When Russia wanted the US to sit up and take notice last April it sent tanks towards the Ukrainian border. The show of force worked: President Joe Biden called Russia's Vladimir Putin and in June the two men met in Geneva.
But whatever they agreed about Ukraine at their summit, something has since gone awry.
In recent weeks, Russian tanks have been moving west towards Ukraine once again, prompting fresh, even starker warnings from US intelligence circles that a cross-border offensive could be on the cards.
Read more at:
Russia-Ukraine border: Why Moscow is stoking tensions - BBC News
11/30/21
Coronavirus: Big Pharma can’t be trusted to solve coronavirus - by Nick Dearden
People might think that pandemics are great levellers: in a crisis, no matter how rich you are, you are as likely to die from a contagious disease as anyone else.But this is far from true, and while deadly diseases are of course a major worry for us all, the impact on those who are poorer is much heavier.
Fead more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/3/10/big-pharma-cant-be-trusted-to-solve-coronavirus
Fead more at: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/3/10/big-pharma-cant-be-trusted-to-solve-coronavirus
Covid-19: WHO: Covid will mutate like the flu and is likely here to stay
Covid-19 is likely “here to stay with us” as the virus continues to mutate in unvaccinated countries across the world and previous hopes of eradicating it diminish, global health officials said Tuesday.
“I think this virus is here to stay with us and it will evolve like influenza pandemic viruses, it will evolve to become one of the other viruses that affects us,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, said at a press briefing.
Read more at: WHO: Covid will mutate like the flu and is likely here to stay
“I think this virus is here to stay with us and it will evolve like influenza pandemic viruses, it will evolve to become one of the other viruses that affects us,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program, said at a press briefing.
Read more at: WHO: Covid will mutate like the flu and is likely here to stay
11/29/21
Travel Restrictions: Where can I travel in Europe right now? A complete list of travel restrictions
The latest big changes include:
UK arrivals into Poland will have to do quarantine for 14 days on arrival.
Only fully-vaccinated UK travellers will be allowed into Spain from 1st December.
Switzerland has changed its entry requirements for arrivals from some European countries, including the UK.
The UK now requires all arrivals to do a PCR test before the end of day 2, and self-isolate until they have received a negative result.
Due to the new variant, Omicron, many European countries are banning non-essential arrivals from Southern African countries.
Full lockdown has been reinforced in Austria, meaning a complete ban on entry for tourists.
There has been a spike in cases in Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium leading to increased restrictions.
Portugal's testing requirements change as of 1st December.
Read more at: Where can I travel in Europe right now? A complete list of travel restrictions | Euronews
Read more at: Where can I travel in Europe right now? A complete list of travel restrictions | Euronews
The Kleptocrats: Confronting the Kleptocrats? Contain Their Western(!) Financial Managers - by Frank Vogl
The crimes perpetrated by the kleptocrats governing Russia, China, Iran, Egypt, Hungary, Nigeria and many more nations not only impoverish their own citizens. They ultimately impoverish all of us.
More gallingly, we are assisting them in their greed and their corruption. Even more worrying, Western governments, as well as major multinational corporations headquartered across Western Europe and North America, are complicit in their quest.
Read more at: Confronting the Kleptocrats? Contain Their Western(!) Financial Managers - The Globalist
More gallingly, we are assisting them in their greed and their corruption. Even more worrying, Western governments, as well as major multinational corporations headquartered across Western Europe and North America, are complicit in their quest.
Read more at: Confronting the Kleptocrats? Contain Their Western(!) Financial Managers - The Globalist
Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Monday
Unless a country seals itself off from the entire world, travel bans to prevent the importation of coronavirus variants are ineffective, says Shabir Madhi, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.
At a news conference Monday, Quebec's Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda said tests revealed the variant in a woman who had recently returned from Nigeria.
The case was discovered after 115 people in the province who had travelled to southern African countries were asked to take a new COVID-19 test and isolate, in accordance with new federal government rules announced Friday, Health Minister Christian Dubé said.
Read more at: Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Monday | CBC News
At a news conference Monday, Quebec's Public Health Director Dr. Horacio Arruda said tests revealed the variant in a woman who had recently returned from Nigeria.
The case was discovered after 115 people in the province who had travelled to southern African countries were asked to take a new COVID-19 test and isolate, in accordance with new federal government rules announced Friday, Health Minister Christian Dubé said.
Read more at: Coronavirus: What's happening in Canada and around the world on Monday | CBC News
Iran nuclear talks to resume with world powers after five-month hiatus - by Patrick Wintour
Talks between world powers and Iran on salvaging the 2015 nuclear deal will resume in Vienna on Monday after a five-month hiatus, but expectations of a breakthrough are low.
The talks could liberate Iran from hundreds of western economic sanctions or lead to a tightening of the economic noose and the intensified threat of military attacks by Israel.
Read more at: Iran nuclear talks to resume with world powers after five-month hiatus | Iran nuclear deal | The Guardian
The talks could liberate Iran from hundreds of western economic sanctions or lead to a tightening of the economic noose and the intensified threat of military attacks by Israel.
Read more at: Iran nuclear talks to resume with world powers after five-month hiatus | Iran nuclear deal | The Guardian
USA: Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule - by David Pepper
The long-term health of American democracy is in peril, to a degree far worse than people imagine. But not where most people are looking.
While many eyes go to Washington DC or Mar-a-Lago, the attack on democracy is actually most concentrated and coordinated in state capitals. Whether it’s gerrymandering or voter suppression or attacks on offices that provide needed checks and balances – the states have become widely undemocratic. As I outline in my book Laboratories of Autocracy, the consequences of this anti-democratic movement are only getting worse.
Read more at: Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule | David Pepper | The Guardian
While many eyes go to Washington DC or Mar-a-Lago, the attack on democracy is actually most concentrated and coordinated in state capitals. Whether it’s gerrymandering or voter suppression or attacks on offices that provide needed checks and balances – the states have become widely undemocratic. As I outline in my book Laboratories of Autocracy, the consequences of this anti-democratic movement are only getting worse.
Read more at: Republicans are quietly rigging election maps to ensure permanent rule | David Pepper | The Guardian
COVID in Europe: Netherlands closes all non-essential businesses at 5pm
COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in various parts of Europe as the cold weather has affected the spread of the virus.
Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means - from a national lockdown in Austria, to limiting access to certain services elsewhere or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.
Around 60% of people in Western Europe are fully immunised against COVID-19, but only about half as many are vaccinated in Eastern Europe.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/26/covid-19-spike-felt-across-europe-as-vaccination-remains-stagnant
Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means - from a national lockdown in Austria, to limiting access to certain services elsewhere or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.
