Taliban-US Deal IS A Fake Deal: "So-Called ‪'Peace Deal' Is Anything But": Critics Warn US-Taliban Deal Exposes Fallacies of Endless War Paradigm

The agreement, warned Rep. Barbara Lee, "leaves thousands of troops in Afghanistan and lacks the critical investments in peacebuilding, human-centered development, or governance reform needed to rebuild Afghan society."

A Fake Deal ? USA-Taliban-Afghanistan

The Taliban have agreed to sever ties with al-Qaida and other international terror groups and sit down for peace talks with other Afghans, including a government they have always denounced as a US puppet. In return, Washington will start a phased withdrawal of troops.

Troop levels will be cut to 8,600 over the next 135 days and five bases will be closed. If both sides keep to their commitments, all U.S. military forces could leave Afghanistan by spring 2021, although Washington is thought to want to keep intelligence operatives on the ground fighting Isis and al-Qaida.

According to Lee, nobody should be fooled into thinking that this is a "peace" agreement.

"It leaves thousands of troops in Afghanistan and lacks the critical investments in peacebuilding, human-centered development, or governance reform needed to rebuild Afghan society," the Congresswoman said.

As peace advocates have been saying since even before the U.S. invasion took place in 2001, following the attacks of September 11, there was never a military solution to the situation in Afghanistan. That remains true today.

"Two decades of trying to bomb our way to peace have made clear: there is no U.S. military solution in Afghanistan," said Stephen Miles, executive director of Win Without War, in a statement.

While the reduction in U.S. military presence "is a welcome step," Stephens said, the agreement "utterly fails to confront the underlying logic of military occupation, lacks any strategy for long-term peace, and falls far short of accountability and justice. It is no 'peace deal.'"

Like Lee, Stephens said a deal that leaves nearly two-thirds of current U.S. forces in Afghanistan for 'counterterrorism' purposes—"bringing levels down to about where they were when Trump entered office"—cannot be considered a peace deal. While the drawdown can be considered a positive development, he said, the agreement "is far from an end to endless war—and further still from anything that would ensure stability, peace, and justice after decades of violence."

Read more at: "So-Called ‪'Peace Deal' Is Anything But": Critics Warn US-Taliban Deal Exposes Fallacies of Endless War Paradigm | Common Dreams News

USA -department of Justice: 5 ways William Barr is turning America into a dictatorship - by Robert Reich

William Barr was installed as Attorney General specifically to turn the Department of Justice into an arm of the Trump Coverup. And we've seen him do exactly that. Barr has corrupted and politicized the Department of Justice, working hand in hand with Donald Trump to bend federal law enforcement to the president's will. Here are some of the ways Barr is helping Trump turn our democracy into a dictatorship:
  
2. Barr has green-lit an "intake process" for any information that Trump stooge Rudy Giuliani may dig up about Ukraine and the elections. That's right. Barr has given Trump's personal lawyer, who is under a Justice Department investigation that has led to charges against two of his associates, a direct line to the Justice Department to funnel dirt about Trump's political rivals.

3. Barr misled the public about the contents of the Mueller report. Before the report was released, Barr sent a memo to Congress "summarizing" its findings. In his memo, Barr claimed there was insufficient evidence for an obstruction of justice case and supported Trump's claims of "total exoneration". Robert Mueller was so infuriated by Barr's misrepresentation of his findings that he wrote a letter complaining that Barr's summary "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance" of Mueller's investigation. Barr nonetheless held a press conference reiterating his own claims, bolstering Trump's narrative of "total exoneration," and shifting the media coverage of the report. 

4. Barr refused to accept the findings of the Inspector General report investigating the origins of the Russia probe. In December, Inspector General Michael Horowitz released his report, finding that while the Russia probe was flawed in some aspects, there was no evidence of political bias and it was justified. This, of course, contradicts Trump's narrative that the Russia probe was launched by deep-state partisan hacks determined to take him down. The day the report was released, Barr called the Russia investigation a "travesty" and claimed that there were "gross abuses …and inexplicable behavior that is intolerable in the FBI" and that he thought "there was bad faith" in the investigation. It's unprecedented for the Attorney General to so vehemently disagree with the findings of an impartial Inspector General.

5. Barr buried the whistleblower complaint that kick-started the impeachment inquiry and tried to keep it from reaching Congress. His Justice Department investigated the contents of the complaint within a narrow scope and wrapped up its investigation within a mere three weeks, finding no evidence of wrongdoing. Yet again, Barr was running interference to shield Trump from accountability.

Read the complete report at: 5 ways William Barr is turning America into a dictatorship | Salon.com

EU: Coronavirus could be a bigger test for the EU than the refugee crisis

The coronavirus pounded the European Union this week with the biggest test of its political, economic and social fabric since the refugee crisis of five years ago.

Most dramatically, the Turkish government this week backed off from its commitment made in 2016, in return for 6 billion euros in EU funds, to prevent Syrian refugees from entering Europe. That followed a Thursday airstrike by Russian-backed Syrian forces in Syria’s Idlib province, killing at least 33 Turkish troops, with some turkish sources claiming more than 150 troops killed.

Even as Turkey ordered police, coast guard and border security officials to allow would-be refugees to pass into the EU, Bulgaria responded by sending an extra 1,000 troops to the frontier with Turkey and Greek police launched smoke grenades at one crossing to dissuade migrants.

Containing pathogens is a much different business than managing waves of refugees. However, what unites the two issues is how dramatically the European Union’s response will shape public attitudes about the institution’s relevance, responsiveness, and effectiveness at a crucial historic moment.

The impact of coronavirus on Europe’s future has the potential to be even more significant than the migrant crisis, particularly as it unfolds in almost biblical fashion atop a plague of other European maladies.

Tourist wearing protective respiratory mask tours outside the Colosseo monument were a common sight in the center of Rome..

The coronavirus pounded the European Union this week with the biggest test of its political, economic and social fabric since the refugee crisis of five years ago.

The ripples from the European migrant crisis of 2015 continue until today with its dual shock to the EU’s unity and domestic politics. It triggered a wave of populism and nationalism, the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, and Germany’s political fragmentation behind the weakening of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Even as Turkey ordered police, coast guard and border security officials to allow would-be refugees to pass into the EU, Bulgaria responded by sending an extra 1,000 troops to the frontier with Turkey and Greek police launched smoke grenades at one crossing to dissuade migrants.

Containing pathogens is a much different business than managing waves of refugees. However, what unites the two issues is how dramatically the European Union’s response will shape public attitudes about the institution’s relevance, responsiveness, and effectiveness at a crucial historic moment.

The impact of coronavirus on Europe’s future has the potential to be even more significant than the migrant crisis, particularly as it unfolds in almost biblical fashion atop a plague of other European maladies.

They include, but by no means are limited to: economic slowdown and possible recession (made more likely by coronavirus), the rise of populism and nationalism (stoked as well by the virus), disagreements about how to handle trade talks with a departing United Kingdom (which start Monday), internecine fights over the European budget, and ongoing German leadership crisis and French social upheaval.

The coronavirus morphed this past week into an increasingly global phenomenon that experts agree can no longer be contained. The hit to stock markets was $6 trillion, the biggest weekly fall since the 2008 financial crisis. By Friday, the WHO reported more than 78,000 cases and more than 2,790 deaths ion China – and 70 deaths in 52 other countries.

In Europe, what began as northern Italian phenomenon – where there have been more than 800 infections – has now reached Spain, Greece, Croatia, France, the UK, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, North Macedonia, and San Marino.

For Europe the Corana Virus is certainly a wake-up call and a national European Medical Emergency. 

