EU-DIGEST: 9/1/20

9/30/20

USA: 'Is This American-Style Civilization?': World Reacts To Presidential Debate

The world was watching the U.S. presidential debate on Tuesday night, and what they saw was not pretty.

A "national humiliation," said the Guardian in the U.K. "Cacophonique," the Franceinfo news organization opined. The German public broadcaster DW assessed things far more bluntly. And Israel's leading TV anchor tweeted "condolences to America," writing, "It is hard to stoop lower than this."

Global reaction to the debate between President Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden was largely similar to reactions in the U.S. But to many international observers, Tuesday's spectacle wasn't just unseemly; it represented an America in decline, eliciting pity in some cases, and in others, leading some to question whether democracy is a political system worth embracing.

Read more at:
'Is This American-Style Civilization?': World Reacts To Presidential Debate : NPR

US Presidential Debate - the worst debate ever

The debate. What a disaster. Donald Trump constantly interrupting and disrupting the questioning, like a screaming hyena. All people who were not convinced Donald Trump is mentally insane at this point are insane themselves. If during this Presidential debate there had been advertising breaks, every commercial should have been for anti-depressants to be taken by the viewers of this debate.--..If you are Republican, Democrat or whatever, this lying sociopath has got to go for the sake of a return to normalcy in the USA. Not sure if I can stomac another debate between these two.
Read more at: EU-Digest

9/29/20

The Netherlands considers nationwide face mask obligation

Following the Netherlands’ announcement of the stricter measures against the coronavirus on Monday, calls for a national face mask obligation in the country are rising.

The Dutch government’s current measure – that shopkeepers in the cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague should only allow customers wearing a face mask to enter their shops – is perceived as unclear, according to the Dutch Lower House.

Middle East: Turkey accused of deploying jihadists from Syria to Azerbaijan as World Peace Council calls for immediate ceasefire

The World Peace Council has called for an immediate ceasefire following a second day of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

And Iranian peace campaigners said that Turkey had reportedly transferred jihadists from Syria to fight for Azerbaijan in the conflict, echoing its intervention in the Libyan civil war.

The council said that peace campaigners in both countries needed to mobilise to counter “war hysteria” over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory recognised internationally as part of Azerbaijan but self-governed as the Armenian-majority Republic of Artsakh since the early 1990s.

Dozens have been reported killed and wounded since clashes broke out at the weekend, with Armenia and Azerbaijan disputing each others’ claims.

Association for Defence of Peace, Solidarity & Democracy-Iran convener Payam Solhtalab condemned Turkey’s intervention in the conflict in support of Azerbaijan.

“Turkey, a member of Nato, has territorial ambitions in the region which would be detrimental to regional stability and world peace,” he said, expressing “concern” at Turkey’s reported deployment of jihadists it had sponsored in the war to overthrow the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria. Turkey has vocally backed Azerbaijan since fighting broke out, while Russia, which has close ties to Armenia, says it is seeking to defuse tensions.

Read more at:
Turkey accused of deploying jihadists from Syria to Azerbaijan as World Peace Council calls for immediate ceasefire | Morning Star

USA: The Rolling Constitutional-Fascist Coup in the World’s Most Dangerous Nation - by Paul Street

We are in the middle of a rolling authoritarian and even fascist coup that is working with and through the United States Constitution to no small degree. To be sure, Trump is doing everything in his considerable power to undermine a “normal” bourgeois-constitutional election. He’s working to sabotage mail delivery in an election that will depend on mail-in ballots thanks to the pandemic Trump has fanned. He’s deploying armed right-wing “poll watchers” to intimidate minority and other Biden voters. He’s encouraging terrorist street actions and intimidation by white “tough guys” (bikers, militia members, cops, and soldiers) before, during, and after the election. His party will mess with voting sites and access in majority Democratic jurisdictions.

Trump claims again and again that the only way he can lose is “if the election is rigged.” This is understood by his armed “tough guy” base as a call for “civil war” if vote count doesn’t go his way. It is possible pretext for suspending the election and declaring invalid the tens of mail-in ballots required by the pandemic that Trump has fanned across the nation – the novel coronavirus that is now part of the widely hated Trump’s electoral/anti-electoral strategy. It a possible “justification” also for declaring martial law, as he is being urged to do by some of his far right friends (e.g. neo-Nixonian lunatic Roger Stone and the Fatherland News’ fascist frau Jeanine Pirro) to squash protests against his fake Election Day victory.

Remember Cohen’s testimony to Congress last year: “Given my experience working for Mr. Trump, I fear that if he loses the election in 2020 there will never be a peaceful transition of power. That is why I agreed to come before you today.”

“Trump,” Cohen warns in his book Disloyal, “will never leave office peacefully….Whoever follows Trump into the White House, if the President doesn’t manage to make himself the leader for life, as he has started to joke about – and Trump never actually jokes – will discover a tangle of frauds and scams and lawlessness. Trump and his minions will do anything to cover up that reality, and I mean anything” (emphasis added).

Listen to this recent exchange between Trump and an American reporter:
Reporter: “Win, lose, or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferal of power after the election”?

Trump: “Well, we’re going to have to see what happens. We want to get rid of the ballots, and we’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer, frankly. There’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control, you know it….”

The orange wannabe fascist strongman will not commit to a peaceful transition.

Read more at:
The Rolling Constitutional-Fascist Coup in the World’s Most Dangerous Nation - CounterPunch.org

Azerbajan: The demise of diplomacy: Azerbaijan’s military offensive - by Richard Giragosian

For the past several years, the outlook for diplomacy in Russia’s self-proclaimed “near abroad” or sphere of influence has been particularly daunting. Ranging from Russia’s invasion of Georgia in 2008 to its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and continuing aggression in eastern Ukraine,

Western diplomacy has been largely stalled and stalemated. More recently, it was Belarus that emerged as the obvious focal point for European engagement and diplomatic efforts, with a new challenge for security and stability along the EU’s “eastern neighborhood.”

But with a sudden and sweeping military offensive by Azerbaijan early on Sunday morning, the unresolved Nagorno Karabakh conflict has now surfaced as the more pressing and most urgent crisis for European diplomacy.

Read more:
The demise of diplomacy: Azerbaijan’s military offensive | New Europe

Biodiversity Loss: Canada, Britain, EU pledge to protect 30% of land, sea by 2030 to stop 'catastrophic' biodiversity loss

Britain and Canada on Monday joined the European Union in pledging to protect 30 per cent of their land and seas by 2030 to stem "catastrophic" biodiversity loss and help galvanize support for broader agreement on the target ahead of a United Nations summit.

With the twin crises of climate change and wildlife loss accelerating, leaders are trying to build momentum ahead of the UN meeting in Kunming, China, in May, where nearly 200 countries will negotiate a new agreement on protecting nature.

Read more at:
Canada, Britain, EU pledge to protect 30% of land, sea by 2030 to stop 'catastrophic' biodiversity loss | CBC News

9/28/20

USA: Is Trump Planning a Coup d’État? - by Sasha Abramsky

This summer, shortly after scores of camo-wearing, heavily armed federal agents descended on Portland, Ore., to attack protesters, Charles Fried, Ronald Reagan’s solicitor general, pondered the implications of what he was seeing on the streets. What he saw scared him; he remembered the use of paramilitaries by fascist leaders in 1930s Europe, where he was born, and he feared he was now witnessing a slide into paramilitarism in the United States. (His family fled the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.) Fried felt that President Trump was using the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies in a way that was “very menacing. You might as well put brown shirts on them. It’s a very bad thing.”