Around 60% of people in Western Europe are fully immunised against COVID-19, but only about half as many are vaccinated in Eastern Europe.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/26/covid-19-spike-felt-across-europe-as-vaccination-remains-stagnant
11/28/21
Social Media: Google loses challenge against EU antitrust ruling, $2.8-billion fine
Google lost an appeal against a 2.42-billion-euro ($2.8-billion) antitrust decision on Wednesday, a major win for Europe’s competition chief in the first of three court rulings central to the EU push to regulate big tech.
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager fined the world’s most popular internet search engine in 2017 over the use of its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.
Read more at: Google loses challenge against EU antitrust ruling, $2.8-billion fine - Metro US
Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager fined the world’s most popular internet search engine in 2017 over the use of its own price comparison shopping service to gain an unfair advantage over smaller European rivals.
Read more at: Google loses challenge against EU antitrust ruling, $2.8-billion fine - Metro US
11/27/21
Netherlands Finds 61 Covid Cases on South Africa Flights - by Claire Moses
Some 61 passengers arriving in two flights from South Africa tested positive for Coronavirus and were quaranteed in the Netherlands.
Read more at: Netherlands Finds 61 Covid Cases on South Africa Flights - The New York Times
Read more at: Netherlands Finds 61 Covid Cases on South Africa Flights - The New York Times
‘USA: A core threat to our democracy’: threat of political violence growing across US - by Joan E Greve
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stood on the House floor and implored her colleagues to hold Paul Gosar accountable for sharing an altered anime video showing him killing her and attacking Joe Biden.
“Our work here matters. Our example matters. There is meaning in our service,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her speech last week. “And as leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions
Read more: ‘A core threat to our democracy’: threat of political violence growing across US | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | The Guardian
“Our work here matters. Our example matters. There is meaning in our service,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her speech last week. “And as leaders in this country, when we incite violence with depictions
Read more: ‘A core threat to our democracy’: threat of political violence growing across US | Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez | The Guardian
USA: When Mob Rule Comes to the United States of America - BY A. Bayer and S. Richter
“The word ‘revolution’,” Kerensky wrote, “is quite inapplicable to what happened in Russia. A whole world of national and political relationships sank to the bottom, and at once all existing political and tactical programs, however bold and well-conceived, appeared hanging aimlessly and uselessly in space.”
Kerensky was describing the emergence of a mob, which swept Czar Nicholas II from the throne in February 1917 and shook all institutions of the Russian state to the core.
Read more at: When Mob Rule Comes to the United States of America - The Globalist
Kerensky was describing the emergence of a mob, which swept Czar Nicholas II from the throne in February 1917 and shook all institutions of the Russian state to the core.
Read more at: When Mob Rule Comes to the United States of America - The Globalist
"Alien" invasions and the need for planetary biosecurity
The era of space exploration brings with it a new risk: invasion. The peril comes not from little green men arriving on flying saucers but, rather, from microbiological contamination of Earth from extraterrestrial environments and vice versa. Writing in BioScience, Anthony Ricciardi, of McGill University, and colleagues describe the dangers posed by such organisms and outline an approach to address the threat.
The authors caution that biological contamination endangers both ecosystems and human well-being. "Owing to their massive costs to resource sectors and human health, biological invasions are a global biosecurity issue requiring rigorous transboundary solutions," say Ricciardi and colleagues. And that threat may be more immediate than previously anticipated. Despite considerable microbial caution among space agencies, say the authors, "bacterial strains exhibiting extreme resistance to ionizing radiation, desiccation, and disinfectants have been isolated in NASA 'clean rooms' used for spacecraft assembly."
Read more at: "Alien" invasions and the need for planetary | EurekAlert!
The authors caution that biological contamination endangers both ecosystems and human well-being. "Owing to their massive costs to resource sectors and human health, biological invasions are a global biosecurity issue requiring rigorous transboundary solutions," say Ricciardi and colleagues. And that threat may be more immediate than previously anticipated. Despite considerable microbial caution among space agencies, say the authors, "bacterial strains exhibiting extreme resistance to ionizing radiation, desiccation, and disinfectants have been isolated in NASA 'clean rooms' used for spacecraft assembly."
Read more at: "Alien" invasions and the need for planetary | EurekAlert!
USA: Biden and Harris briefed as US braces for arrival of Omicron Covid variant - by Edward Helmore
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have been briefed on the latest situation regarding the new Omicron coronavirus variant, the White House said on Saturday, as Britain, Germany and Italy reported detecting cases.
Read more at: Biden and Harris briefed as US braces for arrival of Omicron Covid variant | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Read more at: Biden and Harris briefed as US braces for arrival of Omicron Covid variant | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Germany: COVID: Germany confirms first two cases of omicron variant
Two cases of the omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in the southern state of Bavaria, the state health ministry said on Saturday.
Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) said the two infected individuals entered Germany at Munich airport on November 24.
The pair are now isolating, the ministry said.
Read more COVID: Germany confirms first two cases of omicron variant | News | DW | 27.11.2021
Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) said the two infected individuals entered Germany at Munich airport on November 24.
The pair are now isolating, the ministry said.
Read more COVID: Germany confirms first two cases of omicron variant | News | DW | 27.11.2021
11/26/21
The Netherlands: Here's what lessons can be learned from parenting in the Netherlands - by Vicky McKeever
Children in the Netherlands are among the happiest in the world, research has suggested, and experts say that there could be a number of reasons why this is the case.
A UNICEF report published last year found that children in the Netherlands had the highest sense of wellbeing. The United Nations children’s agency analyzed data across 41 high-income countries, ranking the countries according to how they scored on children’s mental wellbeing, physical health, and the development of both academic and social skills.
Read more at: Here's what lessons can be learned from parenting in the Netherlands
A UNICEF report published last year found that children in the Netherlands had the highest sense of wellbeing. The United Nations children’s agency analyzed data across 41 high-income countries, ranking the countries according to how they scored on children’s mental wellbeing, physical health, and the development of both academic and social skills.
Read more at: Here's what lessons can be learned from parenting in the Netherlands
Turkey: Erdogan, on the ropes for his heterodox management of the economy - by MRT
The controversial economic management of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sunk the lira to record lows, something that is exacerbating the persistent inflation in the country and undermining the support bases of the Islamist leader after 19 years at the helm of Turkey. His approval is declining and opposition figures (such as the mayors of Istanbul and Ankara) surpass him in popularity, increasing the chances of a political change in the near future.
That of “Every time he speaks, the bread goes up” could literally be applied to Erdogan. On Wednesday, as he advanced in his speech to the parliamentary group, making clear his intention to “carry through to the end” his fight against high interest rates, the lira lost value. The more the Turkish leader talked and the more he delved into his heterodox theory that high interest rates are the cause of the rise in prices, the more the price of the Turkish currency sank. On Thursday, in a further sign that it has become an institution that limits itself to following the president’s designs, the Central Bank cut interest rates to 15%, further sinking the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar and the euro. and, with this, worsening the prospects for runaway inflation (20% according to official statistics, more than double according to alternative calculations), since Turkish industry and even agriculture must import inputs in foreign currency to be able to produce.