Read more at: Coronavirus could be a bigger test for the EU than the refugee crisis

Afghanistan: After 18 bloody years, U.S. signs deal to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. It's not over yet

With the exception of the wars with American Indians from 1788-1890, the Afghan war has been America’s longest. For the Afghans, the war stretches back four decades to the Soviet invasion and the internecine fighting that followed Moscow’s withdrawal in 1988. Estimates of the U.S. cost of the war range widely because there is no uniform way the White House or Congress tallies or allocates the money. One estimate puts it at about $1 trillion while another puts it at $2 trillion. But neither of those numbers include future interest on debt incurred to pay for the wars, estimated by one researcher at an additional $7.9 trillion by the 2050s. Nor does it cover the cost to the Department of Veterans Affairs for caring for injured U.S. veterans, including tens of thousands who have suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Said Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Doha for the ceremony: “The future of Afghanistan is for Afghans to determine. The U.S.-Taliban deal creates the conditions for Afghans to do just that.”  On Friday, Donald Trump said, “If the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home.”

Just getting the Taliban to the table with the nation’s leaders was a difficult step. The Taliban have rejected the legitimacy of the Kabul government, calling it a “puppet regime” that they would not negotiate with. On Friday, however, Taliban leaders were taking a victory lap over the certainty of the signing in Doha. The Taliban has agreed to break off all ties to international terror groups, including al Queda, whose attacks on the United States in 2001 spurred the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, which, at the time was controlled by the Taliban. But it has not agreed to any adjustment of its ultra-strict interpretation of Islam, profound oppression of women and girls, and harsh punishments of both women and men for the pettiest of offenses. 

The United States had a choice in 2001. It could have gone into Afghanistan and done what was needed to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and kneecap al Qaeda, then bring the troops home. Instead, lives and treasure were poured into a fight that generals and neoconservative politicians said the U.S. could win and historians warned it couldn’t. Has the lesson been learned? Rather doubtful.

Read more at: After 18 bloody years, U.S. signs deal to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan. It's not over yet

USA: This Is All So Very Normal - by Mark Fiore

Of course Trump just installed an inexperienced political hack to run the country’s 17 intelligence agencies. Through the magic of inexperience and cult-like fealty, the president’s purge of intelligence continues.

Richard Grenell, the new acting Director of National Intelligence, has plenty of experience sending nasty tweets and appearing on Fox News. Experience in the world of spies and intelligence gathering? Not so much. I wouldn’t mind his lack of experience so much if he didn’t have all that experience acting as a PR shill for shady foreign entities.

Grenell seems to be a cheaper version of Paul Manafort—with a much bigger position in government. Something tells me this guy won’t last long, it’s just too apparent from the get-go Grenell is either terribly compromised or terribly incapable. We’ll likely find out it’s both very soon. Methinks we have another Matthew Whitaker “acting” character on our hands.


Read more at: This Is All So Very Normal - Progressive.org

American Democracy on the rocks: Two Wings, Four Despotisms - by Paul Street

Democracy is trumped in the United States by multiple, overlapping, interrelated and mutually reinforcing forms of despotism. The Trump administration and the Trumpified Republican Party, backed by a cult-like base, embody a creepy, neofascistic variant of the disease.

The Republican White House and Senate are currently conducting a tasteless tutorial in tyranny, making a Monty Pythonesque mockery of the U.S. Constitution and “the rule of law.” The Great God Trump was caught red-handed setting the U.S. Founders’ wigs on fire by trying to trade military assistance and a White House visit to Ukraine’s newly elected president Volodomyr Zelensky in return for a Kiev press conference announcing an investigation based on a right-wing conspiracy theory meant to discredit Trump’s perceived U.S.-presidential rival, the conservative Democratic blowhard “Pool Chain” Joe Biden.

Confronted with this presidential misconduct by a “deep state” (likely CIA) whistleblower, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was compelled to overcome her reluctance to impeach the pestilential fiend who contaminates America and the world with his every vile emission.

The evidence of Trump’s criminal abuse of power is overwhelming. Equally convincing is the expert legal testimony contending that his offense is worthy of impeachment and removal.

UkraineGate is just one of the tangerine tyrant’s many mind-boggling misdeeds. It is far from his worst wrongdoing. Numerous other atrocities stand higher on the list of Trump’s most terrible transgressions: family separations at the border; kids in cages; the abrogation of asylum law; the pardoning of sociopathic war criminals and a fascist sheriff; the encouragement and sparking of lethal political violence; slashing Food Stamps and Medicaid for needy people deemed disposable; the proclamation of a fake national emergency; the failure to prepare for and respond adequately to deadly hurricanes; the continuation (over Congressional opposition) of U.S. participation in the crucifixion of Yemen; the diversion of taxpayer dollars to the construction of a hated nativist Wall; the message that Border Patrol agents should shoot asylum seekers and otherwise feel free to break the law; the sick campaign to remove tens of millions of people from health insurance; the cover provided for neo-Nazis and other white supremacists and for Saudi Arabia’s murderous vivisection of a dissident journalist; the reckless and monumentally criminal assassination of Iran’s top military commander; the malevolent acceleration of the carbon-capitalist war on livable ecology (for example); and…the list goes on.

Read the complete report: Two Wings, Four Despotisms - CounterPunch.org

EU: Free transport in Luxembourg, but what's the cost?

Read more at :
Free transport in Luxembourg, but what's the cost? - BBC News

The EU and China in 2020: More Competition Ahead - by Erik Brattberg and Philippe Le Corre

Reflecting the general mood of the BDI paper, the most significant update of the EU’s own thinking on China came on March 12, 2019, when the European Commission and the European External Action Service jointly put out a strategic reflection paper. This paper was striking for at least two main reasons.

First was the speed and unusual way by which it came about. The process was driven by outgoing European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who teamed up with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron in an effort to beef up the EU’s common position on China ahead of crucial meetings that year. Even more striking was its bluntness, which is rare in official EU documents. For example, a key sentence referred to China as “a negotiating partner with whom the EU needs to find a balance of interests, an economic competitor in the pursuit of technological leadership and a systemic rival promoting alternative models of governance.

The unprecedented use of the term “systemic rival” reflected growing impatience in EU circles with China’s failure to open its markets to European companies in key sectors. The paper called for a “flexible and pragmatic whole-of-EU response” and greater European access to the Chinese market. It concluded with ten action items that the European Council quickly endorsed. The significance of the strategic outlook on China should not be underestimated. Its timing and strong language helped give the EU concrete leverage when dealing with China during a crucial stage, while avoiding having to resort to confrontation or containment. The message was not lost on Beijing, which quickly drew the conclusion that it could no longer take the soft European position for granted. Beijing had to redouble its efforts to fulfill at least some of its commitments lest Brussels follow Washington in taking a more stringent approach.

Immediately after the strategic outlook paper was released, Juncker, Merkel, and Macron met jointly with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Paris on March 25, 2019. By extending an invitation to the German chancellor and the head of the commission to attend the meeting with Xi, Macron signaled that he wanted to build a core coalition within the EU to gain leverage over Beijing. During the meeting, Macron and Xi released a joint statement calling on Europe and China to work together in a number of areas, such as the economy, global governance, and climate. However, Macron also cited frank discussions with his Chinese counterpart on human rights issues. Xi’s visit to Europe included time in Italy where the two countries agreed on a memorandum of understanding on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This represented a major symbolic win for Beijing, as Italy was the first G7 nation to endorse China’s flagship infrastructure initiative.  

The EU and China in 2020: More Competition Ahead - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

EU blacklists two Turkish nationals over illegal gas exploration offshore Cyprus

The European Union on Thursday blacklisted two Turkish nationals as retaliation over Ankara’s oil and natural-gas exploration in waters that are part of the exclusive economic zone of member country Cyprus.

The EU asset freezes and travel bans on the two people, whom the bloc plans to identify later on Thursday, Bloomberg reports.

The sanctions are the first of their kind in response to the actions of a nation seeking to join the EU.

However, the decision by EU governments in Brussels stops short of targeting any Turkish companies.

This reflects a desire to avoid antagonising a key ally in the fight to prevent Middle East migration, particularly from war-torn Syria.

