Around the World in 5 – 4
“Why does man have reason if he can only be influenced by violence?”
Friday 16th May began with Mexico’s opposition to the House Republican tax bill concerning remittance provisions. If enacted, remittance payments sent by non-US citizens to family members in their home countries would be subject to a 5% excise tax, impacting nearly 40 million individuals residing in the United States. Mexico’s ambassador to the US, Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, urged ranking members of the House Ways and Means Committee to reconsider the proposal. President Claudia Sheinbaum also criticised the bill, highlighting the potential damage it could cause to economic relations between the two nations. She noted the legislation’s opposition to the “spirit of economic freedom […] the US government claims to defend.”
There is an optimistic sentiment for the UK’s Labour administration, as the country has become the fastest-growing G7 economy, with a growth rate of 0.7% in the first quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics. However, many economists remain sceptical about the sustainability of this momentum, as the after-effects of Trump’s tariff policies are yet to be seen. Slower growth is expected in the second quarter.
At Turkey’s Dolmabahçe Palace, delegations from both Ukraine and Russia engaged in the first direct peace talks since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Although the meeting concluded after two hours with little substantive progress, both sides agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war—the largest such exchange since the beginning of the conflict. Talks reportedly stalled as Moscow demanded Kyiv’s withdrawal from four occupied regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, stated that both parties agreed to resume negotiations “in principle”.
The theme of political instability continued on the African continent as Chad’s former Prime Minister, Succès Masra, was taken into custody by the country’s ruling security forces early this morning. Prosecutors allege that the arrest is linked to recent inter-communal clashes between ethnic herders and farmers, which left 42 people dead. Masra has been accused of inciting hatred and violence through social media posts that encouraged civilians to take up arms. He had previously fled the country in 2022 after the military government suspended his party, following an attempt to extend his rule by an additional two years. More than 60 people were killed during protests against that extension.
During a UN-led commemoration of the 1948 Nakba, China’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, reiterated Beijing’s call for a two-state solution and the establishment of an independent State of Palestine. Since Israel launched its genocidal offensive in Gaza in 2023, more than 53,000 Palestinians—primarily women and children—have been killed. The Israel Defence Forces continued their strikes today, killing approximately 100 Palestinians in one of the heaviest bombings since the conflict began. On Thursday, an additional 120 women and children were killed in a clear escalation of military action in the West Bank.
The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid [“The Executions”], Francisco de Goya, c.1814.