Read more at: https://marketresearchtelecast.com/erdogan-on-the-ropes-for-his-heterodox-management-of-the-economy-international/207285/
That of “Every time he speaks, the bread goes up” could literally be applied to Erdogan. On Wednesday, as he advanced in his speech to the parliamentary group, making clear his intention to “carry through to the end” his fight against high interest rates, the lira lost value. The more the Turkish leader talked and the more he delved into his heterodox theory that high interest rates are the cause of the rise in prices, the more the price of the Turkish currency sank. On Thursday, in a further sign that it has become an institution that limits itself to following the president’s designs, the Central Bank cut interest rates to 15%, further sinking the exchange rate of the lira against the dollar and the euro. and, with this, worsening the prospects for runaway inflation (20% according to official statistics, more than double according to alternative calculations), since Turkish industry and even agriculture must import inputs in foreign currency to be able to produce.
Read more at: https://marketresearchtelecast.com/erdogan-on-the-ropes-for-his-heterodox-management-of-the-economy-international/207285/
Coronavirus: Omicron classified 'variant of concern' by WHO - by M. James, C. Fernando, and J.Shannon:
A COVID-19 variant first discovered in South Africa was dubbed "omicron" and classified a "variant of concern" by the World Health Organization on Friday, as the U.S. and other nations reacted to the newly discovered variant with travel restrictions.
Experts with the World Health Organization met Friday to assess the variant, which appears to have a high number of mutations in the virus’ spike protein, prompting worries about how easily it will spread. While good data on the risks of omicron is likely weeks away, the organization cited early evidence suggesting an increased risk of reinfection.
The U.S. said it will restrict travel from South Africa, as well as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, according to a statement from senior officials from the Biden administration.
Read more at: Omicron classified 'variant of concern' by WHO: COVID updates
Experts with the World Health Organization met Friday to assess the variant, which appears to have a high number of mutations in the virus’ spike protein, prompting worries about how easily it will spread. While good data on the risks of omicron is likely weeks away, the organization cited early evidence suggesting an increased risk of reinfection.
The U.S. said it will restrict travel from South Africa, as well as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi, according to a statement from senior officials from the Biden administration.
Read more at: Omicron classified 'variant of concern' by WHO: COVID updates
11/25/21
China-US relations: Deteriorating Rivalry between America and China will shape the post-covid world
In his classic account of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides concluded that the conflict was the consequence of growing Athenian power instilling fear in Sparta. In “The Thucydides Trap”, an influential essay published in 2015, Graham Allison of Harvard University examined whether the same dynamic would apply to America and China. He identified 16 historical episodes where an established power’s position was disrupted by a challenger. In 12 of those cases the shift ended in war. A repetition today was not inevitable, he concluded, but escaping the trap “requires tremendous effort”.
Mr Allison’s analysis was studied closely in Washington and Beijing. Nonetheless, in the past five years the relationship between the world’s superpower and its Asian challenger has deteriorated in a manner that suggests few are paying heed to history. Under Xi Jinping, China has become more aggressively assertive abroad and more authoritarian at home. Under Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, American policy towards China has shifted from hubristic faith that it could be integrated into the existing American-led world order to something closer to paranoid containment marked by auapicion of China's intentions and a fearful bipartisan consensus that America's global eminence is at risk.
Read more at Rivalry between America and China will shape the post-covid world | The Economist
Mr Allison’s analysis was studied closely in Washington and Beijing. Nonetheless, in the past five years the relationship between the world’s superpower and its Asian challenger has deteriorated in a manner that suggests few are paying heed to history. Under Xi Jinping, China has become more aggressively assertive abroad and more authoritarian at home. Under Donald Trump and now Joe Biden, American policy towards China has shifted from hubristic faith that it could be integrated into the existing American-led world order to something closer to paranoid containment marked by auapicion of China's intentions and a fearful bipartisan consensus that America's global eminence is at risk.
Read more at Rivalry between America and China will shape the post-covid world | The Economist
The Netherlands: Dutch COVID-19 patients transferred to Germany as Dutch hospitals struggle
The Netherlands started transporting COVID-19 patients across the border to Germany on Tuesday to ease pressure on Dutch hospitals, which are scaling back regular care to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases.
A patient was transferred by ambulance from Rotterdam to a hospital in Bochum, some 240 km (150 miles) east, on Tuesday morning, and another would follow later in the day, health authorities said.
Read more at: Dutch COVID-19 patients transferred to Germany as hospitals struggle | Reuters
A patient was transferred by ambulance from Rotterdam to a hospital in Bochum, some 240 km (150 miles) east, on Tuesday morning, and another would follow later in the day, health authorities said.
Read more at: Dutch COVID-19 patients transferred to Germany as hospitals struggle | Reuters
Coronavirus: Germany poised to pass 100,000 COVID-19 deaths
Germany is poised to pass the mark of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 this week, a sombre milestone that several of its neighbours crossed months ago but which Western Europe's most populous nation had hoped to avoid.
Discipline, a robust health-care system and the rollout of multiple vaccines — one of them homegrown — were meant to stave off a winter surge of the kind that hit Germany last year.
Read more at: Germany poised to pass 100,000 COVID-19 deaths | CBC News
Discipline, a robust health-care system and the rollout of multiple vaccines — one of them homegrown — were meant to stave off a winter surge of the kind that hit Germany last year.
Read more at: Germany poised to pass 100,000 COVID-19 deaths | CBC News
Sweden′s first female prime minister resigns hours after appointment
Sweden's newly elected Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson stepped down just hours after being voted in on Wednesday.
The move came after the Green Party announced that it would be leaving the coalition government. The Green Party decided to leave government when the country's parliament rejected spending plans in favor of those proposed by opposition parties, spelling crisis for the new administration.
Read more at: Sweden′s first female prime minister resigns hours after appointment | News | DW | 24.11.2021
The move came after the Green Party announced that it would be leaving the coalition government. The Green Party decided to leave government when the country's parliament rejected spending plans in favor of those proposed by opposition parties, spelling crisis for the new administration.
Read more at: Sweden′s first female prime minister resigns hours after appointment | News | DW | 24.11.2021
11/24/21
‘The Netherlands: A lot of work to do’: Dutch government formation talks drag on for record 226 days
Government formation talks in the Netherlands have become the longest on record, 226 days after the 17 March elections delivered a fractured political landscape that made parties more reluctant than ever to compromise.
Dutch government coalitions often take months to form, but this year’s post-election talks have been especially drawn out. For months, parties failed to even move beyond the question of who would be allowed at the negotiation table.
