This summer, the 27 nations of the European Union are finally reopening to tourists—including American ones—following lengthy closures of borders due to the pandemic.
To facilitate ease of movement while keeping citizens safe, member states are issuing EU Digital Covid Certificates (sometimes referred to as "Digital Green Certificates" or "Digital Green Passes") for travelers to use at borders. These digital certificates prove that the holder has been vaccinated against Covid-19, has received negative test results for the virus, or has recovered from it.
Although the certificates were devised for use by EU citizens, visitors from the U.S., the United Kingdom, and elsewhere may also be permitted to use the system, EU
Read more at:
The EU’s Digital Covid Certificate: Can American Travelers Get One? | Frommer's
9/30/21
Britain: Brexit (stupidity on steroids) choices are making Britain's fuel and food shortages worse
Rising energy bills, higher prices and a critical shortage of workers leading to food and fuel supply constraints are threatening to stall Britain's recovery from the pandemic.
The crises afflicting the UK economy have sparked talk in newspapers and among politicians of a looming "winter of discontent," a reference to the wave of strike action in 1978-79 that brought the British economy to its knees. There's even talk of stagflation, the nightmare combination of stagnant growth and high inflation.
Although shortages, supply chain delays and rising food and energy costs are affecting several major economies, including the United States, China and Germany, Britain is suffering more than most because of Brexit.
Specifically, the form of Brexit pursued by the UK government — which introduced stringent immigration policies and took Britain out the EU market for goods and energy, making it much harder for British companies to hire European workers and much more costly for them to do business with the country's single biggest trading partner.
It didn't have to be this way — there were other options for a future EU-UK relationship. Worker shortages, for example, were not an inevitable outcome of Brexit, nor was going it alone on energy. But in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ideological rush to "get Brexit done" amid fraught negotiations with the European Union, agreements in several crucial areas, including energy, were sidelined.
Read more at: Brexit choices are making Britain's fuel and food shortages worse - CNN
Specifically, the form of Brexit pursued by the UK government — which introduced stringent immigration policies and took Britain out the EU market for goods and energy, making it much harder for British companies to hire European workers and much more costly for them to do business with the country's single biggest trading partner.
It didn't have to be this way — there were other options for a future EU-UK relationship. Worker shortages, for example, were not an inevitable outcome of Brexit, nor was going it alone on energy. But in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's ideological rush to "get Brexit done" amid fraught negotiations with the European Union, agreements in several crucial areas, including energy, were sidelined.
Read more at: Brexit choices are making Britain's fuel and food shortages worse - CNN
USA: Shutdown averted; Congress approves stopgap budget plan - by Leo Shane III
Lawmakers avoided triggering a government shutdown on Friday with an emergency budget extension approved just a few hours before federal funding would have lapsed.
The move prevents worker furloughs and program shutdowns at the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and other government agencies set to begin on Oct. 1, the start of fiscal 2022. Service members would have been required to keep working in the event of a shutdown, but their paychecks could have been delayed without the funding fix.
Read more at: Shutdown averted; Congress approves stopgap budget plan
The move prevents worker furloughs and program shutdowns at the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs and other government agencies set to begin on Oct. 1, the start of fiscal 2022. Service members would have been required to keep working in the event of a shutdown, but their paychecks could have been delayed without the funding fix.
Read more at: Shutdown averted; Congress approves stopgap budget plan
USA: FBI — The Terrorist Threat Confronting the United States - by Dale L. Watson
Good morning Chairman Graham, Vice-Chairman Shelby and members of the committee. I am Dale Watson, the Executive Assistant Director of the FBI over counterterrorism and counterintelligence. I am pleased to have this opportunity to appear before your committee and I convey Director Mueller’s regrets for not being able to be with you today. This morning I would like to discuss the domestic and international terrorist threat facing the United States and the measures the FBI is taking to address this threat.
Terrorism represents a continuing threat to the United States and a formidable challenge to the FBI. In response to this threat, the FBI has developed a broad-based counterterrorism program, based on robust investigations to disrupt terrorist activities, interagency cooperation, and effective warning. While this approach has yielded many successes, the dynamic nature of the terrorist threat demands that our capabilities continually be refined and adapted to continue to provide the most effective response.
Read more at: FBI — The Terrorist Threat Confronting the United States
Terrorism represents a continuing threat to the United States and a formidable challenge to the FBI. In response to this threat, the FBI has developed a broad-based counterterrorism program, based on robust investigations to disrupt terrorist activities, interagency cooperation, and effective warning. While this approach has yielded many successes, the dynamic nature of the terrorist threat demands that our capabilities continually be refined and adapted to continue to provide the most effective response.
Read more at: FBI — The Terrorist Threat Confronting the United States
The US Empire: “The Afghanistan Disaster Is Not the End of America as a World Power”
The fall of Kabul would represent the decline of the U.S. empire if Afghanistan was of strategic interest to America. However, it is not. The current world order has not been affected by recent events and the factors governing America’s power have not shifted in the slightest. Just like in Vietnam, the U.S. gradually found itself trapped in an ultimately peripheral conflict. Fighting Al-Qaeda – the original objective – did not require spending almost two trillion dollars.
Should we expect increased American isolationism, most likely supported by the U.S. public?
American isolationism began under Obama, accelerated under Trump, and is continuing under Biden. The three presidents understood their citizens’ diminishing patience for interminable, costly, and ineffective foreign interventions. Of course, true isolationism is impossible in a world made so small by technology, but the time of America as the world’s police is coming to an end. The United States will now only intervene to defend their essential interests, and will have a very restrictive vision of what these are.
Read more at: “The Afghanistan Disaster Is Not the End of America as a World Power”
Should we expect increased American isolationism, most likely supported by the U.S. public?
American isolationism began under Obama, accelerated under Trump, and is continuing under Biden. The three presidents understood their citizens’ diminishing patience for interminable, costly, and ineffective foreign interventions. Of course, true isolationism is impossible in a world made so small by technology, but the time of America as the world’s police is coming to an end. The United States will now only intervene to defend their essential interests, and will have a very restrictive vision of what these are.
Read more at: “The Afghanistan Disaster Is Not the End of America as a World Power”
9/29/21
The Netherlands: Dutch politician is arrested over plot to KILL Prime Minister Mark Rutte
Arnoud van Doorn, who quit the far-right Freedom Party in 2012 to convert to Islam, was detained in the Hague over the alleged plot. He was released without charge on Monday but police said an investigation was ongoing.
Also on Monday police announced they had stepped up security for Rutte, who is known for cycling to work with little or no security, over fears he could be targeted for kidnapping or attack by drug gangs.
Police said they arrested van Doorn after he was seen 'acting suspiciously' in the same area of the Hague as Rutte.
The prosecutor's office said van Doorn appeared to be gathering information for 'preparation of attempted murder', without elaborating.
But his lawyer Anis Boumanjal said van Doorn had only been in the Hague for an hour prior to his arrest and was in the area to give his mother's cat medication.
In that time he stopped for coffee at a café that was coincidentally opposite the gym where Rutte was exercising and then just happened to walk past a BMW believed to be carrying the PM.
Read more at: Dutch politician is arrested over plot to KILL Prime Minister Mark Rutte | Daily Mail Online
Also on Monday police announced they had stepped up security for Rutte, who is known for cycling to work with little or no security, over fears he could be targeted for kidnapping or attack by drug gangs.
Police said they arrested van Doorn after he was seen 'acting suspiciously' in the same area of the Hague as Rutte.
The prosecutor's office said van Doorn appeared to be gathering information for 'preparation of attempted murder', without elaborating.
But his lawyer Anis Boumanjal said van Doorn had only been in the Hague for an hour prior to his arrest and was in the area to give his mother's cat medication.
In that time he stopped for coffee at a café that was coincidentally opposite the gym where Rutte was exercising and then just happened to walk past a BMW believed to be carrying the PM.
Read more at: Dutch politician is arrested over plot to KILL Prime Minister Mark Rutte | Daily Mail Online
USA: Coffee Outlets:Starbucks should take a cue from Dutch Bros. and seize the opportunity in energy drinks, analyst says
Starbucks Corp. is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and even after so many decades Kalinowski Equity Research says the company can learn a thing or two from newly public Dutch Bros. Inc.
Read more at: Starbucks should take a cue from Dutch Bros. and seize the opportunity in energy drinks, analyst says
Read more at: Starbucks should take a cue from Dutch Bros. and seize the opportunity in energy drinks, analyst says
China: WHO chief expects China collaboration in 2nd phase of studies into coronavirus origins
The head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday that he expected all countries, including China, to collaborate in the second phase of a probe into the origins of the coronavirus after an initial mission to China, Reuters informs.
Read more at: https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/151024/who-chief-expects-china-collaboration-in-2nd-phase-of-studies-into-coronavirus-origins.html
Read more at: https://artsakhpress.am/eng/news/151024/who-chief-expects-china-collaboration-in-2nd-phase-of-studies-into-coronavirus-origins.html
The Pharmaceutical Industry Exposed:The Dark Side of Pharma Globalization - Part 1 and 2 - by Veronika Valdova
ABSTRACT: The combination of limited capacity to exercise control over essential commodities, the long-term trend of outsourcing, with the politicization of business relationships causes the entire pharmaceutical industrial sector to be internationally dependent, creating numerous potentials for systemic failure.
