Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana Republican senator, predicted on Sunday morning that Donald Trump will not be the party’s nominee for president in 2024, pointing to the number of seats lost by Republicans in the House and Senate over the four years Trump was in office.
Cassidy was asked on CNN’s State of the Union show whether he would support Trump if the former president runs for another term in 2024, or if he would support him if he did run and won the Republican nomination to challenge Joe Biden. “That’s a theoretical that I don’t think will come to pass,” Cassidy said. He added: “I don’t mean to duck, but the truth is … I don’t think he’ll be our nominee.”
Read more at:
Republican predicts Trump won’t be party’s presidential nominee in 2024 | US elections 2024 | The Guardian
2/28/21
Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán vaccinated against COVID with Chinese Sinopharm vaccine
Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has been inoculated against COVID-19 with the vaccine from the Chinese laboratory Sinopharm after Hungary become the first EU country to approve its use.
"I am vaccinated," said a message published on Sunday on Orbán's official Facebook page, accompanied by photos and a video showing him being injected with a dose of the vaccine by a health worker holding a Sinopharm box.
Hungary began using the Sinopharm vaccine on Wednesday, after having already having given the Russian Sputnik V vaccine emergency authorisation for use without waiting for the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Read more at: Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán vaccinated against COVID with Chinese Sinopharm vaccine | Euronews
"I am vaccinated," said a message published on Sunday on Orbán's official Facebook page, accompanied by photos and a video showing him being injected with a dose of the vaccine by a health worker holding a Sinopharm box.
Hungary began using the Sinopharm vaccine on Wednesday, after having already having given the Russian Sputnik V vaccine emergency authorisation for use without waiting for the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Read more at: Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán vaccinated against COVID with Chinese Sinopharm vaccine | Euronews
Turkey: Uighur exiles living in fear in Turkey
The Uighurs are a Turkic-speaking ethnic group, most of whom are Muslim. Many have fled to Turkey as they have much in common with Turks culturally, and Turkey's government has promoted their migration for years. Today, the country's hosts the largest community in the Uighur diaspora.
"I was scared not only for myself but also my family," Abdüsükür explains his decision to leave China. "That's why I decided to flee to Turkey." But he has paid a steep price for his new life abroad, saying he has only spoken to his mother once since leaving. "Uighurs living in Turkey are prohibited [by Chinese authorities] from speaking to their relatives back home," he says. Millions of fellow Uighurs have been placed in reeducation camps, Abdüsükür says. There are no official records documenting how many have been detained, though some estimates put the figure at several hundred thousand.
Read more at: Uighur exiles living in fear in Turkey | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 28.02.2021
"I was scared not only for myself but also my family," Abdüsükür explains his decision to leave China. "That's why I decided to flee to Turkey." But he has paid a steep price for his new life abroad, saying he has only spoken to his mother once since leaving. "Uighurs living in Turkey are prohibited [by Chinese authorities] from speaking to their relatives back home," he says. Millions of fellow Uighurs have been placed in reeducation camps, Abdüsükür says. There are no official records documenting how many have been detained, though some estimates put the figure at several hundred thousand.
Read more at: Uighur exiles living in fear in Turkey | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 28.02.2021
Myanmar coup: Deadliest day of protests as police open fire
Police have fired on protesters in Myanmar killing at least 18, the UN human rights office says, on the deadliest day of anti-coup rallies.
Deaths were reported in several cities including Yangon, Dawei and Mandalay as police used live rounds and tear gas.
Read more at: Myanmar coup: Deadliest day of protests as police open fire - BBC News
Deaths were reported in several cities including Yangon, Dawei and Mandalay as police used live rounds and tear gas.
Read more at: Myanmar coup: Deadliest day of protests as police open fire - BBC News
Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic – by Sharan Burrow
Scientists are performing magnificently in developing vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus with unprecedented speed, but BigPharma is calling the shots and governments are being left to squabble over what are, to begin with, inadequate supplies. Vaccine nationalism is rearing its ugly head, with devastating consequences for poorer countries and eventually for the whole world.
The moral and humanitarian case for fair access to vaccination is obvious and so is the public-health case: where vaccines are scarce, there will be more cases, each one an opportunity for the virus to continue to mutate, as all RNA viruses do. This means new variants could emerge which are different enough from the original virus that existing vaccines won’t work against it them. If those circulate widely, people who have been vaccinated will once again be susceptible to severe illness and death.
Read more at: Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic – Sharan Burrow
The moral and humanitarian case for fair access to vaccination is obvious and so is the public-health case: where vaccines are scarce, there will be more cases, each one an opportunity for the virus to continue to mutate, as all RNA viruses do. This means new variants could emerge which are different enough from the original virus that existing vaccines won’t work against it them. If those circulate widely, people who have been vaccinated will once again be susceptible to severe illness and death.
Read more at: Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic – Sharan Burrow
2/27/21
Russia's Growth Too Slow to Catch Advanced Economies – says IMF
Rushas weathered the coronavirus pandemic better than other countries but its economic growth isia s too slow to catch up with advanced economies, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.
"Russia entered the Covid-19 crisis with low growth but strong policy frameworks and significant buffers," an IMF report said.
But it added that several factors, including low oil prices and sanctions, led to "lackluster growth" that was "insufficient" to match advanced economies. br>
Since 2014, Russia's tax policy "resulted in low public debt and reserve accumulation," the IMF said, adding that the central bank "brought inflation down and contributed to significant de-dollarization" that made the economy more resistant.
Read more at: Russia's Growth Too Slow to Catch Advanced Economies – IMF - The Moscow Times
"Russia entered the Covid-19 crisis with low growth but strong policy frameworks and significant buffers," an IMF report said.
But it added that several factors, including low oil prices and sanctions, led to "lackluster growth" that was "insufficient" to match advanced economies. br>
Since 2014, Russia's tax policy "resulted in low public debt and reserve accumulation," the IMF said, adding that the central bank "brought inflation down and contributed to significant de-dollarization" that made the economy more resistant.
Read more at: Russia's Growth Too Slow to Catch Advanced Economies – IMF - The Moscow Times
Saudi-Arabia - Human Rights: Wife of Jamal Khashoggi speaks to DW
Egyptian woman Hanan El Atr has come forward claiming to be the wife of murdered Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, after the CIA released a report claiming that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman personally ordered Khashoggi's death in October 2018. Riyadh has rejected the claims.
El Atr told DW's Oliver Sallet that she was "devastated" about the revelations in the report, saying her husband was not dangerous enough that he needed to be trapped and murdered. "I'm sure if they know the truth about Jamal, and I'm allowed to say his message and his truth, they will really regret what they did to my husband," she added.
El Atr also thanked US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for holding the Saudi crown prince accountable for Khashoggi's death. "They kept their word for human rights, they emphasize, and they've been transparent and help the truth to come out, which has encouraged me now, because I'm free to talk now, because I didn't have this freedom for two years," she said.
Read more at: Wife of Jamal Khashoggi speaks to DW | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 27.02.2021
El Atr told DW's Oliver Sallet that she was "devastated" about the revelations in the report, saying her husband was not dangerous enough that he needed to be trapped and murdered. "I'm sure if they know the truth about Jamal, and I'm allowed to say his message and his truth, they will really regret what they did to my husband," she added.
El Atr also thanked US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for holding the Saudi crown prince accountable for Khashoggi's death. "They kept their word for human rights, they emphasize, and they've been transparent and help the truth to come out, which has encouraged me now, because I'm free to talk now, because I didn't have this freedom for two years," she said.
Read more at: Wife of Jamal Khashoggi speaks to DW | World| Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 27.02.2021
Coronavirus and warmer weather: Why we need to rethink COVID-19 risk as the weather warms up
It's been almost a year of "Stay home. Do nothing. Save lives." And people are tired.
Pandemic fatigue has turned to pandemic restlessness as the weather shows signs of improving and vaccines gradually roll out across the country.
Hope is on the horizon, but if last spring is any predictor of what lies ahead we can expect to see Canadians flocking outdoors in search of safe ways to gather as temperatures rise.
Read more at: Why we need to rethink COVID-19 risk as the weather warms up | CBC News
Pandemic fatigue has turned to pandemic restlessness as the weather shows signs of improving and vaccines gradually roll out across the country.
Hope is on the horizon, but if last spring is any predictor of what lies ahead we can expect to see Canadians flocking outdoors in search of safe ways to gather as temperatures rise.
Read more at: Why we need to rethink COVID-19 risk as the weather warms up | CBC News
'EU - Coronavirus: Difficult weeks' ahead, as variants spread across EU
EU leaders discussed how to accelerate the production and rollout of vaccines on Thursday (25 February), amid fears over more transmissible mutations triggering a new surge in cases across the bloc.
"We know that the next few weeks will continue to be difficult as far as vaccinations are concerned," said the European Council president, Charles Michel, after the video-summit.
Read more at: 'Difficult weeks' ahead, as variants spread across EU
"We know that the next few weeks will continue to be difficult as far as vaccinations are concerned," said the European Council president, Charles Michel, after the video-summit.
Read more at: 'Difficult weeks' ahead, as variants spread across EU
USA - Biden Administration: House approves Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan
The US House of Representatives has approved in a late-night vote President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill, as Democrats who control the chamber steered the sweeping measure towards approval.
The bill cleared the House on a party-line vote of 219 to 212 early on Saturday.
Read more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/27/us-house-approves-bidens-1-9-trillion-covid-19-relief-plan
The bill cleared the House on a party-line vote of 219 to 212 early on Saturday.
Read more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/27/us-house-approves-bidens-1-9-trillion-covid-19-relief-plan
2/26/21
The Netherlands: More than 100 North and South American Companies go Dutch in 2020
In 2020, 305 foreign companies chose to establish or expand operations in the Netherlands, according to the annual results of Invest in Holland and the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) released today. These companies from around the globe expect to create more than 8,600 direct jobs in the first three years and invest 1.9 billion euros in their projects. Although the coronavirus is causing the Netherlands to attract fewer foreign companies, there is a constant flow of new companies as a result of Brexit.
U.S. and Canadian companies like Beyond Meat, Crocs, MSD, Inshur and McCain Foods tallied 100 direct investment projects in the Netherlands in 2020, accounting for nearly one-third of the foreign investment projects that NFIA and its partners were directly involved in worldwide.
Companies from North and South America are expected to invest close to 1.1 billion euros and generate 3,971 new jobs in the Netherlands by 2023. Expansion and relocation projects involved marketing and sales offices, distribution centers, European headquarters, manufacturing facilities and R&D in a range of industries from information technology and agrifood to life sciences & health.
Read more at: More than 100 North and South American Companies go Dutch in 2020
U.S. and Canadian companies like Beyond Meat, Crocs, MSD, Inshur and McCain Foods tallied 100 direct investment projects in the Netherlands in 2020, accounting for nearly one-third of the foreign investment projects that NFIA and its partners were directly involved in worldwide.
Companies from North and South America are expected to invest close to 1.1 billion euros and generate 3,971 new jobs in the Netherlands by 2023. Expansion and relocation projects involved marketing and sales offices, distribution centers, European headquarters, manufacturing facilities and R&D in a range of industries from information technology and agrifood to life sciences & health.
Read more at: More than 100 North and South American Companies go Dutch in 2020
USA: CPAC Preview: Trump, Election Claims At Conservative Confab - "as even moderate Republicans join to glorify a charlatan"- by Domenico Montanaro
When the annual Conservative Political Action Conference — CPAC for short — kicks off Thursday in Orlando, Fla., it might as well be called TPAC.
That's because this year, it is all about Trump.
The former president will headline the event with a Sunday afternoon keynote address, his first speech since leaving office last month.
It comes as the Republican Party is struggling with its identity after Donald Trump's presidency. And yet CPAC, the largest gathering of conservative activists in the U.S., will still very much be a pro-Trump event.
Read more at: CPAC Preview: Trump, Election Claims At Conservative Confab : NPR
That's because this year, it is all about Trump.
The former president will headline the event with a Sunday afternoon keynote address, his first speech since leaving office last month.
It comes as the Republican Party is struggling with its identity after Donald Trump's presidency. And yet CPAC, the largest gathering of conservative activists in the U.S., will still very much be a pro-Trump event.
Read more at: CPAC Preview: Trump, Election Claims At Conservative Confab : NPR
EU credibility as a people’s union rests on the social pillar – by Liina Carr
Next week, the European Commission is set to unveil its Action Plan for putting the European Pillar of Social Rights into practice. The European Trade Union Confederation is pressing hard for an ambitious plan, which provides the means to achieve and monitor tangible social progress.
Read more at: EU credibility as a people’s union rests on the social pillar – Liina Carr
Read more at: EU credibility as a people’s union rests on the social pillar – Liina Carr
UN: - the Environment: ′Red Alert′ for National Climate Goals
"Today's interim report from the UNFCCC is a red alert for our planet," said UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
The report, released Friday, looks at the national climate efforts of 75 states that have already submitted their updated "nationally determined contributions," or NDCs. The countries included in the report are responsible for about 30% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions.
While most have increased their individual climate efforts, only two of the worst emitters, including the UK and the EU, have stepped up their goals considerably. And the member states' plans to tackle the climate crisis "are very far from putting us on a pathway that will meet our Paris Agreement goals," said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.
Read more at UN: ′Red Alert′ for National Climate Goals | Environment| All topics from climate change to conservation | DW | 26.02.2021
The report, released Friday, looks at the national climate efforts of 75 states that have already submitted their updated "nationally determined contributions," or NDCs. The countries included in the report are responsible for about 30% of the world's global greenhouse gas emissions.
While most have increased their individual climate efforts, only two of the worst emitters, including the UK and the EU, have stepped up their goals considerably. And the member states' plans to tackle the climate crisis "are very far from putting us on a pathway that will meet our Paris Agreement goals," said Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change.
Read more at UN: ′Red Alert′ for National Climate Goals | Environment| All topics from climate change to conservation | DW | 26.02.2021
Canada-China relations: MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide
The House of Commons today accused the Chinese government of carrying out a campaign of genocide against Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims.
A substantial majority of MPs — including most Liberals who participated — voted in favour of a Conservative motion that says China's actions in its western Xinjiang region meet the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.
The final tally was 266 in favour and zero opposed. Two MPs formally abstained.
Read more at: MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide | CBC News
A substantial majority of MPs — including most Liberals who participated — voted in favour of a Conservative motion that says China's actions in its western Xinjiang region meet the definition of genocide set out in the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.