Relations between the EU and Turkey have been deteriorating since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan responded to a failed coup attempt in mid-2016 by unleashing a widespread crackdown on political opponents.

Ties soured further in 2018 when the Turkish navy prevented drilling by Italy-based Eni SpA in Cypriot waters.

And again late last year, when Turkey carried out a military operation in northern Syria to carve out a buffer zone and struck a controversial accord with Libya on their maritime boundary.

The energy-exploration tensions are a reminder of the most basic European disagreement with Turkey: its occupation of the northern part of Cyprus since a 1974 invasion.

Read more at: EU blacklists two Turkish nationals over illegal gas exploration offshore Cyprus – In-Cyprus.com

EU-Turkey Relations: Will the EU-Turkey refugee deal collapse?

Rumors that Turkey might open its borders and allow Syrian refugees to enter the European Union began swirling shortly after the latest deadly skirmish between Turkish and Syrian forces in Idlib province on Thursday.

Omer Celik, a spokesman for Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said Turkey would no longer be able to keep refugees from entering Greece. Turkish media outlets ran reports claiming that busses full of refugees had been seen making their way to Turkey's borders with Greece and Bulgaria.

But the Turkish Foreign Ministry quickly denied the reports on Friday morning. "Our country, which has taken in more refugees than any other in the world, will not change its refugee and migration policy," said Hami Aksoy, the ministry's spokesman.

Read more at: Will the EU-Turkey refugee deal collapse? | Europe| News and current affairs from aroundthe continent | DW | 28.02.2020

The Netherlands: Second Dutch coronavirus patient identified, was also in Lombardy, Italy

A woman from Diemen on the outskirts of Amsterdam has been diagnosed with coronavirus, making her the second Dutch victim of the disease, the public health institute RIVM said on Friday lunchtime. The woman has no connection with the first Dutch victim, from the south of the country, but had also recently been in Lombardy in Italy, where the virus is rampant, health officials say.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

A woman from Diemen on the outskirts of Amsterdam has been diagnosed with coronavirus, making her the second Dutch victim of the disease, the public health institute RIVM said on Friday lunchtime. The woman has no connection with the first Dutch victim, from the south of the country, but had also recently been in Lombardy in Italy, where the virus is rampant, health officials say.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

A woman from Diemen on the outskirts of Amsterdam has been diagnosed with coronavirus, making her the second Dutch victim of the disease, the public health institute RIVM said on Friday lunchtime.

The woman has no connection with the first Dutch victim, from the south of the country, but had also recently been in Lombardy in Italy, where the virus is rampant, health officials say.

Read more at: Second Dutch coronavirus patient identified, was also in Lombardy - DutchNews.nl

Middle East - Turkey: Could Russia Go to War With Turkey in Syria? - by Stuart Williams

Russia has no appetite for a military confrontation with Turkey in Idlib but the Kremlin won't step back from its support for the Syrian regime's campaign to regain control of the province.

The killing of 33 soldiers by fire from forces of Russia's ally the Syrian regime — the biggest Turkish military loss on the battlefield in recent years — raised fears of war between the two historic rivals.

But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin of Russia were quick to hold telephone talks and plan a summit as soon as next week in Moscow, with Russian officials striking a conciliatory tone.

The two men — both leading post-imperial societies they took over in the wake of economic crises — have since 2016 forged an alliance that has riled the West and will be wary of undermining it for now.

"Russia is definitely not looking for a full-scale military confrontation with Turkey, nor is Turkey interested in confronting Moscow over Idlib," said Igor Delanoe, deputy director of the Franco-Russian Observatory in Moscow.

"The stakes are too high, especially for Ankara, considering all the economic leverage Moscow has in its hands to retaliate," he told AFP.

The incident came as tensions soared after Erdogan — who has vowed not to take a step back in Idlib — gave Syrian forces a Feb. 29 deadline to pull back from their positions.

Idlib is the last remaining rebel bastion in Syria and Turkey wants to keep its influence over the area even once Syria's civil war ends.

Yet this is an obstacle to Moscow's ambition of seeing President Bashar al-Assad regain control of the entire country and confirming the greatest Russian military victory of the post-Soviet era.

Moscow-based expert on Turkey-Russia relations Kerim Has said that Russia's "long-term strategy" for Syria had not changed but it was keen not to antagonize Turkey, especially given the closeness of economic and energy ties as well as the cooperation on the S-400s.

"A full military confrontation in Syria is now less possible" after a day of intense diplomacy, he told AFP, while warning that "risks are brimming on the ground" and any clash could send tensions spiralling again.

"Russia is going to continue its operations in Idlib. It is not going to take a step back soon," he added.

Alexey Khlebnikov, Middle East Analyst at the Russian International Affairs Council, founded by the Kremlin to advise on foreign policy issues, said that while risks existed, a direct confrontation was the "worst-case scenario."

"So far, all indicators show that the two countries are ready for de-escalation," he said, but added"The risks of an incidental escalation are way higher now. An escalation might happen and we can't rule it out." 

Note EU-Digest: Two Russian warships armed with cruise missiles transitted the Bosporus strait in Istanbul on Friday on their way to Mediterranean waters, as tensions spiraled between Turkey and Russia.
 
Read more at: Could Russia Go to War With Turkey in Syria? - The Moscow Times

Britain:The mouse who roars- as Biritain-EU start exit negotiations : "We will walk away if no deal likely in June, Johnson warns EU – by Benjamin Fox

The UK has threatened to walk away from Brexit trade talks and head towards WTO trading terms with the EU if a draft deal is not in place in June, according to the mandate published by Boris Johnson’s government on Thursday (27 February).

The mandate states that the outline of a deal should be in place at a June summit “and be capable of being rapidly finalised by September”.

“If that does not seem to be the case at the June meeting, the government will need to decide whether the UK’s attention should move away from negotiations and focus solely on continuing domestic preparations to exit the transition period in an orderly fashion,” it says.

The UK has threatened to walk away from Brexit trade talks and head towards WTO trading terms with the EU if a draft deal is not in place in June, according to the mandate published by Boris Johnson’s government on Thursday (27 February).

The mandate states that the outline of a deal should be in place at a June summit “and be capable of being rapidly finalised by September”.

“If that does not seem to be the case at the June meeting, the government will need to decide whether the UK’s attention should move away from negotiations and focus solely on continuing domestic preparations to exit the transition period in an orderly fashion,” it says.

Note EU-Digest: Boris Johnson is playing a dangerous game, with some European politicians calling him " the mouse who roars"

 Read more at: We will walk away if no deal likely in June, Johnson warns EU – EURACTIV.com

Outer Space: Astronomers detect biggest explosion in history of the universe

Researchers say the blast is the biggest since the Big Bang. It occurred at the center of a galaxy cluster 390 million light years away.

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/astronomers-detect-biggest-explosion-in-history-of-the-universe/a-52564205

Middle East - Turkey: Turkish official says 29 soldiers killed in airstrike by Syrian government forces

Read more at:
Turkish official says 29 soldiers killed in airstrike by Syrian government forces | CBC News

USA - Corona Virus; Suburban Seattle High School Closes Over Virus Fear

The superintendent of a school district north of Seattle has closed the high school "out of an abundance of caution" over coronavirus. The Seattle Times reports that Bothell High School closed Thursday, despite advice from public-health officials, after an employee...

Read more at:
https://www.newsmax.com/us/seattle-bothell-high-school-corinavirus/2020/02/27/id/956046/?ns_mail_uid=b3d03d9e-503a-4409-856a-afd0320ea4a5&ns_mail_job=DM93799_02272020&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010502eglgvq

France: Thank God for France’s Sense of European Realism

French President Emmanuel Macron's restrictive stance on EU membership for the Western Balkans injects a much-needed dose of realism into EU affairs.