Meanwhile, pressing matters such as climate change, health care and the strained housing market have been left untouched.
“It’s remarkable,” said political historian and cabinet formation expert Carla van Baalen. “We have never seen a situation in which no real talks were held for months following the elections.”
Read more at: ‘A lot of work to do’: Dutch government formation talks drag on for record 226 days | Netherlands | The Guardian
Dutch government coalitions often take months to form, but this year’s post-election talks have been especially drawn out. For months, parties failed to even move beyond the question of who would be allowed at the negotiation table.
Meanwhile, pressing matters such as climate change, health care and the strained housing market have been left untouched.
“It’s remarkable,” said political historian and cabinet formation expert Carla van Baalen. “We have never seen a situation in which no real talks were held for months following the elections.”
Read more at: ‘A lot of work to do’: Dutch government formation talks drag on for record 226 days | Netherlands | The Guardian
USA - UFO'S : Pentagon to study UFO sightings in restricted US airspace
US defence officials have announced the launch of a task force to investigate reports of unidentified flying objects in restricted airspace.
The group will assess objects of interest and "mitigate any associated threats", the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
A highly anticipated military report in June failed to explain dozens of reported UFO sightings and warned of possible national security risks.
read more at: Pentagon to study UFO sightings in restricted US airspace - BBC News
The group will assess objects of interest and "mitigate any associated threats", the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
A highly anticipated military report in June failed to explain dozens of reported UFO sightings and warned of possible national security risks.
read more at: Pentagon to study UFO sightings in restricted US airspace - BBC News
Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - by Yolande Knell
In the turquoise waters of the Red Sea, Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini naval forces for the first time just days ago rehearsed joint security operations with a US warship.
It followed a war-game at a desert airbase just north of the Israeli port city of Eilat last month, which sent fighter planes from Israel and seven other countries roaring into the skies.
Such drills aim to send a strong warning to Iran, which has recently been holding its own large military exercises, and stress strategic alliances.
Read more at: Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - BBC News
It followed a war-game at a desert airbase just north of the Israeli port city of Eilat last month, which sent fighter planes from Israel and seven other countries roaring into the skies.
Such drills aim to send a strong warning to Iran, which has recently been holding its own large military exercises, and stress strategic alliances.
Read more at: Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - BBC News
USA: Democracy Conference: China, Russia,Turkey, not invited to US Prez Biden's democracy summit
US President Joe Biden invited leaders of as many as 110 countries to a virtual summit on democracy. China, Russia, and Turkey, however, did not receive the invitation from Biden. The summit will take place on 9 and 10 December. The invitees include India, Pakistan and Iraq. Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have also been excluded.
Read more at: China, Turkey not invited to US Prez Biden's democracy summit
Read more at: China, Turkey not invited to US Prez Biden's democracy summit
Germany: Post-Merkel coalition promises progressive agenda
The three parties about to form the next German government presented in Berlin its plans on Wednesday under the title "Risk More Progress," aiming to set itself off from the Merkel era by serving as an "alliance for freedom, justice, and sustainability," as the parties taglined their cooperation deal.
The key deal appeared to be between the two junior partners in the coalition: The Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). While the environmentalists were able to secure the target of ending Germany's coal industry "ideally" by 2030 (eight years ahead of the German government's current target), the FDP got their hands on the second most powerful office in the land: their party leader, Christian Lindner, is now poised to take over the Finance Ministry. Green co-leader Robert Habeck is set to take over the Economy and Energy Ministry, whose portfolio is to be expanded into climate as well. The Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Free Democrats offered up several progressive steps in their new coalition contract announced Wednesday. But many climate activists had concerns, saying the deal comes up short.
Read more at:
Germany: Post-Merkel coalition promises progressive agenda | Germany | News and in-depth reporting from Berlin and beyond | DW | 24.11.2021
The key deal appeared to be between the two junior partners in the coalition: The Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP). While the environmentalists were able to secure the target of ending Germany's coal industry "ideally" by 2030 (eight years ahead of the German government's current target), the FDP got their hands on the second most powerful office in the land: their party leader, Christian Lindner, is now poised to take over the Finance Ministry. Green co-leader Robert Habeck is set to take over the Economy and Energy Ministry, whose portfolio is to be expanded into climate as well. The Social Democrats, the Greens, and the Free Democrats offered up several progressive steps in their new coalition contract announced Wednesday. But many climate activists had concerns, saying the deal comes up short.
EU-Coronavirus: Europe′s fight against the coronavirus
Up until this past weekend, the Dutch soccer club SC Cambuur Leeuwarden was making the kinds of headlines everyone wants. The team got off to an excellent start in the country's first league, and was about to host FC Utrecht for the week's top match. That's when unvaccinated supporters who were prohibited from entering the stadium because of coronavirus restrictions turned violent and stormed the field. The match was almost canceled after they stormed the pitch and launched fireworks.
And Leeuwarden wasn't an isolated case. There were also reports of violence and rioting against COVID-19 restrictions in Enschede, Groningen, The Hague and in Rotterdam for the third night in a row. Rioters threw stones at police, vandalized streets and set cars ablaze. According to local authorities, more than 140 people were arrested.
Read more at: Europe′s fight against the coronavirus | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 24.11.2021
And Leeuwarden wasn't an isolated case. There were also reports of violence and rioting against COVID-19 restrictions in Enschede, Groningen, The Hague and in Rotterdam for the third night in a row. Rioters threw stones at police, vandalized streets and set cars ablaze. According to local authorities, more than 140 people were arrested.
Read more at: Europe′s fight against the coronavirus | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 24.11.2021
11/23/21
Turkey pushed away from EU by some members: says Deputy FM Kaymakcı
The 40th Turkey-EU Joint Consultative Committee started on Monday in western Turkey’s Izmir and will last until Tuesday. Significant positive transformations are taking place in the EU candidacy process, Kaymakcı said in the opening statement of the committee meeting.
“A positive agenda is something that needs to be worked on. Full membership is an important perspective. We know this won't happen tomorrow. If Turkey is expected to proceed on a reformist path and is expected to act within the Copenhagen criteria, stopping the full membership process is a source of demotivation. Turkey is not actually going away, where it used to be, but Turkey is being pushed away due to the actions of some member states," he said.
Read more at: Turkey pushed away from EU by some members: Deputy FM Kaymakcı | Daily Sabah
“A positive agenda is something that needs to be worked on. Full membership is an important perspective. We know this won't happen tomorrow. If Turkey is expected to proceed on a reformist path and is expected to act within the Copenhagen criteria, stopping the full membership process is a source of demotivation. Turkey is not actually going away, where it used to be, but Turkey is being pushed away due to the actions of some member states," he said.