R%ead more at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/us-dependency-foreign-pharmaceutical-production-imposes-valdova
R%ead more at: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/us-dependency-foreign-pharmaceutical-production-imposes-valdova
Global COVID-19 Summit:: Experts Call on World Leaders to Commit to a Global Plan of Attack on COVID at Summit
More Than 60 Leading Organizations Across Civil Society, Academia, Philanthropy, Health, and Social Enterprise Define a 6-Point Plan to End the Global COVID-19 Crisis
Read more at: Experts Call on World Leaders to Commit to a Global Plan of Attack on COVID at Summit - DKODING
Read more at: Experts Call on World Leaders to Commit to a Global Plan of Attack on COVID at Summit - DKODING
9/28/21
The Netherlands - Global Warmimg: IMF says Dutch economy is recovering, but more needed in climate change fight
The strong economic recovery of the Netherlands justifies the Cabinet's decision to stop the massive coronavirus economic support packages. But the continuing direction of the coronavirus pandemic remains "uncertain" and politicians in The Hague will have to remain ready to reactivate support programs such as the NOW scheme if necessary, according to researchers from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Read more at: IMF says Dutch economy is recovering, but more needed in climate change fight | NL Times
Read more at: IMF says Dutch economy is recovering, but more needed in climate change fight | NL Times
Brazil: Brazilian president's daughter-in-law and granddaughter test positive for COVID-19
Heloisa Bolsonaro shared that her daughter, Georgia Bolsonaro, only experienced mild symptoms, including a fever and runny nose.
'On the first day we felt bad, now, thank God, we're fine,' she wrote. 'And thanks to a drug that I just took and I got better right away. Impressive.'
Read more at: Brazilian president's daughter-in-law and granddaughter test positive for COVID-19 | Daily Mail Online
'On the first day we felt bad, now, thank God, we're fine,' she wrote. 'And thanks to a drug that I just took and I got better right away. Impressive.'
Read more at: Brazilian president's daughter-in-law and granddaughter test positive for COVID-19 | Daily Mail Online
.USA: Do social security benefits depend on your state? Which states have the highest payouts?
How much you receive from Social Security depends on several factors, but principally how long you worked, how much you earned each year and what age you retire at. Where you live can make a difference as you build up your future retirement fund, and once you retire, just how far the monthly payments will go.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the average monthly payment in states with higher incomes is generally larger than states with lower median incomes. But the larger monthly payments don’t mean those Social Security recipients are necessarily living the life of luxury.
Read more at: ttps://en.as.com/en/2021/09/26/latest_news/1632686120_803837.html
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the average monthly payment in states with higher incomes is generally larger than states with lower median incomes. But the larger monthly payments don’t mean those Social Security recipients are necessarily living the life of luxury.
Read more at: ttps://en.as.com/en/2021/09/26/latest_news/1632686120_803837.html
9/27/21
Germany: Five key takeaways from Germany's historic election
Germany's left-leaning Social Democratic Party (SPD) won the largest share of the vote in Sunday's federal election, putting them in pole position to form the country's next coalition government -- but they could be in for some tricky negotiations.
Read more at: Five key takeaways from Germany's historic election
Read more at: Five key takeaways from Germany's historic election
9/26/21
France: French court confirms govt decision to shut down Muslim organisations
France’s highest administrative court has confirmed a government decision to shut down the nation’s biggest Muslim charity and biggest anti-Islamophobia organisation.
BarakaCity and the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) were closed down at the end of 2020 after the assassination of the teacher Samuel Paty, which neither organisation had any connection with.
Read more at: French court confirms govt decision to shut down Muslim organisations – 5Pillars
BarakaCity and the Collective against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) were closed down at the end of 2020 after the assassination of the teacher Samuel Paty, which neither organisation had any connection with.
Read more at: French court confirms govt decision to shut down Muslim organisations – 5Pillars
Germany: Merkel's Bloc Eyes Worst Result Yet In Tight German Election
Germany’s center-left Social Democrats were locked in a very close race Sunday with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s center-right bloc, which was heading toward its worst-ever result in the country’s parliamentary election, projections showed.
Top officials from both parties said they hope to lead Germany’s next government and have their candidates succeed Merkel, who has been in power since 2005.
Read more at: Merkel's Bloc Eyes Worst Result Yet In Tight German Election | HuffPost
Top officials from both parties said they hope to lead Germany’s next government and have their candidates succeed Merkel, who has been in power since 2005.
Read more at: Merkel's Bloc Eyes Worst Result Yet In Tight German Election | HuffPost
USA: - disfunctional Political Establishment Government shutdown likely as Republicans fight against suspending the national debt
On Monday, the Senate will vote on legislation to continue funding the government and avoid a default on debt. However, reports say a Republican-led filibuster will likely block the legislation.
Read more at: Government shutdown likely as Republicans fight against suspending the national debt
Read more at: Government shutdown likely as Republicans fight against suspending the national debt
9/25/21
US Poll:Trump 2024 Would Beat Either Biden or Harris
Amazing, unbelievable, how could Americans be so gullable to vote for someone who really belongs in jail.
Read more at: Trump 2024 Would Beat Either Biden or Harris - Rasmussen Reports®
Read more at: Trump 2024 Would Beat Either Biden or Harris - Rasmussen Reports®
Global Warming: The climate crisis has made the idea of a better future impossible to imagine - by Ian Jack
Writing in 2003, the American environmentalist Bill McKibben observed that although “some small percentage” of scientists, diplomats and activists had known for 15 years that the Earth was facing a disastrous change, their knowledge had almost completely failed to alarm anyone else.
It certainly alarmed McKibben: in June 1988, the scientist James Hansen testified to the US Congress that the world was warming rapidly and human behaviour was the primary cause – the first loud and unequivocal warning of the climate crisis to come – and before the next year was out, McKibben had published The End of Nature, the first book about climate change for a lay audience. But few others seemed particularly worried. “People think about ‘global warming’ in the way they think about ‘violence on television’ or ‘growing trade deficits’, as a marginal concern to them, if a concern at all,” he wrote in 2003. “Hardly anyone has fear in their guts.”
Read more at: The climate crisis has made the idea of a better future impossible to imagine | Ian Jack | The Guardian
It certainly alarmed McKibben: in June 1988, the scientist James Hansen testified to the US Congress that the world was warming rapidly and human behaviour was the primary cause – the first loud and unequivocal warning of the climate crisis to come – and before the next year was out, McKibben had published The End of Nature, the first book about climate change for a lay audience. But few others seemed particularly worried. “People think about ‘global warming’ in the way they think about ‘violence on television’ or ‘growing trade deficits’, as a marginal concern to them, if a concern at all,” he wrote in 2003. “Hardly anyone has fear in their guts.”
Read more at: The climate crisis has made the idea of a better future impossible to imagine | Ian Jack | The Guardian
9/24/21
EU-Italian - Spanish Relations: Catalan exile Puigdemont freed by Italian court on the Island of Sardinia
An Italian court has ordered the ex-president of Spain's Catalonia region to be freed following his arrest in Sardinia, his lawyer said.
Carles Puigdemont is free to leave the island but must return for a hearing in October.
He was arrested on a Spanish arrest warrant on Thursday.
Read more at: Catalan exile Puigdemont freed by Italian court - BBC News
Carles Puigdemont is free to leave the island but must return for a hearing in October.
He was arrested on a Spanish arrest warrant on Thursday.
Read more at: Catalan exile Puigdemont freed by Italian court - BBC News
Global Food Supplies: : Small-scale farmers must control our food system
The Food Systems Summit in New York is supposed to come up with a global strategy to fight hunger and feed a rapidly growing world population.
But it's focused too much on the big agro-industry. Corporate interests are taking center stage and expanding their influence in the UN system to an alarming extent, undermining democratic decisions. The concerns of peasant farmers like myself, who produce over 70% of the world’s food, are sidelined even though we provide a vital contribution to the food agenda through ecological and fair farming methods. Paula Gioia taking out a honeycomb from one of her beehives.
Paula Gioia is a farmer in Germany active in the international peasants movement.
We face increasing problems all over the world. Land rights are neglected; land grabbing remains rampant, and big industrial players and their production methods harm biodiversity and livelihoods. And it's not just the Global South facing these threats. Small farms in Germany and other European countries are struggling to survive. Thousands have shut down in recent years. In the EU alone we lost about 4.2 million farms between 2005 and 2016, most of them under 5 hectares (12 acres).
Read more at: Opinion: Small-scale farmers must control our food system | World | Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 23.09.2021
But it's focused too much on the big agro-industry. Corporate interests are taking center stage and expanding their influence in the UN system to an alarming extent, undermining democratic decisions. The concerns of peasant farmers like myself, who produce over 70% of the world’s food, are sidelined even though we provide a vital contribution to the food agenda through ecological and fair farming methods. Paula Gioia taking out a honeycomb from one of her beehives.
Paula Gioia is a farmer in Germany active in the international peasants movement.
We face increasing problems all over the world. Land rights are neglected; land grabbing remains rampant, and big industrial players and their production methods harm biodiversity and livelihoods. And it's not just the Global South facing these threats. Small farms in Germany and other European countries are struggling to survive. Thousands have shut down in recent years. In the EU alone we lost about 4.2 million farms between 2005 and 2016, most of them under 5 hectares (12 acres).
Read more at: Opinion: Small-scale farmers must control our food system | World | Breaking news and perspectives from around the globe | DW | 23.09.2021
Haitian - US Relations: Haitian migrants at US border: 'We've been through 11 countries' - by Will Grant
Even in late summer, few migrants attempt to cross into the United States from the Mexican border town of Mexicali. The temperatures are brutal, consistently in the mid-40C. And beyond the neighbouring US town of Calexico, lie many miles of inhospitable desert.
Attempting the journey in the searing heat would be madness.
Yet the migrants gathered in a Haitian restaurant a few blocks from the border wall have already been through worse. Especially Fiterson Janvier and his family.
As they finish a Creole-style meal of chicken, rice-and-beans and plantains, there is both exhaustion and disbelief in their eyes. Exhaustion at their journey from South America over the past few months, and disbelief at some of the things they witnessed and experienced along the way.
