, ending what he calls “catch and release”. At an October campaign event, Trump said he would call on Congress to fund an additional 10,000 Border Patrol agents, a substantial increase over the existing force. Harris criticised Trump for helping kill a bipartisan border security bill earlier this year that could have added 1,300 more agents.Trump criticised a Biden asylum ban rolled out last June and pledged to reverse it during a campaign event in Arizona. He said the measure would not adequately secure the border, even though it mirrored Trump-era policies to deter would-be migrants and has contributed to a steep drop in migrants caught crossing illegally. Trump also said at the campaign event that he would consider using tariffs to pressure China and other nations to stop migrants from their countries from coming to the US-Mexico border.Mass deportationsTrump has pledged to launch the largest deportation effort in American history, focusing on criminals but aiming to send millions back to their home countries, an effort that is expected to tap resources across the US government but also face obstacles. As part of his Day One executive actions, Trump is expected to scrap Biden’s immigration enforcement priorities, which focused on arresting serious criminals and limited enforcement against people with no criminal records.During a rally in Wisconsin in September, Trump said deporting migrants would be “a bloody story”, rhetoric that sparked criticism from immigrant advocates.Trump told Time he did not rule out building new migrant detention camps but “there wouldn’t be that much of a need for them” because migrants would be rapidly removed.Trump would rely on the National Guard, if needed, to arrest and deport immigrants in the US illegally, he said. When questioned, he also said he would be willing to consider using federal troops if necessary, a step likely to be challenged in the courts. Trump has also vowed to take aggressive new steps to deport immigrants with criminal records and suspected gang members by using the Alien Enemies Act, a 226-year-old statute last utilised for interning people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War Two.Trump called for the death penalty for migrants who kill US citizens or law enforcement officers at an October rally in Aurora, Colorado. Stephen Miller, the architect of Trump’s first-term immigration agenda who reportedly will return in a top White House role, said in an interview last year with a right-wing podcast that National Guard troops from co-operative states could potentially be deployed to what he characterised as “unfriendly” states to assist with deportations, which could trigger legal battles.Vice-President-elect J D Vance said in a New York Times interview published in October that deporting 1mn immigrants per year would be “reasonable”. Biden in the 2023 federal fiscal year outpaced Trump deportation totals for any single year — with a total 468,000 migrants being deported to their home countries or returned to Mexico by US immigration authorities — and is on pace for even more this year, a tally that includes migrants returned to Mexico.Travel bansTrump has said he would implement travel bans on people from certain countries or with certain ideologies, expanding on a policy upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018. Trump previewed some parts of the world that could be subjected to a renewed travel ban in an October 2023 speech, pledging to restrict people from the Gaza Strip, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and “anywhere else that threatens our security.” During the speech, Trump focused on the conflict in Gaza, saying he would bar the entry of immigrants who support the Hamas and send deportation officers to pro-Hamas protests.Trump said last June he would seek to block communists, Marxists and socialists from entering the US.Legal immigrationTrump plans to end Biden’s humanitarian “parole” programmes, including one that allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants with US sponsors to enter the US and obtain work permits. He has called Biden’s programmes an “outrageous abuse of parole authority.” Trump said last year that he would seek to end automatic citizenship for children born in the US to immigrants living in the country illegally, an idea he flirted with as president.Such an action would run against the long-running interpretation of an amendment to the US Constitution and would likely trigger legal challenges. During his first term, Trump greatly reduced the number of refugees allowed into the US and has criticised Biden’s decision to increase admissions. He would again suspend the resettlement program if elected, the New York Times reported in November 2023.Trump has said he would push for “a merit-based immigration system that protects American labour and promotes American values.” In his first term, he took steps to tighten access to some visa programmes, including a suspension of many work visas during the Covid pandemic. The Trump campaign criticised a Biden programme — currently blocked by a federal judge — that offered a path to citizenship to immigrants in the US illegally who are married to an American citizen and have lived in the US for at least a decade.Trump said on a podcast in June that he backed giving green cards to foreign students who graduate from