The final tally was 266 in favour and zero opposed. Two MPs formally abstained.
Read more at: MPs vote to label China's persecution of Uighurs a genocide | CBC News
2/25/21
The Netherlands- one year anniversary of Corona virus: Lockdowns, masks and vaccines: a year of coronavirus in the Netherlands
On Saturday, February 27, it will be a year since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the Netherlands. Here is a timeline of how the disease spread through the country and the government’s response. Click on the link below to see complete time-line.
Read more at: Lockdowns, masks and vaccines: a year of coronavirus in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
Read more at: Lockdowns, masks and vaccines: a year of coronavirus in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
Coronavirus Vaccine Passport: Vaccine passports for travelling: the road to freedom or an attack on freedom of movement?
Vaccine passports, which aren't really passports at all but rather a certificate of vaccination, could allow those who get the jab a taste of 'normality.' They could be used to gain entry to restaurants, bars, festivals, and aeroplanes. But many argue they have downsides.
The 'passports' could create two classes of citizens: the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated. This seems especially unfair in the many countries where it is still so difficult to access vaccines, with some developing countries predicted to not receive any doses until 2024.
Read more: Vaccine passports for travelling: the road to freedom or an attack on freedom of movement? | Euronews
The 'passports' could create two classes of citizens: the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated. This seems especially unfair in the many countries where it is still so difficult to access vaccines, with some developing countries predicted to not receive any doses until 2024.
Read more: Vaccine passports for travelling: the road to freedom or an attack on freedom of movement? | Euronews
USA: - Poll : Most Voters Say Biden’s Cabinet Nominees Deserve Up-or-Down Senate Vote
The nomination of Neera Tanden to be President Joe Biden’s director of the Office of Management and Budget appears to be in trouble, but most voters still believe the president’s nominees for office deserve an up or down vote on the Senate floor.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters say every person the president nominates to serve as a judge or in a government position should receive an up or down vote on the floor of the Senate. Only 21% disagree, while another 21% say they’re not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Read more at: Most Voters Say Biden’s Cabinet Nominees Deserve Up-or-Down Senate Vote - Rasmussen Reports®
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters say every person the president nominates to serve as a judge or in a government position should receive an up or down vote on the floor of the Senate. Only 21% disagree, while another 21% say they’re not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Read more at: Most Voters Say Biden’s Cabinet Nominees Deserve Up-or-Down Senate Vote - Rasmussen Reports®
Italy: With Draghi, Italy has a chance to set aside Conte’s economic misadventures - by Jean Jacques Handali
While Conte may have been independent of his populist backers on paper, his economic policies nonetheless reflected the dirigism of the Five Stars who brought him to power. Conte took advantage of his "golden powers" to launch heavy-handed state interventions in the economy. These include a push to have Milan-based Unicredit buy the state’s share of Monte dei Paschi di Siena; the re-nationalization of failing national carrier Alitalia; the hostile takeover of toll road operator Autostrade per l’Italia; and the state’s insistence that broadband operators Telecom Italia (TIM) and Open Fiber merge into one company.
Thanks to Matteo Renzi, Conte is now leaving each of these dossiers half-finished. As Italy looks to Draghi, one of its most renowned financial minds, to lead the country out of dual financial and public health crises, one of the new premier’s first decisions will be whether to continue Conte’s statist economic policies. In both Rome and Brussels, many hope – and expect – the answer will be a simple "no".
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/20/with-draghi-italy-has-a-chance-to-set-aside-conte-s-economic-misadventures-view
Thanks to Matteo Renzi, Conte is now leaving each of these dossiers half-finished. As Italy looks to Draghi, one of its most renowned financial minds, to lead the country out of dual financial and public health crises, one of the new premier’s first decisions will be whether to continue Conte’s statist economic policies. In both Rome and Brussels, many hope – and expect – the answer will be a simple "no".
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/20/with-draghi-italy-has-a-chance-to-set-aside-conte-s-economic-misadventures-view
Saudi Arabia - Human Rights Abuses: Saudi heir complicit in Khashoggi murder, US assessment reportedly finds
Joe Biden is expected to call Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, as his administration prepares to release a declassified intelligence assessment that will reportedly name the royal’s son and heir as complicit in the grisly murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Biden’s call to the 85-year-old ruler would take place “soon” and that the declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder was being readied for release. Biden, who said he has read the report, is insisting that he speak only to the king.
Read more at: Saudi heir complicit in Khashoggi murder, US assessment reportedly finds | Jamal Khashoggi | The Guardian
The White House confirmed on Wednesday that Biden’s call to the 85-year-old ruler would take place “soon” and that the declassified report on Khashoggi’s murder was being readied for release. Biden, who said he has read the report, is insisting that he speak only to the king.
Read more at: Saudi heir complicit in Khashoggi murder, US assessment reportedly finds | Jamal Khashoggi | The Guardian
2/24/21
USA Economy: Are we in a bubble? How founder of world’s largest hedge fund says 2021 stock market stacks up - by Mark DeCambre
The stock market is feeling awfully frothy to some investors lately, a fact that has helped to weigh on the market’s bullish sentiment in the past week or so, but a report by Ray Dalio implies that equities aren’t as bubblicious as one might think.
“In brief, the aggregate bubble gauge is around the 77th percentile today for the US stock market overall. In the bubble of 2000 and the bubble of 1929 this aggregate gauge had a 100th percentile read,” wrote Dalio in a blog post published on Monday on LinkedIn.
Read more at: Are we in a bubble? How founder of world’s largest hedge fund says 2021 stock market stacks up - MarketWatch
“In brief, the aggregate bubble gauge is around the 77th percentile today for the US stock market overall. In the bubble of 2000 and the bubble of 1929 this aggregate gauge had a 100th percentile read,” wrote Dalio in a blog post published on Monday on LinkedIn.
Read more at: Are we in a bubble? How founder of world’s largest hedge fund says 2021 stock market stacks up - MarketWatch
USA: Evangelical leaders condemn role of Christian nationalism in Capitol attack - by Ed Pilkington
In an open letter released on Wednesday, the evangelical leaders say they are speaking out now because they do not want to be “quiet accomplices in this ongoing sin”.
They call on all church people to clarify that Christianity is incompatible with “calls to violence, support of white Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and all religious and racial prejudice”.
The letter, first reported by NPR, notes that the evangelical community in the US has long been susceptible to the “heresy” of Christian nationalism – the belief that the country is fundamentally Christian and run by and for white conservative Americans. The signatories blame that tendency on church leaders accommodating white supremacy over many years.
Read more at: Evangelical leaders condemn role of Christian nationalism in Capitol attack | Christianity | The Guardian
They call on all church people to clarify that Christianity is incompatible with “calls to violence, support of white Christian nationalism, conspiracy theories, and all religious and racial prejudice”.
The letter, first reported by NPR, notes that the evangelical community in the US has long been susceptible to the “heresy” of Christian nationalism – the belief that the country is fundamentally Christian and run by and for white conservative Americans. The signatories blame that tendency on church leaders accommodating white supremacy over many years.
Read more at: Evangelical leaders condemn role of Christian nationalism in Capitol attack | Christianity | The Guardian
Middle-East Syria war: Russian jets 'bomb IS positions in desert region'
Russian warplanes have carried out dozens of air strikes on the Islamic State (IS) group's positions in the Syrian Desert, activists say. IS militants have carried out a string of deadly ambushes and hit-and-run attacks in the region recently.
The latest, on Wednesday, reportedly killed nine soldiers and militiamen.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria via a network of sources, said three others had died on Tuesday when a landmine planted by IS exploded in the desert near al-Mayadeen, in south-eastern Deir al-Zour province.
Read more at: Syria war: Russian jets 'bomb IS positions in desert region' - BBC News
The latest, on Wednesday, reportedly killed nine soldiers and militiamen.
The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war in Syria via a network of sources, said three others had died on Tuesday when a landmine planted by IS exploded in the desert near al-Mayadeen, in south-eastern Deir al-Zour province.
Read more at: Syria war: Russian jets 'bomb IS positions in desert region' - BBC News
Venezuela kicks out EU envoy to protest sanctions
The South American country, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said on Wednesday.
The decision came after EU foreign ministers imposed sanctions on 19 leading Venezuelan officials over human rights violations and "undermining democracy."
"By instructions of the President Nicolas Maduro, the ambassador of the European Union in our country, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, is declared as 'persona no grata,' she has 72 hours to leave Venezuela," the foreign ministry said on Twitter.
Read more at Venezuela kicks out EU envoy to protest sanctions | News | DW | 24.02.2021
The decision came after EU foreign ministers imposed sanctions on 19 leading Venezuelan officials over human rights violations and "undermining democracy."
"By instructions of the President Nicolas Maduro, the ambassador of the European Union in our country, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, is declared as 'persona no grata,' she has 72 hours to leave Venezuela," the foreign ministry said on Twitter.
Read more at Venezuela kicks out EU envoy to protest sanctions | News | DW | 24.02.2021
2/23/21
Canada-US Relations: Trudeau says it's good to have a partner on climate change again as meeting with Biden begins
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau opened his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden today by saying it's good to be working again with an administration that is serious about fighting climate change.
"Thank you again for stepping up in such a big way on tackling climate change," Trudeau said today before going into the virtual meeting.
"U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years, and I have to say, as we're preparing the joint rollout and communique from this one, it's nice the Americans are not pulling out all references to climate change and instead adding them in. So we're really excited to be working with you on that."
Trudeau said he has been looking forward to sitting down with Biden to discuss renewing the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and getting both countries through the pandemic.
Read more at: Trudeau says it's good to have a partner on climate change again as meeting with Biden begins | CBC News
"Thank you again for stepping up in such a big way on tackling climate change," Trudeau said today before going into the virtual meeting.
"U.S. leadership has been sorely missed over the past years, and I have to say, as we're preparing the joint rollout and communique from this one, it's nice the Americans are not pulling out all references to climate change and instead adding them in. So we're really excited to be working with you on that."
Trudeau said he has been looking forward to sitting down with Biden to discuss renewing the Canada-U.S. diplomatic relationship and getting both countries through the pandemic.
Read more at: Trudeau says it's good to have a partner on climate change again as meeting with Biden begins | CBC News
The Netherlands extends curfew, relaxes other coronavirus measures – by Eline Schaart
The Netherlands is extending its nighttime curfew for another three weeks in an attempt to further reduce the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, but will also relax other measures, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced Tuesday.
High school and secondary vocational school students will be allowed back in the classroom on a part-time basis as of March 1. Two days later, most professions involving close contact — such as hair stylists, beauticians and some massage providers — will also be allowed to return to work.
Read more at: The Netherlands extends curfew, relaxes other coronavirus measures – POLITICO
High school and secondary vocational school students will be allowed back in the classroom on a part-time basis as of March 1. Two days later, most professions involving close contact — such as hair stylists, beauticians and some massage providers — will also be allowed to return to work.
Read more at: The Netherlands extends curfew, relaxes other coronavirus measures – POLITICO
USA: - Republican Poll: Finds 57% of Voters Support COVID-19 Relief Bill, Despite Spending Concerns
Most voters support passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package despite concerns that Congress has filled the bill with expensive items that have nothing to do with coronavirus.
Read more at: 57% of Voters Support COVID-19 Relief Bill, Despite Spending Concerns - Rasmussen Reports®
Read more at: 57% of Voters Support COVID-19 Relief Bill, Despite Spending Concerns - Rasmussen Reports®
2/22/21
USA - in memoriam 500.000 Coronavirus death: 'We must resist becoming numb': Biden marks 500,000 Covid deaths with national address
Joe Biden was just 29 years old when he suddenly lost his first wife, Neilia, and their young daughter, Naomi, in a car crash in 1972.
In 2015, another of Biden’s children, his 46 year old son Beau, who had been following in his father’s political footsteps, died of brain cancer.
Throughout his political career, Biden has spoken openly about those losses. Today, as president, he did so again, faced with a national tragedy whose scale is hard to fathom: 500,000 people dead from coronavirus in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Read more at: 'We must resist becoming numb': Biden marks 500,000 Covid deaths with national address – live | US news | The Guardian
In 2015, another of Biden’s children, his 46 year old son Beau, who had been following in his father’s political footsteps, died of brain cancer.
Throughout his political career, Biden has spoken openly about those losses. Today, as president, he did so again, faced with a national tragedy whose scale is hard to fathom: 500,000 people dead from coronavirus in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
Read more at: 'We must resist becoming numb': Biden marks 500,000 Covid deaths with national address – live | US news | The Guardian
The 63 French Riviera towns and suburbs subject to new weekend lockdown
A total of 63 towns and suburbs along the French Riviera, including Nice and Cannes will be subject to a new weekend lockdown.
Read more at: The Local
Read more at: The Local
Boeing 777: UK temporarily bans Boeing 777 planes with engine that blew apart in US
The United Kingdom will temporarily ban Boeing 777 planes with the same engine that blew apart in the US over the weekend, transport secretary Grant Shapps said.
The engine, designed by Pratt and Whitney, failed shortly after United Airlines flight 328 took off from Denver, Colorado, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing on Sunday.
Read more at: UK temporarily bans Boeing 777 planes with engine that blew apart in US | Euronews
The engine, designed by Pratt and Whitney, failed shortly after United Airlines flight 328 took off from Denver, Colorado, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing on Sunday.
Read more at: UK temporarily bans Boeing 777 planes with engine that blew apart in US | Euronews
2/21/21
The Netherlands: 747 engine turbine blades spear cars in the Netherlands
A Longtail Aviation Boeing 747-400 freighter, operating Flt LGT-5504 from Maastricht in the Netherlands to New York has suffered an engine explosion, and turbine blades from the damaged engine showered down on cars in the village of Meerssen.
According to the Aviation Herald, an elderly lady was “hit by the debris and received minor injuries.”
The pilots declared an emergency and entered a hold to dump fuel and diverted to Liege (Belgium) for a safe landing about one hour after departure. A number of cars on the ground received damage as a result of debris falling. Aviation Herald says a resident in Meerssen reported he “heard a loud bang, spotted the aircraft with streaks of flames from one of the right-hand engines, then metal rained from the sky.”
Read more at: 747 engine turbine blades spear cars in the Netherlands - Airline Ratings
According to the Aviation Herald, an elderly lady was “hit by the debris and received minor injuries.”