Read more at:
Is Trump Planning a Coup d’État? | The Nation

Coronavirus - Global Increase: Fears grow for the 'next million' as global COVID death toll reaches deadly milestone

The number of people who have died globally as a result of COVID-19 has reached the one million mark, a grim milestone that comes just nine months after the disease first emerged in Wuhan, China.

Worldometer, which collects data from a number of official sources including governments, reported that the number of reported deaths worldwide surpassed 1 million on Monday morning.

Preventing another million from dying from the virus will only be possible if countries use all the tools available, experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. This includes issuing physical distancing measures, mass testing and contact tracing.

If they fail to prevent coronavirus transmission, however, it's not only "imaginable" that there could be another one million dead but it's "likely," said Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of WHO's health emergencies programme.

Read more at:
Fears grow for the 'next million' as global COVID death toll reaches deadly milestone | Euronews

Coronavirus EU: Netherlands joins neighbours in tightening coronavirus restrictions amid surge in cases

The Netherlands has introduced stricter measures to combat rising coronavirus cases, banning spectators at professional sports matches and ordering bars and restaurants to close at 10pm for the next three weeks.
Health Minister Hugo de Jonge said “we’re doing our best, but the virus is doing better”, warning that tougher measures could follow if the numbers don’t stop going up.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte also advised people to wear face masks when shopping in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, the three cities with the highest rates of infections.

Read more at:
Netherlands joins neighbours in tightening coronavirus restrictions amid surge in cases | Euronews

USA - Report: Trump Paid Only $750 in Federal Income Taxes in 2016 and 2017 - by Peter Wade

The New York Times has obtained tax-return data for President Trump that shows he paid no income taxes in 11 of the 18 years the paper examined. The bombshell report also revealed that Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016, the year he won the presidency. And he paid the same amount in 2017, his first year in office.

Trump, who has refused to release his tax returns on multiple occasions, using the excuse that he has been under IRS audit, called the report “fake news” during a Sunday news conference.

But the Times says they have obtained more than two decades’ worth of tax-return data for Trump and for hundreds of companies in his business organization. The president’s debt that, according to the report, he has personally guaranteed is in the hundreds of millions of dollars is coming due in the next four years. The Times says that debt leaves Trump dependent on his business accumulating more income, which is a conflict of interest with his duties as president.

Read more at:
Report: Trump Paid Only $750 in Federal Income Taxes in 2016 and 2017 - Rolling Stone

9/27/20

USA: Amid talk of civil war, America is already split – Trump Nation has seceded | US elections 2020 - by Robert Reich

What is America really fighting over in the upcoming election? Not any particular issue. Not even Democrats versus Republicans. The central fight is over Donald J Trump.

Before Trump, most Americans weren’t especially passionate about politics. But Trump’s MO has been to force people to become passionate about him – to take fierce sides for or against. And he considers himself president only of the former, whom he calls “my people”.

Trump came to office with no agenda except to feed his monstrous ego. He has never fueled his base. His base has fueled him. Its adoration sustains him.

So does the antipathy of his detractors. Presidents usually try to appease their critics. Trump has gone out of his way to offend them. “I do bring rage out,” he unapologetically told Bob Woodward in 2016.

In this way, he has turned America into a gargantuan projection of his own pathological narcissism.

Civil war is unlikely, but the weeks and perhaps months after election day will surely be fraught. Even if Trump is ultimately forced to relinquish power, his core adherents will continue to view him as their leader. If he retains power, many if not most Americans will consider his presidency illegitimate.

So whatever happens, Trump’s megalomaniacal ego will prevail. America will have come apart over him, and Trump Nation will have seceded from Anti-Trump Nation.

The Netherlands: New coronavirus measures likely in Amsterdam, The Hague, prime minister says

New measures to combat the spread of coronavirus are very likely to be introduced in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague after the weekend, prime minister Mark Rutte said at his weekly press conference on Friday.

The situation in much of the country is worrying, and eight new regions are being added to the list of six areas which are already in special measures, Rutte said. But the situation in the Randstad area is of great concern, he said: ‘We are also in talks with the mayors of the three cities and have asked our Outbreak Management Team to give extra advice on Monday about what is necessary to stop the spread of the virus there.’

He declined to say if this could include a lockdown in the three big cities. It is not just about the measures, Rutte said. ‘It is about our behaviour; it is about keeping to the rules.’

‘What I would say to the people of my city, The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam is to ask what you can do to reduce the risk,’ Rutte said. ‘The impact on healthcare and hospitals is serious and further measures will also have an impact on our economy.’

Read more:
New coronavirus measures likely in Amsterdam, The Hague, prime minister says - DutchNews.nl

British Banking Industry: Britain's Lloyds banking group tells customers in the Netherlands their accounts will be closed

British citizens living in the Netherlands have been contacted by Lloyds banking group to say that their accounts are being closed because it cannot support them post-Brexit. According to advice from the Dutch central bank DNB, after 2020 it will not be possible for British banks to serve normal retail clients based in the Netherlands unless more agreements are made between the UK and the EU. However, some DutchNews.nl readers have already been contacted by Lloyds bank and the Bank of Scotland and been told that their accounts will be closed by the start of November – causing them anger, confusion and potential chaos. Lloyds has proposed to close current and savings accounts and repay the money in the form of a cheque, they have told DutchNews.nl. Angry

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

British citizens living in the Netherlands have been contacted by Lloyds banking group to say that their accounts are being closed because it cannot support them post-Brexit.

According to advice from the Dutch central bank DNB, after 2020 it will not be possible for British banks to serve normal retail clients based in the Netherlands unless more agreements are made between the UK and the EU.

However, some DutchNews.nl readers have already been contacted by Lloyds bank and the Bank of Scotland and been told that their accounts will be closed by the start of November – causing them anger, confusion and potential chaos. Lloyds has proposed to close current and savings accounts and repay the money in the form of a cheque, they have told DutchNews.nl.

Read more at:
Britain's Lloyds banking group tells customers in the Netherlands their accounts will be closed - DutchNews.nl

Switzerland referendum: Voters reject end to free movement with EU

Swiss voters have rejected a proposal to end an accord with the EU allowing the free movement of people.

With all referendum votes counted, nearly 62% said they wanted to keep free movement, while 38% were against.

Switzerland is not a member of the EU but has a series of interdependent treaties with Brussels which allow it to access to Europe's free trade area.

The move to rein in immigration was proposed by the Swiss People's Party (SVP), but opposed by the government.

A similar initiative to introduce quotas on immigrants from the EU to Switzerland narrowly passed in a 2014 referendum, damaging Swiss-EU relations.

Swiss people are given a direct say in their own affairs under the country's system of direct democracy. They are regularly invited to vote on various issues in national or regional referendums.

9/26/20

Disparity Increases between Rich and Poor: The Pandemic Plutocrats: How Covid Is Creating New Fintech Billionaires

In 2015, Nick Molnar was living with his parents in Sydney, Australia, and selling jewelry from a desktop computer in his childhood bedroom. Hocking everything from $250 Seiko watches to $10,000 engagement rings, the 25-year-old had gotten so good at online marketing that he had become Australia’s top seller of jewelry on eBay, shipping thousands of packages a day.