Read more at: Turkey pushed away from EU by some members: Deputy FM Kaymakcı | Daily Sabah
Netherlands: EU wants calm amid virus protests; rioters called 'idiots'
In the face of demonstrations across much of Europe protesting tough COVID-19 measures over the past days, authorities on Monday pleaded for patience, calm and a willingness to get a vaccine shot in the arm as infections spike upward again.
And for those who abused the protests to foment violence, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte just called them “idiots.”
Protest marches from Zagreb to Rome and from Vienna to Brussels and Rotterdam, bringing tens of thousands out, all had one message from a coronavirus-weary crowd — we’ve had enough!
“Not able to work where you want work, to be where you want to be. That’s not what we stand for, that’s not freedom,” said Eveline Denayer, who was at Sunday’s march in Brussels, which drew a crowd of over 35,000.
“We live in Western Europe and we just want to be free, how we were before,” she said.
Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-riots-netherlands-rotterdam-445b8e7e0b3c53081d6525c83dc4dbca
And for those who abused the protests to foment violence, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte just called them “idiots.”
Protest marches from Zagreb to Rome and from Vienna to Brussels and Rotterdam, bringing tens of thousands out, all had one message from a coronavirus-weary crowd — we’ve had enough!
“Not able to work where you want work, to be where you want to be. That’s not what we stand for, that’s not freedom,” said Eveline Denayer, who was at Sunday’s march in Brussels, which drew a crowd of over 35,000.
“We live in Western Europe and we just want to be free, how we were before,” she said.
Read more at: https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-riots-netherlands-rotterdam-445b8e7e0b3c53081d6525c83dc4dbca
USA January 6 Coup attempt: Committee Issues 5 New Subpoenas, Includes Roger Stone and Alex Jones - by Toria Barnhart
The House committee investigating the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol issued five new subpoenas on Monday to allies of former President Donald Trump, including Republican political consultant Roger Stone and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The committee stated it was subpoenaing the individuals for their knowledge or funding of rallies on January 5 and 6 in Washington D.C. as well as earlier events that led up to the "violent attack" on the U.S. Capitol.
Read more at: January 6 Committee Issues 5 New Subpoenas, Includes Roger Stone and Alex Jones
The committee stated it was subpoenaing the individuals for their knowledge or funding of rallies on January 5 and 6 in Washington D.C. as well as earlier events that led up to the "violent attack" on the U.S. Capitol.
Read more at: January 6 Committee Issues 5 New Subpoenas, Includes Roger Stone and Alex Jones
11/22/21
US Economy: Just 15% Chance U.S. Economy Works Out Well: Lawrence Summers
Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says he sees no more than a 15% chance that “it’s all going to work out well” for the U.S. economy. “The odds have gotten bit more tilted to the bad outcomes and a bit more tilted to inflation than I thought,” Summers said on “Wall Street Week” with David Westin.
Read more at: Just 15% Chance U.S. Economy Works Out Well: Lawrence Summers - Bloomberg
Read more at: Just 15% Chance U.S. Economy Works Out Well: Lawrence Summers - Bloomberg
US China Phobia: U.S. admiral warns of China threat and urges allies to work and train more closely
The United States and its allies should move more urgently in the face of rapidly evolving Chinese military tactics, the new U.S. commander of the Indo-Pacific region warned on Saturday.
Admiral John Aquilino spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum and urged allies to take part in more joint military exercises, which have been growing in size and complexity in the region over the last couple of years.
The exercises aim to allow like-minded nations to assemble quickly and work together seamlessly in a crisis.
Read more at: U.S. admiral warns of China threat and urges allies to work and train more closely | CBC News
Admiral John Aquilino spoke at the Halifax International Security Forum and urged allies to take part in more joint military exercises, which have been growing in size and complexity in the region over the last couple of years.
The exercises aim to allow like-minded nations to assemble quickly and work together seamlessly in a crisis.
Read more at: U.S. admiral warns of China threat and urges allies to work and train more closely | CBC News
China: Peng Shuai tells Olympic officials she's safe, IOC says - "no support most world leaders Biden suggested boycott Chinese winter olympics
Missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai told Olympic officials in a video call from Beijing that she was safe and well, the International Olympic Committee said Sunday after Peng reappeared in public at a youth tournament in Beijing, according to photos released by the organizer.
The 30-minute call came amid growing global alarm over Peng after she accused a former leading Communist Party official of sexual assault. China’s ruling Communist Party has tried to quell fears abroad while suppressing information in China about Peng.
Read more also at: Peng Shuai tells Olympic officials she's safe, IOC says
The 30-minute call came amid growing global alarm over Peng after she accused a former leading Communist Party official of sexual assault. China’s ruling Communist Party has tried to quell fears abroad while suppressing information in China about Peng.
Read more also at: Peng Shuai tells Olympic officials she's safe, IOC says
11/21/21
USA: TSA reports significant increase of guns intercepted at US airport check points
Not only in Florida but this is also happening all across America. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers have seen a major increase in firearms at their checkpoints, most of which have been loaded, with some checkpoints even seeing multiple weapons on the same day.
Just recently a passenger awaiting a bag search at the Atlanta airport’s main security checkpoint suddenly reached in his bag and grabbed a loaded firearm, which went off, causing panic among travelers, prompting a temporary FAA ground stop on all flights Records show that by early October,this year the TSA stopped a total of 4,495 passengers with firearms at security checkpoints.Many overseas airports have several checkpoints, including for anyone entering the airport premises .High time this is also instituted at US airports.
Read more also at: https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2021/09/24/record-number-passengers-are-bringing-guns-tsa-checkpoints-across?fbclid=IwAR2ipfWHQcTDPTC0tYWJT51DSQZQmTxBfAM1Ey6hKGyo_bRH578xmVd2Vho
Just recently a passenger awaiting a bag search at the Atlanta airport’s main security checkpoint suddenly reached in his bag and grabbed a loaded firearm, which went off, causing panic among travelers, prompting a temporary FAA ground stop on all flights Records show that by early October,this year the TSA stopped a total of 4,495 passengers with firearms at security checkpoints.Many overseas airports have several checkpoints, including for anyone entering the airport premises .High time this is also instituted at US airports.
Read more also at: https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2021/09/24/record-number-passengers-are-bringing-guns-tsa-checkpoints-across?fbclid=IwAR2ipfWHQcTDPTC0tYWJT51DSQZQmTxBfAM1Ey6hKGyo_bRH578xmVd2Vho
Russia: Christian emigration from US to Russia shows Moscow now ‘leader of the free world’ – says Church Patriarch
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, has argued that his country’s independence from negative outside influence is what makes it truly free, in his eyes.
In an interview broadcast on the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Saturday, the religious leader was asked to comment on instances of Orthodox Christians having emigrated from the US to Russia.