Read more at: Haitian migrants at US border: 'We've been through 11 countries' - BBC News
Attempting the journey in the searing heat would be madness.
Yet the migrants gathered in a Haitian restaurant a few blocks from the border wall have already been through worse. Especially Fiterson Janvier and his family.
As they finish a Creole-style meal of chicken, rice-and-beans and plantains, there is both exhaustion and disbelief in their eyes. Exhaustion at their journey from South America over the past few months, and disbelief at some of the things they witnessed and experienced along the way.
Read more at: Haitian migrants at US border: 'We've been through 11 countries' - BBC News
USA - Asylum seekers treated like criminals: Men on horses chasing Black asylum seekers? Sadly, America has seen it before - by Moustafa Bayoumi
You’ve probably seen a photograph haunting the internet this week: a white-presenting man on horseback – uniformed, armed and sneering – is grabbing a shoeless Black man by the neck of his T-shirt. The Black man’s face bears an unmistakable look of horror. He struggles to remain upright while clinging dearly to some bags of food in his hands. Between the men, a long rein from the horse’s bridle arches menacingly in the air like a whip. The photograph was taken just a few days ago in Texas, but the tableau looks like something out of antebellum America.
The image is profoundly upsetting, not just for what it portrays but for the history it evokes. What’s happening at the border right now puts two of our founding national myths – that we’re a land of liberty and a nation of immigrants – under scrutiny. To put it plainly, we don’t fare well under inspection.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/23/men-on-horses-chasing-black-asylum-seekers-sadly-america-has-seen-it-before?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
The image is profoundly upsetting, not just for what it portrays but for the history it evokes. What’s happening at the border right now puts two of our founding national myths – that we’re a land of liberty and a nation of immigrants – under scrutiny. To put it plainly, we don’t fare well under inspection.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/23/men-on-horses-chasing-black-asylum-seekers-sadly-america-has-seen-it-before?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
The U.S. Supreme Court: Now a Roman Catholic Institution? - by Terri Langston
Silent assent is insidious – and cowardly. In civilized societies, the rule of law ensures that cogent rules, based in law, apply equally to every member of society.
The rule of law protects us from each other, too; that is, from the worst behaviors toward fellow human beings that humans can be given to.
As Aristotle wrote: “It is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens.”
Read more at: The U.S. Supreme Court: Now a Roman Catholic Institution? - The Globalist
The rule of law protects us from each other, too; that is, from the worst behaviors toward fellow human beings that humans can be given to.
As Aristotle wrote: “It is more proper that law should govern than any one of the citizens.”
Read more at: The U.S. Supreme Court: Now a Roman Catholic Institution? - The Globalist
USA: Quo Vadis, America? - by César Chelala
U.S. intervention in other countries have generally not led to better living conditions for the populations of those countries. In most cases, it has had the opposite effect.
This is true not only in the case of Afghanistan. It is also true of countries such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
It is not cynical to replace the old saying “familiarity breeds contempt” with “intervention in other countries breeds contempt.
read more at: Quo Vadis, America? - The Globalist
This is true not only in the case of Afghanistan. It is also true of countries such as Libya, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
It is not cynical to replace the old saying “familiarity breeds contempt” with “intervention in other countries breeds contempt.
read more at: Quo Vadis, America? - The Globalist
9/23/21
Dutch Court Rules Border Police Can Use Ethnicity as One of the Gauges for Searches
A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that border police can use ethnicity as one of the gauges for selecting people for checks at the border, although it cannot be the only one.
Read more at: Dutch Court Rules Border Police Can Use Ethnicity as One of the Gauges for Searches
Read more at: Dutch Court Rules Border Police Can Use Ethnicity as One of the Gauges for Searches
Corona Pandemic - Travel Restrictions: U.S. to Lift Pandemic Travel Restrictions, Easing Tension With Europe
The halt to the 18-month ban on travel from 33 countries, including members of the European Union, China, Iran, South Africa, Brazil and India, could help rejuvenate a U.S. tourism industry that has been crippled by the pandemic. The industry suffered a $500 billion loss in travel expenditures in 2020, according to the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group that promotes travel to and within the United States.
Foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative coronavirus test within three days of coming to the United States, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said on Monday. Unvaccinated Americans who want to travel home from overseas will have to clear stricter testing requirements. They will need to test negative for the coronavirus one day before traveling to the United States and show proof that they have bought a test to take after arriving in the United States, Mr. Zients said.
Read more at: U.S. to Lift Pandemic Travel Restrictions, Easing Tension With Europe - The New York Times
Foreign travelers will need to show proof of vaccination before boarding and a negative coronavirus test within three days of coming to the United States, Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House pandemic coordinator, said on Monday. Unvaccinated Americans who want to travel home from overseas will have to clear stricter testing requirements. They will need to test negative for the coronavirus one day before traveling to the United States and show proof that they have bought a test to take after arriving in the United States, Mr. Zients said.
Read more at: U.S. to Lift Pandemic Travel Restrictions, Easing Tension With Europe - The New York Times
The Netherlands: Dutch Court Rules Border Police Can Use Ethnicity as One of the Gauges for Searches
A Dutch court ruled Wednesday that border police can use ethnicity as one of the gauges for selecting people for checks at the border, although it cannot be the only one.
Read more at: Dutch Court Rules Border Police Can Use Ethnicity as One of the Gauges for Searches
Read more at: Dutch Court Rules Border Police Can Use Ethnicity as One of the Gauges for Searches
Cannabis: Can Christians use marijuana? Prof. details the biblical response
As marijuana continues to increase in popularity and cultural acceptance, some key questions are increasingly being asked in faith circles. Among them: Is recreational marijuana use moral?
This is just one of the topics being tackled by Todd Miles, professor of theology at Western Seminary and author of Cannabis and the Christian: What the Bible Says about Marijuana.
“We’re being told that [marijuana] is safe,” he said. “But once you dig below the surface, you find, well, maybe not so much.”
Miles said one of the misconceptions and mistruths is that marijuana is not addictive. While the drug might not be as habit-forming as other substances, he pushed back against this sentiment, and noted some of the additional impacts that must be considered when discussing the issue."
Demonstrably, getting high on cannabis ... impairs cognitive abilities, it impairs physical abilities and it impairs moral judgment,” he said, noting that these consequences are “unhelpful.”
Read more ar: Can Christians use marijuana? Prof. details the biblical response | Living News
This is just one of the topics being tackled by Todd Miles, professor of theology at Western Seminary and author of Cannabis and the Christian: What the Bible Says about Marijuana.
“We’re being told that [marijuana] is safe,” he said. “But once you dig below the surface, you find, well, maybe not so much.”
Miles said one of the misconceptions and mistruths is that marijuana is not addictive. While the drug might not be as habit-forming as other substances, he pushed back against this sentiment, and noted some of the additional impacts that must be considered when discussing the issue."
Demonstrably, getting high on cannabis ... impairs cognitive abilities, it impairs physical abilities and it impairs moral judgment,” he said, noting that these consequences are “unhelpful.”
Read more ar: Can Christians use marijuana? Prof. details the biblical response | Living News
9/22/21
Democracy: How democracy can win again – by Gergely Karácsony
My political awakening coincided with the systemic changes that unfolded following the collapse of communism in Hungary in 1989. I was both fascinated and overjoyed by my country’s rapid democratisation. As a teenager, I persuaded my family to drive me to the Austrian border to see history in the making: the dismantling of the Iron Curtain, which allowed east-German refugees to head for the west. Reading many new publications and attending rallies for newly established democratic political parties, I was swept up by the atmosphere of unbounded hope for our future.
Today, such sentiments seem like childish naivety, or at least the product of an idyllic state of mind. Both democracy and the future of human civilisation are now in grave danger, beset by multifaceted and overlapping crises.
Read more at: How democracy can win again – Gergely Karácsony
Today, such sentiments seem like childish naivety, or at least the product of an idyllic state of mind. Both democracy and the future of human civilisation are now in grave danger, beset by multifaceted and overlapping crises.
Read more at: How democracy can win again – Gergely Karácsony
USA: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll
45% of Republicans support a universal vaccine mandate, a new poll found.
Comparatively, 84% of Democrats support a universal mandate
A majority of Americans (64%) also supported such a mandate.
Read more at: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll
Read more at: 45% of Republicans Support a Universal Vaccine Mandate: New Poll
9/21/21
Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map
As expected, the whole of the Netherlands will remain red on the European Union's coronavirus risk level map for seven more days. Over 4.6 percent of all coronavirus tests performed in the Netherlands over the past two weeks were positive, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Health to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
Anything over 4 percent during a two-week period puts an entire country at the red level. Red is the second highest warning color on the map that the European health service ECDC produces every Thursday. All twelve provinces were also at red last week.
Flevoland is relatively the largest fire in the country. In the past two weeks, 281 out of every 100,000 inhabitants tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. That is considerably lower than last week's calculation. Friesland follows, but the number of positive tests there is almost 19 percent higher than with data used to produce last week's ECDC map. With 254 cases per capita, Friesland has overtaken Noord-Holland (244), Zuid-Holland (241) and Overijssel (227). The number of cases is also increasing in Utrecht.
Read more at: Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map | NL Times
Anything over 4 percent during a two-week period puts an entire country at the red level. Red is the second highest warning color on the map that the European health service ECDC produces every Thursday. All twelve provinces were also at red last week.
Flevoland is relatively the largest fire in the country. In the past two weeks, 281 out of every 100,000 inhabitants tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. That is considerably lower than last week's calculation. Friesland follows, but the number of positive tests there is almost 19 percent higher than with data used to produce last week's ECDC map. With 254 cases per capita, Friesland has overtaken Noord-Holland (244), Zuid-Holland (241) and Overijssel (227). The number of cases is also increasing in Utrecht.
