About: the world this week, 4 February 2024 to 10 February 2024; Israel hunting in Gaza; Russia & Ukraine; Myanmar; El Salvador’s Coolest Dictator; Pakistan’s Elections; India’s Bharat Ratna Awards; and the Grammys.

Everywhere

Israel is still hunting vigorously in the Gaza and there is no safe update on the ‘taken’ hostages. This week Israel seized control of much of the Hamas tunnel system in the city of Khan Younis and is said to be closer than ever to capturing the elusive Hamas Leader Yahya Sinwar. War cries could be heard of the end -of the war-being near. Is Israel on the brink of victory?

Russia is, as usual, busy firing between 1,500 and 2,500 shells and rockets at Ukraine’s war-ravaged Donetsk region every day, and is targeting critical infrastructure making life miserable for Ukrainians. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky sacked the Commander-in-Chief (CIC) of the country’s armed forces, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi. There appears to be a rift between the President and his CIC, who has led Ukraine’s war effort since the war with Russia began. Battle-hardened General Oleksandr Syrskyi was announced as his replacement. Perhaps it’s just a change of strategy. One started it; the other could finish it?

In Myanmar, Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to crush all opposition to military rule, as the state of emergency was further extended. He said that he would ‘do whatever it takes’ to return Myanmar to stability, amid unprecedented advances by an alliance of anti-coup forces and ethnic armed groups.

Over the past three months, the Army has been losing troops, territory and towns to determined opponents across multiple parts of the country. But it is determined to fight on, and retains an enormous capacity for violence, attacking civilian populations and infrastructure in areas it has lost, using air power and long-range artillery. Three years on, from the coup of February 2021, Myanmar military’s hold on power is more uncertain than at any time in the last 60 years. More than two million people have been displaced by Myanmar’s internal conflict, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, citing internal security reasons, neighbouring India has decided to suspend the India-Myanmar Free Movement Regime. This allows citizens from either nation to cross the border and travel up to 16 kilometres (km) into the other without documents such as passports or visas. India also plans to fence the entire 1,643 km Myanmar border – as part of its plan for creating ‘impenetrable borders’ – and build a patrolling track alongside the fence. A 10-km stretch in Manipur’s Moreh has already been fenced, and two pilot projects that involve a ‘hybrid surveillance system’ – each covering one kilometre – are in operation.

This week, El Salvador, the smallest and most densely populated of the seven Central American countries made headlines. Lying in the Isthmus of Central America, El Salvador is bordered by Honduras, Guatemala, and the Pacific Ocean. Its capital and largest city is San Salvador.

El Salvador is known as the Land of Volcanoes with ‘with a population of 100 volcanos’, and around 20 of them being potentially active. And of course, the Volcanoes have ‘erupted into’ the National Flag, which features five volcanoes, representing the five states. El Salvador grows great coffee beans and coffee export is a major business. The country is also know as the ‘Mecca for Surfers’ as it gets some of the biggest ‘swells’ offered by the Pacific Ocean and due to the many right-hand ‘point breaks’ that grace most of its over 300 kilometres long coastline.

In Surfing, a ‘swell’ is a series of mechanical or surface gravity waves generated by weather phenomenon that propagate thousands of miles across the ocean. Swell is used to designate a set of waves that separate and move away from a storm or weather condition that develops in the ocean. ‘Point Breaks’ occur when a wave swell strikes a point of land, whether it’s a section of jutting rock or a headland.

Let’s break here, and surf in to El Salvador’s politics.

From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, El Salvador was mired in civil war and internal strife. Since the early 21st century, the country has experienced high crime rates, including gang-related crimes and juvenile delinquency. El Salvador had the highest murder rate in the world in 2012, but experienced a sharp decline in 2019 when a new centrist government took charge. It was also considered an epicentre of a gang crisis, along with Guatemala and Honduras.

Enter Nayib Bukele, called the ‘Coolest Dictator’ in the World.

