Afghan talks start despite multiple unresolved issues

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner

Significance The Taliban agreed to talk to Kabul's delegation only reluctantly, under US pressure. The Kabul authorities were scarcely any keener. The insurgents' negotiating strategy appears cohesive and disciplined, whereas their interlocutors reflect the turmoil within an Afghan governing coalition riven by President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani's differences with Abdullah Abdullah, both a rival and a coalition partner. Impacts Ghani's control over the delegation undermines and delegitimises Abdullah as a coalition partner. Concomitantly, Ghani's domination of negotiations will mean he is held responsible if they stall or collapse. The Taliban's choice of delegation chief suggests Pakistan's behind-the-scenes influence is waning.

Bavaria elections spell trouble for German coalition

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
National Level ◽  
Federal State ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Social ◽  
Christian Social Union

Significance The governing Christian Social Union (CSU), sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), suffered a serious blow in Bavaria's October 14 federal state elections, underscoring the wider decline of the CDU/CSU in Germany. Its setback, as well as the poor result for the Social Democrats (SPD), Merkel’s junior coalition partner, will have implications at the national level. Impacts If Merkel were to fall, Bundestag President Wolfgang Schaeuble could serve as stop-gap chancellor. In 2019’s state elections, the AfD could emerge as the largest party in several eastern states. Merkel could withdraw support for the CSU’s Manfred Weber, who wants to run for the European Commission presidency.

Kurti’s downfall weakens Kosovo during COVID-19 crisis

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
The Government

Significance The government had just 50 days in power. LVV’s junior coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), initiated the ballot: 82 parliamentarians voted for the motion, including most LDK members, and 32 opposed it, mainly LVV members. Impacts The LVV’s fall from power ends Kosovo’s best hope for political and economic reform since the country broke from Serbia in 1999. The government’s expulsion from office has outraged many, although the COVID-19 lockdown means people cannot take to the streets in protest. The lifting of 100% tariffs has allowed Serbian imports to resume, to the benefit of Serbian exporters and Kosovo consumers.

Tunisia Nidaa divisions will benefit Ennahda in 2019

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Coalition Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
Government Coalition

Significance Negotiations between coalition government parties and other major political players to agree on a new document outlining the government’s path forward (the ‘Carthage II Agreement’) stalled in late May over whether to replace Prime Minister Youssef Chahed and reshuffle the cabinet. A faction of the ruling Nidaa Tounes party led by its executive chairman, Hafedh Essebsi (son of Tunisia’s President Beji Caid Essebsi), called for the dismissal of the prime minister, who is also from Nidaa Tounes. Nidaa’s government coalition partner, the Islamist Ennahda, opposed the move. Impacts Insecurity over the government’s future will complicate key economic and security reforms. The political crisis will deter foreign investment. Friction between rival Nidaa Tounes factions will weaken popular confidence in politics.

Race will again be central in Malaysian politics

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Prime Minister ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
Malaysian Politics

Significance Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition wrested power from the BN last May, promising in campaigning to move away from race as the basis of politics. Malaysia’s constitutionally enshrined ‘Bumiputera’ policy privileges the country’s Malay and indigenous majority. Impacts Any efforts to attenuate Bumiputera privileges would reduce Malay support for the PH. The PAS may intensify calls for Islamic criminal punishments. Mahathir will come under increasing pressure to clarify his plans for transferring power to coalition partner Anwar Ibrahim.

UK FTA offers Australia political not economic boost

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Data Protection ◽  
New Markets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Demand Changes

Significance Reaching an agreement with the UK government will support Australia’s efforts to secure new markets for goods affected by political tensions with China, but early benefits once the FTA is signed are likely to be limited. Impacts The Liberal Party’s coalition partner may demand changes if it sees the FTA as failing to protect rural interests. Pending regulatory clauses, including tough UK standards on data protection, could create tensions in final negotiations. The FTA will allow ships flagged in the United Kingdom or Australia to provide feeder services between the respective ports.

Syriza sets collision course with Greece's creditors

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
European Council ◽  
Economic Adjustment ◽  
Adjustment Programme ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
Members Of Parliament ◽  
Radical Left

Significance The left-right coalition will secure tomorrow's parliamentary vote of confidence, having 162 seats in the 300-seat house. However, its two parties -- Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza, with 149 seats), whose roots lie in Greece's fractious Communist left; and ultra-conservative and nationalist Independent Greeks (Anel, with 13) -- have nothing in common except a desire to escape the economic adjustment programme (EAP) that has accompanied Greece's European Commission/ECB/IMF bailout since May 2010. Impacts A rift is opening within Syriza between those who are prepared to renegotiate the EAP and those who reject it outright. Overtures are being made to Pasok, which has 13 members of parliament and might provide an alternative coalition partner. The European Council on February 12 will be Tsipras's first meeting with Germany's Merkel and other EU peers.