That same year, he teamed up with Anthony Eisen, a former investment banker who was 19 years his senior and lived across the street. They cofounded Afterpay, an online service that allows shoppers from the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Canada to pay for small-ticket items like shoes and shirts in four interest-free payments over six weeks. “I was a Millennial who grew up in the 2008 crisis, and I saw this big shift away from credit to debit,” the now 30-year-old Molnar says today. Either lacking credit cards or fearful of racking up high-interest-rate debt on their credit cards, Molnar’s generation was quick to embrace this new way to buy and get merchandise now, while paying a little later.

Five years later, Molnar and Eisen, who each own roughly 7% of the company, have become billionaires—during a pandemic. After initially tanking at the start of lockdowns, shares of Afterpay—which went public in 2016—are up nearly tenfold, thanks to a surge in business tied to e-commerce sales. In the second quarter, it handled $3.8 billion of transactions, an increase of 127% versus the same period a year earlier.

Several Covid-driven developments are helping specific types of fintech players. For example, consumers’ shift to more online spending and delivery services is a boon to certain companies powering payments. Marqeta, a specialized payments processor whose clients include Instacart, DoorDash and Postmates, has been in talks to go public at an $8 billion valuation, four times what it was valued at in March of 2019. That would give CEO Jason Gardner, who owns an estimated 10% of Marqeta, a stake worth $800 million.

Meanwhile, the $2 trillion-plus CARES Act Congress passed in March, with its $1,200-per-adult stimulus checks, student loan payment holiday and (now expired) $600-a-week unemployment supplements, helped many Americans keep financially above water—and some digital banks like Chime to prosper.

Read more at:
The Pandemic Plutocrats: How Covid Is Creating New Fintech Billionaires

EU webshops generate €390 million in the Netherlands

Dutch consumers purchased around 390 million euros (excl. VAT) worth of products from foreign EU webshops. This is 15 percent up on the same period last year. Online purchases from EU webshops have increased by over 150 percent in the span of five years. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of ongoing research.

Turnover generated by EU webshops represents online purchases of goods by Dutch consumers from companies located within the European Union but outside the Netherlands. Figures have been calculated on the basis of a method which is still under development and are therefore provisional.

Purchases made by Dutch people from European webshops account for a relatively small part of consumer spending. In 2018, these accounted for less than 2 percent of total retail turnover generated in the Netherlands. The distinction between domestic and foreign webshops tends to be blurry to Dutch consumers. Content on e-commerce websites is often available in multiple languages and foreign online stores may have a Dutch version.

Read more at:
EU webshops generate €390 million in the Netherlands

USA: Riots and Tensions Rise: Dozens in body armour arrive in Portland, Ore., for far-right rally as tensions escalate in U.S. | CBC News

Members of the Proud Boys and other far-right demonstrators rally in Portland, Ore., on Saturday. The Proud Boys described the rally as a free-speech event to support U.S.

President Donald Trump and the police, restore law and order and condemn anti-fascists. (Allison Dinner/The Associated Press)

Dozens of people wearing militarized body armour are arriving early for a far-right rally on Saturday in Portland, Ore., that is expected to attract thousands who support U.S. President Donald Trump and his "law and order" re-election campaign.

The rally is taking place as tensions boil over nationwide following the decision not to charge police officers in Louisville, Ky., for killing Breonna Taylor.

Two hours before the event was to start, dozens of people began showing up, some packed into the beds of pickup trucks. Almost everyone was wearing some sort of militarized body armour, including helmets and protective vests. Many flew American flags or black flags bearing the logo of the Three Percenters, another far-right group, and some wore Make America Great Again hats.

Read more at: Dozens in body armour arrive in Portland, Ore., for far-right rally as tensions escalate in U.S. | CBC News

Brexit: EU′s Charles Michel lashes out at UK over withdrawal treaty

European Council President Charles Michel took a thinly veiled swipe at the United Kingdom on Friday over its threats to renege on parts of the EU withdrawal treaty it signed in January.

There was little doubt who and what Michel was referring to when he told the United Nations General Assembly via a video message that "respect for treaties, a basic principle of international law, comes to be considered optional even by those who, until recently, were its historical guarantors."

The United Kingdom is a founding nation of the UN and a permanent member of the Security Council, and the country has extolled the virtues of global diplomacy for centuries.

Read more:
Brexit: EU′s Charles Michel lashes out at UK over withdrawal treaty | News | DW | 25.09.2020

USA: Democrats prepare for the apocalypse scenario of backdoor elector swaps - by Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols

Democratic lawyers are preparing to challenge any effort by President Trump to swap electors chosen by voters with electors selected by Republican-controlled legislatures. One state of particular concern: Pennsylvania, where the GOP controls the state house.

Why it matters: Trump's refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, together with a widely circulated article in The Atlantic about how bad the worst-case scenarios could get, is drawing new attention to the brutal fights that could jeopardize a final outcome.

What we're hearing: Stung by the Supreme Court Bush v. Gore decision in 2000, there’s a separate effort to ensure that no state recounts, like Florida in 2000, are cut short by the Supreme Court, according to a Democratic attorney familiar with the strategy.

The Biden campaign has been reluctant to telegraph their precise strategy, but campaign officials have enlisted thousands of lawyers and volunteers on voter protection efforts across the country, and have set up national and state voter hotlines, according to the campaign.
They also plan an aggressive response to vote suppression activities.

And Trump advisers are ready to challenge the legitimacy of the election results, especially with the expected late wave of Democratic mail ballots. They're also ready to defend against Democratic lawyers who mount their own election challenges.

One Trump campaign source told Axios that their lawyers will litigate where needed, including suing in key states that have changed election laws to allow for an extended period of time to vote or to count ballots.
“There are a lot of options if it turns out that the election results aren’t fair and free,” the source said.

The big picture: Trump's own advisers are providing a reality check: the Constitution makes it clear that, even if Trump chooses denial, if Joe Biden is elected president he will be president on Jan. 20.

"Trump can say 'I don't concede, I think it's rigged,' but he would not be the president," a Trump legal adviser told Axios.

But legal experts are increasingly worried about how the next president will be chosen if the mechanics for democratic elections fall apart and we face a constitutional crisis.

Read more at:
Democrats prepare for the apocalypse scenario of backdoor elector swaps - Axios

9/25/20

USA: An 'ominous’ report reminds us the U.S. economy is far from OK - by Sam Ro

On the one hand, we should be encouraged by how much the ;economy has improved since the most intense days of the Covid-19 pandemic." On the other hand, the economy is far from fully recovered , but the good news is that this was the fourth consecutive week the number was below 1 million For the complete report go to:https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jobless-claims-high-ominous-for-us-economy-morning-brief-095438514.html

EU - East Med: the East Med Gas Forum to enhance regional ties, boost EU energy security - by Kostis Geropoulos

Egypt, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority established the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) as an intergovernmental organisation in a virtual ceremony hosted by Cairo this week.

The EMGF can include any East Med country and facilitate the exploration of hydrocarbons in the region. Its charter says that its aim is “to serve as a platform that brings together gas producers, consumers and transit countries to create a shared vision and establish a structured systematic policy dialogue on natural gas”.