In June 2019, Nayib Bukele became the new President of El Salvador, winning the February 2019 presidential election. A firebrand politician who often spars with foreign leaders and critics on social media, Bukele came to power trouncing traditional parties with a vow to eliminate gang violence and rejuvenate a stagnant economy. His New Ideas Party with its allies won around 63% of the vote in the February 2021 legislative elections, giving them 61 seats, well over the coveted supermajority of 56 seats in the 84-seat Parliament. This opened the gates for uncontested decisions at the legislative level. The absolute majority permits President Bukele’s party to appoint judiciary members and pass laws with little to no opposition, for instance, to remove presidential term limits.

In June 2021, at the initiative of President Bukele, pro-government deputies in the Legislative Assembly voted legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country. In September 2021, El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled to allow Bukele to run for a second term in 2024, despite the fact that the constitution prohibits the President to serve two consecutive terms in office.

Under a ‘state of emergency’, approved in March 2022, under which authorities suspended civil liberties, the Bukele’s government arrested more than 76,000 people – about 1% of El Salvador’s population – without charges. The assault on the gangs – not entirely democratic – has spurred accusations of widespread human rights abuses and a lack of due process. But violence plummeted along with a sharp decline in nationwide murder rates and fundamentally altered a country known just a few years ago as one of the most dangerous places in the world.

This Sunday, President Nayib Bukele secured a thumping victory in El Salvador’s 2024 elections after voters cast aside concerns about erosion of democracy, to reward him for a fierce gang crackdown that transformed safety and security in El Salvador. Provisional results on Monday show Bukele winning 83% support with just over 70% of the ballots counted. Bukele declared himself the winner before official results were announced, claiming to have attained more than 85% of the vote. “All together the opposition was pulverised,” said Bukele. And added “El Salvador went from being the most unsafe (country) to the safest. Now, in these next five years, wait to see what we are going to do”.

New Ideas’ electoral success means Bukele will wield unprecedented power and be able to overhaul El Salvador’s constitution. Wildly popular, Bukele had campaigned on the success of his security strategy.

El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal last year permitted him to run for a second term even though the country’s constitution prohibits it. Opponents fear Bukele will seek to rule for life, following the example of President Daniel Ortega of ‘across-the-sea’ Nicaragua.

Nayib Bukele is the son of Palestinians from Jerusalem and Bethlehem. He discontinued studying law at the Central American University to join his father in the family Business. Entering politics he went on to be elected as Mayor of Nuevo Cuscatlan – a small Municipality – and later San Salvador- the capital. He then established a political party called Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) to make a presidential bid, which did not help his cause. Hence he joined the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) to mount his bid and won the Presidential Elections, with ease in 2019, becoming President.

Bukele went on to become a highly popular leader and only more so since the government began its crackdown on the country’s feared gangs. “We are not substituting democracy, because El Salvador never had democracy,” he said. “This is the first time in history that El Salvador has democracy. And I’m not saying it, the people say it.”

Nayib Bukele is married to Gabriela Roberta Rodriguez, a Salvadoran educator, and prenatal psychologist, holding a doctorate in prenatal psychology. She is also a professional ballet dancer and is part of a dance company. Nayib and Gabriela began dating in 2004 and married in December 2014. They have two children.

Pakistan went to the polls this Thursday. This against the backdrop of jailing of popular former Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, dominating headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the country.

Pakistan, a nation of 241 million people is reeling from decades-high inflation and an economy that has come to a grinding halt as it navigates a tough International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme. Islamist militancy is on the rise and relations with neighbouring countries of India, Afghanistan and Iran are frayed. But these matters have been mostly absent as ‘election issues’, in which the parties of Imran Khan and former PM Nawaz Sharif are the main rivals. Instead the campaign is dominated by personalities. Pakistan’s National Assembly consists of 336 seats, of which, 265 are decided through direct voting on polling day.