US colleges or junior colleges, but Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt later said the proposal “would only apply to the most thoroughly vetted college graduates who would never undercut American wages or workers.”He would seek to roll back Temporary Protected Status designations, the New York Times reported, targeting a humanitarian programme that offers deportation relief and work permits to hundreds of thousands. Trump tried to phase out most Temporary Protected Status enrolment during his first term, but was slowed by legal challenges. A federal appeals court in September 2020 allowed him to proceed with the wind-down, but Biden reversed that and expanded the programme after taking office.Family separationIn a town hall with CNN last year, Trump declined to rule out resuming his contentious “zero tolerance” policy that led thousands of migrant children and parents to be separated at the US-Mexico border in 2018.He defended the separations again in November 2023, telling Spanish-language news outlet Univision that “it stopped people from coming by the hundreds of thousands.” While Trump has refused to rule out reinstating a family separation policy, Trump’s incoming “border czar” Tom Homan told Reuters last year that the separations “caused an uproar” and that it would be better to detain families together. The Biden administration last year reached a settlement agreement with separated families that would offer them temporary legal status and other benefits while barring similar separations for at least eight years.DACATrump tried to end a programme that grants deportation relief and work permits to “Dreamer” immigrants brought to the US illegally as children, but the termination was rebuffed by the Supreme Court in June 2020. Following the Supreme Court ruling, the Trump administration said it would not accept any new applications to the programme, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, and would explore whether it could again attempt to end it.Trump plans to try to end DACA if elected, the New York Times reported.

Qatar holds a prominent position on the global humanitarian and relief map, having become one of the leading countries in this field. Its institutions are at the forefront of initiatives in regions affected by conflict, disasters, and crises across the globe.To ensure the effectiveness of these efforts, Qatar has doubled its efforts and strengthened strategic partnerships with many countries. The country has launched more initiatives aimed at helping communities that are most vulnerable to risks, disasters, and poverty worldwide.Development is a key component of Qatar National Vision 2030, which prioritises human, social, economic, and environmental development. Qatar has taken multiple approaches to enhance its international partnerships in this field, benefiting humanity through relief projects and improving the lives of millions across the world.In this context, Qatar, along with the United Kingdom and France, launched an initiative for international development co-operation and humanitarian response, allocating $50mn through a joint fund to tackle the most urgent humanitarian and developmental challenges, reflecting a shared responsibility to respond to global crises.Qatar has signed several agreements, memorandums of understanding, and letters of intent, including an MoU with Canada to enhance development co-operation. This partnership focuses on strengthening joint foreign aid policies, empowering youth, promoting women’s economic and social roles, and reducing poverty to achieve sustainable development goals.Under this memorandum, both countries will collaborate on activities in shared sectors, with a focus on education and aligning views on issues discussed at multilateral forums and events.Qatar, through Education Above All Foundation, and Canada, through the Global Affairs Canada, have committed a joint $95mn to empower youth in over 60 developing countries.Qatar and Canada will also collaborate on assisting conflict-affected populations in Sudan and Syria through humanitarian aid and joint projects for displaced people.Both countries have affirmed their commitment to providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza in close collaboration with Jordan, as well as supporting Gaza residents evacuated to Qatar for medical treatment, particularly focusing on psychological and mental health support in partnership with the Qatar Red Crescent Society.During the visit of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Sweden, several memorandums of understanding were signed to enhance co-operation between the two countries. These include memorandums of understanding on peace and reconciliation, humanitarian and development co-operation, and social development and family support.Qatar and France also signed several agreements related to humanitarian and development co-operation, including an MoU on facilitating co-operation between the Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and the French Development Agency (AFD), as well as declarations of intent concerning development and humanitarian aid and emergency response.Moreover, Qatar and Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide scholarships for Afghan students to continue their education at Indonesian universities.Qatar has been keen to co-operate with all