But joining is contingent on a country agreeing to EMGF’s main values and aims, Charles Ellinas, a senior fellow at the Global Energy Center at the Atlantic Council, told New Europe on September 23, asked if regional rival Turkey could become a member. “These include respecting ‘the rights of members with respect to their natural resources in accordance with the principles of international law and certainly through cooperation and without the use of force. This is something that Turkey could not comply with at present,” Ellinas said, noting that success in the forthcoming negotiations with Greece and resolution of the Cyprus problem may open the way.

Read more at:
East Med Gas Forum to enhance regional ties, boost EU energy security | New Europe

US Presidential Elections: Is Joe Biden A "Socialist"? Not With These Tax Plans - by Ryan O'Connell

President Donald Trump loves to thunder that Joe Biden is a “socialist,” a puppet of the “radical left. But Biden’s tax proposals are generally moderate and pragmatic. They represent a necessary correction to Trump’s massive and excessive tax cuts for corporations and ultra-rich Americans.

Capitalism will remain alive and well, if Biden becomes President, and his spending plans could invigorate the U.S. economy. They won’t be installing a statue of Karl Marx in a Biden White House. You won’t see any fingerprints of Bernie Sanders or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes on Biden’s tax proposals. There is no wealth tax. Nor are there confiscatory, 70%-plus rates on incomes above $10 million, as AOC proposed.

The top 1% of Americans would do just fine under a Biden administration. And although corporate tax rates would rise, they would still be lower than they were during the Obama Administration. That’s hardly the stuff of revolution.

Read more at:
Is Joe Biden A "Socialist"? Not With These Tax Plans - The Globalist

China: Investor Baillie Gifford bets on China in a post-coronavirus world

Just this week, Edinburgh-based investment partnership and early Tesla backer Baillie Gifford announced it is increasing investments in China with the expansion of its presence in Shanghai, its first overseas office with the ability to conduct local research.

Plant-based food and meat producer Green Monday announced Tuesday it raised $70 million, which it claims is the largest to date for the industry in Asia.
Also this week, Shanghai-based electric vehicle start-up WM Motor also announced 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) in funding, which the company claims is the largest to date in the country’s EV industry.

Suriname president urges global community to embrace multilateralism in battling COVID-19

Suriname’s new President Chandrikapersad Santokhi on Wednesday urged the international community to embrace multilateralism as “an effective way” to win the battle against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In his maiden address to the United Nations General Assembly Debate, Santokhi also said that multilateralism is the “best defence against future global threats, and to continue seeking effective means to support small and vulnerable nations”.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is, apart from the human toll, turning food supply chains upside down, paralysing economies and eroding consumer purchasing power,” he said virtually, alluding to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) mid-2020 report that “has confirmed what we as leaders and communities have experienced — that the pandemic has unleashed a health and economic crisis unprecedented in scope and magnitude”.

But, despite considerable progress made in global discussions on a variety of matters — from climate change, sustainable development, migration, refugees, terrorism, cyber-warfare to nuclear proliferation, Santokhi said “we have experienced that multilateralism has occasionally come under attack”.

Since the founding of the United Nations 75 years ago, he said the geopolitical field has changed drastically, stating that the UN Security Council membership and its working methods need “a structured evaluation”.

“Can you imagine that we have been elaborating for more than two decades about reform of this main organ?” the Surinamese president asked.

“It is, therefore, fitting to ask ourselves if this organ is still relevant in its current form. Does it answer to the questions of today’s challenges and aspirations?

Read more at:
Suriname president urges global community to embrace multilateralism in battling COVID-19

9/24/20

EU: ECB plots Amazon-style market to prevent Wall Street COVID debt swoop

Europe is working on an Amazon-style website to sell hundreds of billions of euros of bank loans which have been soured by the coronavirus crisis, in a bid to shore up the economy and challenge the dominance of big Wall Street debt investors.

The blueprint, devised by top European Central Bank (ECB) officials, is part of efforts by the 19-state euro zone to tackle a growing pile of unpaid loans and aims to prevent “distressed debt” funds from buying them at rock bottom prices.

“The idea is to open up the market to buyers of smaller portfolios, with an Amazon or eBay-style marketplace, where you can browse … That can get the market moving,” Edward O’Brien, a senior ECB official involved in the plan, told Reuters.

Read more at:
ECB plots Amazon-style market to prevent Wall Street COVID debt swoop | Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide

USA; Where Are the Christian Faith Leaders? - by Rev. William Alberts

n taped interviews with Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward, President Donald Trump repeatedly said the coronavirus “ ‘is deadly stuff,’” but “knowingly played down” the pandemic “because, ‘I don’t want to create a panic.’” So he kept reassuring Americans with statements like, “We have it very much under control in this country.” All the while people were dying, never mind panicking. Aware that the coronavirus “was life-threatening and vastly more serious than the seasonal flu ” he “dismiss[ed] concerns about the lethality of the virus,” publicly saying, “ ‘It’s a little like the regular flu that we have shots for . . . and we’ll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.’”

At a South Carolina rally, he even “denounced Democrats for their concerns about the virus as ‘their new hoax.’” And Woodward reported also: “He made a conscious choice not only to mislead the public but also to actively pressure governors to reopen before his own government guidelines said they were ready.” (“Trump Admits Downplaying the Virus Knowing It Was ‘Deadly Stuff,’” By Maggie Haberman, The New York Times, Sept. 10, 2020)

President Trump’s taped interviews reveal not only his indifference to the danger of the pandemic to Americans, but his willingness to inflict it on them for his own narcissistic ends. He makes a big deal about literally hugging the American flag, but Americans themselves who get in the way of his re-election campaign are shrugged off.

An example of deliberately misleading the American people is President Trump telling Bob Woodward, “Part of it is the viciousness. You know when it attacks the lungs. . . . And now it’s turning out it’s not just older people, Bob. . . . It’s not just old, older. Young people too – plenty of young people.” Possessing this critical information, Trump made a contrary assertion in an “interview broadcast by “Fox and Friends” on August 5: “If you look at children,” he said, “children are almost, and I would say almost definitely, but almost immune from this disease. . . . They’ve got stronger immune systems than we do somehow for this.” (Ibid) Apparently he already knew and kept secret: that “there has been a 90% increase in Covid-19 cases in US children in the last four weeks.” The report says, “While some US leaders – including President Trump – have said the virus doesn’t pose a large risk to children, one recent study suggests older children can transmit the virus just as much as adults. Another study said children younger than 5 carry a higher viral load than adults, raising even more questions about their role in transmission.” And William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School, said, “Children ages zero to five can be ‘highly infectious to other people. It turns out they have a thousand times more virus in their nose than you need to infect, so they’re very, very contagious.’ “ (By Jen Christensen, Lauren Mascarenhas, Christina Maxouris and Sandee LaMotte, Aug. 11, 2020)

The reported “most comprehensive U.S. accounting to date of pediatric infections and fatalities reveal that there have been 391,814 known cases and 121 deaths among people under the age of 21 from February to July.” And “of those killed by the covid-19 . . . more than 75 percent have been Hispanic, Black and American Indian children, even though they represent 41 percent of the U.S. population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” These findings “echo pandemic disparities well-documented among adults. Previous studies have found the virus’s death toll is twice as high among people of color under age 65 as for White Americans.” (“Coronavirus kills far more Hispanic and Black children than White youths, CDC study finds,” by William Wan, The Washington Post, Sept.5, 2020).

Trump knew that children were not immune to the virus. Yet as summer began, he “tweets that ‘little leaguers ‘will be playing baseball soon’: in the meantime ‘take care of mom and dad.’” He also pushed for the re-opening of schools, and a number of children attending classes have become infected with the virus. He could care less about little leaguers – and their moms and dads.