Read more at:
https://www.theglobalist.com/france-emmanuel-macron-germany-eu-expansion-western-balkans/

USA: Corona Virus in California: New California coronavirus case may be nation’s first from unknown source

A new coronavirus case in California could be the first in the U.S. that has no known connection to travel abroad or another known case, a possible sign the virus is spreading in a U.S. community, health officials said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the case Wednesday.

California officials said the person is a resident of Solano County, northeast of San Francisco, and is getting medical care in Sacramento County. They said they have begun the process of tracking down people who the patient has been in contact with, a process known as contact tracing.

Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, warned Tuesday of possible “severe” disruptions to everyday life.

Officials did not immediately release any other details.

 Read more: New California coronavirus case may be nation’s first from unknown source - MarketWatch

Corona Virus hits Northern Europe: Norway announces first case of coronavirus as Sweden treats citizen returning from Italy

Norwegian health authorities on Wednesday announced the first case of coronavirus in the Nordic nation in someone who returned from China last week, but said the patient was not "in danger".

In Sweden a man in his 30s is being treated in hospital for the new coronavirus after visiting Italy, Swedish health authorities confirm.

The patient fell ill after returning from Italy.

Read more at:
https://www.thelocal.no/20200226/breaking-norway-announces-first-case-of-coronavirus and
https://www.thelocal.se/20200226/new-coronavirus-case-confirmed-in-gothenburg-sweden

USA: US Democratic Presidential Debate in South Carolina Was Destined To Be A Disaster

It was a disaster of a debate, and the CBS moderators knew it. The Democratic candidates shouted over each other, ignored time limits, and resisted any TV anchor’s feeble attempt to make them stop talking or take turns in an orderly fashion. It felt more like a morning in kindergarten than a proving ground for a future leader of the free world.

Note EU-Digest: Trump must be smiling, all the way to the bank,,knowing his reelection as the 'US Fuhrer in Chief' is becoming more and more apparent, giving the political quality and savy of his opponents. Let us hope this was a wake-up call for the Democrats, but it's very doubtful.

  Read more at: The South Carolina Debate Was Destined To Be A Disaster | Cognoscenti

Russia- Europe: Towards Relations of Pragmatism And Responsible Interaction - by Igor Ivanov

The perpetual topic of Russia-Europe relations was one of the central themes at the recently concluded annual Munich Security Conference. It is no secret that these relations have, for a long time, been in a state of profound crisis. This was not only caused by the events in Ukraine, even though their significance and consequences for both Russia and Europe should by no means be understated. The roots are more profound, related to both parties being unprepared to develop optimal forms of their current interaction.

Nonetheless, speeches and discussions at the Conference showed signs that the involved parties are demonstrating a certain readiness to develop an optimal model for relations. In his opening speech, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier clearly said, “Europe should not put up with the ever-greater alienation of Russia. We need other, better EU-Russia relations.” Most European leaders speaking at the Conference agreed, in one way or the other, with the notion that the current state of relations between Moscow and its western neighbours is unreasonable and needs to be revised. As always, it boils down to the matter of what specific, mutually acceptable parameters new relations could have.

Read more at: Russia- Europe: Towards Relations of Pragmatism And Responsible Interaction - Modern Diplomacy

‘2020 Munich Security Conference: Westlessness’: Shaping Anew the EU’s Power - by Shamsa Nawaz

The endurance of a political order cannot be permanently measured in the absence of any instrument, neither can it be substantially responded to at any given point and time. Similarly, the collapse of a system does not require any clear or prolonged warning. The world has experienced a relatively stable bi-polar system for several decades in the post-Cold War era, gradually replaced by the US dominated neoliberal post-Cold War era which is now being succeeded by a multi-polar world. This is accompanied with shifting alignments.

In the same vein, the debates at the 2020 Munich Security Conference (MSC) provided new insights into the shifts currently underway within the EU.In the most expansive sense of that term: ‘Westlessness’ reigned throughout the MSC despite the fact that it had played a vital role in world affairs after World War II. Earlier, marking the seventy fifth anniversary of the end of the World War II,

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President of Germany, warned that the erosion of international cooperation was evident in the US’s growing interest in Asia at the expense of its transatlantic relations. Will Europe come up more integrated in this shifted paradigm? How would a more sovereign Europe become a better partner to a more socially equal United States on global problems?  The technological giants have also disrupted major economies, societies, and political systems.

Historically, Germany as a core EU country has been the largest and most successful economy with a gdp of almost $4 trillion under Angela Merkel, since 2005. Germany sends the most members to the European Parliament. It has efficaciously maintained stability during the euro crisis,  the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014 and her open-door policy of 2015, in which over 1 million refugees were given shelter in Germany, was built on those premises. Germany provided an example of how to deal with a difficult past.

However, using the legacy of the Holocaust, Germany has craftily absolved itself from the responsibility of security, defense, and leadership precisely. Will it continue to be the same in the post-Brexit paradigm? Steinmeier warned that, “if the European project fails, the lessons of German history will be called into question.”

Within Germany, the ever-growing popularity of the far-right, anti-immigration, and anti-Semitic Alternative for Germany (AfD) has remained increasingly cumbersome for Angela Merkel. It is creating a leadership crisis for Germany.  On February 10, 2020, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, as Merkel’s designated successor has also resigned as a leader of the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. This leadership crisis has emerged at xenophobic times of nationalism and populism espoused with the state of anomie, in Europe. The strains in the transatlantic relations and the rise in China’s global role have afflicted this specter further afield.

Speaking pronouncedly, the French President Emmanuel Macron also talks about the need for a more integrated Europe by exercising responsibility for Europe’s future. “This united Europe will only survive if we regard it as the most concrete repository for German responsibility . . . of all the dangers I sense facing Germany, I see none greater than that our German narrative of the future dispenses with the united Europe, whether as a result of a lack of insight, because of indifference, or in some people’s eyes even through intent.”

The panacea lies in strengthening European security and defense policy as suggested by Steinmeier. He however, distinctively speculated that it would be opposed by the Central and Eastern Europeans. Besides, the fear is that Europe is no longer relevant for the US in great power competition. “Only a Europe that can and wants to protect itself credibly will be able to keep the U.S. in the alliance,” was a major concern of Steinmeier.

Already, the “Global Strategy for the European Union’s Foreign and Security Policy” presented by HR/VP Mogherini in June 2016, had laid down the foundations for a comprehensive package of measures in the areas of security and defence. It consists of three major pillars:

a) New political goals and ambitions for Europeans to take more responsibility for their own security and defence.

B) New financial tools to help Member States and the European defence industry to develop defence capabilities (“European Defence Action Plan”).

C) Set of concrete actions as a follow up to the EU-NATO Joint Declaration while identifying areas of cooperation.
 
Note EU-Digest: The EU membership states who are calling for a more populist and nationalistic approach must stop kidding themselves  that leaving the EU  can provide them even with the slightest hope of independent survival, in the world of political and economic Power Blocs. They will be eaten alive and forced to swallow the worst possible demands, as they negotiate trade agreements with power blocs like the US or China. 

 Read the complete report at: ‘Westlessness’: Shaping Anew the EU’s Power - Modern Diplomacy

Social Media: WhatsApp security flaw: Over 60,000 groups still accessible online

WhatsApp links that lead to closed groups can be found with a simple Google search — a major security flaw revealed by DW last week. Following social media outrage, the links were removed from Google’s search results.

Despite the removal, however, publicly-available internet archives are still storing the information, as security researcher Lav Kumar has found out. He gathered and organized over 60,000 unique links, which can still be found on multiple websites.

Of the 1,000 randomly selected links DW tested, 427 were active chat links. Even without actively joining a group, its title, description, image and creator's phone number are available for all.

However, upon entering a group, it is possible to also see the phone numbers of up to 256 participants, as well as other information, and adding these numbers to one's contacts can reveal their names in the app.

Using this information, DW gained access to a group described as "Ministry of finance civil servants" in Indonesia, revealing the phone numbers of all 14 members. Several other groups appeared to be official support groups for the campaign of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.