The pilots declared an emergency and entered a hold to dump fuel and diverted to Liege (Belgium) for a safe landing about one hour after departure. A number of cars on the ground received damage as a result of debris falling. Aviation Herald says a resident in Meerssen reported he “heard a loud bang, spotted the aircraft with streaks of flames from one of the right-hand engines, then metal rained from the sky.”
Read more at: 747 engine turbine blades spear cars in the Netherlands - Airline Ratings
North Korea-US Relationship: US should drop denuclearization to make progress with North Korea
Observers should not mistake the absence of direct engagement between Washington and Pyongyang for disinterest in the fate of US-North Korea relations, State Department representative Ned Price said in a recent press briefing.
Price stressed that the administration's "strategic goals" with the Kim Jong Un regime will be "focus[ed] on reducing the threat to the United States and to our allies as well as to improving the lives of the North and South Korean people. And, again, the central premise is that we remain committed to denuclearization of North Korea."
Read more at: US should drop denuclearization to make progress with North Korea
Price stressed that the administration's "strategic goals" with the Kim Jong Un regime will be "focus[ed] on reducing the threat to the United States and to our allies as well as to improving the lives of the North and South Korean people. And, again, the central premise is that we remain committed to denuclearization of North Korea."
Read more at: US should drop denuclearization to make progress with North Korea
Decarbonising Food – Making the case for Green Fertilizers
The fertilizer industry has identified the most promising technologies for making green fertilizers. The challenge is to make the business case for decarbonised products. This can be achieved by driving down the cost and addressing technical challenges on the supply side at the same time creating a market for premium food products with a low-carbon footprint.
Today, 50% of global food production is possible thanks to mineral fertilizers. But its production is energy-intensive, with the production of ammonia being responsible for about 5% of the world gas consumption. To decarbonise this process, the fossil fuels used to produce ammonia (a key component of mineral fertilizers) must be replaced by renewable energy. The so-called green ammonia could help decarbonise food production through low-carbon fertilizer.
Read more at: Decarbonising Food – Making the case for Green Fertilizers – EURACTIV.com
Today, 50% of global food production is possible thanks to mineral fertilizers. But its production is energy-intensive, with the production of ammonia being responsible for about 5% of the world gas consumption. To decarbonise this process, the fossil fuels used to produce ammonia (a key component of mineral fertilizers) must be replaced by renewable energy. The so-called green ammonia could help decarbonise food production through low-carbon fertilizer.
Read more at: Decarbonising Food – Making the case for Green Fertilizers – EURACTIV.com
USA: Three possible futures for the Biden presidency - by Mathew Burrows, Robert A. Manning
While it might seem like an academic exercise, imagining future scenarios is actually crucial to developing strategy. It offers foresight into how one’s plans might succeed or fail. And given the state of the world now arrayed before the new US president, Joe Biden has a whole lot of strategizing to do.
Biden’s successes or failures will be determined by how the paradoxes of his presidency play out. The president is pursuing an extraordinarily ambitious social, economic, and foreign-policy agenda amid an exceptionally dire pandemic and recession—and with a razor-thin congressional majority, no less. He hopes to restore comity and bipartisan compromise to Congress, but his legislative skills will be tested by an obstinate Republican Party and worsening political tribalism.
American presidents have more room for maneuver in international affairs, and many US allies are cheering for a stronger and more engaged United States. But Biden will have to dispel the distrust and perceptions of US unreliability that former President Donald Trump sowed in many foreign capitals—while navigating a more fragmented international system. These challenges will hamper Biden’s efforts to enhance global cooperation on mitigating the pandemic, confronting the ever more dangerous threat of climate change, keeping a fragile, debt-laden global economy from producing another global financial crisis, and managing intensifying strategic competition with China.
Read more at: Three possible futures for the Biden presidency - Atlantic Council
Biden’s successes or failures will be determined by how the paradoxes of his presidency play out. The president is pursuing an extraordinarily ambitious social, economic, and foreign-policy agenda amid an exceptionally dire pandemic and recession—and with a razor-thin congressional majority, no less. He hopes to restore comity and bipartisan compromise to Congress, but his legislative skills will be tested by an obstinate Republican Party and worsening political tribalism.
American presidents have more room for maneuver in international affairs, and many US allies are cheering for a stronger and more engaged United States. But Biden will have to dispel the distrust and perceptions of US unreliability that former President Donald Trump sowed in many foreign capitals—while navigating a more fragmented international system. These challenges will hamper Biden’s efforts to enhance global cooperation on mitigating the pandemic, confronting the ever more dangerous threat of climate change, keeping a fragile, debt-laden global economy from producing another global financial crisis, and managing intensifying strategic competition with China.
Read more at: Three possible futures for the Biden presidency - Atlantic Council
Germany - Israel Relations: How Jewish life developed in Germany after the Holocaust
With more than 200,000 people and counting, Germany's Jewish community is the only one in Europe with a rapidly increasing population — a surprising reality given the near-complete extermination of Jews within Germany during the Holocaust.
Today's growing numbers are even more remarkable given that in 1945 most of the world's Jews considered the idea of rebuilding their ruined communities — on the very soil where Hitler plotted and carried out a genocide — to be unthinkable.
Read more at: How Jewish life developed in Germany after the Holocaust | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 21.02.2021
Today's growing numbers are even more remarkable given that in 1945 most of the world's Jews considered the idea of rebuilding their ruined communities — on the very soil where Hitler plotted and carried out a genocide — to be unthinkable.
Read more at: How Jewish life developed in Germany after the Holocaust | Germany| News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 21.02.2021
2/20/21
Noble Peace Prize: Campaign Against the Arms Trade nominated for the Noble Peace Prize
CAMPAIGN Against the Arms Trade has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for its ongoing work to stop Britain’s complicity in the bombing of Yemen.
The anti-arms group received the joint nomination along with its partner Mwatana for Human Rights, a grassroots organisation in Yemen, from Nobel Laureate the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW).
The nomination is intended to draw attention to the suffering of the Yemeni people and CAAT’s latest judicial review against Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Read more at: Campaign Against the Arms Trade nominated for the Noble Peace Prize | Morning Star
The anti-arms group received the joint nomination along with its partner Mwatana for Human Rights, a grassroots organisation in Yemen, from Nobel Laureate the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) and Quaker Peace & Social Witness (QPSW).
The nomination is intended to draw attention to the suffering of the Yemeni people and CAAT’s latest judicial review against Britain’s arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
Read more at: Campaign Against the Arms Trade nominated for the Noble Peace Prize | Morning Star
Bird Flu: Russia reports world's 1st case of H5N8 bird flu virus in humans
Russia has registered the first case of a strain of bird flu virus named A(H5N8) being passed to humans from birds and has reported the matter to the World Health Organization (WHO), Anna Popova, head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, said on Saturday.
Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months, but so far only in poultry. Other strains — H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 — have been known to spread to humans.
Read more at: Russia reports world's 1st case of H5N8 bird flu virus in humans | CBC News
Outbreaks of the H5N8 strain have been reported in Russia, Europe, China, the Middle East and North Africa in recent months, but so far only in poultry. Other strains — H5N1, H7N9 and H9N2 — have been known to spread to humans.
Read more at: Russia reports world's 1st case of H5N8 bird flu virus in humans | CBC News
Multilaterism: Advancing multilateralism in a populist age - by Thomas Wright
his paper looks at how multilateralists in the United States and Europe are thinking about strengthening a cooperative international order at a time when populism and nationalism are strong forces in many of the major powers. The paper distinguishes between three pathways that multilateralism might take, particularly in Europe: the hitherto dominant incrementalist approach which involves trying to gradually integrate China and other non-Western powers into the order; an “alone in the jungle” approach whereby Europe would operate as a third pole between the United States and China; and a “reinvigorating the free world” approach, with Europe working with the United States to strengthen free and open democracies against authoritarian challenges.
Read more at: Advancing multilateralism in a populist age
Read more at: Advancing multilateralism in a populist age
Inventions: New wearable device turns the body into a battery
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a new, low-cost wearable device that transforms the human body into a biological battery.
The device, described today in the journal Science Advances, is stretchy enough that you can wear it like a ring, a bracelet or any other accessory that touches your skin. It also taps into a person's natural heat -- employing thermoelectric generators to convert the body's internal temperature into electricity.
"In the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery," said Jianliang Xiao, senior author of the new paper and an associate professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder.
The concept may sound like something out of The Matrix film series, in which a race of robots have enslaved humans to harvest their precious organic energy. Xiao and his colleagues aren't that ambitious: Their devices can generate about 1 volt of energy for every square centimeter of skin space -- less voltage per area than what most existing batteries provide but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers.
Read more at: New wearable device turns the body into a battery -- ScienceDaily
The device, described today in the journal Science Advances, is stretchy enough that you can wear it like a ring, a bracelet or any other accessory that touches your skin. It also taps into a person's natural heat -- employing thermoelectric generators to convert the body's internal temperature into electricity.
"In the future, we want to be able to power your wearable electronics without having to include a battery," said Jianliang Xiao, senior author of the new paper and an associate professor in the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering at CU Boulder.
The concept may sound like something out of The Matrix film series, in which a race of robots have enslaved humans to harvest their precious organic energy. Xiao and his colleagues aren't that ambitious: Their devices can generate about 1 volt of energy for every square centimeter of skin space -- less voltage per area than what most existing batteries provide but still enough to power electronics like watches or fitness trackers.
Read more at: New wearable device turns the body into a battery -- ScienceDaily
Russia-EU relations: Countering Putin's strategy of disorder - by Isabelle Mandraud and Julien Théron
Many European officials advocate for "dialogue" with Putin's Russia. But what sort of dialogue? To achieve which objectives? And at what price?
The recent trip in Moscow of Josep Borell, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, turned to an affront for the Europeans.
As he was talking with Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, Moscow announced the expulsion of three European diplomats, for the sole reason that they had observed pro-Navalny demonstrations.
This additional move is actually typical from Putinism, and should not surprise anybody.
Read more at: Countering Putin's strategy of disorder
The recent trip in Moscow of Josep Borell, high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, turned to an affront for the Europeans.
As he was talking with Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, Moscow announced the expulsion of three European diplomats, for the sole reason that they had observed pro-Navalny demonstrations.
This additional move is actually typical from Putinism, and should not surprise anybody.
Read more at: Countering Putin's strategy of disorder
2/19/21
EU legal threat to Hungary over failure to obey ECJ
The EU Commission on Thursday (18 February) launched legal action over Hungary's failure to implement a judgement from the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which ruled that legislation on restricting foreign-funding of NGOs was against EU rules.
The EU executive said that Hungary "has not taken the necessary measures to comply with the judgment, despite repeated calls from the commission to do so as a matter of urgency".
Read more at: EU legal threat to Hungary over failure to obey ECJ
The EU executive said that Hungary "has not taken the necessary measures to comply with the judgment, despite repeated calls from the commission to do so as a matter of urgency".
Read more at: EU legal threat to Hungary over failure to obey ECJ
EU aircraft Industry: Airbus reports €1.1 billion in losses due to COVID-19 pandemic
Airbus lost €1.1 billion in revenues due a slump in global travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the company said its 2020 full-year results.
CEO Guillaume Faury said on Thursday that the company's aircraft deliveries were "far lower" than what they had expected this year due the the pandemic, which caused amid travel restrictions.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/18/airbus-reports-1-1-billion-in-losses-due-to-covid-19-pandemic#
CEO Guillaume Faury said on Thursday that the company's aircraft deliveries were "far lower" than what they had expected this year due the the pandemic, which caused amid travel restrictions.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/02/18/airbus-reports-1-1-billion-in-losses-due-to-covid-19-pandemic#
China-EU Trade Relations: China overtakes U.S. as Europe's main trade partner - by Silvia Amaro
The latest figures, released by Eurostat, showed that China now has an even bigger role in how European economies perform.
The Chinese economy is performing slightly closer to pre-Covid levels in comparison with other parts of the world, where restrictions are still taking a toll on activity.
The European Union seems willing to strengthen economic ties with China.
Read more at: China overtakes U.S. as Europe's main trade partner
The European Union seems willing to strengthen economic ties with China.
Read more at: China overtakes U.S. as Europe's main trade partner
USA: Will Biden restore worker and union power? – by Steven Hill
During his campaign for the presidency of the United States, Joe Biden told union leaders he was ‘a union guy’ and pledged to be the ‘strongest labor president’ ever. But in the aftermath of the right-wing mob attack on the Capitol, in the middle of a pandemic which has killed close to 500,000 Americans and collapsed the economy, and with the grip big business has on the Democratic Party, can Biden deliver? Or is the US headed into prolonged political instability, reeling from a populism which has made inroads into the working class and union members?
Resd more at: Will Biden restore worker and union power? – Steven Hill
Resd more at: Will Biden restore worker and union power? – Steven Hill
USA: NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars
It's a big day for space exploration, as NASA successfully landed the Perseverance rover on Mars Thursday afternoon just before 4 p.m. ET.
Some of the first images from the rover are already being sent back to Earth.
It's a monumental landing as many rovers since 1960 have failed to successfully land on the Red Planet.
Read more at: NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars | CBC News
Some of the first images from the rover are already being sent back to Earth.
It's a monumental landing as many rovers since 1960 have failed to successfully land on the Red Planet.
Read more at: NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars | CBC News
2/18/21
EU: New energy storage facilities in high demand in Germany
In Germany, 42% of total electricity generation comes from renewable sources. Nuclear energy accounts for a little over 12% of the mix, with 28% of the total coming from coal-fired plants.
As the country's energy transition takes its course, coal-fired stations are to be closed down by 2038 at the latest. These are the very power plants that have so far reliably balanced all power grid fluctuations.
Read more at: New energy storage facilities in high demand in Germany | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 18.02.2021
As the country's energy transition takes its course, coal-fired stations are to be closed down by 2038 at the latest. These are the very power plants that have so far reliably balanced all power grid fluctuations.
Read more at: New energy storage facilities in high demand in Germany | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 18.02.2021
2/17/21
USA: Why such an imperfect union? – by Sheri Berman
The 2020 election was the most traumatic and dangerous in modern American history. Its legitimacy was indefensibly questioned by Republican elites and voters, helping to motivate an insurrection designed to block its outcome.
What explains the diametrically opposed narratives of the 2020 election advanced by Republicans and Democrats and the broader democratic dysfunction of which this is a manifestation? One common explanation focuses on ‘hyper-partisanship’ and polarisation.