Jesus is recorded as saying, “Whoever causes one of these little ones – those who believe in me – to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9: 42) Where are the Christian faith leaders?

Read more at:
Where Are the Christian Faith Leaders? - CounterPunch.org

USA: A time bomb at the heart of the US presidential elections: by Dick Roche

On 3 November US voters will elect Members of Congress, Governors, a raft of state and local office holders but they will not elect a new US President. The votes cast on 3 November will determine the makeup of the Electoral College.

On 14 December the electors of the College, meeting in their respective states will vote for the next US President and Vice President.

The Electoral College was created by the framers of the US Constitution as an alternative to electing the US President by a popular vote of the people or by Congress.

The framers of the US Constitution did not favour direct elections in part because of a concern about large states dominating small ones and in part because they were a patrician group with mixed feelings about democracy: left to their own devices voters could elect a demagogue.

James Madison, “the Father of the Constitution” referred to “the inconvenience of democracy”. Edmund Randolph who represented Virginia spoke of the need for “sufficient checks against democracy”. Another representative said that “the evils we experience flow from the excess of democracy”.

Read more at:
A time bomb at the heart of the US presidential elections – EURACTIV.com

USA: Second stimulus check: Here’s the latest on a new relief package - by Karin Price Mueller

Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. still haven’t come to an agreement about a new round of stimulus checks, even though both sides claim to support the idea.

By all accounts, it’s not looking good.

The White House still supports new individual stimulus payments to Americans, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday.

“The president and I remain committed to providing support for American workers and businesses,” Mnuchin said. “I believe a targeted package is still needed and the administration is ready to reach a bipartisan agreement.”

While Democrats and Republicans agree in principle on a new round of $1,200 stimulus checks, the two sides are at a standstill on other parts of a relief package, including aid to states, small businesses and schools.

They’re $1 trillion apart on how large the package should be.

9/23/20

USA:Trump falls into the trap he set for Biden - by Gabby Orr and Nancy Cook

Donald Trump will face Joe Biden within days for the first of three presidential debates, and some of the president’s supporters are already bracing for a humiliating loss.

White House allies, Republican donors and some of Trump’s closest advisers worry that a recent, frenzied push by his top lieutenants to portray Biden as a seasoned debater — with the goal of raising expectations for the Democratic presidential nominee — is too late and too disingenuous to have an impact when the two meet on the debate stage next Tuesday.

They worry Trump has set a trap for himself by incessantly attacking Biden’s age and mental acumen. It’s a tactic the president has maintained even as his campaign publicly insists the former vice president is fully capable of a satisfactory performance. Unlike the president, who has spuriously claimed Biden is “probably” on performance-enhancing drugs, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh attributed Biden’s “quite good” performance in past debates to the Democrat’s ability “to turn it on when the cameras come” after years of experience in politics.

Electric Cars: Tesla’s value drops $50 billion as cheaper batteries three years away

Investors slashed $50 billion from Tesla Inc’s market value on Tuesday (22 September) despite CEO Elon Musk’s promise to cut electric vehicle costs so radically that a $25,000 car that drives itself will be possible, but not for at least three years.

Nothing Musk discussed about batteries is a done deal,” said Roth Capital Partners analyst Craig Irwin. “There was nothing tangible.”

Tesla’s new larger cylindrical cells will provide five times more energy, six times more power and far greater driving range, Musk said, adding that full production is about three years away.

To help reduce cost, Musk said Tesla planned to recycle battery cells at its Nevada “gigafactory,” while reducing cobalt – one of the most expensive battery materials – to virtually zero. It also plans to manufacture its own battery cells at several highly automated factories around the world.

Shares in two battery suppliers to Tesla, South Korea’s LG Chem and Japan’s Panasonic Corp, fell after the announcement.

Increasing the EU’s domestic supply of critical raw materials and cutting external dependencies got top billing in a new European Commission strategy on Thursday (3 September), as the bloc started to get serious about its Green Deal and digital agenda.

Tesla will produce the new battery cells initially on a new assembly line near its vehicle plant in Fremont, California, with planned output reaching 10 gigawatt-hours a year by the end of 2021. Tesla and partner Panasonic Corp now have production capacity of around 35 gWh at the Nevada battery “gigafactory”.

Tesla aims to rapidly ramp up battery production over the next years, to 3 terawatt-hours a year, or 3,000 gigawatt-hours – roughly 85 times greater than the capacity of the Nevada plant. Musk said Tesla could supply batteries to other companies.

As automakers shift from horsepower to kilowatts to comply with stricter environmental regulations, investors are looking for evidence that Tesla can increase its lead in electrification technology over legacy automakers who generate most of their sales and profits from combustion-engine vehicles.

While average electric vehicle prices have decreased in recent years thanks to changes in battery composition, they are still more expensive than conventional cars, with the battery estimated to make up a quarter to a third of an electric vehicle’s cost.

Some researchers estimate that price parity, or the point at which electric vehicles are equal in value to internal combustion cars, is reached when battery packs cost $100 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

Tesla’s battery packs cost $156 per kWh in 2019, according to electric vehicle consulting firm Cairn Energy Research Advisors.

EU: Airlines call for virus tests before all international flights

Global airlines called on Tuesday (22 September) for airport COVID-19 tests for all departing international passengers to replace the quarantines they blame for exacerbating the travel slump.

Rapid and affordable antigen tests that can be administered by non-medical staff are expected to become available in “coming weeks” and should be rolled out under globally agreed standards, the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said during an online media briefing.

Read more at:
Airlines call for virus tests before all international flights – EURACTIV.com

The Netherlands - a source for life after death: Dutch 'living coffin' aims to provide source for life after death

A Dutch startup has created a biodegradable "living coffin" made of a fungus instead of wood that it says can convert a decomposing human body into key nutrients for plants.

Loop company says its casket is made of mycelium, the underground root structure of mushrooms, and filled with a bed of moss to stimulate decomposition.

"Mycelium is nature's biggest recycler," Bob Hendrikx, creator of the living coffin.

Read more at:
Dutch 'living coffin' aims to provide source for life after death | CBC News

EU: Retail vital to European Recovery, but needs help - investments and the right policies

Speaking today at a virtual conference held by the World Retail Congress, EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren set out the challenges facing retail across Europe and the vital role of the sector in supporting European economic recovery:

"Retail has been affected in different ways during the pandemic, but the whole ecosystem will see major change resulting from it. We will see a number of well-known retailers close their doors for ever, with fashion retail particularly hard hit, and others cutting the number of shops and staff they presently have. The pandemic also accelerated the trend towards online sales, and consumers, now used to e-commerce, will use this channel more in future. Private consumption makes up some 60% of EU GDP, and if retail is in trouble, so will the rest of the economy be. Equally, with help in speeding up its already active engagement with digital innovation and sustainability, the retail and wholesale ecosystem can be a powerful driver for getting Europe back on its feet again".