international partners to ensure the continuous flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and Lebanon, consistently emphasising the need for sustainable delivery of assistance.In the context of growing international partnerships, Qatar’s relations with France and the United Kingdom have yielded fruitful collaboration in providing humanitarian aid, particularly to Gaza and Lebanon.Furthermore, Qatar’s close co-operation with Turkiye has resulted in sending a ship loaded with more than 1,900 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the besieged Palestinian brothers in Gaza, which reflects a shared vision regarding the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in the region and the need for regional and international efforts to address it by all means.In terms of humanitarian collaboration between Qatar and Italy, a joint effort to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza saw the arrival of the Italian ship “Vulcano” at the port of La Spezia, Italy, carrying a number of wounded individuals from Gaza for treatment in Italian hospitals.The ship had sailed from the port of Al Arish in Egypt, carrying 60 Palestinians, including 18 children wounded in the ongoing war in Gaza and 42 family members. The ship’s medical team included six members of the Qatari armed forces. The ship had docked at the Egyptian port of Al Arish for nearly two months, functioning as a field hospital to provide medical services to injured Palestinians coming from Gaza.The humanitarian medical co-operation between Qatar and France also stands as a leading example of humanitarian work and healthcare relief, as French Navy aircraft transported 124 injured individuals from Gaza, with 54 of them later transferred to Qatar for treatment.Additionally, both countries co-operated in a joint operation to deliver ambulances, tents, and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, agreeing on the urgent need to increase the delivery and flow of humanitarian aid throughout Gaza and to continue their joint efforts in providing emergency assistance.Qatar’s international co-operation strategy supports the goal of advancing economic and social development in low-income countries, in line with the global objectives of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. This strategy supports the global partnership for development to eliminate poverty, reduce inequalities, and promote economic development and environmental sustainability. Many countries across all continents have benefited from Qatar’s aid, which has reached more than 100 nations worldwide.

Established in 2014, the Qatari-Turkish Supreme Strategic Committee has convened annually, alternating between Qatar and Turkiye, under the joint leadership of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.The committee serves as a platform for consultation on Qatari-Turkish relations and stands as a key indicator of the strong, strategic partnership between Doha and Ankara. It functions as a collaborative tool for exploring and enhancing co-operation between the two nations across multiple sectors, notably in the fields of economy, investment, industry, defence, security, development, and culture, to achieve the common interests of the two countries and their brotherly peoples.Since its establishment, the committee has held nine meetings alternately between the two countries. The first meeting took place in Doha in 2015, followed by the second in Trabzon, Turkiye, in 2016. The third was held in Doha in 2017, the fourth in Istanbul in 2018, the fifth in Doha in 2019, the sixth in Istanbul in 2020, the seventh in Doha in 2021, the eighth in Istanbul in 2022, and the ninth in Doha in 2023.These meetings have resulted in the signing of over 110 agreements and memoranda of understanding aimed at fostering and supporting co-operation between the two countries in various fields.During these sessions, the two nations review the progress of their collaboration, assess the current state of their strategic partnership, and explore new opportunities to elevate their relationship in ways that serve their shared interests and aspirations. The meetings also provide a platform for discussing pressing regional and international issues of mutual concern and aligning the countries’ stances in support of Islamic and humanitarian causes to benefit friendly and allied nations while reinforcing global peace and security.The first session in Doha witnessed the signing of 16 agreements covering diverse sectors, including security, banking, finance, education, journalism, environmental management, archiving, transportation, energy, and science and technology.The second session, held in Trabzon, Turkiye, in 2016, led to additional agreements in fields like accounting oversight work, higher education, information and communications technology, health and medical sciences, youth and sports, culture, avoiding double taxation and preventing financial evasion, customs affairs, agriculture, specifications and standards, organising exhibitions, investments in free zones, and co-operation in the defence field.The third session in Doha in 2017 resulted in agreements and MoUs on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, university research collaboration, central banking, tourism, legal training, meteorology, ports, food safety, humanitarian aid, and media.In 