In the decades following World War II in the United States, party identification and voter loyalty were relatively weak, Democratic and Republican voters and elites relatively ideologically heterogenous, and vote-switching or split-ticket voting (choosing different parties in national and state-level elections) relatively common. By the early 21st century, however, the situation had changed dramatically: partisan identities had become deeply felt and entrenched, Democratic and Republican elites and voters had become more ideologically homogenous and distinct from each other, and vote-switching and split-ticketing voting had become relatively uncommon.
Read more at: Why such an imperfect union? – Sheri Berman
What explains the diametrically opposed narratives of the 2020 election advanced by Republicans and Democrats and the broader democratic dysfunction of which this is a manifestation? One common explanation focuses on ‘hyper-partisanship’ and polarisation.
In the decades following World War II in the United States, party identification and voter loyalty were relatively weak, Democratic and Republican voters and elites relatively ideologically heterogenous, and vote-switching or split-ticket voting (choosing different parties in national and state-level elections) relatively common. By the early 21st century, however, the situation had changed dramatically: partisan identities had become deeply felt and entrenched, Democratic and Republican elites and voters had become more ideologically homogenous and distinct from each other, and vote-switching and split-ticketing voting had become relatively uncommon.
Read more at: Why such an imperfect union? – Sheri Berman
NATO in a quandary as it awaits Joe Biden′s Afghanistan plans
A group in Washington co-chaired by retired General Joseph Dunford, who served both as commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan and as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the Biden team that it should immediately begin negotiating for an extension of the deadline. The Afghanistan Study Group's conclusions include that "withdrawal in May under current conditions will likely lead to a collapse of the Afghan state and a possible renewed civil war" in addition to a "reconstitution of the terrorist threat to the US homeland within 18 months to three years."
Read more at: NATO in a quandary as it awaits Joe Biden′s Afghanistan plans | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 16.02.2021
Read more at: NATO in a quandary as it awaits Joe Biden′s Afghanistan plans | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW | 16.02.2021
Saudi-US Relations: Biden plans to ‘recalibrate’ relations with Saudi Arabia and downgrade MBS
President Joe Biden plans to shift U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia and will conduct diplomacy through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than his powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House said on Tuesday.
The announcement by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was an abrupt reversal in U.S. policy from Biden's Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, whose son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner maintained steady contact with the crown prince.
Resad more at: Biden plans to ‘recalibrate’ relations with Saudi Arabia and downgrade MBS
The announcement by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was an abrupt reversal in U.S. policy from Biden's Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, whose son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner maintained steady contact with the crown prince.
Resad more at: Biden plans to ‘recalibrate’ relations with Saudi Arabia and downgrade MBS
Social Media: Your money and the internet: Don't rely on social media stock tips, EU watchdog warns retail investors - by Huw Jones
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Retail investors following the Reddit forum WallStreetBets in the United States piled into GameStop Corp last month, sending shares in the retailer rocketing at the expense of prominent investors who had bet against the stock, ringing alarm bells in Europe.
Although market rules and structures are different in the EU, it cannot be ruled out that similar circumstances may occur in the bloc as well, the European Securities and Markets Authority said in a statement.
Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-markets-regulator/dont-rely-on-social-media-stock-tips-eu-watchdog-warns-retail-investors-idUSKBN2AH16A
Although market rules and structures are different in the EU, it cannot be ruled out that similar circumstances may occur in the bloc as well, the European Securities and Markets Authority said in a statement.
Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-markets-regulator/dont-rely-on-social-media-stock-tips-eu-watchdog-warns-retail-investors-idUSKBN2AH16A
France versus Radical Islam: : French MPs back controversial law aimed at cracking down on Islamic radicalism
French MP's on Tuesday approved a contreversial law on stopping intenet hate speech and separatism and ending foreign funding of religious groups.
Read more at: French MPs back controversial law aimed at cracking down on Islamic radicalism | Euronews
Read more at: French MPs back controversial law aimed at cracking down on Islamic radicalism | Euronews
2/16/21
USA: With Trump impeachment trial over, wounded Washington grapples with divisions - by Jeff Mason and Susan Cornwell
Former President Donald Trump's acquittal on charges of inciting a deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol left Democrats and Rublicans deeply divided on Sunday even as his Democratic successor, Joe Biden, sought to move on with his political and economic .
Democrats said they looked to the courts for possible civil and criminal charges against the former Republican president over the assault by his supporters on Jan. 6, which left five people dead.
The Senate trial concluded on Saturday with a 57-43 vote in favor of convicting Trump. The vote was bipartisan, with seven Republicans joining Democrats and independents, but the tally fell short of the two-thirds needed to secure conviction.
Read more at: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/with-trump-impeachment-trial-over--wounded-washington-grapples-with-divisions/46369774
Democrats said they looked to the courts for possible civil and criminal charges against the former Republican president over the assault by his supporters on Jan. 6, which left five people dead.
The Senate trial concluded on Saturday with a 57-43 vote in favor of convicting Trump. The vote was bipartisan, with seven Republicans joining Democrats and independents, but the tally fell short of the two-thirds needed to secure conviction.
Read more at: https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/with-trump-impeachment-trial-over--wounded-washington-grapples-with-divisions/46369774
The Netherlands - confusion court rulings : Covid: Dutch crisis as court orders end to Covid curfew - but later, a higher court ruled curfew could stay in place
A court in The Hague has told the Dutch government that an overnight curfew to reduce the spread of coronavirus should be lifted, ruling that it breaches the right to free movement.
The court said the 21:00 to 04:30 curfew was imposed by an emergency law when there was no "acute emergency".
Later, a higher court ruled that the curfew could stay in place pending an appeal on Friday.
The curfew, imposed in January, led to rioting in several Dutch cities.
Police were patrolling streets near the Dutch parliament on Tuesday evening but no unrest has been reported so far.
The earlier court ruling - which said the curfew should be lifted immediately - was a victory for campaign group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) and a major upset for the government.
Read more at: Covid: Dutch crisis as court orders end to Covid curfew - BBC News
The court said the 21:00 to 04:30 curfew was imposed by an emergency law when there was no "acute emergency".
Later, a higher court ruled that the curfew could stay in place pending an appeal on Friday.
The curfew, imposed in January, led to rioting in several Dutch cities.
Police were patrolling streets near the Dutch parliament on Tuesday evening but no unrest has been reported so far.
The earlier court ruling - which said the curfew should be lifted immediately - was a victory for campaign group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) and a major upset for the government.
Read more at: Covid: Dutch crisis as court orders end to Covid curfew - BBC News
Spain: Catalonia elections: Has the result made independence more likely?
Elections in Spain's Catalonia region have given Catalonia separatists a shot in the arm, leading to renewed calls for an independence referendum.
Three pro-independence parties secured over half of the vote in elections for the first time, winning 74 seats.
Read more at: Catalonia elections: Has the result made independence more likely? | Euronews
Three pro-independence parties secured over half of the vote in elections for the first time, winning 74 seats.
Read more at: Catalonia elections: Has the result made independence more likely? | Euronews
WTO: Daunting challenges await WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist and former finance minister, has been appointed to head the World Trade Organization, becoming the first African and woman to helm the global trade body.
Okonjo-Iweala takes over as the global trade body struggles to remain relevant amid growing protectionism and trade tensions and an economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
From reviving WTO's dispute settlement process to policing China, the new director-general has her task cut out as she looks to restore global faith in the trade body.
Reas more at: Daunting challenges await WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 16.02.2021
Okonjo-Iweala takes over as the global trade body struggles to remain relevant amid growing protectionism and trade tensions and an economic crisis unleashed by the coronavirus pandemic.
From reviving WTO's dispute settlement process to policing China, the new director-general has her task cut out as she looks to restore global faith in the trade body.
Reas more at: Daunting challenges await WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala | Business| Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW | 16.02.2021
2/15/21
US-Palestinian Relations: Biden Will Restore U.S. Relations With Palestinians, Reversing Trump Cutoff - by Michael Crowley
The Biden administration will restore diplomatic relations with the Palestinian Authority, more than two years after President Donald J. Trump effectively ended them. The action signals a return to a more traditional and evenhanded approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after a Trump administration policy that was heavily slanted toward Israel.
The shift, which will include a resumption of American aid to the Palestinians, was announced on Tuesday in a speech by Richard Mills, the acting United States ambassador to the United Nations.
Read more at: Biden Will Restore U.S. Relations With Palestinians, Reversing Trump Cutoff - The New York Times
The shift, which will include a resumption of American aid to the Palestinians, was announced on Tuesday in a speech by Richard Mills, the acting United States ambassador to the United Nations.
Read more at: Biden Will Restore U.S. Relations With Palestinians, Reversing Trump Cutoff - The New York Times
Turkey-US relations: Turkey summons US ambassador over statement on killings
Turkey summoned the United States ambassador to Ankara on Monday to convey “in the strongest terms” its reaction to a statement on the killing of 13 kidnapped Turks in Iraq, which President Tayyip Erdogan called “a farce”.
Turkey said on Sunday fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) executed the captives, including Turkish military and police personnel, amid a military operation in northern Iraq where the group was holding them.
“The statement made by the United States is a farce,” Erdogan said on Monday. “You said you did not support terrorists, when in fact you are on their side and behind them,” Erdogan said in televised remarks criticising the US State Department statement, which failed to accept Ankara’s account of the incide
Read more at: Turkey summons US ambassador over statement on killings | Turkey News | Al Jazeera
Turkey said on Sunday fighters from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) executed the captives, including Turkish military and police personnel, amid a military operation in northern Iraq where the group was holding them.
“The statement made by the United States is a farce,” Erdogan said on Monday. “You said you did not support terrorists, when in fact you are on their side and behind them,” Erdogan said in televised remarks criticising the US State Department statement, which failed to accept Ankara’s account of the incide
Read more at: Turkey summons US ambassador over statement on killings | Turkey News | Al Jazeera
The Netherlands: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub - by Ben Chapman
Amsterdam has surpassed London as Europe’s leading share trading hub in the wake of Brexit.
An average €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January, according to data from CBOE Europe first reported by the Financial Times.
EU-based financial firms are banned from trading in London because the EU has not recognised UK regulations on exchanges as equivalent to its own.
Read more at: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub | The Independent
An average €9.2bn shares a day were traded on Euronext Amsterdam and the Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise in January, according to data from CBOE Europe first reported by the Financial Times.
EU-based financial firms are banned from trading in London because the EU has not recognised UK regulations on exchanges as equivalent to its own.
Read more at: Brexit: Amsterdam surpasses London as Europe’s leading share trading hub | The Independent
EU: Future of Europe: Nearly half of citizens want reforms - by Elena Sánchez Nicolás
Almost half of EU citizens (44 percent) would like to see reforms to the bloc, a survey published on Friday (12 February) revealed.
"Reform of the EU is clearly something citizens want to see, and that is why we need to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe as soon as possible," the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, said.
The much-delayed Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) is seen as a chance to have an inclusive dialogue with citizens about the way ahead for the EU - particularly after the pandemic revealed major weaknesses of the Union.
Read more at: Future of Europe: Nearly half of citizens want reforms
"Reform of the EU is clearly something citizens want to see, and that is why we need to launch the Conference on the Future of Europe as soon as possible," the president of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, said.
The much-delayed Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) is seen as a chance to have an inclusive dialogue with citizens about the way ahead for the EU - particularly after the pandemic revealed major weaknesses of the Union.
Read more at: Future of Europe: Nearly half of citizens want reforms
USA: President Biden Faces Multiple Crises, Needs Radical Agenda Despite Corporate Opposition - by Inderjeet Parmar
The multiple crises that President Joe Biden faces are too many and too deep and systemic to be tackled in the old way or papered over – they require massive state intervention comparable in scale and character to Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s ‘New Deal’ of the 1930s, and embedding in a new global grand bargain acknowledging multipolarity and the effective twilight of the US’s global preponderance. Just like white Americans must accommodate the fact of their ‘majority-minority’ status in 20 years – they will be the largest single racial group but no longer a majority of the population – so must the foreign policy establishment accommodate to the US as the strongest, but no longer totally preponderant, world power.
The American crisis is stark. Look at the US federal capital – with over 20,000 national guard erecting a ring of steel around the inaugural platform. The US Capitol building in Washington, DC, looks increasingly like Baghdad’s Green Zone – with more US troops deployed for a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ than are based in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. The FBI is vetting national guardsmen for extreme right-wing links in case an attack should be launched from within the ‘security’ services. It is a state in the centre of a perfect but terrible storm, reaping the whirlwind sown by the hyper-authoritarian, fascistic, Trump regime, but which is also rooted in a range of crises going back several decades.
Read more: President Biden Faces Multiple Crises, Needs Radical Agenda Despite Corporate Opposition
The American crisis is stark. Look at the US federal capital – with over 20,000 national guard erecting a ring of steel around the inaugural platform. The US Capitol building in Washington, DC, looks increasingly like Baghdad’s Green Zone – with more US troops deployed for a ‘peaceful transfer of power’ than are based in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. The FBI is vetting national guardsmen for extreme right-wing links in case an attack should be launched from within the ‘security’ services. It is a state in the centre of a perfect but terrible storm, reaping the whirlwind sown by the hyper-authoritarian, fascistic, Trump regime, but which is also rooted in a range of crises going back several decades.
Read more: President Biden Faces Multiple Crises, Needs Radical Agenda Despite Corporate Opposition
2/14/21
EU-Ukraine relations,Raw materials,Batteries,Cooperation,
The European Union and Ukraine have launched a strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries, EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on February 11.
“The European Union has always stood side-by-side with Ukraine as its closest friend,” said the VP for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight. “Our support and cooperation has been delivering tangible results. I’m therefore trully excited to expand this positive agenda to new areas,” said Sefcovic, who is also coordinating the EU Battery Alliance.
He stressed that the EU-Ukraine strategic partnership on critical raw materials and batteries a win-win as it promotes EU’s green and digital transition while helping Ukraine approximate its policies with the European Green Deal. “This is all the more important as we need to sustainability revive our economies in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of this partnership, the EU stands ready to scale up its technical assistances program with the Ukrainian government by including raw materials and topping up its budget with an additional 800,000 euros,” Sefcovic said. “In this context, I welcome that the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine has become a new member of our two strategic industrial alliances on raw materials and batteries. I’m also looking forward to a high-level conference on strategic EU-Ukrainian cooperation on raw materials to be held later this year,” he said.