Read more at:
Retail vital to European Recovery, but needs help - investments and the right policies — EUbusiness.com | EU news, business and politics

9/22/20

Coronavirus: Can Europe tame the pandemic’s next wave? - by Kai Kupferschmidt

We’re at risk of gambling away our success,” virologist Christian Drosten warned in the German newspaper Die Zeit last month. His message referred to Germany, but it could have been addressed to all of Europe. After beating back COVID-19 in the spring, most of Europe is seeing a resurgence. Spain is reporting close to 10,000 cases a day, more than it had at the height of the outbreak in the spring. France is back to reporting thousands of cases a day. In Germany, numbers are still low, but rising steadily. The pandemic is affecting countries that saw few cases in the spring, such as Greece and Malta, but is also rebounding in places that suffered terribly, including the cities of Madrid and Barcelona.

Few dispute that Europe rose to the initial challenge. In Bergamo, a hotspot in Italy’s Lombardy region, crematoria were so overburdened in March that army trucks had to transport the dead to other cities—but on 24 May, Lombardy registered zero COVID-19 deaths for the first time. By early July, the European Union and the United Kingdom together averaged fewer than 5000 new cases per day, whereas the United States and Brazil (which together have roughly the same population) had 50,000 and 40,000, respectively. Europeans enjoyed a surprisingly normal summer, with northern Europeans flocking to Mediterranean beaches.

The rising case numbers today aren’t quite comparable to the peak in April because countries are now testing far more people on a daily basis. But the increase shows that Europe relaxed measures too early and too much, says virologist Ab Osterhaus of the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hanover, Germany. “The wrong message was given, basically: We have done a great job and now we can relax again.” Instead, Europe could have tried to emulate New Zealand by stopping community transmission completely and zealously guarding against reintroductions, says Devi Sridhar, a global health expert at the University of Edinburgh who has been advising the Scottish government. Scotland committed early on to pushing case numbers down to zero, but other countries did not, and now almost all are seeing a resurgence

Read more at:
Can Europe tame the pandemic’s next wave? | Science | AAAS

China: X tells the United Nations General Assembly: No nation should act like boss of world

President Xi Jinping on Monday delivered a speech at a high-level meeting to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Here are the nine top takeaways from Xi's speech.

Read more at:
Xi: No nation should act like boss of world - Chinadaily.com.cn

USA - Is Trump a sick man? As He Questions His Opponent’s Health, Trump Finds His Own Under Scrutiny - by Peter Baker

For much of his life, President Trump has promoted himself as a virtual superman who has endless energy, needs little sleep, rarely gets sick and excelled at sports in his youth. As he once dictated in a statement put out in the name of an agreeable doctor, he is “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

So as Mr. Trump seeks to become the oldest individual ever elected to the office for a second term, recent questions about his mental and physical condition have sent him into paroxysms of pique. They have complicated his own efforts to question the health of his challenger and fellow septuagenarian, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

The president elevated the issue this week by taking the bait of a critic’s tweet and denying that he had “mini-strokes” last year around the time of a mysterious trip to the hospital. But Mr. Trump only raised more questions when he could not keep his explanations for that hospital visit straight. He wrote that it “was to complete my yearly physical” — contrary to how he explained it at the time, when he said it was “phase one of my yearly physical” to be completed later.

The matter comes up a couple of months after Mr. Trump’s appearance at a commencement ceremony at the United States Military Academy at West Point provoked speculation because he had trouble lifting a water glass to his lips, requiring him to use two hands, and he seemed especially tentative walking down a ramp as if afraid he might fall. He bristled at the talk and ridiculed the idea that he had any trouble that day. He has since boasted that he has aced a dementia test showing that “I’m cognitively there.”

European Airspace: Single European Sky

Today, the European Commission is proposing an upgrade of the Single European Sky regulatory framework which comes on the heels of the European Green Deal. The objective is to modernise the management of European airspace and to establish more sustainable and efficient flightpaths. This can reduce up to 10% of air transport emissions.

The proposal comes as the sharp drop in air traffic caused by the coronavirus pandemic calls for greater resilience of our air traffic management, by making it easier to adapt traffic capacities to demand.

Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, declared: “Planes are sometimes zig-zagging between different blocks of airspace, increasing delays and fuel consumed. An efficient air traffic management system means more direct routes and less energy used, leading to less emissions and lower costs for our airlines. Today's proposal to revise the Single European Sky will not only help cut aviation emissions by up to 10% from a better management of flight paths, but also stimulate digital innovation by opening up the market for data services in the sector. With the new proposed rules we help our aviation sector advancing on the dual green and digital transitions.”

Read more at:
Single European Sky

USA: Wall Street tumbles amid bank allegations, rising COVID-19 rates -

Wall Street is opening sharply lower, led by financial stocks, after a report alleged banks were profiting from illicit dealings with disreputable people and criminal networks. JPMorgan is down 3.3%, Deutsche Bank fell 7.6%.

The prospect of tougher restrictions on public life in Europe to limit coronavirus cases is also weighing on stocks, particularly in the travel sector. In the U.S., daily COVID-19 cases are once again rising, reversing earlier progress in slowing the spread of the disease.

In afternoon trading, the S&P 500 fell 71 points, or 2.1%, to 2,347 while the Dow declined 773 points, or 2.8%, to 26,885. The tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 137 points, or 1.3%.

Investors were spooked by a report from BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists that alleges banks such as JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank had moved money for suspected criminals.

More broadly, the economy is facing headwinds as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread. The stalemate in Congress over another stimulus package is also adding to worries about economic growth.

Read more:
Wall Street tumbles amid bank allegations, rising COVID-19 rates - CBS News

9/21/20

Coronavirus: Worldwide coronavirus cases top 30 million - by Morgan Winsor and Emily Shapiro

A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 942,000 people worldwide.

Over 30 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The criteria for diagnosis -- through clinical means or a lab test -- has varied from country-to-country. Still, the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.

Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the virus has rapidly spread to every continent except Antarctica.

Read more at:
The United States is the worst-affected country, with more than 6.6 million diagnosed cases and at least 197,397 deaths.

Read more at:
Worldwide coronavirus cases top 30 million - ABC News

9/20/20

Aircraft Industry: Airbus displaces Boeing as aerospace’s biggest company

Airbus has ousted Boeing as aerospace’s biggest business after a year in which the 737 Max crisis led to the US manufacturer’s revenues plunging by a quarter.

FlightGlobal’s latest Top 100, based on 2019/20 financial year figures, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, show Boeing’s annual sales at $76 billion, down from $101 billion the previous year.

Read more at:
Airbus displaces Boeing as aerospace’s biggest company | Analysis | Flight Global

Turkey: Kurdish farmers suffer horrific injuries after being thrown from military helicopter - by Steve Sweeney's

Two Kurdish farmers remained in hospital today after suffering horrific injuries when they were tortured and thrown from a helicopter in Turkey’s south-eastern province of Van.

The families of Osman Siban and Servet Turgut filed a criminal complaint with the Van chief public prosecutor’s office after the pair were treated in intensive care for injuries consistent with falling from a height.

They have demanded an urgent investigation is carried out into the incident, which has left the men with serious trauma.

Read more at:
Kurdish farmers suffer horrific injuries after being thrown from military helicopter | Morning Star

US Presidential Elections: WANNABE DICTATOR Trump is Openly Inciting His Deplorables to Commit Violence Against Journalists

No president in America's history has been more hostile to the press than Donald Trump. He repeatedly refers to them in Stalinist terms as the "the enemy of the people." That openly aggressive posturing is an unambiguous assault on the constitution's First Amendment. And Trump's vicious rhetoric has been cited as endangering the work - and lives - of journalists, not just in the United States, but around the world.