Read more at: Netherlands remains red on Europe's coronavirus map | NL Times
USA - US economy:: Democrats dare GOP to vote against government funding bill
The federal government faces a looming shutdown at the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, leaving lawmakers with little time to finagle a compromise over a suspension of the debt limit, which Democrats have attached to the must-pass spending bill.
Senate Republicans say they oppose suspending the debt limit because of additional spending measures Democrats are crafting -- even though doing so would pay for previous expenditures. But Senate Democrats worked with Republicans under the Trump administration to raise the debt limit on multiple occasions and say it's a bipartisan responsibility.
Read more at: Democrats dare GOP to vote against government funding bill
Senate Republicans say they oppose suspending the debt limit because of additional spending measures Democrats are crafting -- even though doing so would pay for previous expenditures. But Senate Democrats worked with Republicans under the Trump administration to raise the debt limit on multiple occasions and say it's a bipartisan responsibility.
Read more at: Democrats dare GOP to vote against government funding bill
'UN General Assembly Meeting 2021: The world must wake up': Tasks daunting as UN meeting opens - by E. Ledere
In person and on screen, world leaders returned to the United Nations’ foremost gathering for the first time in the pandemic era on Tuesday with a formidable, diplomacy-packed agenda and a sharply worded warning from the international organization’s leader: “We face the greatest cascade of crises in our lifetime.”
Read more at: 'The world must wake up': Tasks daunting as UN meeting opens
Read more at: 'The world must wake up': Tasks daunting as UN meeting opens
Canada: Trudeau made pushing his agenda more complicated with failed bid for majority
The Liberal leader came up short trying to secure the majority mandate he wanted in forcing this early election five weeks ago, arguing Canadians needed a say in how Canada faces the challenges of the future.
What Canadians told him is that they liked the last minority government. They returned a near replica of the results in 2019, when the Liberals won 157 seats and the Conservatives took 121
Read more at: Trudeau made pushing his agenda more complicated with failed bid for majority | CBC News
What Canadians told him is that they liked the last minority government. They returned a near replica of the results in 2019, when the Liberals won 157 seats and the Conservatives took 121
Read more at: Trudeau made pushing his agenda more complicated with failed bid for majority | CBC News
9/20/21
Netherlands: The Dutch are the world's tallest people. But they're getting shorter, study shows
Statistics Netherlands (or CBS), a government institution that gathers statistics about the country, says that Dutch men born in 2001 are 0.39 inches (1 centimeter) shorter than those born in 1980. Dutch women are 0.55 inches (1.4 centimeters) shorter. Despite these drops, the Netherlands still has the tallest people in the world — with CBS reporting that today's generation stands, on average, at 6 feet (182.9 centimeters) for men and 5.55 feet (169.3 centimeters) for women.
Read morwe at: The Dutch are the world's tallest people. But they're getting shorter, study shows
Read morwe at: The Dutch are the world's tallest people. But they're getting shorter, study shows
Japan -Pfizer Vaccines: Contaminated Pfizer Vaccines Reported In Several Japanese Cities
Several cities in Japan have reported ‘white-colored floating substances’ in Vials of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to Bloomberg.
The vials came from lot FF5357, where white contaminants were first reported by Kamakura City in Kanagawa prefecture. On Tuesday, two more cities – neighboring Sagamihara and Sakai City in Osaka prefecture reported contaminated vials, however there were no reports of adverse reactions. In Sagamihara, white substances were reported at three different vaccination sites on Sept. 11, 12 and 14.
Read more at: Contaminated Pfizer Vaccines Reported In Several Japanese Cities
The vials came from lot FF5357, where white contaminants were first reported by Kamakura City in Kanagawa prefecture. On Tuesday, two more cities – neighboring Sagamihara and Sakai City in Osaka prefecture reported contaminated vials, however there were no reports of adverse reactions. In Sagamihara, white substances were reported at three different vaccination sites on Sept. 11, 12 and 14.
Read more at: Contaminated Pfizer Vaccines Reported In Several Japanese Cities
USA - Poll: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 47% of American Adults say the economy will be weaker a year from now, while just 29% say the economy will be stronger. Fifteen percent (15%) expect the economy will be about the same a year from now. That’s a significant decline in economic confidence from March 2017, when 40% expected a stronger economy.
Read more at: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future - Rasmussen Reports®
Read more at: Americans More Pessimistic About Economic Future - Rasmussen Reports®
EU: The end of the Merkel-Macron era — a mediocre legacy?
Thursday night was probably the last time German Chancellor Angela Merkel walked across the gravel in the Elysée Palace's courtyard to talk business with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The latter came towards her and, with large smiles behind their face masks, both did a fist bump while patting each other on the arm.
Standing in front of a crowd of journalists, they then announced the night's topics: Afghanistan, climate, European cooperation.
Read more at: The end of the Merkel-Macron era — a mediocre legacy? | News | DW | 16.09.2021
The latter came towards her and, with large smiles behind their face masks, both did a fist bump while patting each other on the arm.
Standing in front of a crowd of journalists, they then announced the night's topics: Afghanistan, climate, European cooperation.
Read more at: The end of the Merkel-Macron era — a mediocre legacy? | News | DW | 16.09.2021
Democracy:How democracy can win again – by Gergely Karácsony
My political awakening coincided with the systemic changes that unfolded following the collapse of communism in Hungary in 1989. I was both fascinated and overjoyed by my country’s rapid democratisation. As a teenager, I persuaded my family to drive me to the Austrian border to see history in the making: the dismantling of the Iron Curtain, which allowed east-German refugees to head for the west. Reading many new publications and attending rallies for newly established democratic political parties, I was swept up by the atmosphere of unbounded hope for our future.
Today, such sentiments seem like childish naivety, or at least the product of an idyllic state of mind. Both democracy and the future of human civilisation are now in grave danger, beset by multifaceted and overlapping crises.
Read more at: How democracy can win again – Gergely Karácsony
Today, such sentiments seem like childish naivety, or at least the product of an idyllic state of mind. Both democracy and the future of human civilisation are now in grave danger, beset by multifaceted and overlapping crises.
Read more at: How democracy can win again – Gergely Karácsony
9/19/21
EU: COVID-19 situation update for the EU/EEA, as of 17 September 2021
At the request of Member States, data on the daily number of new reported COVID-19 cases and deaths by EU/EEA country will be available to download from 11 March 2021. ECDC will continue to publish weekly updates on the number of cases and deaths reported in the EU/EEA and worldwide every Thursday. The daily and weekly data are available as downloadable files in the following formats: XLSX, CSV, JSON and XML.
Read more at: COVID-19 situation update for the EU/EEA, as of 17 September 2021
Read more at: COVID-19 situation update for the EU/EEA, as of 17 September 2021
9/18/21
France: Repercussions milltarry pact US, Britain and Australia against China: as France recalls ambassadors to US, Australia over sub deal
America’s oldest ally, France, recalled its ambassador to the United States on Friday in an unprecedented show of anger that dwarfed decades of previous rifts.
The relationship conceived in 18th century revolutions appeared at a tipping point after the U.S., Australia and Britain shunned France in creating a new Indo-Pacific security arrangement.
It was the first time ever France has recalled its ambassador to the U.S., according to the French foreign ministry. Paris also recalled its envoy to Australia.
Read more at: France recalls ambassadors to US, Australia over sub deal
The relationship conceived in 18th century revolutions appeared at a tipping point after the U.S., Australia and Britain shunned France in creating a new Indo-Pacific security arrangement.
It was the first time ever France has recalled its ambassador to the U.S., according to the French foreign ministry. Paris also recalled its envoy to Australia.
Read more at: France recalls ambassadors to US, Australia over sub deal
'Brazil: Everybody has to buy a rifle, damn it!' Brazilian President Bolsonaro tells his supporters
Armed people will never be enslaved, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, who is trailing in polls for the 2022 election, told a crowd of his supporters in the capital Brasilia, urging everyone to get a rifle as soon as possible.
Bolsonaro’s ratings have crumbled amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen Brazil become one of the world’s worst-affected countries with almost 21 million infections and more than 578,000 deaths. A recent poll by XP/Ipespe revealed that only 24% of those surveyed plan to vote for the 66-year-old when he runs for reelection next year, while his leftist opponent, former president Luiz Inacio Lula. da Silva, received the support of some 40%.
Read more at: 'Everybody has to buy a rifle, damn it!' Brazilian President Bolsonaro tells his supporters
Bolsonaro’s ratings have crumbled amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has seen Brazil become one of the world’s worst-affected countries with almost 21 million infections and more than 578,000 deaths. A recent poll by XP/Ipespe revealed that only 24% of those surveyed plan to vote for the 66-year-old when he runs for reelection next year, while his leftist opponent, former president Luiz Inacio Lula. da Silva, received the support of some 40%.
Read more at: 'Everybody has to buy a rifle, damn it!' Brazilian President Bolsonaro tells his supporters
USA: Washington DC rally in support of 6 January rioters falls short of expectations | US Capitol attack
A few hundred protesters turned out. They said such low turnout was the result of government intimidation and press scaremongering.
A series of speakers told of family members arrested by the FBI who were now “political detainees”. One woman spoke about her boyfriend in solitary confinement. She read a letter from him.
Read more at: Washington DC rally in support of 6 January rioters falls short of expectations | US Capitol attack | The Guardian
A series of speakers told of family members arrested by the FBI who were now “political detainees”. One woman spoke about her boyfriend in solitary confinement. She read a letter from him.