Read more at: EU-Ukraine launch strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries | New Europe
“The European Union has always stood side-by-side with Ukraine as its closest friend,” said the VP for Inter-institutional Relations and Foresight. “Our support and cooperation has been delivering tangible results. I’m therefore trully excited to expand this positive agenda to new areas,” said Sefcovic, who is also coordinating the EU Battery Alliance.
He stressed that the EU-Ukraine strategic partnership on critical raw materials and batteries a win-win as it promotes EU’s green and digital transition while helping Ukraine approximate its policies with the European Green Deal. “This is all the more important as we need to sustainability revive our economies in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. As part of this partnership, the EU stands ready to scale up its technical assistances program with the Ukrainian government by including raw materials and topping up its budget with an additional 800,000 euros,” Sefcovic said. “In this context, I welcome that the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine has become a new member of our two strategic industrial alliances on raw materials and batteries. I’m also looking forward to a high-level conference on strategic EU-Ukrainian cooperation on raw materials to be held later this year,” he said.
Read more at: EU-Ukraine launch strategic partnership on raw materials and batteries | New Europe
2/13/21
USA: Senate acquits Trump of inciting riot at U.S. Capitol, ending his 2nd impeachment trial - "but his real troubles have only begun"
The U.S. Senate voted 57-43 at Donald Trump's impeachment trial, falling short of the 10 more votes needed to convict him for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection on the Capitol.
Nick Akerman, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, described Trump's legal exposure as: "Extremely serious. On the tax, the mortgage fraud [laws] and the matter in Georgia, where he's on tape."
Read more at: Senate acquits Trump of inciting riot at U.S. Capitol, ending his 2nd impeachment trial | CBC News
Nick Akerman, a former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, described Trump's legal exposure as: "Extremely serious. On the tax, the mortgage fraud [laws] and the matter in Georgia, where he's on tape."
Read more at: Senate acquits Trump of inciting riot at U.S. Capitol, ending his 2nd impeachment trial | CBC News
Cuba: Biden Will Try to Close Guantanamo After ‘Robust’ Review – by Ben Fox
President Joe Biden will seek to close the prison on the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay following a review process, resuming a project begun under the Obama administration, the White House said Friday.
Read more at: ttps://www.nbcmiami.com/news/politics/biden-administration/biden-will-try-to-close-guantanamo-after-robust-review/2382249/
Read more at: ttps://www.nbcmiami.com/news/politics/biden-administration/biden-will-try-to-close-guantanamo-after-robust-review/2382249/
USA -Poll President Trump approval rating : Trump Ends Historically Unpopular Presidency With 34% Approval - by Gregory Korte
President Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped to 34% in a Gallup poll released Monday, the low point of a presidency that already had the weakest average approval rating of any of his predecessors since the survey began in the 1940s.
The new Gallup numbers, based on a poll that began just before the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, show Trump’s approval rating falling 12 percentage points since before the Nov. 3 election.
The drop mirrors other polls that show a significant loss of support in the final two weeks of his presidency, which included not only the riot he egged on but the unprecedented second impeachment. The RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Trump with a 39.8% approval rating, down 4 percentage points since the Capitol attack.
Read more at: Trump Ends Historically Unpopular Presidency With 34% Approval - Bloomberg
The new Gallup numbers, based on a poll that began just before the assault on the Capitol on Jan. 6, show Trump’s approval rating falling 12 percentage points since before the Nov. 3 election.
The drop mirrors other polls that show a significant loss of support in the final two weeks of his presidency, which included not only the riot he egged on but the unprecedented second impeachment. The RealClearPolitics average of polls shows Trump with a 39.8% approval rating, down 4 percentage points since the Capitol attack.
Read more at: Trump Ends Historically Unpopular Presidency With 34% Approval - Bloomberg
Fosil Fuels - 'Invisible killer': fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, research finds - by Oliver Milman
Air pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil was responsible for 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, a staggering one in five of all people who died that year, new research has found.
Countries with the most prodigious consumption of fossil fuels to power factories, homes and vehicles are suffering the highest death tolls, with the study finding more than one in 10 deaths in both the US and Europe were caused by the resulting pollution, along with nearly a third of deaths in eastern Asia, which includes China. Death rates in South America and Africa were significantly lower.
The enormous death toll is higher than previous estimates and surprised even the study’s researchers. “We were initially very hesitant when we obtained the results because they are astounding, but we are discovering more and more about the impact of this pollution,” said Eloise Marais, a geographer at University College London and a study co-author. “It’s pervasive. The more we look for impacts, the more we find.”
Read more at: 'Invisible killer': fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, research finds | Environment | The Guardian
Countries with the most prodigious consumption of fossil fuels to power factories, homes and vehicles are suffering the highest death tolls, with the study finding more than one in 10 deaths in both the US and Europe were caused by the resulting pollution, along with nearly a third of deaths in eastern Asia, which includes China. Death rates in South America and Africa were significantly lower.
The enormous death toll is higher than previous estimates and surprised even the study’s researchers. “We were initially very hesitant when we obtained the results because they are astounding, but we are discovering more and more about the impact of this pollution,” said Eloise Marais, a geographer at University College London and a study co-author. “It’s pervasive. The more we look for impacts, the more we find.”
Read more at: 'Invisible killer': fossil fuels caused 8.7m deaths globally in 2018, research finds | Environment | The Guardian
2/12/21
Italy: Draghi: Call of duty for Italy's 'Super Mario' - by Mark Lowen
"The thing about Mario Draghi is that when he ran up the pitch, he would always pass the ball - he was generous like that," reflects Staffan de Mistura, a UN diplomat and school friend of Italy's likely next prime minister.
"Mario was a team player. Not the best footballer we had but a good one - and he always had a strategy, he knew which way to turn."
Read more at: Draghi: Call of duty for Italy's 'Super Mario' - BBC News
"Mario was a team player. Not the best footballer we had but a good one - and he always had a strategy, he knew which way to turn."
Read more at: Draghi: Call of duty for Italy's 'Super Mario' - BBC News
SPAIN; Covid-19 in Spain: Spain records highest weekly number of Covid deaths since first wave: 3,415 - by Emilio de Benito
The last seven days have been the worst in terms of coronavirus deaths since the first wave of the pandemic in Spain in the spring of 2020. According to the latest report from the Spanish Health Ministry, which was released on Thursday, a total of 3,415 people have died after a positive Covid-19 test over the last week. And this figure is on the rise, up 11.35% from a week before.
Read more at: Covid-19 in Spain: Spain records highest weekly number of Covid deaths since first wave: 3,415 | Society | EL PAÍS in English
Read more at: Covid-19 in Spain: Spain records highest weekly number of Covid deaths since first wave: 3,415 | Society | EL PAÍS in English
Germany: Spiegel Interview with Washington Post Editor Martin Baron: "We Had To Be Much More Forthright about Trump" - by Marc Pitzke und Roland Nelles
DER SPIEGEL: Mr. Baron, you’re stepping down at a very precarious time politically in the United States. Are you concerned about your country?
Baron: I have concerns about the state of our democracy. It has come under tremendous challenges. As journalists, we play an important role in that democracy, which is to give people the information they need and deserve to know.
DER SPIEGEL: Millions of Americans believe in conspiracy theories instead of the news. How did it get to this point?
Baron: This is happening in other countries as well. I think it’s the result of the internet. People can get information from sources that affirm their preexisting point of view. That’s the business model of some media outlets: to provide so-called "news," so-called "information" that tells them that their feelings are right, that their instincts are right, that there are people just like them who think exactly like them. If people have suspicions, those media outlets try to reinforce those suspicions. They have no fidelity to the facts or to truth.
Read more at: Washington Post Editor Martin Baron: "We Had To Be Much More Forthright about Trump" - DER SPIEGEL
Baron: I have concerns about the state of our democracy. It has come under tremendous challenges. As journalists, we play an important role in that democracy, which is to give people the information they need and deserve to know.
DER SPIEGEL: Millions of Americans believe in conspiracy theories instead of the news. How did it get to this point?
Baron: This is happening in other countries as well. I think it’s the result of the internet. People can get information from sources that affirm their preexisting point of view. That’s the business model of some media outlets: to provide so-called "news," so-called "information" that tells them that their feelings are right, that their instincts are right, that there are people just like them who think exactly like them. If people have suspicions, those media outlets try to reinforce those suspicions. They have no fidelity to the facts or to truth.
Read more at: Washington Post Editor Martin Baron: "We Had To Be Much More Forthright about Trump" - DER SPIEGEL
The Netherlands: The Coronavirus exposes the Netherlands as a tax haven – again – by Boris Kowalski
Governments miss out on billions of tax revenues annually as the result of tax havens such as the Netherlands. The Coronavirus pandemic tellingly shows how such tax havens undermine public policy and cohesion within the EU, argues Boris Kowalski.
Read more at: The Coronavirus exposes the Netherlands as a tax haven – again – EURACTIV.com
Read more at: The Coronavirus exposes the Netherlands as a tax haven – again – EURACTIV.com
2/11/21
USA - Donald Trump - People express their view: "We must condemn treason "
As much as this coup attempt is upsetting, it is not surprising. In the weeks following the 2020 election, claims of fraud among some Donald Trump voters have only risen in pitch with subsequent electoral milestones: conspiracy at the polling stations, then amid the electors and finally within Congress itself. Trump’s usage of his social media accounts to stoke division only incited more fervor.
Read more at: Your Views: We must condemn treason | Alexandria Times | Alexandria, VA
Read more at: Your Views: We must condemn treason | Alexandria Times | Alexandria, VA
Outer space: Have We Already Been Visited by Aliens? - by Elizabeth Kolber
In “Extraterrestrial,” Loeb lays out his reasoning as follows. The only way to make sense of ‘Oumuamua’s strange acceleration, without resorting to some sort of undetectable outgassing, is to assume that the object was propelled by solar radiation—essentially, photons bouncing off its surface. And the only way the object could be propelled by solar radiation is if it were extremely thin—no thicker than a millimetre—with a very low density and a comparatively large surface area. Such an object would function as a sail—one powered by light, rather than by wind. The natural world doesn’t produce sails; people do. Thus, Loeb writes, “ ‘Oumuamua must have been designed, built, and launched by an extraterrestrial intelligence.”
Kepler, researchers recently concluded that η⊕ has a value somewhere between .37 and .6. Since there are at least four billion sunlike stars in the Milky Way, this means that somewhere between 1.5 billion and 2.4 billion planets in our galaxy could, in theory, harbor life. No one knows what fraction of potentially habitable planets are, in fact, inhabited, but, even if the proportion is trivial, we’re still talking about millions—perhaps tens of millions—of planets in the galaxy that might be teeming with living things.
At a public event a few years ago, Ellen Stofan, who at the time was NASA’s chief scientist and is now the director of the National Air and Space Museum, said that she believed “definitive evidence” of “life beyond earth” would be found sometime in the next two decades.
Read complete report at: Have We Already Been Visited by Aliens? | The New Yorker
Kepler, researchers recently concluded that η⊕ has a value somewhere between .37 and .6. Since there are at least four billion sunlike stars in the Milky Way, this means that somewhere between 1.5 billion and 2.4 billion planets in our galaxy could, in theory, harbor life. No one knows what fraction of potentially habitable planets are, in fact, inhabited, but, even if the proportion is trivial, we’re still talking about millions—perhaps tens of millions—of planets in the galaxy that might be teeming with living things.
At a public event a few years ago, Ellen Stofan, who at the time was NASA’s chief scientist and is now the director of the National Air and Space Museum, said that she believed “definitive evidence” of “life beyond earth” would be found sometime in the next two decades.
Read complete report at: Have We Already Been Visited by Aliens? | The New Yorker
The Netherlands: Skating is in our DNA: Ice fever hits the Netherlands as big freeze continues
With freezing temperatures expected for at least the next week, ice fever is gripping the Netherlands and has the regional safety boards coming up with a set of rules for safe skating in the coronavirus era. Nothing, not even a global pandemic, can come between the Dutch and their skates.
‘You can’t work against it, skating is in our DNA,’ said Jurre Trouw, of the national skating union KNSB. ‘But we have to do it in a responsible way.’ So here’s what you need to know about this year’s skating season.
Read more at: Skating is in our DNA: Ice fever hits the Netherlands as big freeze continues - DutchNews.nl
‘You can’t work against it, skating is in our DNA,’ said Jurre Trouw, of the national skating union KNSB. ‘But we have to do it in a responsible way.’ So here’s what you need to know about this year’s skating season.
Read more at: Skating is in our DNA: Ice fever hits the Netherlands as big freeze continues - DutchNews.nl
Ireland: Healthcare workers who refuse Covid vaccine may be removed from frontline - by Eilish O'Regan and Brendan Kelly Palenque
n October 19, 2017, a Canadian astronomer named Robert Weryk was reviewing images captured by a telescope known as Pan-STARRS1 when he noticed something strange. The telescope is situated atop Haleakalā, a ten-thousand-foot volcanic peak on the island of Maui, and it scans the sky each night, recording the results with the world’s highest-definition camera. It’s designed to hunt for “near-Earth objects,” which are mostly asteroids whose paths bring them into our planet’s astronomical neighborhood and which travel at an average velocity of some forty thousand miles an hour. The dot of light that caught Weryk’s attention was moving more than four times that speed, at almost two hundred thousand miles per hour.
Weryk alerted colleagues, who began tracking the dot from other observatories. The more they looked, the more puzzling its behavior seemed. The object was small, with an area roughly that of a city block. As it tumbled through space, its brightness varied so much—by a factor of ten—that it had to have a very odd shape. Either it was long and skinny, like a cosmic cigar, or flat and round, like a celestial pizza. Instead of swinging around the sun on an elliptical path, it was zipping away more or less in a straight line. The bright dot, astronomers concluded, was something never before seen. It was an “interstellar object”—a visitor from far beyond the solar system that was just passing through. In the dry nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union, it became known as 1I/2017 U1. More evocatively, it was dubbed ‘Oumuamua (pronounced “oh-mooah-mooah”), from the Hawaiian, meaning, roughly, “scout.”
Healthcare staff refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine may be removed from frontline duties it emerged today.
It comes as a further 52 deaths from the virus and 866 cases have been reported today.
It brings the total number of cases in the state to 206,801 and the total number of coronavirus related deaths to 3,846.