On Saturday Trump took another leap crossing over the line of decency and free speech during his latest Coronavirus Super Spreader event in Minnesota. Reading from his teleprompter, Trump told a story about a reporter covering Black Lives Matter protests in the state several weeks ago:

"I remember this guy Welshi. He got hit on the knee with a canister of tear gas and he went down. He was down. [...] After we take all that crap - for weeks and weeks they would take that crap - and then you finally see men get up there and go right through... Wasn't it really a beautiful sight? It's called law and order."

Like virtually every story that Trump tells, almost none of this one was truthful. To begin with, the reporter's name was Ali Velshi, not Welshi. Perhaps Trump was using the Russian pronunciation. Secondly, Velshi was hit by a rubber bullet, not a tear gas canister. But those are relatively trivial misstatements by Trump who is rarely able to express himself coherently (which has not gone unnoticed by the American people).

Read more at:
WANNABE DICTATOR Trump is Openly Inciting His Deplorables to Commit Violence Against Journalists

Europe Travel Ban: US Covid Cases Still Too High, What You Must Know - by Tamara Thiessen

Amid fears of re-lockdowns in Europe, and roller-coasting travel restrictions within the continent, Covid infection rates in the U.S. still rule out immediate hopes of a lifting of the EU travel ban on Americans.

As EU officials again prepare to update the safe country travel list, there is little chance of the U.S., Brazil, Argentina or others being added to it, based on current coronavirus trends.

Despite huge spikes in several countries from Spain to France over past weeks, Covid outbreaks on average in the EU are still well beyond the U.S. median.

The virus epidemiology has the upper hand in determining the lifting of travel restrictions on non-European countries.

Read more at:
Europe Travel Ban: US Covid Cases Still Too High, What You Must Know

9/19/20

USA: Ruth Bader Ginsburg death: Here’s what could happen with the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy - by M. Clare, J. Onick and L.Mascaro

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has thrust the Senate into uncharted political terrain, with no recent precedent for a vacancy on the high court so close to a presidential election.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a statement Friday night vowed that “President Trump’s nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate.” But he did not say when or how that would happen, and there’s significant uncertainty about what comes next.

Germany: Oktober Festival Cancelled

There will be no Oktoberfest this year because of the coronavirus. Although Munich residents are understanding, it's a heavy financial and emotional blow for people whose livelihood depends on the festival, like show booth operators.

News | DW

Europe Coronavirus Outbreak: News and Analysis From Sept. 19 - by Rudy Ruitenberg and Laura Millan Lombrana

France and the U.K. reported the most new coronavirus cases since May for the second day in a row, underscoring Europe’s risk of a return to lockdowns that crippled the economy in the second quarter.

With Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 and infections running at the fastest pace since the start of the outbreak, France’s policy of avoiding another national lockdown in favor of local measures is under strain.

“All indicators for monitoring the Covid-19 epidemic point sharply upward,” including admissions to intensive care at hospitals and cases among people age 75 and older, the French public health agency said in a statement on Saturday.

Read more at:
Europe Virus Outbreak: News and Analysis From Sept. 19 - Bloomberg

9/18/20

MIDDLE eAST: Progress, not peace: Breaking down the Trump-brokered deals between Israel, Arab states - by Adela Suliman

As dignitaries gathered on the White House South Lawn on Tuesday to witness the signing of U.S.-brokered deals between Israel and two Gulf Arab states, the situation thousands of miles away on Israel's doorstep was less serene.

Some 15 rockets were launched from Gaza into southern Israel, the Israel Defense Force said, prompting the country's air force to retaliate with a strike on targets in the Palestinian enclave.

he signing of the accords was greeted by angry protests by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Pictures of President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the leaders of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were trampled and flags set on fire. More protests were underway on Friday.

U.S. Image Plummets Internationally as Most Say Country Has Handled Coronavirus Badly

Since Donald Trump took office as president, the image of the United States has suffered across many regions of the globe. As a new 13-nation Pew Research Center survey illustrates, America’s reputation has declined further over the past year among many key allies and partners. In several countries, the share of the public with a favorable view of the U.S. is as low as it has been at any point since the Center began polling on this topic nearly two decades ago.

Read more at:
U.S. Image Plummets Internationally as Most Say Country Has Handled Coronavirus Badly | Pew Research Center

USA: For Real Resistance: The Fascist Trump-Barr Regime Can’t Simply Be Voted Out - by PaulStreet

Waiting for or relying on the upcoming election alone – an election Trump is already sabotaging and refusing to be bound by – to remove this regime is not just irresponsible. It is complicity. We must rise now, as millions did earlier this year for Black lives, uniting and preparing to struggle with all we’ve got to oust this fascist regime and bring its program to a halt.

It’s getting even more insane than usual to pretend that Donald Trump and his backers aren’t fascist and otherwise existential menaces well beyond the usual right-wing and neoliberal norm.

In applauding the extra-judicial paramilitary execution of the anti-fascist Michael Forest Reinoehl outside Olympia, Washington two weeks ago, Trump told Fatherland (FOX) News’ neo-Nazi host Jeanine Pirro last Saturday that “there has to be retribution.”

Read more at:
For Real Resistance: The Fascist Trump-Barr Regime Can’t Simply Be Voted Out - CounterPunch.org

‘Britain: Trumpite’ Boris Johnson wants EU to fail, former British diplomat says - by Denis Staunton

‘Britain’s former ambassador to the European Union Ivan Rogers has predicted that Britain will leave the post-Brexit transition at the end of this year with no deal, describing Boris Johnson as a Trumpite politician who wants the EU to fail.

“Johnson and his team persuaded themselves that the EU would be so panicked that they would give in eventually. And it didn’t happen. Boris didn’t, I believe, start off as a true no dealer, but he seems now formally in the camp with Dominic Cummings: ‘to hell with it, we should walk away’,” Sir Ivan told The Irish Times.

“He is quite Trumpite in method; he was always fascinated by Trump and his strategy to take the other side by surprise and destabilise it.”

9/17/20

Belarus: European Parliament votes to reject Belarus election, paving way for possible sanctions

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko should no longer be recognized as president after November, when his term expires, the European Parliament said on Thursday, calling for European Union economic sanctions to be imposed on him.

In an overwhelming show of support for pro-democracy protesters in Belarus, the EU assembly voted 574 to 37, with 82 abstentions, to reject the official results of an Aug. 9 presidential election that the West says was rigged.

"The EU needs a new approach towards Belarus, which includes the termination of any co-operation with Lukashenko's regime," said Petras Austrevicius, a Lithuanian centrist EU lawmaker heading parliament's efforts to pressure Belarus's top officials. While the European Parliament's vote is not legally binding, it carries political weight and can influence how the EU invests in Belarus or grants financial support.

Read more at:
European Parliament votes to reject Belarus election, paving way for possible sanctions | CBC News

Britain-US relations: Biden threatens UK trade deal over Brexit shambles-by Andrew Rettman

Britain's US trade deal is in jeopardy if the UK endangers Northern Ireland peace over Brexit, US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has said.

"We can't allow the [1998] Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit," Biden said on Wednesday (16 September).

Read more at:
Biden threatens UK trade deal over Brexit shambles

USA: Mike Pence altered a Biblical quote to cut Jesus out of it for RNC speech - by Sarah K. Burris

Jesus didn’t take the wheel Wednesday night as Vice President Mike Pence addressed the Republican Convention. In fact, Jesus was removed entirely, according to a Washington Post report.