Among the 427 active links DW examined, there were groups described to be for school classes, medical trainees, political campaigns, businesses, pornography and sex workers. Some groups included members with particularly sensitive identities, such as one chat with hundreds of members clearly labeled as an LGBTQ+ group in a Latin American country with high rates of homophobic murders.

Read more at: WhatsApp security flaw: Over 60,000 groups still accessible online | News | DW | 26.02.2020

US Economy: America′s massive debt load a no-show on the campaign trail

Public health care, education and gun laws are the hottest issues in the US election campaign. But neither Democratic nor Republican hopefuls are eager to discuss the burning question of the country's financial future.

US President Donald Trump is not exactly known for being humble when it comes to describing his leadership credentials. Already in the run-up to the 2016 elections that swept him to power, the then Republican candidate pledged to "eliminate" the $19 trillion (€17.4 trillion) of US debts within a period of eight years.

Now, almost four years later, a look at Trump's debt reduction record is sobering by all counts. Instead of lowering America's debt load, figures recently released by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) show the upward trajectory of the country's financial problems.

Since assuming office, the Trump administration has added a net total of $2.5 trillion in fresh debt, with the US budget deficit in the first four months of 2020 alone rising by 25%. This means that Trump has already spent close to 40% of the entire deficit last year.

The primary reason for the budget gap is Trump's 2017 package of tax cuts, which he once described as a "great Christmas gift to the middle class."

With overall US debts spiraling to $22.5 trillion, the CBO now has warned that such a high and rising debt load could pose a severe financial risk to the United States. The nonpartisan agency has estimated that state spending could surpass revenue by $1 trillion in 2020.

Surprisingly though, neither the Democrats nor the Republicans have made this an issue in their campaigns for the US presidency.

The US "Trump dollar" is totally overvalued

Trump also didn't waste a word on the debt problem in his latest State of the Union address and failed to chart out a clear reduction strategy. All he came up with was the lofty promise of trimming state expenditure by $4.4 trillion over the next decade. At the same time, however, Trump plans to increase spending for the military, the space industry and for the wall he wants to building along the border with Mexico.

Among the Democratic hopefuls, too, the US's dire financial straits seem to be on the backburner of their campaigns. In their first televised debate, all of the candidates conspicuously ignored the debt issue, with the ugly "deficit" word not being mentioned once in the 4-hour road show. Public debts were only once briefly touched upon.

Political observers believe the Democrats have many reasons to keep America's miserable finances flying under the radar during the presidential primaries.

"The average American has no interest in US debt at all," says G. William Hoagland, senior vice president at the Washington-based think tank Bipartisan Policy Center. He told DW that the booming US economy of the past years, including low interest rates and unemployment, had Americans feeling less worried about the mounting deficit.

"So why should Democrats address such a sensitive topic and stick their neck out for it," he says, and notes that most of the voters are satisfied overall with their current financial situation.

Read more: America′s massive debt load a no-show on the campaign trail | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 25.02.2020

Middle East: Libya is test of EU geopolitics, ex-UN inspector says- by Andrew Rettman

Chinese drones smuggled in by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) doing battle with Turkish drones.

Growing numbers of covert foreign troops to operate high-tech equipment.

Read more at: Libya is test of EU geopolitics, ex-UN inspector says

Democracy USA: America’s Coronavirus: Containing the Outbreak of Trumpism

The epicenter of China’s coronavirus outbreak is widely thought to be a wet market in Wuhan. At such markets, seafood, chicken, and other conventional foodstuffs are on sale alongside live animals. You can buy more than just dogs and cats there. Local epicures also shop for more exotic fare like foxes, badgers, civets, and snakes.Local epicures also shop for more exotic fare like foxes, badgers, civets, and snakes.

The coronavirus is a pathogen that jumps from animals to humans. The wet market is the perfect environment for the disease to incubate, mutate, and eventually infect the unwary.

Think of Washington, D.C. as America’s political wet market.

Washington is a place where ordinary politics takes place. But sometimes exotic species are introduced into the nation’s capital. And that’s when a new disease can incubate and mutate and spread throughout the system.

Donald Trump is Patient Zero for America’s “king’s disease,” which is the metonymic translation of coronavirus. His delusions of grandeur were always dangerously infectious, but they only became lethal when he took up residence in the White House.

As Trump came into contact with the ordinary Republican members of Congress, the disease leaped into the American body politic. Virtually the entire Republican Party began to treat the president not as the head of state or the head of the party but as a king—and thus above politics and not subject to the same congressional constraints as previous presidents.

Political scientists are frankly incapable of explaining the current impeachment saga in Washington. It takes an epidemiologist to figure out how a set of politicians, with a wide range of intellectual capabilities from grandmaster to moron, can all deny over and over again the clear evidence in front of their eyes that the president committed impeachable offenses.

Sure, they are marching in lockstep with the party leadership. But it really seems as if they’re suffering from a more serious infection when so many of them have refused to accept the admission of more evidence even as they insist that the existing evidence is insufficient.

Trumpism is not, of course, restricted to the political wet market of Washington, D.C. Plenty of Americans scattered across the country are willing to kneel down before the putative king.

Read more at:
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/01/30/americas-coronavirus-containing-outbreak-trumpism

USCDC: Corana virus could close down businesses and schools in US USCDC prepares for possible coronavirus pandemic

The CDC pointed to China, where schools and businesses have been closed to contain the outbreak, saying the U.S. may need to do the same.

Read more at:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/21/us-health-officials-prepare-for-coronavirus-outbreak-to-become-pandemic.html

EU Budget: Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden REFUSE to pay more to make up 75bn euro deficit left by Brexit

After a tense 30 hours of talks, the EU's first post-Brexit budget meeting ended up in shambles as poorer countries demanded more money while France and Germany wanted to control spending

Read more at :
https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2020/02/22/austria-denmark-the-netherlands-and-sweden-refuse-to-pay-more-to-make-up-75bn-euro-deficit-left-by-brexit/#.XlSe86ZOmUA

Wall Street: The Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points and marked its third-worst point drop in history — here’s how the stock market tends to perform after big drops - by Mark Decambre

 Read more at:
 The Dow tumbled more than 1,000 points and marked its third-worst point drop in history — here’s how the stock market tends to perform after big drops - MarketWatch

France - Corona Virus: Paris braces for tourism hit as virus keeps Chinese at home

Read more at; 
Paris braces for tourism hit as virus keeps Chinese at home - The Local

US Presidency: HR McMaster to publish book that may pose headaches for Trump

Ex-national security adviser to release Battlegrounds on 28 April while president is trying to block release of John Bolton’s book

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/24/trump-hr-mcmaster-book-national-security-adviser?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

Africa-EU Relations - African Union: Africa visit and EU parliament missions This WEEK - by Elena Sánchez Nicolás

The European Commission will visit on Thursday (27 February) the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, for a joint meeting with the African Union, before the EU-Africa strategy is unveiled in the coming weeks.

This new approach aims to bring Africa and Europe closer together through the strengthening of economic cooperation and sustainable development.

Read more: Africa visit and EU parliament missions This WEEK

India-US Relations - Love fest in India between Authocrat Trump and Nationalist Modi - by Shant Shahrigian

Love Fest in India: Nationalist 
Modi and Authocrat Trump

The pomp and circumstance is scheduled to start from the moment Trump lands in the western state of Gujarat. Carefully selected supporters of India’s prime minister were to cheer and hold signs along all 14 miles of the presidential motorcade’s route to a stadium rally.

Following the lovefest, the president and First Lady Melania Trump are scheduled to make an evening visit to the Taj Mahal — the model for one of Trump’s infamous failed Atlantic City casinos.

In the capital New Delhi on Tuesday, Trump and Modi are expected to talk trade, though the president tried to keep expectations low.

Trump’s form of belligerent patriotism jibes with the hosting leader’s own desire to turn India, the world’s biggest democracy, into a Hindu nationalist state.