Read more at: Healthcare workers who refuse Covid vaccine may be removed from frontline - Independent.ie
Weryk alerted colleagues, who began tracking the dot from other observatories. The more they looked, the more puzzling its behavior seemed. The object was small, with an area roughly that of a city block. As it tumbled through space, its brightness varied so much—by a factor of ten—that it had to have a very odd shape. Either it was long and skinny, like a cosmic cigar, or flat and round, like a celestial pizza. Instead of swinging around the sun on an elliptical path, it was zipping away more or less in a straight line. The bright dot, astronomers concluded, was something never before seen. It was an “interstellar object”—a visitor from far beyond the solar system that was just passing through. In the dry nomenclature of the International Astronomical Union, it became known as 1I/2017 U1. More evocatively, it was dubbed ‘Oumuamua (pronounced “oh-mooah-mooah”), from the Hawaiian, meaning, roughly, “scout.”
Healthcare staff refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine may be removed from frontline duties it emerged today.
It comes as a further 52 deaths from the virus and 866 cases have been reported today.
It brings the total number of cases in the state to 206,801 and the total number of coronavirus related deaths to 3,846.
Read more at: Healthcare workers who refuse Covid vaccine may be removed from frontline - Independent.ie
EU: Germany must reduce its current-account surplus – by Jan Behringer, Till van Treeck and Achim Truger
The German economy has been running persistently high current-account surpluses for more than 15 years. Over the last decade, the surplus was between 6 and 9 per cent of gross domestic product, mainly because Germany exported much more than it imported. This is a drag on other countries’ exports and employment and can also lead to financial imbalances.
A large majority of economists outside Germany thus see the surpluses as a serious threat to macroeconomic stability. The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the United States government have repeatedly called for a rebalancing. So far, however, none of the various German governments in power since the early 2000s has seen the need to take action.
Read more at: Germany must reduce its current-account surplus – Jan Behringer, Till van Treeck and Achim Truger
A large majority of economists outside Germany thus see the surpluses as a serious threat to macroeconomic stability. The European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the United States government have repeatedly called for a rebalancing. So far, however, none of the various German governments in power since the early 2000s has seen the need to take action.
Read more at: Germany must reduce its current-account surplus – Jan Behringer, Till van Treeck and Achim Truger
2/10/21
EU: Circular economy: MEPs call for tighter EU consumption and recycling rules
Parliament adopted comprehensive policy recommendations to achieve a carbon-neutral, sustainable, toxic-free and fully circular economy by 2050 at the latest.
Parliament urges the Commission to put forward new legislation in 2021, broadening the scope of the Ecodesign Directive to include non-energy-related products. This should set product-specific standards, so that products placed on the EU market perform well, are durable, reusable, can be easily repaired, are not toxic, can be upgraded and recycled, contain recycled content, and are resource- and energy-efficient. Other key recommendations are detailed here.
Read more at: Circular economy: MEPs call for tighter EU consumption and recycling rules | News | European Parliament
Parliament urges the Commission to put forward new legislation in 2021, broadening the scope of the Ecodesign Directive to include non-energy-related products. This should set product-specific standards, so that products placed on the EU market perform well, are durable, reusable, can be easily repaired, are not toxic, can be upgraded and recycled, contain recycled content, and are resource- and energy-efficient. Other key recommendations are detailed here.
Read more at: Circular economy: MEPs call for tighter EU consumption and recycling rules | News | European Parliament
Historic winter weather: Will the Netherlands see these weather phenomena?
The so-called “cold invasion” the Netherlands is experiencing this week is extremely rare: the combination of heavy snowfall, very low temperatures, and bitter winds is “only experienced by an average person a few times in their life,” according to meteorologist Alfred Snoek.
Considering the fact that this weather is so unusual means that many are starting to wonder whether they can look forward to any other naturally-occurring weather phenomena - beyond the canals freezing over.
Temperatures in the Netherlands have settled at around -2 or -3 degrees during the day, dropping to as low as -15 degrees overnight. Thanks to these absolutely freezing temperatures, there are a handful of natural delights that you might be lucky enough to experience over the coming days.
Read more at: https://www.iamexpat.nl/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/historic-winter-weather-will-netherlands-see-these-weather-phenomena
Considering the fact that this weather is so unusual means that many are starting to wonder whether they can look forward to any other naturally-occurring weather phenomena - beyond the canals freezing over.
Temperatures in the Netherlands have settled at around -2 or -3 degrees during the day, dropping to as low as -15 degrees overnight. Thanks to these absolutely freezing temperatures, there are a handful of natural delights that you might be lucky enough to experience over the coming days.
Read more at: https://www.iamexpat.nl/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/historic-winter-weather-will-netherlands-see-these-weather-phenomena
USA: Impeachment managers use video, Trump's own words to argue he incited Capitol attack
Prosecutors at Donald Trump's impeachment trial said Wednesday they would prove that the former president was no "innocent bystander" but the "inciter in chief" of the deadly attack at the U.S. Capitol aimed at overturning his election loss to Joe Biden.
The lead House prosecutor said they would lay out evidence that shows the president encouraged a rally crowd to head to the Capitol on Jan. 6, then did nothing to stem the violence and watched with "glee" as a mob stormed the iconic building. Five people died.
"To us it may have felt like chaos and madness, but there was method to the madness that day," Rep. Jamie Raskin said.
Read more at: Impeachment managers use video, Trump's own words to argue he incited Capitol attack | CBC News
The lead House prosecutor said they would lay out evidence that shows the president encouraged a rally crowd to head to the Capitol on Jan. 6, then did nothing to stem the violence and watched with "glee" as a mob stormed the iconic building. Five people died.
"To us it may have felt like chaos and madness, but there was method to the madness that day," Rep. Jamie Raskin said.
Read more at: Impeachment managers use video, Trump's own words to argue he incited Capitol attack | CBC News
USA: Home free: Florida town lets Donald Trump keep living at Mar-a-Lago
The Palm Beach town council spent close to seven hours on Tuesday considering issues important to the wealthy island community: the availability of the coronavirus vaccine.
Revitalizing the downtown’s upscale shopping district. Even the durability of Belgian tile being used on a new walking path and the danger posed by coconuts falling when palm trees get too tall.
Each agenda item provoked a litany of questions, comments and observations, except one: whether the former US president may continue living at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Read more at: Home free: Florida town lets Donald Trump keep living at Mar-a-Lago | Donald Trump | The Guardian
Revitalizing the downtown’s upscale shopping district. Even the durability of Belgian tile being used on a new walking path and the danger posed by coconuts falling when palm trees get too tall.
Each agenda item provoked a litany of questions, comments and observations, except one: whether the former US president may continue living at his Mar-a-Lago club.
Read more at: Home free: Florida town lets Donald Trump keep living at Mar-a-Lago | Donald Trump | The Guardian
2/9/21
EU-'Russia Relations Sour: Merciless' Russia may face new sanctions, EU says - by Robin Emmott
The European Union’s top diplomat warned Moscow on Tuesday it could face new sanctions over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, describing the government of President Vladimir Putin as “merciless”, authoritarian and afraid of democracy.
Josep Borrell said his visit last Friday to Moscow had cemented his view that Russia wanted to break away from Europe and divide the West, in a speech marking the EU’s harshest criticism of Moscow since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
“The Russian government is going down a worrisome authoritarian route,” said Borrell, who pleaded for Navalny’s release in Moscow and sought in vain to visit him in prison.
Read more at: 'Merciless' Russia may face new sanctions, EU says | Reuters
Josep Borrell said his visit last Friday to Moscow had cemented his view that Russia wanted to break away from Europe and divide the West, in a speech marking the EU’s harshest criticism of Moscow since Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
“The Russian government is going down a worrisome authoritarian route,” said Borrell, who pleaded for Navalny’s release in Moscow and sought in vain to visit him in prison.
Read more at: 'Merciless' Russia may face new sanctions, EU says | Reuters
Hungary: Fresh blow to press freedom in Hungary as Klubrádió forced off the airwaves - by Emma Beswick
Hungary's first independent radio station, Klubrádió, will go off the airwaves on Sunday at midnight after a court upheld a decision by media authorities not to extend its broadcasting licence.
The news marks yet another setback for the independent media in the country, which has been under pressure since Prime Minister Viktor Orban's return to power in 2010.
Read more at: Fresh blow to press freedom in Hungary as Klubrádió forced off the airwaves | Euronews
The news marks yet another setback for the independent media in the country, which has been under pressure since Prime Minister Viktor Orban's return to power in 2010.
Read more at: Fresh blow to press freedom in Hungary as Klubrádió forced off the airwaves | Euronews
'WHO - Coronavirus: Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official - by Luke Hurst
It is "extremely unlikely" COVID-19 originated from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China, an expert with the World Health Organization (WHO) says.
The team of experts sent by the WHO to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city also said they found no evidence of an outbreak related to the virus in the city prior to 2019.
Read more at: 'Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official | Euronews
The team of experts sent by the WHO to investigate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic in the city also said they found no evidence of an outbreak related to the virus in the city prior to 2019.
Read more at: 'Extremely unlikely' COVID originated from a laboratory leak, says WHO official | Euronews
2/8/21
The Netherlands: Roads and trains disrupted, schools shut as winter grips the Netherlands
The wintry weather continued to cause problems on the roads and railways on Monday morning. No newspapers have been delivered and primary schools remain closed in many places, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and Leiden, due to the transport problems. They were due to open on Monday after six weeks of closure due to coronavirus.
The KNMI weather bureau has revised down its weather warning to code orange because of the continuing slippery conditions, but both motoring organisation ANWB and the transport ministry’s roads department say people should avoid all travel unless their journey is absolutely necessary.
Read more at: Roads and trains disrupted, schools shut as winter grips the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
The KNMI weather bureau has revised down its weather warning to code orange because of the continuing slippery conditions, but both motoring organisation ANWB and the transport ministry’s roads department say people should avoid all travel unless their journey is absolutely necessary.
Read more at: Roads and trains disrupted, schools shut as winter grips the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
US Economy Poll: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 41% of American Adults say the U.S. economy will be weaker a year from now. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say the economy will be stronger in a year, and 13% expect it to be about the same.
Read more at: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future - Rasmussen Reports®
Read more at: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future - Rasmussen Reports®
From China and Russia with love: Covid-19: Can Vaccines from Russia and China Be a Game Changer? by Jörg Blech
A huge number of people in Germany and other European countries can hardly wait to get vaccinated against COVID-19. In Serbia, by contrast, it has sometimes appeared difficult to find someone willing to accept the jab. The syringes in the country, after all, were not filled with a product from Western pharmaceutical companies, but with a vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinopharm. Nevertheless, Serbian Health Minister Zlatibor Lončar elected to become the first person in his country to receive the vaccine.
"I was guided by two basic facts. First, that the vaccine meets all the safety criteria. And second, that it is effective," says Lončar, a medical doctor. He received his injection in January. "When I was convinced of all the above, I was able to stand up before the citizens of Serbia and suggest that they start mass vaccination."
Read more at: Covid-19: Can Vaccines from Russia and China Be a Game Changer? - DER SPIEGEL
"I was guided by two basic facts. First, that the vaccine meets all the safety criteria. And second, that it is effective," says Lončar, a medical doctor. He received his injection in January. "When I was convinced of all the above, I was able to stand up before the citizens of Serbia and suggest that they start mass vaccination."
Read more at: Covid-19: Can Vaccines from Russia and China Be a Game Changer? - DER SPIEGEL
EU tells Turkey pandemic not an excuse to ‘silence critical voices’ - by Zoe Didili
Efforts to curb the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic should not be used as an excuse to “silence critical voices”, Europe’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell said on Thursday, after more than a hundred of protesters were detained after protesting against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s appointment of a controversial party member to head Istanbul’s Bogazici university.
“The European Union is seriously concerned over the negative developments in Turkey in the areas of the rule of law, human rights and the judiciary,” the Union’s External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic cannot be used as a means to silence critical voices,” it added, arguing that the st
Read more at: EU tells Turkey pandemic not an excuse to ‘silence critical voices’ | New Europe
“The European Union is seriously concerned over the negative developments in Turkey in the areas of the rule of law, human rights and the judiciary,” the Union’s External Action Service (EEAS) said in a statement.
“The COVID-19 pandemic cannot be used as a means to silence critical voices,” it added, arguing that the st
Read more at: EU tells Turkey pandemic not an excuse to ‘silence critical voices’ | New Europe
USA: The battle for the soul of the Republican Party is now underway
A high-stakes battle for the soul of the Republican Party is now underway, holding far-reaching implications for the near future of American politics.
One front in this battle opens up this week with the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump as Republicans grapple with just how far to go in defending a former president whose effort to overturn an election result ended in deadly tragedy amid the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
So far, those rare Republican lawmakers who've dared to criticize Trump have been harshly rebuked by his loyalists.
Read more at: The battle for the soul of the Republican Party is now underway | CBC News
One front in this battle opens up this week with the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump as Republicans grapple with just how far to go in defending a former president whose effort to overturn an election result ended in deadly tragedy amid the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
So far, those rare Republican lawmakers who've dared to criticize Trump have been harshly rebuked by his loyalists.
Read more at: The battle for the soul of the Republican Party is now underway | CBC News
2/7/21
The Netherlands: First snowstorm in the Netherlands since 2010
Between 11 p.m. and midnight on Saturday, an average wind force of 8 was measured for an hour between Enkhuizen and Lelystad. This, in combination with the snowfall, has officially caused a snowstorm, Weerplaza reports. The last time that happened in the Netherlands was in January 2010.
Read more at: First snowstorm in the Netherlands since 2010 | NL Times
Read more at: First snowstorm in the Netherlands since 2010 | NL Times
Germany: Heavy snowfall paralyzes northern and central Germany
German weather forecasters on Sunday said that the snowstorm is set to bring even lower temperatures in the coming week, as several parts of Germany were hit by extreme winter weather at the weekend.
Read more at: Heavy snowfall paralyzes northern and central Germany | News | DW | 07.02.2021
Read more at: Heavy snowfall paralyzes northern and central Germany | News | DW | 07.02.2021
Transparent wood: Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass
Researchers at the University of Maryland have turned ordinary sheets of wood into transparent material that is nearly as clear as glass, but stronger and with better insulating properties. It could become an energy efficient building material in the future.
Wood is made of two basic ingredients: cellulose, which are tiny fibres, and lignin, which bonds those fibres together to give it strength.
Read more at:Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass | CBC Radio
Wood is made of two basic ingredients: cellulose, which are tiny fibres, and lignin, which bonds those fibres together to give it strength.