2018, the fourth session in Istanbul saw agreements and MoUs to co-operate in civil aviation, culture, training, defence, trade and economy, e-commerce, and attracting investment.The fifth session in Doha in 2019 included several agreements and MoUs on bilateral currency exchange, industrial and technological co-operation, finance, investment promotion, and urban planning. A joint declaration of intent was also signed to establish a trade facilitation and consumer protection lab between the two parties, and a memorandum of understanding for co-operation in the field of standards between the Qatari Public Works Authority and the Turkish Standards Institution.In 2020, the sixth session in Istanbul yielded agreements and MoUs on investment, free zones, and water management. A joint declaration was also signed to establish the joint economic and trade committee between the two countries, enhance economic and financial co-operation, co-operation in the fields of family affairs, women and social services, and exchange of diplomats.The seventh session, held in Doha in 2021, saw the signing of numerous agreements and MoUs on organising major events, emergency and disaster management, protocols, and a content partnership program between the Doha Forum and the Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Additionally, an MoU was signed between Qatar Development Bank and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Organisation in Turkiye, in addition to the fields of youth and sports, health and medical sciences, endowments and Islamic affairs, standardisation, and culture. An agreement of understanding was also signed between the Qatari Businessmen Association and the Turkish Investment Office.The eighth session took place in Istanbul in October 2022, where a series of agreements and MoUs were signed to strengthen strategic co-operation between the two countries. These agreements covered media and communications, halal quality infrastructure, protection of industrial property rights, food security, disaster management, emergency response, humanitarian aid, construction, establishment and operation of cultural centres, museums, and diplomatic archives. An agreement was also signed for the mutual inclusion and integration of territories within the satellite service area between Qatar’s Communications Regulatory Authority and Turkiye’s Information and Communication Technologies Authority.In December 2023, the ninth session was held in Doha, resulting in further agreements in political consultations on mutual concerns, culture, labour, philanthropy and humanitarian work, higher education, military and scientific co-operation, research, information and communications technology, finance, and investment promotion.The regular meetings of the committee and the resulting agreements and memoranda of understanding have significantly strengthened relations between the two countries, elevating them to distinguished strategic levels. The growth in trade volume between Qatar and Turkiye attests to the development of their bilateral relations, particularly with the establishment of direct shipping routes and an abundance of mutual investments.Turkiye is a notable investment destination for Qataris, while Qatar ranks among the largest foreign investors in Turkiye. The Qatar Investment Authority manages several large-scale projects in Turkiye, with approximately 200 Qatari companies operating in the Turkish market. In Qatar, more than 771 Turkish companies are active, along with an additional 15 Turkish companies operating in the Qatar Free Zone.Qatari private sector presence has grown significantly in recent years across various Turkish sectors, including real estate, construction, tourism, manufacturing, media, finance, and healthcare. More recently, Qatari investments have expanded into Turkish ports and technology. The trade exchange between the two nations reached QR4.75bn in 2023, with Qatari exports amounting to QR1.64bn and imports from Turkiye totalling QR3.11bn. Both countries aspire to increase this trade volume to $5bn in the medium term.The Qatar Chamber of Commerce regularly hosts Turkish delegations and participates in key Turkish economic events to explore ways to strengthen commercial and investment ties. The relationship between Qatari and Turkish business communities is described as exceptional, with mutual participation in each other’s events and joint investments between Qatari and Turkish businesspersons in various global markets.The continued convening of the Qatari-Turkish Supreme Strategic Committee underscores the strength of the relationship between Doha and Ankara, as well as the mutual commitment of both countries’ leadership to developing this relationship, fostering Qatari-Turkish co-operation and partnership, and strengthening their alliance.Both nations have maintained a strong stance against regional challenges they have faced in recent years, overcoming difficulties through close co-operation as two friendly and allied countries. There is outstanding coordination between Doha and Ankara on numerous critical regional issues, with shared perspectives on a range of regional and international concerns, particularly significant efforts in mediation, conflict resolution, and promoting peace, security, and stability across the globe.

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