Pence said, “Let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. And let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom and never forget that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom — and that means freedom always wins.”

For Christians who read their Bible, this may seem somewhat familiar. He was loosely citing two different verses in the speech.

For Christians who read their Bible, this may seem somewhat familiar. He was loosely citing two different verses in the speech

The other was, 12:1-2, reading, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off every encumbrance and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with endurance the race set out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Instead of saying, “let us fix our eyes on Jesus,” Pence changed it to say, “let us fix our eyes on Old Glory.”

He also described Jesus (Old Glory in his text) as “the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom.” Freedom doesn’t appear in the Hebrew text.

Read more at:
Mike Pence altered a Biblical quote to cut Jesus out of it for RNC speech – Raw Story

U.S. budget deficit tops $3 trillion with one month left in fiscal 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed the U.S. federal budget deficit above $3 trillion for the first 11 months of fiscal 2020, more than doubling the previous full-year record, the U.S. Treasury said on Friday.

The $3.007 trillion year-to-date deficit was nearly triple the $1.067 trillion deficit for the comparable year-ago period, spurred by a massive increase in government spending to battle the economic fallout from the pandemic.

Read more at:
U.S. budget deficit tops $3 trillion with one month left in fiscal 2020 | Reuters

9/16/20

Turkey triggers the final dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire

Modern Turkey is what is left of the dismembered Ottoman Empire. Since it is composed of a variety of tribes, religions, languages, and ethnicities, it is susceptible to even further disintegration.

Modern Turkey was founded following the abolishment of the last Ottoman Caliphate by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (the ‘Father of Turks’) in 1924. Atatürk served as President of Turkey from 1923 to 1938 and modernized the country in terms of justice and education; he changed the Turkish alphabet from a modified and difficult to learn Arabic script that few were literate in to a near-universally understood Latin form; and he attempted to introduce a European way of life.

In reality, however, Turkey remained a west Asian, Islamic country that was never able to achieve the European identity that Atatürk dreamed of.

In the last 30 years, Turkey had several opportunities to set a course towards a realistic and stable relationship with the European Union. Western Europeans saw in Turkey a large growing market where they could sell their products and a metropolis of several million Turks who migrated to Europe as cheap labor. Europeans wanted Turkey close, but not in Europe.

Read more at:
Turkey triggers the final dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire | New Europe

The Netherlands must be ready for serious economic setbacks, says king

The Netherlands must ready itself for serious economic setbacks, king Willem Alexander said on Tuesday afternoon, in his official speech to mark the start of the parliamentary year.

The Dutch economy and government finances are healthy and financial buffers have been built up over the past few years which we can now benefit from, the king said. ‘Now we have to ready ourselves for the consequences of a serious economic setback, which will impact the economy and government finances in the long term,’ he said.

Much depends on how long coronavirus keeps us in its grip, he said. ‘But the recent figures and prognoses are unheard of in peace time,’ he said. ‘The economic setbacks facing our biggest European and global trading partners are in many cases even greater. For an open country like the Netherlands, with its focus on trade and exports, this is an extra complication, especially in the wake of Brexit.’

Read more at:
The Netherlands must be ready for serious economic setbacks, says king - DutchNews.nl

Middle East: What will be the impact of the Trump-sponsored normalisation? -Palestine - by Joe Macaron

It is not a secret that US President Donald Trump is obsessed with either voiding or emulating the legacy of his predecessor, Barack Obama. Trump now seeks to defeat Obama's political heir, Joe Biden, in the upcoming presidential election and wants to stack up enough peace-making deals to earn the elusive Nobel Peace Prize, just as Obama did in 2009.

As his poll numbers began to sink last summer, foreign policy "victories" became that much more necessary to distract from political troubles at home and boost his rating. Thus, Trump instructed his advisers to scout out deal-making opportunities around the world before the 2020 presidential election.

Gratifying Israel has been at the centre of the president's fixation on collecting foreign deals as trophies, announcing them on Twitter and summoning the concerned parties for a photo opportunity at the Oval Office, so American voters can watch him first-hand demonstrate his skills in "the art of the deal".

Read more at:
What will be the impact of the Trump-sponsored normalisation? | Palestine | Al Jazeera

9/15/20

Join our Digest family - register for free

Over 1.6 million viewers on Twitter can't be wrong.

Follow, EU-Digest, Almere-Digest, Insure-Digest, and

Turkish-Digest as an individual subscriber by registering for free.

Global Economic Recession"US, China, India, Europe can't save global economy from recession - by Linette Lopez

The coronavirus depression will be much worse than the last worldwide recession, because this time no country is strong enough to rescue the global economy.

The story of the Great Recession goes like this: the US and Europe were crippled while working to clean up their devastated banking system, the global services sector suffered without its biggest player — the US consumer engine — but global economic growth didn't completely fall off a cliff because other countries kept money moving around the planet.

Over in China policymakers enacted a massive stimulus to skip over the recession entirely. The country's GDP grew 9.4% in 2009. India chugged along as if the crisis barely happened, with its GDP growing 7.9% in 2009.

But this time there is no corner of the globe that has been left untouched by the pandemic or its effects. And so, there's no country that can reasonably chug along and keep things from getting truly disastrous.

Read more at:
US, China, India, Europe can't save global economy from recession - Business Insider

Coronavirus strikes again: 2 new coronavirus reinfection cases: Belgium, Netherlands, Hong Kong - by Aylin Woodward and Hilary Brueck

Just hours after the world's first confirmed coronavirus reinfection case was documented in Hong Kong on Monday, researchers reported a woman in Belgium had caught the virus a second time. So, too, did Dutch virus experts, who announced an older person in the Netherlands as a third confirmed reinfection of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Read more at:
2 new coronavirus reinfection cases: Belgium, Netherlands, Hong Kong - Business Insider

USA - Pence campaigns for his boss: Hundreds gather for Pence visit in Janesville

Speaking to about 300 people at the Holiday Inn and Convention Center, Pence said police are “some of the best people in this country … They count our lives more than their own.”

He did not directly address the issue that has led to massive protests in recent weeks over charges of racially motivated police brutality and killings of Black people.

Pence did mention the apparent ambush shooting of two Los Angeles sheriff’s deputies Saturday and the protesters who showed up at the hospital where they were treated, saying, “We hope they die.”

Read more at: Hundreds gather for Pence visit in Janesville | Local News | beloitdailynews.com

Brexit: UK puts trade deal with the EU and the U.S. at risk

It looks increasingly unlikely that the U.K. will reach a trade agreement with the European Union — and that could also harm the chances of a future deal with the United States.

The U.K. government outlined on Wednesday how it plans to manage trade following its full breakup from the EU at the end of the year with two significant announcements.

Firstly, it proposed legislation, called the Internal Market Bill, which gives the U.K. government stronger powers over trade rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - something lawmakers in these countries have issue with.

Secondly, the government said the U.K. would not follow EU rules for state aid — a key stumbling block in the negotiations with Europe to date. Instead, it will apply state aid rules agreed at the World Trade Organization level, which are less strict.

“It’s a recipe for disaster,” Paolo Palmigiano, head of the U.K. competition, EU and trade practice at the law firm Taylor Wessing, told CNBC.

Read more at:
Brexit: UK puts trade deal with the EU and the U.S. at risk

Advertise On EU-Digest