Read more at: Washington DC rally in support of 6 January rioters falls short of expectations | US Capitol attack | The Guardian
9/17/21
USA: FDA panel approves Pfizer COVID vaccine booster shots for 65 and over - but not for everyone
Eighty-four percent of vaccine advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted Friday against a measure that would support booster shots in those ages 16 years and older. However, the panel unanimously voted in support of boosters for those 65 and over and at high risk.
Read more at: https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/09/84-of-fda-vaccine-advisers-vote-no-on-pfizer-vaccine-boosters.html
Read more at: https://www.nj.com/coronavirus/2021/09/84-of-fda-vaccine-advisers-vote-no-on-pfizer-vaccine-boosters.html
9/16/21
America’s New Anti-China Alliance
A Pacific Anglo Military Alliance ? There we go again. What nonsense. The US has only itself to fear, and better start cleaning up their own political and economic mess. They are also not the only Sheriff in town anymore.
Read more at: America’s New Anti-China Alliance - The Atlantic
Read more at: America’s New Anti-China Alliance - The Atlantic
The Netherlands: Dutch foreign minister resigns over Afghan evacuation
Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag resigned on Thursday following a vote of no confidence in parliament.
A parliamentary majority decided that she had mishandled the evacuation of refugees from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control.
Read more at: Dutch foreign minister resigns over Afghan evacuation | News | DW | 16.09.2021
A parliamentary majority decided that she had mishandled the evacuation of refugees from Afghanistan after the Taliban seized control.
Read more at: Dutch foreign minister resigns over Afghan evacuation | News | DW | 16.09.2021
USA: For most Americans, the future looks 'bleak:' study
Americans who don’t have a college degree are now facing a “bleak” and deadlier future compared to those who do, according to Princeton researchers who recently found increasing deaths by drugs, alcohol and suicide, known as “deaths of despair,” are largely concentrated among this group while a college degree appears to act as a talisman against them.
Readmore at: For most Americans, the future looks 'bleak:' study | U.S. News
Readmore at: For most Americans, the future looks 'bleak:' study | U.S. News
9/15/21
Paris to Berlin in an hour: Welcome to the future of high-speed rail travel in Europe
Picture this: the year is 2045. You’re standing on a platform in Berlin awaiting a sleek Hyperloop pod that will glide into the station to a noiseless halt and then deposit you in Paris an hour later, ready for your morning meeting.
In the afternoon, you’ll take another southbound pod on a leisurely trip to Barcelona for the weekend, a journey that will take no more than 90 minutes.
The speed and ease is no longer a surprise to you because in the last quarter-century, almost all travel throughout Europe has shifted from the skies to the ground.
Read more at: Paris to Berlin in an hour: Welcome to the future of high-speed rail travel in Europe | Euronews
In the afternoon, you’ll take another southbound pod on a leisurely trip to Barcelona for the weekend, a journey that will take no more than 90 minutes.
The speed and ease is no longer a surprise to you because in the last quarter-century, almost all travel throughout Europe has shifted from the skies to the ground.
Read more at: Paris to Berlin in an hour: Welcome to the future of high-speed rail travel in Europe | Euronews
USA - California: Gavin Newsom Beat the Recall and It Wasn't Even Close
Governor Gavin Newsom beat back the Republican recall attempt in a landslide, with nearly 64 percent of participants voting no as of Wednesday morning.
Read more at: Morning Brief: Gavin Newsom Beat the Recall and It Wasn't Even Close
Read more at: Morning Brief: Gavin Newsom Beat the Recall and It Wasn't Even Close
The Netherlands: 150,000 people joined protests against nightlife restrictions in the Netherlands this weekend
150,000 people reportedly marched in ten cities, 80,000 of which in Amsterdam alone, also taking to the larger provinces of The Hague, Eindhoven, Groningen, and Utrecht following an earlier protest in August. ‘Unmute Us!’ sparked international attention, with an aim to call attention to the plight of the nightlife industry.
The protest demanded that the Dutch government to amend COVID restrictions in the country after noting the successful reopening of clubs elsewhere in Europe.
Read more at: 150,000 people joined protests against nightlife restrictions in the Netherlands this weekend - News - Mixmag
The protest demanded that the Dutch government to amend COVID restrictions in the country after noting the successful reopening of clubs elsewhere in Europe.
Read more at: 150,000 people joined protests against nightlife restrictions in the Netherlands this weekend - News - Mixmag
'France: French Elvis' Johnny Hallyday honoured with statue and concert
A statue, a concert and a name change on the Metro were among the ways France was paying homage to its most beloved rock star, Johnny Hallyday, on Tuesday.
The tributes began on Tuesday morning with a small concert from the last five musicians to play alongside Hallyday, who were accompanied by a number of the bikers who escorted the singer’s coffin down the Champs-Elysée in 2017.
Read more at: 'French Elvis' Johnny Hallyday honoured with statue and concert - The Local
The tributes began on Tuesday morning with a small concert from the last five musicians to play alongside Hallyday, who were accompanied by a number of the bikers who escorted the singer’s coffin down the Champs-Elysée in 2017.
Read more at: 'French Elvis' Johnny Hallyday honoured with statue and concert - The Local
Greenland: Rain fell on Greenland’s ice sheet for the first time ever known. Alarms should ring - by Kim Heacox
Many people believed he couldn’t do it. Ski across the Greenland ice sheet, a vast, unmapped, high-elevation plateau of ice and snow? Madness.
But Fridtjof Nansen, a young Norwegian, proved them wrong. In 1888, he and his small party went light and fast, unlike two large expeditions a few years before. And unlike the others, Nansen traveled from east to west, giving himself no option of retreat to a safe base. It would be forward or die trying. He did it in seven weeks, man-hauling his supplies and ascending to 8,900ft (2,700 meters) elevation, where summertime temperatures dropped to -49F (-45C).That was then.
Last month, for the first time in recorded history, rain fell on the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet. It hardly made the news. But rain in a place historically defined by bitter cold portends a future that will alter coastlines around the world, and drown entire cities.
Read more at: Rain fell on Greenland’s ice sheet for the first time ever known. Alarms should ring | Kim Heacox | The Guardian
But Fridtjof Nansen, a young Norwegian, proved them wrong. In 1888, he and his small party went light and fast, unlike two large expeditions a few years before. And unlike the others, Nansen traveled from east to west, giving himself no option of retreat to a safe base. It would be forward or die trying. He did it in seven weeks, man-hauling his supplies and ascending to 8,900ft (2,700 meters) elevation, where summertime temperatures dropped to -49F (-45C).That was then.
Last month, for the first time in recorded history, rain fell on the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet. It hardly made the news. But rain in a place historically defined by bitter cold portends a future that will alter coastlines around the world, and drown entire cities.
Read more at: Rain fell on Greenland’s ice sheet for the first time ever known. Alarms should ring | Kim Heacox | The Guardian
9/14/21
The EU′s 4 persistent problems still dogging the bloc
The findings of a recent Eurobarometer survey, commissioned by the European Union itself, are clear: Citizens in the bloc believe that the main issues it should be addressing are climate change, the COVID pandemic, health care, the economic situation and social inequality. These are thus the themes that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will broach in her second State of the Union address before the European Parliament this coming Wednesday as she takes stock of the achievements of the past year and announces new measures.
Read more at: The EU′s 4 persistent problems still dogging the bloc | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 14.09.2021
Read more at: The EU′s 4 persistent problems still dogging the bloc | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 14.09.2021
China: Southeast China cases soar amid delta outbreak
The city of Xiamen in Fujian province, China has locked down high risk area
China is racing to control new local COVID-19 infections which have more than doubled in its southeastern province of Fujian.
The country's National Health Commission reported 59 new domestically transmitted cases on Tuesday, up from 22 the day before. All of the cases were in Fujian province.
Read more At: Coronavirus digest: Southeast China cases soar amid delta outbreak | News | DW | 14.09.2021
China is racing to control new local COVID-19 infections which have more than doubled in its southeastern province of Fujian.
The country's National Health Commission reported 59 new domestically transmitted cases on Tuesday, up from 22 the day before. All of the cases were in Fujian province.
Read more At: Coronavirus digest: Southeast China cases soar amid delta outbreak | News | DW | 14.09.2021
EU-September EU Travel Restrictions: Covid-19 Vaccination, Testing And Quarantine Rules By Country- by Alex Ledsom
The last hurrahs of summer are bringing more travel complications, as countries are increasingly deluged with rising daily infection rates of Covid-19 and specifically, the tricky Delta variant:
The U.S. has been removed from the EU’s safe list for non-essential travel because its daily infection rate is far higher than the 75 daily cases per 100,000 people needed over a 14-day period to stay on this list–Israel was also removed.
It was a move seen by some to be valid, not only because of rising rates in the U.S. but also because the EU is neck and neck with the U.S. on vaccination rates and because of the continued lack of reciprocity from the U.S. in rescinding the travel ban which has been place since March 2020–airlines now fear a November opening.
Read more at: September EU Travel Restrictions: Covid-19 Vaccination, Testing And Quarantine Rules By Country
The U.S. has been removed from the EU’s safe list for non-essential travel because its daily infection rate is far higher than the 75 daily cases per 100,000 people needed over a 14-day period to stay on this list–Israel was also removed.
It was a move seen by some to be valid, not only because of rising rates in the U.S. but also because the EU is neck and neck with the U.S. on vaccination rates and because of the continued lack of reciprocity from the U.S. in rescinding the travel ban which has been place since March 2020–airlines now fear a November opening.
Read more at: September EU Travel Restrictions: Covid-19 Vaccination, Testing And Quarantine Rules By Country
9/13/21
The Netherlands: Uber Loses Battle Over Drivers’ Rights in the Netherlands
Uber Technologies Inc. lost another suit over its drivers’ working rights after an Amsterdam court ruled workers who ferry passengers using the Uber app in the Netherlands are covered by a local collective labor law.