Read more at: Trump heads to India for meet with Prime Minister Modi - New York Daily News

US Health Care: Unequal Access to Health Care Costs Us Al - by Anne Case and Angus Deatonl

Americans spend vast sums on health care. Certainly, health care is expensive all over the world, and it makes good sense for rich countries to spend large amounts to extend their citizens’ lives and to reduce pain and suffering. But America does this about as badly as it is possible to imagine.

Health care can sometimes harm people, through medical mistakes, or the overprescription of opioids. But there is also harm to people’s lives from its extraordinary and unnecessary costs. The percentage of national income that is absorbed by health care has grown over the past half-century, from 5% in 1960 to 18% in 2017, reducing what is available for anything else from 95% in 1960 to 82% today. The costs of health care contribute to the long-term stagnation in wages; to fewer good jobs, especially for less educated workers; and to rising income inequality.

The U.S. health care system spent $10,739 per person in 2017, about five times what the country spends on defense and about three times what it spends on education. High costs inflate the earnings of many providers and make the industry unnecessarily large. The cost of employer-provided health insurance, largely invisible to employees, not only holds down wages but also destroys jobs, especially for less skilled workers, and replaces good jobs with worse jobs at lower wages.

Health care costs directly hurt those without insurance, while those who are insured must pay co-payments, deductibles and employee contributions. Health costs also affect federal and state governments, which pay for Medicare and Medicaid. Governments must collect more taxes; provide less of something else, such as infrastructure or public education; or run deficits that shift the burden to future taxpayers. We could cut back costs by at least a third without compromising our health.

The U.S. has lower life expectancy than the other wealthy countries but vastly higher expenditures per person. In 1970, the countries were not very far apart, with American life expectancy not much worse and expenditures not much higher, but other countries have seen faster improvements in health and slower increases in costs. In 2017, the Swiss lived 5.1 years longer than Americans but spent 30% less per person; other countries achieved a similar length of life for still fewer health dollars. If a fairy godmother were to reduce the share of health care in American GDP to Switzerland’s, 5.6% of our GDP (or more than a trillion dollars) would be available for other things. That is more than $3,000 a year for each person in the U.S., or about $8,300 per household. If each household had been given an additional $8,300 in 2017, median income growth over the past 30 years would have been double what it actually was. These very large numbers are just the waste of health care.

Read more at: Unequal Access to Health Care Costs Us All | Time: American health care is the most expensive in the world, and yet American health is among the worst among rich countries

USA: We have entered the Trump Unbound era — and journalists need to step it up. - by Margaret Sullivan

When Donald Trump was elected, the media spent months figuring out how to cover a far-from-ordinary presidency.

Some will argue that many journalists never rose to that challenge — that they normalized Trump at every turn and never successfully conveyed to the public a clear and vivid picture of how he has toppled democratic norms and marched the country toward autocracy.

To be sure, they made adjustments.

Big Journalism began to call a lie a lie. It began to call racism by its name. It began to offer fact-checking in real time.

In other words, journalists adapted — within the framework of their tried-and-true beliefs.

And then came Trump’s impeachment. And his acquittal. And now, a new era for this president who chooses to believe he’s been vindicated.

Call it Trump Unbound.

In this new era, Trump has declared himself the nation’s chief law enforcement official. He has pardoned a raft of corrupt officials. 

He has exacted revenge on those he sees as his impeachment enemies — Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the decorated military veteran and national security staffer; and Gordon Sondland, Trump’s own handpicked ambassador to the European Union — simply because they testified under subpoena to what they knew about the White House’s dealings with Ukraine.

In other words, we are in entirely new territory now. Should the news media continue as usual? Should it retain its own traditions as the nation slides toward autocracy? Should it treat the Trump presidency as pretty much the usual thing, with a few more fact-checks and the occasional use of a word like “lie”?

Read more at: We have entered the Trump Unbound era — and journalists need to step it up. - The Washington Post

European Aircraft Industry: Airbus reveals futuristic blended wing aircraft design

The French aircraft maker Airbus rolled out a model of the small-scale, remote-controlled aircraft demonstrator it's been using to test the design at the Singapore Air Show 2020 on Tuesday.

This "blended wing body" demonstrator is called MAVERIC -- which stands for Model Aircraft for Validation and Experimentation of Robust Innovative Controls -- and is two meters long and 3.2 meters wide.

Testing has reportedly been underway since June 2019 but the project, which launched in 2017, was kept under wraps until this month.

According to Airbus, MAVERIC helps accelerate understanding of new aircraft configurations and matures the technology necessary to fly such a radically different aircraft.

What's so special about this aerodynamic "blended wing body"? In addition to the environmental benefit -- approximately 20% less fuel burn compared to current single-aisle models with the same engine -- Airbus says the plane's unusual and spacious configuration opens up new possibilities for cabin design.

To prove this point, it also released a series of design renderings showing what passengers onboard a blended wing aircraft might be in for. Noise would likely be reduced too, due to the plane's "shielded" engine, which is mounted above the central body.

Read more at: Airbus reveals futuristic blended wing aircraft design | CNN Tr

Circular Economics - Recycling: Netherlands in EU top three for recycling, says circular economy report

The Netherlands is in
Europe’s top three for recycling, according to the latest figures
published by the Dutch statistics office.

A report on the ‘circular economy in the Netherlands’ – looking at the
extent to which the country uses raw materials and recycles what it uses
– shows that it is apparently improving.

In 2018 the country consumed around 20% less in materials than in 2000 –
including goods that are used in production. On average, each resident
used 10,000 kilos of materials in 2018 – however another 21,500 kilos
per head were produced, intended for export.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

Upcycle Center Almere

The Netherlands is in Europe’s top three for recycling, according to the latest figures published by the Dutch statistics office.

A report on the ‘circular economy in the Netherlands’ – looking at the extent to which the country uses raw materials and recycles what it uses – shows that it is apparently improving.

In 2018 the country consumed around 20% less in materials than in 2000 – including goods that are used in production. On average, each resident used 10,000 kilos of materials in 2018 – however another 21,500 kilos per head were produced, intended for export.

One example of the many cities in the Netherlands focusing on improving their recycling efforts is the modern city of Almere (population +/-200.000) in the new Dutch province of Flevoland, reclaimed from the Zuiderzee (South Sea), which in 1986 officially became the 12th Dutch Province. 

The city of Almere’s ambition is to become a city without waste. The city’s goal is that this year each citizen only produces 50kg of household waste.

At the moment, around 75% of the household waste collected doesn’t belong in it, such as paper, plastic, glass or organic waste. By separating these raw materials, they can be reused, meaning fewer raw materials are needed to create new products.

The municipality is responsible for waste collection in the city,utilizing waste bins and (underground) containers. There are three recycling stations (recyclingperrons) where you can discard your waste for free. And there is a free collection service for bulky waste that may otherwise be difficult to transport.

In addition, the municipality cleans up litter in the city and takes care of illegal dumping.

Almere-Digest

Turkey: Erdogan announces Syria summit with Putin, Merkel, Macron on 5 March

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced he would hold a summit with his Russian, French and German counterparts on 5 March to discuss the situation in Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria.

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2020/02/22/france-and-germany-urge-syria-summit-amid-fears-of-bloodbath-in-idlib

Germany′s political climate has fueled far-right attacks like Hanau

The role politics plays in the resurgence of far-right extremism must not be underestimated. Views that had been ostracized for decades are once again becoming acceptable. Will politicians act before its too late?

Read more at:
https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-political-climate-has-fueled-far-right-attacks-like-hanau/a-52469410

Britain-Brexit: Elton John: 'I am a European – not a stupid, imperialist English idiot'

Singer says Brexit has made him ashamed to be British, while performing in Verona during his final ever world tour.

Read more at:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/31/elton-john-brexit-not-imperialist-english-idiot-verona?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_to_Firefox

MIDDLE EAST ANALYSIS: Turkey now technically at war with Russia and Syria - Foreign Affairs - Israel National News

A week after Israel National News reported that Turkey was on a crash course with Russia over Syria the parties are now at war technically speaking.