Read more at: Christian emigration from US to Russia shows Moscow now ‘leader of the free world’ – Church Patriarch — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
In an interview broadcast on the Rossiya-1 TV channel on Saturday, the religious leader was asked to comment on instances of Orthodox Christians having emigrated from the US to Russia.
Read more at: Christian emigration from US to Russia shows Moscow now ‘leader of the free world’ – Church Patriarch — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
Poland: Belarus crisis is ′greatest attempt to destabilize Europe′ since Cold War
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused Belarus on Sunday of seeking to destabilize the EU by orchestrating the migrant crisis unfolding at his country's border.
Morawiecki warned about the threat to the bloc as he prepared to meet with EU leaders later in the day.
"Today, on Poland's eastern border, we are dealing with a new type of war, a war in which migrants are weapons, in which disinformation is a weapon," Morawiecki said.
Read more at: Poland: Belarus crisis is ′greatest attempt to destabilize Europe′ since Cold War | News | DW | 21.11.2021
Morawiecki warned about the threat to the bloc as he prepared to meet with EU leaders later in the day.
"Today, on Poland's eastern border, we are dealing with a new type of war, a war in which migrants are weapons, in which disinformation is a weapon," Morawiecki said.
Read more at: Poland: Belarus crisis is ′greatest attempt to destabilize Europe′ since Cold War | News | DW | 21.11.2021
Germany: COVID causes cancellation of popular Christmas market in Germany
One of Germany's most popular Christmas markets has fallen victim to the country's worsening COVID situation.
The one at Nuremberg in Bavaria was scrapped on Friday.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, making the announcement, said: "The situation is very, very serious and complicated."
Read more at: COVID causes cancellation of popular Christmas market in Germany | Euronews
The one at Nuremberg in Bavaria was scrapped on Friday.
Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder, making the announcement, said: "The situation is very, very serious and complicated."
Read more at: COVID causes cancellation of popular Christmas market in Germany | Euronews
11/20/21
Aircraft Industry: Rolls-Royce says its all-electric aircraft 'is world's fastest'
Rolls-Royce believes its Spirit of Innovation plane could be the world's fastest all-electric aircraft.
The firm - whose aerospace headquarters are based in Derby - said the plane reached a top speed of 387.4 mph (623 km/h) during test runs at an experimental aircraft testing site.
Read more at: Rolls-Royce says its all-electric aircraft 'is world's fastest' - BBC News
The firm - whose aerospace headquarters are based in Derby - said the plane reached a top speed of 387.4 mph (623 km/h) during test runs at an experimental aircraft testing site.
Read more at: Rolls-Royce says its all-electric aircraft 'is world's fastest' - BBC News
Staying put to save the planet: How remote work might help Canada (and other parts of the world) cut emissions
But what if Canada could cut its emissions substantially merely by encouraging people to work from home — something millions of Canadians have gotten used to since the pandemic began?
Read more at: Staying put to save the planet: How remote work might help Canada cut emissions | CBC News
Read more at: Staying put to save the planet: How remote work might help Canada cut emissions | CBC News
The Netherlands:Rotterdam police open fire as Covid protest turns into ‘orgy of violence’
In what the Dutch city’s mayor described as an “orgy of violence”, crowds of several hundred rioters orched cars, set off fireworks and threw rocks at police during the protests on Friday evening. Police responded with warning shots and water cannon.
Police said on Twitter on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested, about half of whom were under 18.
“Three rioters were wounded when they were hit by bullets, they remain in hospital,” police added, in an update after earlier reporting two wounded.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/19/the-netherlands-rotterdam-police-open-fire-as-covid-protest-turns-violent?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Police said on Twitter on Saturday that 51 people had been arrested, about half of whom were under 18.
“Three rioters were wounded when they were hit by bullets, they remain in hospital,” police added, in an update after earlier reporting two wounded.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/19/the-netherlands-rotterdam-police-open-fire-as-covid-protest-turns-violent?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
11/19/21
Covid-19: Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study | Coronavirus-by Andrew Gregory
n England, the legal requirement to wear a mask ended in July, apart from in healthcare settings and care homes, unless exempt. In Wales, they are still legally required on public transport and in all public indoor areas apart from pubs and restaurants. In Scotland, masks must still be worn in shops and on public transport, and in pubs and restaurants when not seated. In Northern Ireland, masks must still be worn on public transport and in shops.
Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analysed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing.
Read more at: Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study | Coronavirus | The Guardian
Results from more than 30 studies from around the world were analysed in detail, showing a statistically significant 53% reduction in the incidence of Covid with mask wearing and a 25% reduction with physical distancing.
Read more at: Mask-wearing cuts Covid incidence by 53%, says global study | Coronavirus | The Guardian
The Netherlands aims to keep its schools open, even as cases soar among young people - by Claire Moses-
The coronavirus’s rapid spread through schools in the Netherlands has prompted some experts to call for extending this winter’s Christmas break. In an article on Thursday, one immunologist, Ger Rijkers, told the newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, “Children are little virus factories and infect each other as well as adults.”
Read more at: The Netherlands aims to keep its schools open, even as cases soar among young people. - The New York Times
Read more at: The Netherlands aims to keep its schools open, even as cases soar among young people. - The New York Times
11/18/21
The Netherlands: In the Netherlands, a foray into cocktail history - by Liza Weisstuch
The ferry ride from Rotterdam to Dordrecht is only an hour long, but it seems to take you centuries away. Boat seems the most appropriate way to travel to the oldest city in Holland, which thrived for centuries thanks to its location at the intersection of three rivers. Wood, grains and genever — a traditional Dutch spirit flavored with juniper — were among the goods local merchants shipped out to the rest of the world. In the 1870s, some of the genever was made by Simon Rutte, whose distillery still stands, seven generations later, in a square about a 15-minute walk from the harbor along winding cobblestone streets.
From the outside of this modest three-story building, you’d never imagine the extent of what goes on in what you might call the flavor factory inside. In the tasting room, adorned with vintage family photos, there are about two dozen dark-glass spritz bottles, each labeled hazelnoot, Kaffir lime, oranje-bloesem and an assortment of other fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers and spices. They’re the aromas of the individual distillates that are blended to craft various genevers, such as Old Simon, the founder’s recipe involving roasted hazelnuts and almonds, cinnamon, mace and celery.
“It’s the broadest category in the world,” said Myriam Hendrickx, master distiller and former food scientist, of genever. “You have all elements from gin in terms of having flavors from so many botanicals, and all the variables in whiskey, grain-wise and aging-wise. Plus you can age it or not.”
Read more at: In the Netherlands, a foray into cocktail history - The Washington Post
From the outside of this modest three-story building, you’d never imagine the extent of what goes on in what you might call the flavor factory inside. In the tasting room, adorned with vintage family photos, there are about two dozen dark-glass spritz bottles, each labeled hazelnoot, Kaffir lime, oranje-bloesem and an assortment of other fruits, nuts, herbs, flowers and spices. They’re the aromas of the individual distillates that are blended to craft various genevers, such as Old Simon, the founder’s recipe involving roasted hazelnuts and almonds, cinnamon, mace and celery.