Thousands of troops were deployed on the streets and at polling stations across the country on voting day. Borders with Iran and Afghanistan were temporarily closed as security was stepped up. Despite the heightened security, 12 people were killed in 51 bomb blasts, grenade attacks and shootings by militants, mostly in the western provinces.

Counting of votes began this Friday after unusual delays, which was ascribed to a suspension of mobile phone services. Candidates linked to jailed Imran Khan’s political party are in the lead, ahead of the two dynastic parties of Nawaz Sharif and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, believed to be favoured by the military. Counting has entered its final leg, and interesting times are ahead!

Britain’s 75 years old King Charles was diagnosed with cancer and the Royal Medical team has been clever in catching it early. He had checked into hospital for a benign prostate enlargement problem when a separate ‘issue of concern’ was detected leading to diagnostic tests, which identified a form of cancer. Now the United Kingdom is hoping His Highness can make a full recovery given the swift detection.

In India, it’s suddenly raining ‘Bharat Ratna Awards’ – the highest civilian award for outstanding service to the people of India. First it was the late Karpoori Thakur, a politician who served two terms as the Chief Minister of Bihar, then it was the living 96 year old L K Advani, former Home Minister and one of the architect’s of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s success. And this week, the Government announced more. Former PMs, P V Narasimha Rao – who rolled out the landmark 1991 economic reforms, which transformed India forever – and Chaudhary Charan Singh; and agricultural scientist M S Swaminathan as recipients of the country’s highest award – all of them get it posthumously.

The 66th Grammys Awards 2024 were handed out this Sunday night in the Crypto.com Arena in Downtown Los Angeles.

Singer, songwriter Taylor Swift made history on winning Album of the Year, for Midnights. She became the first person to win ‘Album of the Year’ four times, more than any other artist in history. The closest is three wins – a tie of Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, and Frank Sinatra. Taylor Swift also won an award for best pop vocal album, and it was during the acceptance speech that she swiftly announced her upcoming album – The Tortured Poets Department.

The Record of the Year, and Best Pop Solo went to Miley Cyrus, Flowers – the first of her career; Song of the year went to Billie Ellish and Finneas O’Connell for What Was I made for – from Barbie, the movie; and Best New Artist went to Victoria Monet. A previous Best New Artist, Olivia Rodrigo had 6 nominations but could not carry home any award.

Indian music struck many right notes this year: Fusion Group, Shakti consisting of singer Shankar Mahadevan, tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, percussionist Vinayakram Selvaganesh, violinist Ganesh Rajagopalan, and British guitarist and founding member John McLoughlin winning the Best Global Music Album for This Moment. This is the Group’s first studio album in more than 45 years.

Sakthi’s band members John McLoughlin and Zakir Hussain have been pioneers in bridging two oceans of music – the harmonic complexity of Jazz and the melodic and rhythmic intensity of Indian Music. The talk goes that, had there been no Sakthi there would have been no Global Music Album Category at the Grammys.

Pandit Ravi Shankar introduced Indian music to the world. But it was Sakthi, which took shape in the 1970s that permanently built a bridge between the two streams – any many more – of music. And after many ups and downs over decades, This Moment arrived. The Album’s cover was designed by a group in Kolkata and Bengaluru, inspired by a label founded by an Indo-American.

Ustad Zakir Hussain picked up two other Grammys along with flautist Rakesh Chaurasia for Best Global Music Performance, Pashto, and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for, As We Speak as part of the ensemble of American banjo player Bela Fleck and American bassist Edgar Meyer. Rakesh Chaurasia is the nephew of legendary Indian flautist Hariprasad Chaurasia. India’s Ricky Kej, a two-time Grammy winner, called 2024 the Year of India at the Grammys.

Beyonce’s husband Jay-Z won the Dr Dre Global Impact Award, but called out the Grammys for snubbing Beyonce by not giving her an Album of the Year Award, despite her winning more Grammys than any other artist. Remember, Beyonce who won 32 Grammys across her remarkable career, has never won the most prestigious prize of all: Album of the Year!

More music albums coming-up in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned to World Inthavaaram.