This happened after talks between a Turkish delegation and the Kremlin in Moscow about the worsening crisis in northeast Syria and the imminent threat of a new Turkish invasion in Syria over the Idlib Province, which is home to a range of Sunni Islamist groups supported by Turkey, broke-down.

The Turkey-backed Islamist militias in Idlib are on the verge of defeat after the Iranian-Russian-backed pro-Assad coalition rapidly advanced in the last rebel stronghold and even surrounded Turkish observation posts which were set up to monitor a 2018 de-escalation agreement between Russia and Turkey that failed miserably.

After the new talks between Russia and Turkey broke down Turkish autocratic leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to launch a new incursion into Syria, a promise he kept this time around.

"If the countries that we are in negotiations with do not do what needs to be done in Idlib, then we will do it ourselves. For the time being, we do not see the result that we want from these talks. We are fully prepared for our own operation in Idlib, it's only a matter of time we can start at any moment. This is a vital operation for us," Erdogan said on Wednesday.

Read more at: ANALYSIS: Turkey now technically at war with Russia and Syria - Foreign Affairs - Israel National News

USA-Florida: Miami Will Be Underwater Soon. Its Drinking Water Could Go First - by Christopher Flavelle

 One morning in June 2018, Douglas Yoder climbed into a white government SUV on the edge of Miami and headed northwest, away from the glittering coastline and into the maze of water infrastructure that makes this city possible. He drove past drainage canals that sever backyards and industrial lots, ancient water-treatment plants peeking out from behind run-down bungalows, and immense rectangular pools tracing the outlines of limestone quarries. Finally, he reached a locked gate at the edge of the Everglades. Once through, he pointed out the row of 15 wells that make up the Northwest Wellfield, Miami-Dade County’s clean water source of last resort.

Yoder, 71, is deputy director of the county’s water and sewer department; his job is to think about how to defend the county’s fresh drinking water against the effects of climate change. A large man with an ambling gait, Yoder exudes the calm of somebody who’s lived with bad news for a long time.

“We have a very delicate balance in a highly managed system,” he said in his rumbly voice. “That balance is very likely to get upset by sea-level rise.” What nobody knows is when that will happen, or what happens next. 

From ground level, greater Miami looks like any American megacity—a mostly dry expanse of buildings, roads, and lawns, sprinkled with the occasional canal or ornamental lake. But from above, the proportions of water and land are reversed. The glimmering metropolis between Biscayne Bay and the Everglades reveals itself to be a thin lattice of earth and concrete laid across a puddle that never stops forming. Water seeps up through the gravel under construction sites, nibbles at the edges of fresh subdivisions, and shimmers through the cracks and in-between places of the city above it. 

Miami-Dade is built on the Biscayne Aquifer, 4,000 square miles of unusually shallow and porous limestone whose tiny air pockets are filled with rainwater and rivers running from the swamp to the ocean. The aquifer and the infrastructure that draws from it, cleans its water, and keeps it from overrunning the city combine to form a giant but fragile machine. Without this abundant source of fresh water, made cheap by its proximity to the surface, this hot, remote city could become uninhabitable. 

The state requires at least two feet of dry soil between the bottom of the drainage field and the top of the water table, but Lapointe says that during the wet season, the groundwater in parts of southern Florida already comes above that two-foot threshold. More intense flooding and rainstorms will swell the water table further, on top of the gains caused by sea level rise, sending partially treated human waste into the aquifer. That waste can contain E. coli bacteria, which cause diarrhea, vomiting, and even kidney failure. High levels of nitrates, another component of untreated waste, cause what’s called blue baby syndrome, in which infants’ blood can no longer carry sufficient oxygen.  

How long does Miami have before the water table overwhelms the septic system? Officials, including the South Miami mayor, worry that the point of failure is closer than people realize. Says Stoddard, “I’m convinced that some of those septic systems are working by force of habit rather than by the laws of physics.”

Read more at: Miami Will Be Underwater Soon. Its Drinking Water Could Go First

The Oscars: US President Donald Trump takes a dig at Oscar wins for Parasite, Brad Pitt-

At a campaign rally in Colorado, US President Donald Trump slammed the Oscars for giving the best picture award to the South Korean film, Parasite, and also took aim at Brad Pitt.

"By the way, how bad were the Academy Awards this year?" Trump asked the crowd at the rally on Thursday.

"And the winner is... a movie from South Korea! What the hell was that all about? We've got enough problems with South Korea, with trade. On top of it, they give them the best movie of the year! Was it good? I don't know. Let's get Gone with the Wind back please. Sunset Boulevard. So many great movies," he added.

"I thought it was the best foreign film, right?" he asked in reference to the best international feature film category, which Parasite also won.

Parasite made history by being the first foreign-language movie to win the Oscar for best film.

The response of the film's US distributor, Neon, came a few minutes later on Twitter.

"Understandable, he can't read," it said, accompanying a clip of the President's rant.

Trump also criticised the Oscars' for awarding Pitt for Best Supporting actor. "And then you have Brad Pitt, I was never a big fan of his," he said.

"He got up, said a small wise guy statement. Little wise guy. He's a little wise guy," said the President about a speech in which the actor said the time he had been given to talk was longer than former White House national security adviser John Bolton was given when he offered to testify at Trump's impeachment trial.

The president also lashed out at teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, TIME magazine's 2019 person of the year. "This year I got beaten out by Greta - you know Greta?" he asked.

"Last year I got beaten out - I've won it, but when the world revolves around all of us, we should be chosen... I mean, we've won it. But we should win it every single year."

Read more at: US President Donald Trump takes a dig at Oscar wins for Parasite, Brad Pitt- Cinema express

US-Russia relations: Why Democrats (and hysterical US Press) Are Obsessed with Russia

Even if one concedes the allegations that Russia engaged in election meddling, the response of progressives is wildly excessive.

Note EU-Digest; Why don't Democrats, Republicans and the Press concentrate on being more focused when presenting reports based on actual facts, instead of chasing rumors and fake news, and adding to the confusion by embellishing these stories in an hysterical way to increase ratings revenues, and political influence.We don't need a third world war to get rid of Donald Trump, who has already dug his own grave for all the mischief he has done.

Read more at: https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/why-democrats-are-obsessed-russia

The Netherlands: More Dutch seniors active on social media

Social media usage among the elderly in the Netherlands has soared in recent years. The group 65 to 74-year-olds in particular have become increasingly active users.

In 2019, 76 percent of the respondents in this age category said they had used social media, up from 40 percent five years previously.

An increase in social media use was also seen among people aged 75 and over. Exchanging text messages, via WhatsApp for example, is most popular among the elderly. This is according to recent figures taken from the survey on ICT usage by households and individuals in 2019, conducted by Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

In 2019, 87 percent of the Dutch population aged 12 years and over indicated they had used social media such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, discussion forums or weblogs in the previous three months. This was still 74 percent five years previously.

Virtually everyone in the age group 12 to 54 years use social media (95 percent or more). The shares were 89 percent among 55 to 64-year-olds and 76 percent among 65 to 74-year-olds last year. In 2014, these shares amounted to 64 and 40 percent respectively.

An increase in social media use is also seen among Dutch seniors over the age of 75: in 2014, 13 percent were active while five years this had risen to 40 percent.

Read more: More Dutch seniors active on social media

EU Commission: Unhappy EU leaders begin budget haggle

EU leaders on Thursday evening (20 February) attempted to overcome major differences in the way they see the bloc's next seven-year budget, at their summit in Brussels.

The departure of the UK leaves a €60-75bn gap in the over one trillion euro spending plan over 2021-2027, and wealthier countries that pay more into the EU budget are being asked to pay the bulk of it.