The legal relationship between Uber and its drivers meets all of the characteristics of an employment contract, the court said in its judgement. Uber must apply the Collective Labor Agreement for Taxi Transport to protect drivers, allowing them in some cases to claim overdue salary. Uber was also ordered to pay the local labor union, FNV, 50,000 euros ($59,000) in compensation for failing to comply with the agreement.
Read more at: Uber Loses Battle Over Drivers’ Rights in the Netherlands
The legal relationship between Uber and its drivers meets all of the characteristics of an employment contract, the court said in its judgement. Uber must apply the Collective Labor Agreement for Taxi Transport to protect drivers, allowing them in some cases to claim overdue salary. Uber was also ordered to pay the local labor union, FNV, 50,000 euros ($59,000) in compensation for failing to comply with the agreement.
Read more at: Uber Loses Battle Over Drivers’ Rights in the Netherlands
USA: 'Still in pandemic mode': COVID-19 nowhere near 'under control' in US, warns Anthony Fauci
COVID-19 is “nowhere near under control” in the United States and the cases have surged more than ten times higher than they need to be in order to end the pandemic, US top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday. His remarks follow the warnings about the upcoming coronavirus mutations that he stated could be even more contagious than the delta of the coronavirus lineage. The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) told Axios in an interview that the US has a mounting caseload of COVID-19 which is "not even modestly good control". "Until the cases dip to 10,000 a day, we are still in full ‘pandemic mode’," the infectious disease expert said.
Read more at: 'Still in pandemic mode': COVID-19 nowhere near 'under control' in US, warns Anthony Fauci
Read more at: 'Still in pandemic mode': COVID-19 nowhere near 'under control' in US, warns Anthony Fauci
Europe Doesn’t Want to Fight America’s Battles Anymore -by Christopher Caldwell
To listen to the debate in Europe over the chaotic retreat of United States troops from Afghanistan is to be struck by what a huge vocabulary Europeans have developed over the centuries for describing military calamities. What we just witnessed has already been described as a débâcle, a débandade, a dégringolade and a déroute, not to mention a “rout,” a “fiasco” and a “humiliation.”
The question at the heart of these discussions is whether the botched withdrawal is a failure serious enough to merit a rethinking of European-American defense arrangements. The Afghan war was a NATO operation, involving the core of the trans-Atlantic alliance system that dates from the Cold War. American fecklessness has left European leaders infuriated. In Germany, Armin Laschet, who is running to replace his Christian Democratic colleague Angela Merkel as chancellor in national elections this month, speaks of “the greatest debacle NATO has suffered since its founding.”
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/opinion/afghanistan-europe-nato.html
The question at the heart of these discussions is whether the botched withdrawal is a failure serious enough to merit a rethinking of European-American defense arrangements. The Afghan war was a NATO operation, involving the core of the trans-Atlantic alliance system that dates from the Cold War. American fecklessness has left European leaders infuriated. In Germany, Armin Laschet, who is running to replace his Christian Democratic colleague Angela Merkel as chancellor in national elections this month, speaks of “the greatest debacle NATO has suffered since its founding.”
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/opinion/afghanistan-europe-nato.html
EU: Netherlands to stop social distancing but expand Covid entry passes from Sept. 25
Physical distancing rules in the Netherlands that call for people to remain 1.5 meters away from each other will be cancelled as of September 25. From that same date, a coronavirus pass frequently generated by the CoronaCheck app will be mandatory for everyone aged 13 and older when visiting catering businesses and cultural venues, including cafés, concert halls and theaters, sources close to the Cabinet confirmed after reports from RTL Nieuws, De Telegraaf and NOS.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge are expected to announce the decisions during a press conference on Tuesday evening. Rutte and members of the Cabinet met on Sunday with pandemic advisors from the Outbreak Management Team to discuss the coronavirus situation in the Netherlands at Catshuis, the prime minister’s official residence.
Read more at: Netherlands to stop social distancing but expand Covid entry passes from Sept. 25 | NL Times
Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Health Minister Hugo de Jonge are expected to announce the decisions during a press conference on Tuesday evening. Rutte and members of the Cabinet met on Sunday with pandemic advisors from the Outbreak Management Team to discuss the coronavirus situation in the Netherlands at Catshuis, the prime minister’s official residence.
Read more at: Netherlands to stop social distancing but expand Covid entry passes from Sept. 25 | NL Times
North Korea says it successfully tested a new long-range cruise missile
North Korea says it successfully test fired what it described as newly developed long-range cruise missiles over the weekend, its first known testing activity in months that underscored how it continues to expand its military capabilities amid a stalemate in nuclear negotiations with the United States.
The Korean Central News Agency said Monday the cruise missiles, which had been under development for two years, successfully hit targets 1,500 kilometres away during its flight tests on Saturday and Sunday.
Read more at: North Korea says it successfully tested a new long-range cruise missile | CBC News
The Korean Central News Agency said Monday the cruise missiles, which had been under development for two years, successfully hit targets 1,500 kilometres away during its flight tests on Saturday and Sunday.
Read more at: North Korea says it successfully tested a new long-range cruise missile | CBC News
Afghanistan's universities now officially segregated by sex
Women in Afghanistan will be allowed to study in universities as the country seeks to rebuild after decades of war — but segregation by sex and a dress code will be mandatory, the Taliban's new higher education minister said on Sunday.
The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, said the new Taliban government, named last week, would "start building the country on what exists today" and did not want to turn the clock back 20 years to when the movement was last in power.
He said female students would be taught by women wherever possible and classrooms would remain separated, in accordance with the movement's interpretation of Shariah law.
"Thanks to God we have a high number of women teachers. We will not face any problems in this. All efforts will be made to find and provide women teachers for female students," he told a news conference in Kabul.
Note EU-Digets: This is not unique for Afghanistan. Many Muslim countries who practice Sharia Law, including Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the US and many Western countries, which sell them billions of Dollars and Euros of weapons, have segragated places of learning.
Read more at: Afghanistan's universities now officially segregated by sex | CBC News
The minister, Abdul Baqi Haqqani, said the new Taliban government, named last week, would "start building the country on what exists today" and did not want to turn the clock back 20 years to when the movement was last in power.
He said female students would be taught by women wherever possible and classrooms would remain separated, in accordance with the movement's interpretation of Shariah law.
"Thanks to God we have a high number of women teachers. We will not face any problems in this. All efforts will be made to find and provide women teachers for female students," he told a news conference in Kabul.
Note EU-Digets: This is not unique for Afghanistan. Many Muslim countries who practice Sharia Law, including Saudi Arabia, a close ally of the US and many Western countries, which sell them billions of Dollars and Euros of weapons, have segragated places of learning.
Read more at: Afghanistan's universities now officially segregated by sex | CBC News
9/12/21
USA - Coronavirus- statistics: Florida Won't Release Number of COVID Deaths in Individual Counties Despite Surge in Cases
The exact number of COVID deaths in counties in Florida remains unconfirmed as the state reportedly will not reveal the data as cases surge amid the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Florida releases data related to COVID deaths on a state level, but hasn't been disclosing the number of deaths on a county level for three months, The Palm Beach Post reported.
Read more at: https://www.newsweek.com/florida-wont-release-number-covid-deaths-individual-counties-despite-surge-cases-1628067?utm_source=PushnamiMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=automatic&UTM=1631368618680&subscriberId=5ef650d523994a6b87f208b6
Florida releases data related to COVID deaths on a state level, but hasn't been disclosing the number of deaths on a county level for three months, The Palm Beach Post reported.
Read more at: https://www.newsweek.com/florida-wont-release-number-covid-deaths-individual-counties-despite-surge-cases-1628067?utm_source=PushnamiMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=automatic&UTM=1631368618680&subscriberId=5ef650d523994a6b87f208b6
Climate change almost completely destabilizes Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, study finds - by Sarah Kaplan
Human-caused warming has led to an “almost complete loss of stability” in the system that drives Atlantic Ocean currents, a new study has found — raising the worrying prospect that this critical aquatic “conveyor belt” could be close to collapse.
In recent years, scientists have warned about a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which transports warm, salty water from the tropics to northern Europe and then sends colder water back south along the ocean floor. Researchers who study ancient climate change have also uncovered evidence that the AMOC can turn off abruptly, causing wild temperature swings and other dramatic shifts in global weather systems.
Read more at Climate change almost completely destabilizes Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, study finds - The Washington Post
In recent years, scientists have warned about a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), which transports warm, salty water from the tropics to northern Europe and then sends colder water back south along the ocean floor. Researchers who study ancient climate change have also uncovered evidence that the AMOC can turn off abruptly, causing wild temperature swings and other dramatic shifts in global weather systems.
Read more at Climate change almost completely destabilizes Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, study finds - The Washington Post
USA: Covid Vaccine Resisters Seek Religious Exemptions. But What Counts? - by Ruth Graham
When Crisann Holmes’s employer announced last month that it would require all employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by Nov. 1, she knew she had to find a way out.
She signed a petition to ask the company to relax its mandate. She joined an informal protest, skipping work with other dissenting employees at the mental health care system where she has worked for two years. And she attempted a solution that many across the country are now exploring: a religious exemption.
Read more at: Covid Vaccine Resisters Seek Religious Exemptions. But What Counts? - The New York Times
She signed a petition to ask the company to relax its mandate. She joined an informal protest, skipping work with other dissenting employees at the mental health care system where she has worked for two years. And she attempted a solution that many across the country are now exploring: a religious exemption.