Read more at:Scientists develop transparent wood that is stronger and lighter than glass | CBC Radio
Middle East - Palestine and Israel: US can't be ‘sole mediator any more between Israel and Palestine,’ says Palestinian PM
In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh hailed the ruling by the International Criminal Court allowing an investigation into possible war crimes committed by Israel and Palestinian factions. He urged the court’s chief prosecutor to quickly open a formal probe, noting that it would be an important step towards an international recognition of Palestine as a state.
Speaking to FRANCE 24 just days after the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that it has jurisdiction in the Palestinian Territories, paving the way for a criminal investigations into possible war crimes or atrocities committed by both sides, Shtayyeh stressed that Israel was the main aggressor.
He also expressed confidence, following his first contacts with the Biden administration, that the US would soon reopen the Palestinian diplomatic bureau in Washington as well a US consulate in East Jerusalem and would resume aid to the Palestinians.
Shtayyeh however acknowledged that the new US administration was not very likely to rescind the Trump administration’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is why, Shtayyeh claimed, a real peace process could not be mediated solely by the US and a broader international involvement was necessary to bring about a two-state solution. Such an effort, he noted, should include regional players such as Jordan and Egypt, as well as Europe, Russia and China.
Read more at: US can't be ‘sole mediator any more between Israel and Palestine,’ says Palestinian PM - The Interview
Speaking to FRANCE 24 just days after the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled that it has jurisdiction in the Palestinian Territories, paving the way for a criminal investigations into possible war crimes or atrocities committed by both sides, Shtayyeh stressed that Israel was the main aggressor.
He also expressed confidence, following his first contacts with the Biden administration, that the US would soon reopen the Palestinian diplomatic bureau in Washington as well a US consulate in East Jerusalem and would resume aid to the Palestinians.
Shtayyeh however acknowledged that the new US administration was not very likely to rescind the Trump administration’s decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. This is why, Shtayyeh claimed, a real peace process could not be mediated solely by the US and a broader international involvement was necessary to bring about a two-state solution. Such an effort, he noted, should include regional players such as Jordan and Egypt, as well as Europe, Russia and China.
Read more at: US can't be ‘sole mediator any more between Israel and Palestine,’ says Palestinian PM - The Interview
US Comedy - taking it one step too far: Bill Maher: "It Makes Perfect Sense That Christians Are Into QAnon"
Bill Maher dove headfirst into ripping Trump supporters who are evangelical Christians on the latest episode of HBO’s “Real Time.”
During his weekly “New Rules” segment, Maher eviscerated Christians and the Book of Revelations, which he argued was just as unhinged as the conspiracy theories spread by QAnon. Maher also said Trump-supporting conservatives who are still convinced the 2020 election was rigged in favor of President Biden are part of a “mass delusion.”
Note EU-Digest: We have been watching Bill Maher comedy shows for many years and have no problem in him choosing to be an atheist, but were we draw the line as a Christian, is when in his latest show he compared Christians to QAnon followers in the New Rule section of the program in which he said "“When you are a QAnon fanatic, you’re also a fundamentalist Christian. They just go together like macaroni and cheese or chardonnay and Valium,” For Christians from whatever denomination, that statement by Bill Maher should be unacceptable.
Bill Maher must know that QAnons is a disproven and discredited far-right conspiracy theory, alleging that a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping, pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotted against former U.S. president Donald Trump while he was in office and according to U.S. prosecutors, QAnon is commonly called a cult.
Read more at: Bill Maher: It Makes Perfect Sense That Christians Are Into QAnon (Video)
During his weekly “New Rules” segment, Maher eviscerated Christians and the Book of Revelations, which he argued was just as unhinged as the conspiracy theories spread by QAnon. Maher also said Trump-supporting conservatives who are still convinced the 2020 election was rigged in favor of President Biden are part of a “mass delusion.”
Note EU-Digest: We have been watching Bill Maher comedy shows for many years and have no problem in him choosing to be an atheist, but were we draw the line as a Christian, is when in his latest show he compared Christians to QAnon followers in the New Rule section of the program in which he said "“When you are a QAnon fanatic, you’re also a fundamentalist Christian. They just go together like macaroni and cheese or chardonnay and Valium,” For Christians from whatever denomination, that statement by Bill Maher should be unacceptable.
Bill Maher must know that QAnons is a disproven and discredited far-right conspiracy theory, alleging that a secret cabal of Satan-worshipping, pedophiles is running a global child sex-trafficking ring and plotted against former U.S. president Donald Trump while he was in office and according to U.S. prosecutors, QAnon is commonly called a cult.
Read more at: Bill Maher: It Makes Perfect Sense That Christians Are Into QAnon (Video)
2/6/21
USA - Florida - Gun Control: Gun bill to repeal Stand Your Ground law in Florida under debate again - by hristine Stapleton
Against the backdrop of this month's anniversaries of the shooting deaths of Treyvon Martin and 17 people at Marjory Stoneman High School, heightened concern about white supremacist hate groups, National Gun Violence Survivors Week and Black History Month, a bill was filed Thursday seeking to repeal Florida's Stand Your Ground law.
The bill — SB 1052, known as the Self-Defense Restoration Act — was filed by state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park. It was the second time Jones has filed the bill — which failed in 2019 without a single committee hearing and which Jones said he knows is an uphill fight this year.
"We know for a fact that Stand Your Ground promotes vigilantism, it allows people to shoot first and ask questions later," Jones said during a press conference Thursday. "More important, it puts black people and other people of color at a greater risk of gun violence."
Read more at: Gun bill to repeal Stand Your Ground law in Florida under debate again
The bill — SB 1052, known as the Self-Defense Restoration Act — was filed by state Sen. Shevrin Jones, D-West Park. It was the second time Jones has filed the bill — which failed in 2019 without a single committee hearing and which Jones said he knows is an uphill fight this year.
"We know for a fact that Stand Your Ground promotes vigilantism, it allows people to shoot first and ask questions later," Jones said during a press conference Thursday. "More important, it puts black people and other people of color at a greater risk of gun violence."
Read more at: Gun bill to repeal Stand Your Ground law in Florida under debate again
EU taxation of multinationals—bypassing the unanimity blockage – by Tommaso Faccio and Francesco Saraceno
The French car-service company Heetch recently displayed an advertising campaign on the streets of Paris (see photo), which proudly affirmed its presence in many French cities but not in Luxembourg—a clear allusion to the tax headquarters of some of its competitors. The fact that ‘paying taxes in France’ has become a commercial argument shows that the issue of corporate avoidance is rising up the public agenda in many countries.
Yet the G20 process on taxing digital firms and introducing a global minimum tax to limit tax competition, led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, failed to reach consensus in 2020, mostly because of determination by the United States to protect its digital giants. The European Commission has made clear that, were the G20 to fail to deliver a global solution by mid-2021, it will act. But the EU is stuck between a rock—the US position will likely not change with the new administration—and a hard place: its own tax havens.
Read more at: EU taxation of multinationals—bypassing the unanimity blockage – Tommaso Faccio and Francesco Saraceno
Yet the G20 process on taxing digital firms and introducing a global minimum tax to limit tax competition, led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, failed to reach consensus in 2020, mostly because of determination by the United States to protect its digital giants. The European Commission has made clear that, were the G20 to fail to deliver a global solution by mid-2021, it will act. But the EU is stuck between a rock—the US position will likely not change with the new administration—and a hard place: its own tax havens.
Read more at: EU taxation of multinationals—bypassing the unanimity blockage – Tommaso Faccio and Francesco Saraceno
Turkey: Opinion -Erdogan fears Turkey′s Generation Z
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan fears the protests that have erupted at Istanbul's Bosphorus University (also known as Bogazici University — Editor's note) against his totalitarian rule. He has retaliated with an iron-fisted approach.
Bosphorus University is one of Turkey's few remaining bastions of democratic and liberal thought. Its resilient faculty and critically minded students are a thorn in Erdogan's side; they are the sort of forces he wishes to purge from Turkey. The university is a safe haven for liberals, anarchists, feminists, LGBTQI+ activists, Kurds, the left, atheists and even — to Erdogan's horror — pious Muslims, who fear no one except Allah.
Read more at: Opinion: Erdogan fears Turkey′s Generation Z | Opinion | DW | 05.02.2021
Bosphorus University is one of Turkey's few remaining bastions of democratic and liberal thought. Its resilient faculty and critically minded students are a thorn in Erdogan's side; they are the sort of forces he wishes to purge from Turkey. The university is a safe haven for liberals, anarchists, feminists, LGBTQI+ activists, Kurds, the left, atheists and even — to Erdogan's horror — pious Muslims, who fear no one except Allah.
Read more at: Opinion: Erdogan fears Turkey′s Generation Z | Opinion | DW | 05.02.2021
WTO: Nigerian economist poised to become first female WTO chief
Nigeria's former finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is poised to become the next head of the World Trade Organization (WTO) after US President Joe Biden's administration gave her its "full support" on Friday.
If she is confirmed, Okonjo-Iweala will be both the first African and the first woman to hold the position.
< Read more at: https://www.dw.com/en/nigerian-economist-poised-to-become-first-female-wto-chief/a-56479349
If she is confirmed, Okonjo-Iweala will be both the first African and the first woman to hold the position.
< Read more at: https://www.dw.com/en/nigerian-economist-poised-to-become-first-female-wto-chief/a-56479349
Saudi Arabia faces a new geopolitical landscape with Biden in the White House - by Katie McQue
Saudi Arabia's global influence is expected to weaken following the end of Donald Trump's presidential term, as the US places a greater focus on climate policies, as well as pressing domestic and foreign affairs. This is leading the kingdom, which wields its status as the world's largest crude exporter to support its policy aims, to reposition itself geopolitically to garner favor with the incoming administration of Joe Biden.
Read more at: Saudi Arabia faces a new geopolitical landscape with Biden in the White House | S&P Global Platts
Read more at: Saudi Arabia faces a new geopolitical landscape with Biden in the White House | S&P Global Platts
2/5/21
EU-Russia Relations: Russia humiliates EU Foreign Relations Chief Borrell in Moscow - by Andrew Rettman
Russia had notified Germany, Poland, and Sweden that one each of their diplomats in Moscow was "persona non grata" at the same time as Borrell and Lavrov were speaking to media, EU sources told EUobserver.
It did so on grounds the diplomats took part in "unlawful" protests to free Russian opposition hero Alexei Navalny on 23 January, but timed its announcement to cause maximum offence to its guest.
Borrell had gone to Moscow, on his own initiative, in the first high-level EU trip of its type in four years.
He went to hold a "strategic" dialogue, on issues such as Middle East wars, and to pass on the EU message that Navalny must be freed.
Read more at: Russia humiliates Borrell in Moscow
It did so on grounds the diplomats took part in "unlawful" protests to free Russian opposition hero Alexei Navalny on 23 January, but timed its announcement to cause maximum offence to its guest.
Borrell had gone to Moscow, on his own initiative, in the first high-level EU trip of its type in four years.
He went to hold a "strategic" dialogue, on issues such as Middle East wars, and to pass on the EU message that Navalny must be freed.
Read more at: Russia humiliates Borrell in Moscow
Middle East: COVID-19 vaccines as ′biological warfare′ in Middle East?
Aid and human rights organizations say they fear that the COVID-19 vaccine could become a tool for governments, rebel groups and other fighters involved in conflicts in the Middle East to advance their own goals.
Using vaccines this way "is a form of indirect, passive biological warfare," Annie Sparrow, a public health expert at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York, told DW.
It has happened before and it has been very deliberate, Sparrow said. Near the beginning of the Syrian civil war, in 2013, a disease the world had mostly eradicated broke out in Deir ez-Zour. The country officially eliminated polio in 1995. But medical researchers say that in 2012, Bashar al-Assad's government deliberately excluded the area, controlled by fighters who oppose it, from earlier routine vaccination drives. "This was a man-made outbreak," Sparrow wrote at the time.
Read More at: COVID-19 vaccines as ′biological warfare′ in Middle East? | Middle East| News and analysis of events in the Arab world | DW | 05.02.2021
Using vaccines this way "is a form of indirect, passive biological warfare," Annie Sparrow, a public health expert at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in New York, told DW.
It has happened before and it has been very deliberate, Sparrow said. Near the beginning of the Syrian civil war, in 2013, a disease the world had mostly eradicated broke out in Deir ez-Zour. The country officially eliminated polio in 1995. But medical researchers say that in 2012, Bashar al-Assad's government deliberately excluded the area, controlled by fighters who oppose it, from earlier routine vaccination drives. "This was a man-made outbreak," Sparrow wrote at the time.
Read More at: COVID-19 vaccines as ′biological warfare′ in Middle East? | Middle East| News and analysis of events in the Arab world | DW | 05.02.2021
Canada: Sound of Music: Christopher Plummer, Sound of Music star and oldest actor to win an Oscar, dead at 91
Christopher Plummer, who was among the greatest Canadian actors ever to grace stage and screen, has died.
Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.
"Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self-deprecating humour and the music of words," Pitt said in a statement to CBC News. "He was a national treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots.
Read more at: Christopher Plummer, Sound of Music star and oldest actor to win an Oscar, dead at 91 | CBC News
Plummer died Friday morning at his home in Connecticut with his wife, Elaine Taylor, by his side, said Lou Pitt, his longtime friend and manager.
"Chris was an extraordinary man who deeply loved and respected his profession with great old fashion manners, self-deprecating humour and the music of words," Pitt said in a statement to CBC News. "He was a national treasure who deeply relished his Canadian roots.
Read more at: Christopher Plummer, Sound of Music star and oldest actor to win an Oscar, dead at 91 | CBC News
EU: In Europe Union, vaccines from Russia and China are now under study - by Loveday Morris
As the European Union's vaccination program stumbles, Russia and China are poised to fill the gap — with Moscow opening talks to produce vaccines in the heart of Europe and both building political cachet as they supply those scrambling for shots on the bloc's fringes.
Vaccines produced in Russia and China are already on the program in parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe outside the European Union.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Macron called China’s vaccine efforts a “clear diplomatic success” which is “a little bit humiliating for us.” He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed their openness to using vaccines from Moscow and Beijing if E.U. regulatory approval is granted.
Read more at: In Europe Union, vaccines from Russia and China are now under study - The Washington Post
Vaccines produced in Russia and China are already on the program in parts of the Balkans and Eastern Europe outside the European Union.