• 

  The 2021-2027 budget numbers in detail

While all member states will have to pay more, a group of rich countries, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austrian and Denmark and also Germany are arguing to limit spending at 1.0 percent of EU gross national income (GNI) and want to retain the rebate, a form of backdated compensation.

Poorer member states want to reverse cuts to EU subsidies. Meanwhile all member states are also feeling the pressure to do more on climate, migration, digitalisation and foreign affairs.

National leaders have all criticised the EU Council president Charles Michel's attempt at a compromise, of 1.074 percent of GNI plus deep cuts in traditional policies.

"The proposal on the table is that we are going to do more with less: less persons, less money. And I don' know if Michel is now the twin brother of David Copperfield, but I don't know how this should work," Luxembourgish prime minister Xavier Bettel quipped on arrival at the summit, referring to the magician.

"This MFF negotiation will be very hard and difficult," Estonia's prime minister Juri Ratas warned as he made his arrival.

Poland's premier Mateusz Morawiecki went furthery, saying the discussions will be the "hardest-ever negotiations in history" for the EU.

"We cannot accept a dramatic increase of our piece [contribution]," Swedish PM Stefan Lofven said as he entered talks, adding: "Countries with stronger economies need to pay more, but we cannot accept such a dramatic increase."

"[After Brexit] it is a clear signal for our citizens to say Europe is alive and we can still function really well." Latvian prime minister Arturs Karins argued before the meeting, urging an agreement.

"It's a complicated task and we will have to overcome big differences," Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel conceded.

"Germany is not satisfied with the current status of negotiations," she added

EU leaders will first discuss among themselves, then will break into smaller groups, or hold bilateral meetings. Talks could go into Friday, or even perhaps Saturday morning.

One of the key issues is whether member states can agree to retain the rebate to Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Austria and the Netherlands, while other countries argue the concept should disappear because the original UK rebate is gone.

"I have infinite patience," Portugal's Antonio Costa said on arriving.

Read more: Unhappy EU leaders begin budget haggle

Corona Virus: WHO says no time for complacency as China coronavirus cases fall

A continued decline in the number of new cases of coronavirus infections in China is encouraging, the World Health Organization said Thursday, but it is too early to know if this trend will continue.
"We are encouraged by this trend but this is no time for complacency," the WHO's director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a briefing in Geneva.

He also noted that the number of coronavirus cases in the rest of world was very low compared to inside China, but added: "That may not stay the same for very long."

In China, officials have been pointing to evidence that new cases were declining as proof they are succeeding in keeping the virus largely contained to Hubei province and its capital Wuhan, where the virus initially emerged. But revisions to their methodology have raised doubts about the data. Under the latest methodology, which excludes chest X-rays, China reported fewer than 400 new cases over the past day, less than a quarter of the number it had been finding in recent days under the previous method.

Read more: WHO says no time for complacency as China coronavirus cases fall | CBC News

USA: Airports warn of chaos with looming Real ID license deadline

The nation's airports are warning of chaos for passengers if the White House doesn't postpone the looming Real ID deadline.

The law requires airline passengers to present a Real ID-compliant driver's license or ID card at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints in airports as of Oct. 1. Those licenses require more proof of identification than regular licenses and are generally marked with a star on the top.

But while states have already issued 95 million Real IDs, that represents just 34 percent of the total, leaving two-thirds of the country with about seven months to get them if they hope to use a license to board a plane.

Without a Real ID, airline passengers will be required to present a passport, military ID or Global Entry card to pass through security, even for domestic flights.

Note EU-Digest: this alarm and warning for chaos is totally overdrawn. Whoever travels by plane and carries no proper ID must be completely out of his or her mind, given the fact that a valid ID is usually required at check-in to get your ticket, and also given the fact that most travelers on planes are aware they need to have the proper ID because of security reasons. Everywhere else in the world you have to show not only your ticket, but also a valid ID before boarding a plane.  

Read more at: Airports warn of chaos with looming Real ID license deadline

EU in turmoil: Is Europe Falling Apart?

Populism, nationalism, and internal griping are deeply, perhaps irreparably, damaging EU and NATO alliances.

Read more at:
https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/europe-falling-apart

Middle East: Russia, Turkey, Iran reassert glory of past empires in today's Middle East - by Jack Cohen

Three countries – Russia, Turkey and Iran – are currently trying to reassert their former influence and glory, harking back to the power and greatness of the former Czarist/Soviet, Ottoman and Persian empires, respectively. In many ways these three imperial states, led by autocratic leaders – President Vladimir Putin, President Recep Erdogan, and Ayatollah Khamenei, respectively – are similar and have found it convenient to collaborate in some matters. But, in most ways these leaders and their putative empires are very competitive.

The difference between these three intended empires and the USA is very stark. While the US is really the only superpower, President Donald Trump has enunciated a policy of withdrawal from the Middle East, the main area of big power conflicts, even though his mantra is “Make America Great Again.” In this policy he continues that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who also had a policy of retraction from the Middle East. By contrast, Russia, Turkey and Iran are all in an expansionist phase, particularly in that region.

The difference between these three intended empires and the USA is very stark. While the US is really the only superpower, President Donald Trump has enunciated a policy of withdrawal from the Middle East, the main area of big power conflicts, even though his mantra is “Make America Great Again.” In this policy he continues that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, who also had a policy of retraction from the Middle East. By contrast, Russia, Turkey and Iran are all in an expansionist phase, particularly in that region.

They see the Arab countries as weak and exploitable, and two of them, Iran and Turkey, seek to reassert their former spheres of control there. Russia, it is said, has always sought a warm water port in the Mediterranean Sea, and in fact Obama’s incompetence gifted that to Putin.

When he declared his red line over the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons, and then instead allowed Putin to come into Syria to mediate the removal of those weapons from Assad, he released a monster. Putin got his port at Latakia and then an airfield, and then participated in the fighting with Assad’s regime and saved it from the brink of defeat and brought it to victory, at the cost of millions of lives.

Syria is now effectively a vassal state of Russia, and Putin will decide its fate.Iran has also been active in Syria, through its Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), whose former leader, Gen. Qasem Soleimani, was assassinated by the US.

There is a relationship between Assad, who comes from the Alawite minority in Syria, and the Shia from Iran. But we should see that as an ideological excuse to justify Iranian expansionism into the Arab world. Although they would be loath to admit it, Shi’ism is a cloak for the reassertion of Iranian power in the region formerly part of the Persian Empire. Its influence now extends to Yemen, where Iran supports the Houthi rebels; Iraq, where it controls the Popular Mobilization Forces; and Lebanon, where Hezbollah is its dependent proxy.

Turkey under Erdogan has been veering away from the democratic Westernized Turkey that Kemal Ataturk foresaw, toward a Sunni religious format. In doing so, he has taken on the dubious role of reconstituting the Ottoman Empire. He has entered the Syrian morass, defeated the Kurdish forces and occupied a 30-kilometer stretch of Syrian territory where he claims he intends to settle some of the millions of Syrian evacuees in his country.

He controls northern Cyprus, and his latest move is into Libya, where he has agreed to support the supposedly legitimate government in Benghazi in exchange for oil exploitation rights in the Mediterranean. Meanwhile Russia is supporting the insurgent army of Gen. Khalifa Haftar, who controls Tripoli and much of Libya.

The reduction of American presence and power in the Middle East, coupled with a reluctance to use that power, has resulted in the proverbial power vacuum. This has enticed these three states to exercise their own expansionist dreams, fueling their own versions of “Make X Great Again,” where X=Russia, Turkey and Iran. How these imperial designs and competitions will play out remains to be seen.

Note EU-Digest: Russia in fact has now taken over the US leadership position in he Middle East,  assisted by Assad and Erdogan. As a result Erdogan has thereby created a major breach on NATO's Southern flank, by aligning himself with Putin, making the creation of an independent EU military force, and kicking Turkey out of the NATO an urgent requirement...  . 

Read more at: Russia, Turkey, Iran reassert glory of past empires in today's Middle Eas - The Jerusalem Post