Read more at: Covid Vaccine Resisters Seek Religious Exemptions. But What Counts? - The New York Times
9/10/21
Europe Doesn’t Want to Fight America’s Battles Anymore -by Christopher Caldwell
To listen to the debate in Europe over the chaotic retreat of United States troops from Afghanistan is to be struck by what a huge vocabulary Europeans have developed over the centuries for describing military calamities. What we just witnessed has already been described as a débâcle, a débandade, a dégringolade and a déroute, not to mention a “rout,” a “fiasco” and a “humiliation.”
The question at the heart of these discussions is whether the botched withdrawal is a failure serious enough to merit a rethinking of European-American defense arrangements. The Afghan war was a NATO operation, involving the core of the trans-Atlantic alliance system that dates from the Cold War. American fecklessness has left European leaders infuriated. In Germany, Armin Laschet, who is running to replace his Christian Democratic colleague Angela Merkel as chancellor in national elections this month, speaks of “the greatest debacle NATO has suffered since its founding.”
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/opinion/afghanistan-europe-nato.html
The question at the heart of these discussions is whether the botched withdrawal is a failure serious enough to merit a rethinking of European-American defense arrangements. The Afghan war was a NATO operation, involving the core of the trans-Atlantic alliance system that dates from the Cold War. American fecklessness has left European leaders infuriated. In Germany, Armin Laschet, who is running to replace his Christian Democratic colleague Angela Merkel as chancellor in national elections this month, speaks of “the greatest debacle NATO has suffered since its founding.”
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/03/opinion/afghanistan-europe-nato.html
Afghanistan: EU blasts new Taliban-formed government as neither 'inclusive nor representative'
The European Union on Wednesday criticised the interim government formed by the Taliban in Afghanistan as neither "inclusive" nor "representative" of the country's ethnic and religious diversity.
"It does not look like the inclusive and representative formation of Afghanistan's rich ethnic and religious diversity that we had hoped to see and that the Taliban promised in recent weeks," an EU spokesman said in a statement.
Key positions in Afghanistan's new caretaker government were announced by the Taliban on Tuesday evening. The cabinet is all-male and stacked with prominent Taliban fighters who already helmed key posts during the militant group's hardline regime between 1996 and 2001.
Read more at: EU blasts new Taliban-formed government as neither 'inclusive nor representative' | Euronews
"It does not look like the inclusive and representative formation of Afghanistan's rich ethnic and religious diversity that we had hoped to see and that the Taliban promised in recent weeks," an EU spokesman said in a statement.
Key positions in Afghanistan's new caretaker government were announced by the Taliban on Tuesday evening. The cabinet is all-male and stacked with prominent Taliban fighters who already helmed key posts during the militant group's hardline regime between 1996 and 2001.
Read more at: EU blasts new Taliban-formed government as neither 'inclusive nor representative' | Euronews
9/9/21
EU Main Drug Entry Points: Netherlands, Belgium supplant Spain as main gateways into Europe for cocaine
Belgium and the Netherlands have become the main hubs for cocaine trafficking to Europe, supplanting Spain as the main route of entry into European countries, Europol said on Tuesday.
The report from the European police agency noted that criminal organisations, from Colombia especially, are using the ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany) and especially Antwerp (Belgium) to bring the drugs into the Netherlands, from where they are transported throughout Europe.
"The epicentre of the cocaine market in Europe has shifted northwards," the report, drawn up in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said.
Read more at: Netherlands, Belgium supplant Spain as main gateways into Europe for cocaine | Euronews
The report from the European police agency noted that criminal organisations, from Colombia especially, are using the ports of Rotterdam (Netherlands), Hamburg (Germany) and especially Antwerp (Belgium) to bring the drugs into the Netherlands, from where they are transported throughout Europe.
"The epicentre of the cocaine market in Europe has shifted northwards," the report, drawn up in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said.
Read more at: Netherlands, Belgium supplant Spain as main gateways into Europe for cocaine | Euronews
USA -Texas: US Justice Department sues Texas over abortion law
The US Justice Department is suing Texas over a new state law that bans most abortions, saying it was enacted "in open defiance of the Constitution."
A lawsuit filed Thursday in a Texas federal court calls on judges to declare the law invalid, prevent it from being enforced and "protect the rights that Texas has violated."
The Texas law prohibits abortions after medical professionals detect cardiac activity — usually around six weeks after conception, a point at which some women do not know they are pregnant.
RFead more at: US Justice Department sues Texas over abortion law | News | DW | 09.09.2021
A lawsuit filed Thursday in a Texas federal court calls on judges to declare the law invalid, prevent it from being enforced and "protect the rights that Texas has violated."
The Texas law prohibits abortions after medical professionals detect cardiac activity — usually around six weeks after conception, a point at which some women do not know they are pregnant.
RFead more at: US Justice Department sues Texas over abortion law | News | DW | 09.09.2021
9/8/21
Africa- Guinea Soldiers detain Guinea's president, dissolve government
Mutinous soldiers in the West African nation of Guinea detained President Alpha Condé on Sunday after hours of heavy gunfire rang out near the presidential palace in the capital, then announced on state television that the government had been dissolved in an apparent coup d'etat.
Read more at: Soldiers detain Guinea's president, dissolve government | CBC News
Read more at: Soldiers detain Guinea's president, dissolve government | CBC News
9/7/21
Canada: Despite a 4th wave, Canada will welcome fully vaccinated foreign travellers on Tuesday September 7
On Sept. 7, Canada will open its borders to fully vaccinated travellers from across the globe, and let them skip the country's 14-day quarantine requirement.
The rule change is significant, as most non-essential foreign travellers have been barred from entering Canada since the start of the pandemic.
Read more at: Despite a 4th wave, Canada will welcome fully vaccinated foreign travellers on Tuesday | CBC News
The rule change is significant, as most non-essential foreign travellers have been barred from entering Canada since the start of the pandemic.
Read more at: Despite a 4th wave, Canada will welcome fully vaccinated foreign travellers on Tuesday | CBC News
USA: Trump’s coup attempt has not stopped – and Democrats must wake up |- by Robert Reich
he former president’s attempted coup is not stopping. He still refuses to concede and continues to rile up supporters with his bogus claim that the 2020 election was stolen. Tens of millions of Americans believe him.
Last Sunday, at a Republican event in Franklin, North Carolina, Congressman Madison Cawthorn, repeating Trump’s big lie, called the rioters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January “political hostages”.
Cawthorn also advised the crowd to begin stockpiling ammunition for what he said was likely to be American-versus-American “bloodshed” over unfavorable election results.
Read more at: Trump’s coup attempt has not stopped – and Democrats must wake up | Robert Reich | The Guardian
Last Sunday, at a Republican event in Franklin, North Carolina, Congressman Madison Cawthorn, repeating Trump’s big lie, called the rioters who stormed the Capitol on 6 January “political hostages”.
Cawthorn also advised the crowd to begin stockpiling ammunition for what he said was likely to be American-versus-American “bloodshed” over unfavorable election results.
Read more at: Trump’s coup attempt has not stopped – and Democrats must wake up | Robert Reich | The Guardian
9/6/21
France: Europe can no longer rely on US for protection aays French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire
Europe has to become No. 3 super-power besides China and the United States. Let's open our eyes, we are facing threats and we cannot rely anymore on the protection of the United States," Le Maire told reporters during an annual business conference in Cernobbio on Lake Como on Saturday.
The French minister said Paris had decided to invest 1.7 billion euros ($2.02 billion) more in defence this year and would like to see other European countries to do the same.
The minister also called other EU member states to invest and to deepen their single market to achieve technological independence from big overseas companies and third countries.
Read more at: Europe can no longer rely on US for protection | The Daily Star
The French minister said Paris had decided to invest 1.7 billion euros ($2.02 billion) more in defence this year and would like to see other European countries to do the same.
The minister also called other EU member states to invest and to deepen their single market to achieve technological independence from big overseas companies and third countries.
Read more at: Europe can no longer rely on US for protection | The Daily Star
The Netherlands: Climate change poses serious health risk for people in the Netherlands, says expert
The Dutch medicine journal NTvG joined 200 other medical journals worldwide in their call for world leaders to intensify their effort in combating climate change, NOS reported.
Climate change poses an immediate risk for public health, the experts said. “Climate change and the decline in biodiversity is a much larger problem than the pandemic”, NTvG editor-in-chief Olde Rikkert told NOS Radio 1 Journaal. “While you do have a vaccine for the coronavirus, you don’t have that for climate change and biodiversity.”
The experts said they believe the earth is steering towards a two degrees Celsius temperature increase.
Read more at: Climate change poses serious health risk for people in the Netherlands, says expert | NL Times
Climate change poses an immediate risk for public health, the experts said. “Climate change and the decline in biodiversity is a much larger problem than the pandemic”, NTvG editor-in-chief Olde Rikkert told NOS Radio 1 Journaal. “While you do have a vaccine for the coronavirus, you don’t have that for climate change and biodiversity.”
The experts said they believe the earth is steering towards a two degrees Celsius temperature increase.
Read more at: Climate change poses serious health risk for people in the Netherlands, says expert | NL Times
USA: COVID-19 deaths surge across America as summer draws to a close; Fauci says boosters likely to start with Pfizer only
Coronavirus case counts are once again rising across the US, near and far. Health officials are scrambling to vaccinate as the Delta variant takes hold.
Read more at: COVID-19 deaths surge across America as summer draws to a close; Fauci says boosters likely to start with Pfizer only
Read more at: COVID-19 deaths surge across America as summer draws to a close; Fauci says boosters likely to start with Pfizer only
Afghan - Turkey Relations: Taliban spokesman: Afghanistan considers co-op with Turkey
Afghanistan will cooperate with Turkey once the new government is formed, Taliban’s spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid told Turkey’s Yeni Shafak newspaper on September 5.