“It’s the broadest category in the world,” said Myriam Hendrickx, master distiller and former food scientist, of genever. “You have all elements from gin in terms of having flavors from so many botanicals, and all the variables in whiskey, grain-wise and aging-wise. Plus you can age it or not.”
Read more at: In the Netherlands, a foray into cocktail history - The Washington Post
Belarus: Lukashenko agrees to EU talks on ending migrant standoff
The G7 foreign ministers Thursday also released a joint statement calling on Belarus to end the migrant crisis immediately.
The two leaders spoke Monday and also reportedly discussed organizing humanitarian aid for the thousands of people stranded at the EU-Belarus border.
Read mo4e at: Belarus: Lukashenko agrees to EU talks on ending migrant standoff | News | DW | 17.11.2021
The two leaders spoke Monday and also reportedly discussed organizing humanitarian aid for the thousands of people stranded at the EU-Belarus border.
Read mo4e at: Belarus: Lukashenko agrees to EU talks on ending migrant standoff | News | DW | 17.11.2021
Nazism: Nazis based their elite schools on top British private schools - by Mark Brown
The historian Helen Roche has written the first comprehensive history of Nazi elite schools, known as Napolas. Drawing on research undertaken in 80 archives in six countries as well as testimonies from more than 100 former pupils, Roche discovered just how keen the Nazis were to learn from the “character-forming” example of the British system.
Between 1934 and 1939 there was a blizzard of reciprocal exchanges between British and German schools, with boys from Britain’s most prestigious private schools spending extended periods at the Napolas.
Roche, an associate professor at Durham University, said the Napola authorities wanted to learn from the British system, ultimately hoping to create a superior model for their own schools.
Read more at Nazis based their elite schools on top British private schools | Nazism | The Guardian
Between 1934 and 1939 there was a blizzard of reciprocal exchanges between British and German schools, with boys from Britain’s most prestigious private schools spending extended periods at the Napolas.
Roche, an associate professor at Durham University, said the Napola authorities wanted to learn from the British system, ultimately hoping to create a superior model for their own schools.
Read more at Nazis based their elite schools on top British private schools | Nazism | The Guardian
COVID in Europe: Sweden's new COVID pass as Slovakia targets unvaccinated - by Alice Tidey and Aleksandar Brezar
COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in various parts of Europe as the cold weather has affected the spread of the virus.
Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means -- from introducing lockdowns for the unvaccinated to limiting access to certain services, or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.
Read more at: COVID in Europe: Sweden's new COVID pass as Slovakia targets unvaccinated | Euronews
Countries on the Old Continent are attempting to curb the spike through various means -- from introducing lockdowns for the unvaccinated to limiting access to certain services, or pushing for an increase in vaccination rates.
Read more at: COVID in Europe: Sweden's new COVID pass as Slovakia targets unvaccinated | Euronews
Greece-Netherlands Relations: Threatened Dutch journalist flees Greece after confrontation with Prime Minister
Shocking, is what editor-in-chief of De Groene Amsterdammer, Xandra Schutte, called what happened to the opinion weekly's correspondent Ingeborg Beugel in Greece. Beugel was in the news over the past days after the Greek prime minister reacted furiously when she asked him about alleged pushbacks, sending boats full of migrants back, during a press conference. Schutte confirms a report by NU.nl on Wednesday that Beugel is being threatened to such an extent that she will return to the Netherlands.
Read more at: Threatened Dutch journalist flees Greece after confrontation with Prime Minister | NL Times
Read more at: Threatened Dutch journalist flees Greece after confrontation with Prime Minister | NL Times
China and the West: What the West Gets Wrong About China - by Rana Mitter and Elsbeth Johnson
When we first traveled to China, in the early 1990s, it was very different from what we see today. Even in Beijing many people wore Mao suits and cycled everywhere; only senior Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials used cars. In the countryside life retained many of its traditional elements. But over the next 30 years, thanks to policies aimed at developing the economy and increasing capital investment, China emerged as a global power, with the second-largest economy in the world and a burgeoning middle class eager to spend.
One thing hasn’t changed, though: Many Western politicians and business executives still don’t get China. Believing, for example, that political freedom would follow the new economic freedoms, they wrongly assumed that China’s internet would be similar to the freewheeling and often politically disruptive version developed in the West. And believing that China’s economic growth would have to be built on the same foundations as those in the West, many failed to envisage the Chinese state’s continuing role as investor, regulator, and intellectual property owner.
Read more at: What the West Gets Wrong About China
One thing hasn’t changed, though: Many Western politicians and business executives still don’t get China. Believing, for example, that political freedom would follow the new economic freedoms, they wrongly assumed that China’s internet would be similar to the freewheeling and often politically disruptive version developed in the West. And believing that China’s economic growth would have to be built on the same foundations as those in the West, many failed to envisage the Chinese state’s continuing role as investor, regulator, and intellectual property owner.
Read more at: What the West Gets Wrong About China
11/17/21
USA : US annual drug overdose deaths hit record levels
More than 100,000 Americans have died of drug overdoses over a year-long period during the Covid-19 pandemic.
It is the highest yearly death toll from drugs ever recorded in the US.
Read more at: US annual drug overdose deaths hit record levels - BBC News
Read more at: US annual drug overdose deaths hit record levels - BBC News
11/16/21
Is COVID-19 here to stay? A team of biologists explains what it means for a virus to become endemic
Early on in the pandemic, it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) might just go away, since historically some pandemic viruses have simply disappeared.
For instance, SARS-CoV, the coronavirus responsible for the first SARS pandemic in 2003, spread to 29 countries and regions, infecting more than 8,000 people from November 2002 to July 2003. But thanks to quick and effective public health interventions, SARS-CoV hasn’t been observed in humans in almost 20 years and is now considered extinct.
Read more at: Is COVID-19 here to stay? A team of biologists explains what it means for a virus to become endemic
EU-US Relations: Is Europe politically drifting away from America? an Op-ed by Ramzy Baroud
Suddenly, the idea put forth by French President, Emmanuel Macron, late last year does not seem so far-fetched or untenable after all. Following the US-Nato hurried withdrawal from Afghanistan, European countries are now forced to consider the once unthinkable: a gradual drifting away from US dominance.
When, on Sep. 29, 2020, Macron uttered these words: “We, some countries more than others, gave up on our strategic independence by depending too much on American weapons systems”, the context of this statement had little to do with Afghanistan. Instead, Europe was angry at the bullying tactics used by former US President Donald Trump and sought alternatives to US leadership.