Germany's SPD will struggle to emerge from low point

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Coalition Government ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Party Leadership ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Coalition Partner

Subject Germany's Social Democrats. Significance Following two humbling defeats in the latest round of state elections in March 2016, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, hit an all-time low in the national polls at 20% in May. Impacts The pressure on the party leadership may make the SPD a less predictable coalition partner for Merkel. Over the coming year the CDU may explore the option of forming a government with the Greens after the 2017 election, replacing the SPD. The SPD may benefit from CDU attempts to win back some right-wing voters ahead of the election.

The More Control, the Better?

2014 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeeyun Oh ◽  
Mun-Young Chung ◽  
Sangyong Han
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Design ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Story Structure ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High User ◽  
User Control ◽  
Rigorous Research ◽  
Control Versus ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Impact

Despite of the popularity of interactive movie trailers, rigorous research on one of the most apparent features of these interfaces – the level of user control – has been scarce. This study explored the effects of user control on users’ immersion and enjoyment of the movie trailers, moderated by the content type. We conducted a 2 (high user control versus low user control) × 2 (drama film trailer versus documentary film trailer) mixed-design factorial experiment. The results showed that the level of user control over movie trailer interfaces decreased users’ immersion when the trailer had an element of traditional story structure, such as a drama film trailer. Participants in the high user control condition answered that they were less fascinated with, absorbed in, focused on, mentally involved with, and emotionally affected by the movie trailer than participants in the low user control condition only with the drama movie trailer. The negative effects of user control on the level of immersion for the drama trailer translated into users’ enjoyment. The impact of user control over interfaces on immersion and enjoyment varies depending on the nature of the media content, which suggests a possible trade-off between the level of user control and entertainment outcomes.

GREEN OPEN ACCESS IN KENYA: A REVIEW OF THE CONTENT, POLICIES AND USAGE OF INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORIES

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 25-54
Author(s):  
Wanyenda Leonard Chilimo
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Open Access ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
Google Scholar ◽  
Research Institutions ◽  
Journal Articles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Institutional Repositories ◽  
Current State ◽  
Theses And Dissertations

 There is scant research-based evidence on the development and adoption of open access (OA) and institutional repositories (IRs) in Africa, and in Kenya in particular. This article reports on a study that attempted to fill that gap and provide feedback on the various OA projects and advocacy work currently underway in universities and research institutions in Kenya and in other developing countries. The article presents the findings of a descriptive study that set out to evaluate the current state of IRs in Kenya. Webometric approaches and interviews with IR managers were used to collect the data for the study. The findings showed that Kenya has made some progress in adopting OA with a total of 12 IRs currently listed in the Directory of Open Access Repositories (OpenDOAR) and five mandatory self-archiving policies listed in the Registry of Open Access Repositories Mandatory Archiving Policies (ROARMAP). Most of the IRs are owned by universities where theses and dissertations constitute the majority of the content type followed by journal articles. The results on the usage and impact of materials deposited in Kenyan IRs indicated that the most viewed publications in the repositories also received citations in Google Scholar, thereby signifying their impact and importance. The results also showed that there was a considerable interest in Swahili language publications among users of the repositories in Kenya.

Motivating Exercise Through Social Media: Is a Picture Always Worth a Thousand Words?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlyn Johnston ◽  
William E. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Experimental Design ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Media Content ◽  
Exercise Motivation ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Within Subjects

In the present study, we examined how the influence of exercise-related social media content on exercise motivation might differ across content type (with images vs. without images) and account type (individual vs. corporate). Using a 2 × 2 within-subjects experimental design, 229 participants viewed a series of 40 actual social media posts across the four conditions (individual posts with images, corporate posts with images, individual posts without images, and corporate posts without images) in a randomized order. Participants rated the extent to which they felt each social media post motivated them to exercise, would motivate others to exercise, and was posted for extrinsic reasons. Participants also completed other measures of individual differences including their own exercise motivation. Posts with images from individuals were more motivating than posts with images from corporations; however, corporate posts without images were more motivating than posts without images from individuals. Participants expected others to be similarly motivated by the stimuli, and perceived corporate posts as having been posted for more extrinsic reasons than individuals’ posts. These findings enhance our understanding of how social media may be used to promote positive health behaviors.

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