Commenting on Turkey’s positive messages towards the Taliban, Mujahid said that they highly appreciate Turkey’s efforts and they will reciprocate once the new government is formed.
"We will invite Turkey in the best possible way after the responsibilities and the government are settled. Turkey has a very special place for us. There is a lot of work to be done,” Mujahid said.
Read more at: Taliban spokesman: Afghanistan considers co-op with Turkey
Commenting on Turkey’s positive messages towards the Taliban, Mujahid said that they highly appreciate Turkey’s efforts and they will reciprocate once the new government is formed.
"We will invite Turkey in the best possible way after the responsibilities and the government are settled. Turkey has a very special place for us. There is a lot of work to be done,” Mujahid said.
Read more at: Taliban spokesman: Afghanistan considers co-op with Turkey
China-US Relations: The US and China can't get along -- even if the planet's future is at stake
In July, the Chinese city of Zhengzhou was devastated by flooding that killed subway passengers and motorists unable to escape from underground tunnels. And just last week, flooding stretched across the United States' East Coast, drowning a family of three in their submerged apartment and sweeping two young adults into a storm drain.
And yet, despite facing the same common threat, China and the United States -- the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters -- remain at odds when it comes to climate action.
Read more at The US and China can't get along -- even if the planet's future is at stake
And yet, despite facing the same common threat, China and the United States -- the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters -- remain at odds when it comes to climate action.
Read more at The US and China can't get along -- even if the planet's future is at stake
9/5/21
The Netherlands: Verstappen's like royalty as Dutch king watches home win
Wearing the Dutch national flag like a cape, Max Verstappen felt like royalty as he stood atop the podium at his home race.
He treated his fans — including King Willem-Alexander — to a superb win at the Netherlands Grand Prix on Sunday to wrestle back the lead from Lewis Hamilton, who finished second ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Read more at: Verstappen's like royalty as Dutch king watches home win
He treated his fans — including King Willem-Alexander — to a superb win at the Netherlands Grand Prix on Sunday to wrestle back the lead from Lewis Hamilton, who finished second ahead of Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Read more at: Verstappen's like royalty as Dutch king watches home win
9/4/21
USA: The US Industrial Military Complex: Despite Trillions Spent, the US Military Hasn't Won a Real War Since 1945 - by Miles Mogulescu
The United States emerged from its victory in World War II as the world's preeminent superpower. Its annual military budget—about three-quarters of a trillion dollars a year—exceeds the aggregate of the next ten countries in the world.
Yet despite America's apparent global military supremacy, of the approximately dozen wars the U.S. has fought since 1945 (depending on how you're counting) the U.S. has lost every real war it has fought. (Its only "victories" have been minor military incursions to overthrow unfriendly governments in Grenada, population approximately 120,000, and Panama, population approximately 4.2 million.)
After millions of deaths of Americans and foreigners and trillions of dollars lost in places like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, is the U.S. any safer and secure because it fought these losing wars in far-off lands? No.
Have the American people benefited from these wars? No. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded and trillions of dollars have been spent.
So if the American people don't benefit from these endless losing wars, why do we keep fighting them? The short answer is that there are powerful forces in America that get rich from endless wars: The military-industrial complex and its political and economic servants and enablers.
Read more at: Opinion | Despite Trillions Spent, the US Military Hasn't Won a Real War Since 1945 | Miles Mogulescu
Yet despite America's apparent global military supremacy, of the approximately dozen wars the U.S. has fought since 1945 (depending on how you're counting) the U.S. has lost every real war it has fought. (Its only "victories" have been minor military incursions to overthrow unfriendly governments in Grenada, population approximately 120,000, and Panama, population approximately 4.2 million.)
After millions of deaths of Americans and foreigners and trillions of dollars lost in places like Vietnam, Afghanistan, and the Middle East, is the U.S. any safer and secure because it fought these losing wars in far-off lands? No.
Have the American people benefited from these wars? No. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have been killed or wounded and trillions of dollars have been spent.
So if the American people don't benefit from these endless losing wars, why do we keep fighting them? The short answer is that there are powerful forces in America that get rich from endless wars: The military-industrial complex and its political and economic servants and enablers.
Read more at: Opinion | Despite Trillions Spent, the US Military Hasn't Won a Real War Since 1945 | Miles Mogulescu
USA: Joe Biden is now the embodiment of US decline - by Ian O'Doherty
Oh my God. It just gets worse.
When we saw the first signs that the Americans were going to cut and run from Afghanistan, many people assumed it was just another example of the consistent failures of US foreign policy.
Yes, the United States is the greatest country in the world. But it has a pretty disastrous record when it comes to overseas adventures.
Read more at: Joe Biden is now the embodiment of US decline - Independent.ie
When we saw the first signs that the Americans were going to cut and run from Afghanistan, many people assumed it was just another example of the consistent failures of US foreign policy.
Yes, the United States is the greatest country in the world. But it has a pretty disastrous record when it comes to overseas adventures.
Read more at: Joe Biden is now the embodiment of US decline - Independent.ie
9/3/21
Coronavirus Cases: U.S. child COVID-19 cases continue to rise as kids return to school
Children represented over 20 percent of weekly COVID-19 cases in the United States by the end of August, according to a report by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.
A total of 203,962 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the week from Aug. 19 to Aug. 26, accounting for 22.4 percent of the weekly reported cases in the country, said the report.
Over two weeks from Aug. 12 to Aug. 26, there was a 9 percent increase in the cumulated number of child COVID-19 cases, it said.
Read more at: U.S. child COVID-19 cases continue to rise as kids return to school - Xinhua
A total of 203,962 child COVID-19 cases were reported in the week from Aug. 19 to Aug. 26, accounting for 22.4 percent of the weekly reported cases in the country, said the report.
Over two weeks from Aug. 12 to Aug. 26, there was a 9 percent increase in the cumulated number of child COVID-19 cases, it said.
Read more at: U.S. child COVID-19 cases continue to rise as kids return to school - Xinhua
The Netherlands: Minority coalition looms after Rutte swipes left on PvdA-GL pact
The next Dutch government looks likely to be a minority coalition after all other options were categorically ruled out this week.
Read more at: Minority coalition looms after Rutte swipes left on PvdA-GL pact - DutchNews.nl
Read more at: Minority coalition looms after Rutte swipes left on PvdA-GL pact - DutchNews.nl
9/2/21
Moldova -Russian rel;ations: Why has it taken Moldova so long to shake off its Soviet legacy?
After a few months of heavy fighting between the Moldovan army and pro-Russian rebels backed by the ex-14th Soviet Army, a peace treaty was signed between Moldova and Russian Federation in July 1992.
Since then, the region has become one of Europe's frozen conflicts. Russia de facto controls the political secessionist regime in Tiraspol, although Moscow acts like a mediator in the international 5+2 format for negotiations.
Meanwhile, in wider Moldova, Russian influence came in the form of pro-Russian parties dominating the political scene.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/08/27/why-has-it-taken-moldova-so-long-to-shake-off-its-soviet-legacy
Since then, the region has become one of Europe's frozen conflicts. Russia de facto controls the political secessionist regime in Tiraspol, although Moscow acts like a mediator in the international 5+2 format for negotiations.
Meanwhile, in wider Moldova, Russian influence came in the form of pro-Russian parties dominating the political scene.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/08/27/why-has-it-taken-moldova-so-long-to-shake-off-its-soviet-legacy
COVID-19 is a vascular disease not a respiratory one, says study
A study at the University of San Diego claims to have proof that COVID-19 is not a respiratory illness, but a vascular one.
This could explain blood clots in some COVID patients and other issues like "COVID feet", which are not classic symptoms of a respiratory illness.
Read more at: COVID-19 is a vascular disease not a respiratory one, says study | Euronews
This could explain blood clots in some COVID patients and other issues like "COVID feet", which are not classic symptoms of a respiratory illness.
Read more at: COVID-19 is a vascular disease not a respiratory one, says study | Euronews
9/1/21
Canada: Quebec's vaccine passport goes into effect, limiting much of public life for those unvaccinated
Starting today, proof of vaccination will be as much of a daily necessity in Quebec when leaving the house as a wallet or house keys.
Dubbed the COVID-19 vaccination passport, digital or paper documentation will be required to take part in much of public life, from having a beer to playing badminton.
Read more at: Quebec's vaccine passport goes into effect, limiting much of public life for those unvaccinated | CBC News
Dubbed the COVID-19 vaccination passport, digital or paper documentation will be required to take part in much of public life, from having a beer to playing badminton.
Read more at: Quebec's vaccine passport goes into effect, limiting much of public life for those unvaccinated | CBC News
Corona Pandemic: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened?
Just months ago, Israel was a world leader in vaccinating its population and appeared to be putting a stranglehold on the virus that causes COVID-19, wrestling down its daily case count to double digits — and at times, near zero.
But any potential celebration was short-lived, as the more contagious delta variant gained traction and spread quickly, to the point where Israel's most recent daily case count was around 11,000 — a level not seen since January.
Read more at: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened? | CBC News
But any potential celebration was short-lived, as the more contagious delta variant gained traction and spread quickly, to the point where Israel's most recent daily case count was around 11,000 — a level not seen since January.
Read more at: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened? | CBC News
Afghanistan: Germany hints at reopening Kabul embassy
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas has said a German Embassy could reopen — under certain conditions. Elsewhere, India has, for the first time, held talks with the Taliban.
>
Read more at: Afghanistan: Germany hints at reopening Kabul embassy — live updates | News | DW | 01.09.2021
>
Read more at: Afghanistan: Germany hints at reopening Kabul embassy — live updates | News | DW | 01.09.2021
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)