PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, December 4: Russian leader Vladimir Putin begins a two-day visit to India, which is garnering a lot of attention in the press about the close ties between the two countries. Also, Australia prepares to roll out a social media ban for under-16s, but adolescents are already finding ways to circumvent the new rules that go into effect next week. Plus: New Zealand gets its first Ikea store and a drunk raccoon delights the internet.
Vladimir Putin kicks off a visit to India this Thursday and it's garnering a lot of attention in the Indian press. The Russian president is holding a two-day summit with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. It's his first visit to India since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce has taken out a front-page, full-page ad in Indian business daily Financial Express, welcoming Putin to New Delhi. The Hindu Business Line offers us a "shopping list" of trade topics to be discussed: pharma, medical devices and automobiles but also SU 57 fighters – products that Russia may purchase from India. Two topics will dominate this summit: defence deals and hydrocarbons. However, the editors of the Hindustan Times urge the Indian government to use Putin's visit to push for more access within the Russian market. India, it says, currently has "piecemeal" access to a handful of Russian sectors. A solid and "wide-ranging trade basket" will add further depth to this bilateral relationship and "go beyond just optics", it adds.
More widely, this visit is viewed as symbolic in terms of geopolitical relations. The Indian website Firstpost says that the visit sends a "powerful message to the world, especially the US, which thought it could coerce India to abandon Russia by imposing punitive tariffs for purchasing Russian crude". There is also an interesting analysis from Foreign Affairs magazine, which says Donald Trump's departure from India-friendly policies – this year, he imposed 50 percent tariffs on India and agreed to a raft of deals with India's rival Pakistan – has pushed India to a form of "multi-alignment." In other words, India has sought to build stronger ties with several countries, even when they have contradictory interests. One Russian news agency, though, paints a different picture. "Russia invites India to throw off its Western shackles," it says.
We move on to Australia, which is preparing for a world-first social media ban on under-16s. That ban comes into effect next week, but Australian broadcaster ABC explains that the ban is not really a ban. Social media companies will be forced to prevent – or try to prevent – teens under 16 from holding an account on their platform. The loophole is that they cannot prevent teens from using the account. The outlets affected include Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, TikTok, Snapchat and others. The Australian government has warned, however, that new sites could be added, setting the stage for "the world's most expensive and annoying game of whack-a-mole." Crikey, an Australian website, notes that teens are already finding ways to get around the ban. Some teenagers have started using platforms not covered by the ban, while others are using photos of their parents to convince platforms they are adults. In certain cases, parents themselves are helping kids set up an account. In fact, Australian federal government research showed that 34 percent of parents were likely to help their kids circumvent the ban.
Next, the website The Spinoff reports that flatpack mania has arrived in New Zealand: the first Ikea shop has opened in Auckland. Thousands of people assembled for the opening, complete with a local news outlet live blog. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was there to cut the ribbon. New Zealand is one of the last Western nations to get Ikea. Lucky New Zealanders will now get to spend hours trying to decipher those Ikea manuals!
We end with a story of a raccoon whose Friday night was wilder than yours or mine! The New York Times reports that a raccoon dropped from the ceiling into a liquor store in Virginia last weekend and went on a raging bender that ended with its face down on the toilet floor, blind drunk. The mammal broke 14 bottles of spirits and drank rum, moonshine and peanut butter whiskey, as well as holiday eggnog. Its hangover lasted an hour and a half before authorities safely released the animal back into the wild. There were no injuries, simply remorse and embarrassment!
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