Speaking to the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Macron called China’s vaccine efforts a “clear diplomatic success” which is “a little bit humiliating for us.” He and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed their openness to using vaccines from Moscow and Beijing if E.U. regulatory approval is granted.
Read more at: In Europe Union, vaccines from Russia and China are now under study - The Washington Post
2/4/21
A torn America: Can President Joe Biden mend a torn America? - by Thomas Frank
It is the ‘duty’ of American citizens, President Joe Biden announced in his inaugural address last week, to ‘defend the truth and to defeat the lies’. Much of Biden’s speech was an unremarkable stringing-together of patriotic platitudes, but this call for a great truth crusade stood out for its audacity. America is, after all, the homeland of the public relations industry, of televangelism, of Madison Avenue, of PT Barnum. Our leading scholars worship at the shrine of post-structuralism; our brightest college graduates go on to work for the CIA; our best newspapers dynamite the barrier between reporting and opinion; our greatest political practitioners are consultants who ‘spin’ the facts this way or that.
In declaring a national quest for truth, of course, Biden was referring to none of these things. His target was a single man: Donald Trump, the most energetic shit-shoveler ever to occupy the Oval Office.
Consider the events of just the last few months. After losing the election of 3 November, Trump refused to acknowledge what happened and instead filed lawsuit after preposterous lawsuit charging that the election had been stolen from him by some unspecified method. Ambitious young Republican politicians pushed the nonsense along, trying to agree as conspicuously as possible with the president’s vain theorising. The last straw came on 6 January, when Trump addressed a throng of hardcore true believers and urged them to take their protest to the Capitol itself, where the final electoral formalities were then taking place.
Unlike Donald Trump, FDR was a genuine populist, and genuinely popular. But, as commentators noted at the time, the unified front that upper America presented against him in 1936 made him even more popular still.
Read more at: Can President Joe Biden mend a torn America?, by Thomas Frank (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, February 2021)
In declaring a national quest for truth, of course, Biden was referring to none of these things. His target was a single man: Donald Trump, the most energetic shit-shoveler ever to occupy the Oval Office.
Consider the events of just the last few months. After losing the election of 3 November, Trump refused to acknowledge what happened and instead filed lawsuit after preposterous lawsuit charging that the election had been stolen from him by some unspecified method. Ambitious young Republican politicians pushed the nonsense along, trying to agree as conspicuously as possible with the president’s vain theorising. The last straw came on 6 January, when Trump addressed a throng of hardcore true believers and urged them to take their protest to the Capitol itself, where the final electoral formalities were then taking place.
Unlike Donald Trump, FDR was a genuine populist, and genuinely popular. But, as commentators noted at the time, the unified front that upper America presented against him in 1936 made him even more popular still.
Read more at: Can President Joe Biden mend a torn America?, by Thomas Frank (Le Monde diplomatique - English edition, February 2021)
The Netherlands: How corrupt is the Netherlands?
Out of 180 countries, the Netherlands ranks eighth, with a score of 82 points, placing it above the likes of Germany (80 points), the UK (77), France (69), the US (67) and Spain (62). Denmark and New Zealand topped the ranking with 88 points each and the Netherlands ranked just one place lower with a score of 82 points. On the other end of the scale, Somalia and South Sudan scored the worst, with a total of 12 points each.
Read more at: How corrupt is the Netherlands?
Read more at: How corrupt is the Netherlands?
USA: Gun sales surged 80 percent in January, data shows - by Hannah Denham and Andrew Ba Tran
More than 2 million firearms were bought last month, according to The Washington Post’s analysis of federal gun background-check data. That is an 80 percent year-over-year spike and the second-highest one-month total on record.
Background checks, and sales of firearms and ammunition, have been increasing pace for months. The surge is in line with the record pace set in 2020: Nearly 23 million firearms were bought, representing a 64 percent jump year over year.
Read more at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/02/03/gun-sales-january-background-checks/
USA: The Dream is becoming a nightmare: The US Empire Is Crumbling Before Our Eyes - by Rebecca Gordon
How can you tell when your empire is crumbling? Some signs are actually visible from my own front window here in San Francisco.
Directly across the street, I can see a collection of tarps and poles (along with one of my own garbage cans) that were used to construct a makeshift home on the sidewalk. Beside that edifice stands a wooden cross decorated with a string of white Christmas lights and a red ribbon—a memorial to the woman who built that structure and died inside it earlier this week. We don’t know—and probably never will—what killed her: the pandemic raging across California? A heart attack? An overdose of heroin or fentanyl?
Behind her home and similar ones is a chain-link fence surrounding the empty playground of the Horace Mann/Buena Vista elementary and middle school. Like that home, the school, too, is now empty, closed because of the pandemic. I don’t know where the families of the 20 children who attended that school and lived in one of its gyms as an alternative to the streets have gone. They used to eat breakfast and dinner there every day, served on the same sidewalk by a pair of older Latina women who apparently had a contract from the school district to cook for the families using that school-cum-shelter. I don’t know, With unprecedented economic inequality and massive overspending on military expansion, America now looks a lot like 476 CE Rome. either, what any of them are now doing for money or food.
Read more at: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/american-empire-decline/
Directly across the street, I can see a collection of tarps and poles (along with one of my own garbage cans) that were used to construct a makeshift home on the sidewalk. Beside that edifice stands a wooden cross decorated with a string of white Christmas lights and a red ribbon—a memorial to the woman who built that structure and died inside it earlier this week. We don’t know—and probably never will—what killed her: the pandemic raging across California? A heart attack? An overdose of heroin or fentanyl?
Behind her home and similar ones is a chain-link fence surrounding the empty playground of the Horace Mann/Buena Vista elementary and middle school. Like that home, the school, too, is now empty, closed because of the pandemic. I don’t know where the families of the 20 children who attended that school and lived in one of its gyms as an alternative to the streets have gone. They used to eat breakfast and dinner there every day, served on the same sidewalk by a pair of older Latina women who apparently had a contract from the school district to cook for the families using that school-cum-shelter. I don’t know, With unprecedented economic inequality and massive overspending on military expansion, America now looks a lot like 476 CE Rome. either, what any of them are now doing for money or food.
Read more at: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/american-empire-decline/
Self Motivation: Kids are sponges. We must take care of how we teach them now - by Emily Parnell
It’s true that the education system is in turmoil and many kids are struggling. Parents, too, are feeling the strain, now bearing an unexpected load of their kids’ educations. Teachers and schools bear the brunt of the burden, juggling their passion for education, fielding community pressures and personal safety concerns, while trying to reinvent the construct of brick and mortar schools.
The situation is less than ideal. Measures forced by circumstance are rarely ideal and tend to be riddled with hiccups and missteps. But this isn’t a simple crisis management exercise. As an added layer, there’s a baffling disconnect on what the crisis even is.
Read more at: Kids are sponges. We must take care of how we teach them now | The Kansas City Star
The situation is less than ideal. Measures forced by circumstance are rarely ideal and tend to be riddled with hiccups and missteps. But this isn’t a simple crisis management exercise. As an added layer, there’s a baffling disconnect on what the crisis even is.
Read more at: Kids are sponges. We must take care of how we teach them now | The Kansas City Star
The GDP: A Better Way to Measure GDP - by Justin Talbot Zorn and Ben Beachy
The news of the record-shattering 33.1% percent annualized GDP growth in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2020 seemed, to most people, like a farce. It’s not that the data — reflecting the rebound from an abysmal spring and summer — was technically wrong. It’s that it bore no resemblance whatsoever to most people’s lived experience.
At a time of a massive public health crisis, long lines at food banks, record-breaking hurricanes, glaring racial disparities, and mounting feelings of stress and overwhelm, no one wants to hear about the historic triumph of an abstract number that’s supposed to tell us how well our society is doing. This raises the question: Why do we measure our economy according to a metric that says so little about our well-being?
This isn’t just an academic musing. It’s a practical question for governments today. The measurement that most societies use as the benchmark for national progress doesn’t meaningfully account for successful management of priorities like public health, economic equity, climate action, or racial justice. This poses a problem because, in government, as in business, “we manage what we measure.”
Read more at: A Better Way to Measure GDP
At a time of a massive public health crisis, long lines at food banks, record-breaking hurricanes, glaring racial disparities, and mounting feelings of stress and overwhelm, no one wants to hear about the historic triumph of an abstract number that’s supposed to tell us how well our society is doing. This raises the question: Why do we measure our economy according to a metric that says so little about our well-being?
This isn’t just an academic musing. It’s a practical question for governments today. The measurement that most societies use as the benchmark for national progress doesn’t meaningfully account for successful management of priorities like public health, economic equity, climate action, or racial justice. This poses a problem because, in government, as in business, “we manage what we measure.”
Read more at: A Better Way to Measure GDP
2/3/21
The urgency of gender justice in the digital economy – by Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami
The early years of the digital revolution came with unlimited promise for women and their world of work. A radical shift seemed close at hand: web-based entrepreneurship, lifelong skilling, access to global markets, flexible working and more. The reality today, however, is a sobering scorecard for women’s economic agency and citizenship.
In hindsight, this is no big surprise. With digital technologies becoming the handmaiden of neoliberal globalisation, the economic paradigm has witnessed a rapid deepening of inequality. Between 1980 and 2016, coinciding with the transition to the digital epoch, progress on economic inequality worldwide declined: intra-country inequality increased while inter-country inequality is not falling quickly enough.
As labour’s share of national income has steadily gone down, Big Tech firms have been able to amass wealth on an unprecedented scale, leveraging their ‘intelligence advantage’. Harnessing digital intelligence for market consolidation, platforms have upended old-world economic organisation. The shift is global and ubiquitous, with data barons making inroads in all sectors—from agriculture to retail trade, transport, logistics and services—not only displacing traditional players but also decimating small economic actors.Amid much debate about the impact of digitalisation in a globalised world, women have been largely invisible. The EU is the global actor that could change that.
Read more at: The urgency of gender justice in the digital economy – Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami
In hindsight, this is no big surprise. With digital technologies becoming the handmaiden of neoliberal globalisation, the economic paradigm has witnessed a rapid deepening of inequality. Between 1980 and 2016, coinciding with the transition to the digital epoch, progress on economic inequality worldwide declined: intra-country inequality increased while inter-country inequality is not falling quickly enough.
As labour’s share of national income has steadily gone down, Big Tech firms have been able to amass wealth on an unprecedented scale, leveraging their ‘intelligence advantage’. Harnessing digital intelligence for market consolidation, platforms have upended old-world economic organisation. The shift is global and ubiquitous, with data barons making inroads in all sectors—from agriculture to retail trade, transport, logistics and services—not only displacing traditional players but also decimating small economic actors.Amid much debate about the impact of digitalisation in a globalised world, women have been largely invisible. The EU is the global actor that could change that.
Read more at: The urgency of gender justice in the digital economy – Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami
Terrorism: Canada declares the US Proud Boys a terrorist organization - by N'dea Yancey-Bragg
The Canadian government added the Proud Boys, an extremist group with ties to white nationalism, to its list of terrorist organizations.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Wednesday the Proud Boys were one of 13 groups now designated as terrorist organizations, including the Russian Imperial Movement and two neo-Nazi groups — the Atomwaffen Division and The Base.
“Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically motivated acts of violence,” Blair said. Amid much debate about the impact of digitalisation in a globalised world, women have been largely invisible. The EU is the global actor that could change that.
Read more at: Canada declares the Proud Boys a terrorist organization
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Wednesday the Proud Boys were one of 13 groups now designated as terrorist organizations, including the Russian Imperial Movement and two neo-Nazi groups — the Atomwaffen Division and The Base.
“Canada will not tolerate ideological, religious or politically motivated acts of violence,” Blair said. Amid much debate about the impact of digitalisation in a globalised world, women have been largely invisible. The EU is the global actor that could change that.
Read more at: Canada declares the Proud Boys a terrorist organization
Journalism: totally on the skids after Covid: outbreak Journalism close to extinction amid rampant disinformation
At a time when access to reliable information can be a matter of life and death, newsrooms around the world are on the brink of collapse after a crushing year of nosediving revenues and systematic attacks on journalists.
The industry was already on the edge, falling newspaper sales coupled with audiences resistant to the idea of paying for online news leaving newsrooms dangerously dependent on advertising and donor funding.
And so while readership numbers soared over the past year for many organisations, a decimation of profits has triggered widespread layoffs and shrinking operations during a period of rampant disinformation. Coupled with global lockdowns and travel bans restricting vital on-the-ground reporting, journalists warn they face their toughest time yet.
Read more at: Covid: Journalism close to extinction amid rampant disinformation | The Independent
The industry was already on the edge, falling newspaper sales coupled with audiences resistant to the idea of paying for online news leaving newsrooms dangerously dependent on advertising and donor funding.
And so while readership numbers soared over the past year for many organisations, a decimation of profits has triggered widespread layoffs and shrinking operations during a period of rampant disinformation. Coupled with global lockdowns and travel bans restricting vital on-the-ground reporting, journalists warn they face their toughest time yet.
Read more at: Covid: Journalism close to extinction amid rampant disinformation | The Independent
EU urged to get tough on Russia over Navalny case and protest crackdown
The European Union is under pressure to take a tough line with Russia when its foreign policy chief meets officials in Moscow amid international outcry over the jailing of the country’s opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Josep Borrell says he will raise Mr Navalny’s case with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, when he also plans to meet members of civil society groups that are being targeted by an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin.
After a series of failed attempts to “reset” relations with Moscow, the EU faces calls to adopt a stronger stance with Russian president Vladimir Putin, but member states disagree over how to sway the country’s ruler of 20 years.
Read more at: EU urged to get tough on Russia over Navalny case and protest crackdown
Josep Borrell says he will raise Mr Navalny’s case with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday, when he also plans to meet members of civil society groups that are being targeted by an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin.
After a series of failed attempts to “reset” relations with Moscow, the EU faces calls to adopt a stronger stance with Russian president Vladimir Putin, but member states disagree over how to sway the country’s ruler of 20 years.
Read more at: EU urged to get tough on Russia over Navalny case and protest crackdown
Poll: 66% of US Voters Believe Insiders Manipulate Stock Market
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 66% of Likely U.S. Voters believe Wall Street insiders manipulate the stock market to their own advantage. Only 13% of voters disagree, while 22% say they’re not sure.
Read more at 66% of Voters Believe Insiders Manipulate Stock Market - Rasmussen Reports®
Read more at 66% of Voters Believe Insiders Manipulate Stock Market - Rasmussen Reports®
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