The latter has treated Nato — actually, all of Europe — with such disdain, that it has forced America’s closest allies to rethink their foreign policy outlook and global military strategy altogether.
Even the advent of US President Joe Biden and his assurances to Europe that “America is back” did little to reassure European countries, which fear, justifiably, that US political instability may exist long after Biden’s term in office expires.
Read more at: Is Europe politically drifting away from America? | Op-eds – Gulf News
When, on Sep. 29, 2020, Macron uttered these words: “We, some countries more than others, gave up on our strategic independence by depending too much on American weapons systems”, the context of this statement had little to do with Afghanistan. Instead, Europe was angry at the bullying tactics used by former US President Donald Trump and sought alternatives to US leadership.
The latter has treated Nato — actually, all of Europe — with such disdain, that it has forced America’s closest allies to rethink their foreign policy outlook and global military strategy altogether.
Even the advent of US President Joe Biden and his assurances to Europe that “America is back” did little to reassure European countries, which fear, justifiably, that US political instability may exist long after Biden’s term in office expires.
Read more at: Is Europe politically drifting away from America? | Op-eds – Gulf News
Turkey's Opposition Can End the Country's Economic Crisis - by Umit Ozlale and Selim Sazak
As Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s power weakens, the Turkish economy’s crisis deepens. Since the end of 2012, the Turkish lira has lost more than 80 percent of its value, the worst slide in the developing world after the Argentine peso.
In its failed attempt to prop the lira up, Ankara opened the money spigot and blew through more than $128 billion in foreign exchange reserves, which many respectable economists now believe to be in the negative. In less than two years, Turkey’s Central Bank cycled through three governors. Just in the past month, rumors in the foreign media about a replacement at the Central Bank—followed by the sacking of three of its six board members, yet another interest rate cut that defies all economic logic, and Erdogan’s threat to expel the ambassadors of 10 European countries—poured oil on a five-alarm fire.
For Turkish citizens, the prices keep rising. Inflation neared 20 percent in September. According to Turkey’s largest trade union, more than 7 million minimum wage earners face hunger. Polls show that almost two-thirds of the Turkish public is struggling to make ends meet. Turkey’s best and brightest are emigrating in droves, even though the labor minister thinks they’re leaving not because there’s anything wrong in the country but because they’re free-spirited adventure-seekers.
Note EU-Digest: If a coalition of opposition forces has their way, Erdogan's days as the President of Turkey could be numbered.
For the complete report go to: Turkey's Opposition Can End the Country's Economic Crisis
In its failed attempt to prop the lira up, Ankara opened the money spigot and blew through more than $128 billion in foreign exchange reserves, which many respectable economists now believe to be in the negative. In less than two years, Turkey’s Central Bank cycled through three governors. Just in the past month, rumors in the foreign media about a replacement at the Central Bank—followed by the sacking of three of its six board members, yet another interest rate cut that defies all economic logic, and Erdogan’s threat to expel the ambassadors of 10 European countries—poured oil on a five-alarm fire.
For Turkish citizens, the prices keep rising. Inflation neared 20 percent in September. According to Turkey’s largest trade union, more than 7 million minimum wage earners face hunger. Polls show that almost two-thirds of the Turkish public is struggling to make ends meet. Turkey’s best and brightest are emigrating in droves, even though the labor minister thinks they’re leaving not because there’s anything wrong in the country but because they’re free-spirited adventure-seekers.
Note EU-Digest: If a coalition of opposition forces has their way, Erdogan's days as the President of Turkey could be numbered.
For the complete report go to: Turkey's Opposition Can End the Country's Economic Crisis
The Afghanistan DISASTER: Once and Future Defeat in Afghanistan - War on the Rocks - by Barnett Rubin
“Everyone is failing us.” These were the first words that Ashraf Ghani uttered — not as he fled the advancing Taliban on Aug. 15, 2021, but in March 2002 as we sat down to dinner on a chilly and wet night on my first post-9/11 visit to Kabul. I had known him since 1984, first as an academic colleague and then as a World Bank official. We had collaborated as informal advisors to U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi during his first assignment from 1997 to 1999, and then as part of the United Nations team in 2001, when the two of us served as Brahimi’s advisors during the Bonn Conference that set the framework for the post-Taliban government.
Soon after, Ghani had left for Kabul, where he established the Afghanistan Aid Coordination Agency, which he said would align international aid with Afghan priorities. Over dinner, he described how the Bush administration had allocated no new money for rebuilding the country, which was then devastated by (a mere!) 24 years of war. International agencies had presented gross underestimates of reconstruction costs, and their uncoordinated operations were marginalizing the destitute government. The U.N. political mission was virtually alone in pressing for the broadening of the interim administration at the upcoming Emergency Loya Jirga. Ghani became finance minister at that jirga three months later and ultimately president in 2014, only to discover that the policies that he prescribed in his book, Fixing Failed States, ignored political realities in both Afghanistan and America. Even after the United States signed a February 2020 deal with the Taliban, promising to leave by May 1, 2021, he refused to believe in or plan for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. As late as Aug. 2, 2021, he boasted to the Afghan parliament that he would get the situation “under control” in six months.
Read more at: The Once and Future Defeat in Afghanistan - War on the Rocks
Soon after, Ghani had left for Kabul, where he established the Afghanistan Aid Coordination Agency, which he said would align international aid with Afghan priorities. Over dinner, he described how the Bush administration had allocated no new money for rebuilding the country, which was then devastated by (a mere!) 24 years of war. International agencies had presented gross underestimates of reconstruction costs, and their uncoordinated operations were marginalizing the destitute government. The U.N. political mission was virtually alone in pressing for the broadening of the interim administration at the upcoming Emergency Loya Jirga. Ghani became finance minister at that jirga three months later and ultimately president in 2014, only to discover that the policies that he prescribed in his book, Fixing Failed States, ignored political realities in both Afghanistan and America. Even after the United States signed a February 2020 deal with the Taliban, promising to leave by May 1, 2021, he refused to believe in or plan for the withdrawal of U.S. forces. As late as Aug. 2, 2021, he boasted to the Afghan parliament that he would get the situation “under control” in six months.
Read more at: The Once and Future Defeat in Afghanistan - War on the Rocks
EU-Russia Relations: Russian weapons test blamed for space junk threatening space station
A Russian weapons test created more than 1,500 pieces of space junk now threatening the seven astronauts aboard the International Space Station, according to U.S. officials who called the strike reckless and irresponsible.
The State Department confirmed Monday that the debris was from an old Russian satellite destroyed by the missile.
Read more at: Russian weapons test blamed for space junk threatening space station | Euronews
The State Department confirmed Monday that the debris was from an old Russian satellite destroyed by the missile.
Read more at: Russian weapons test blamed for space junk threatening space station | Euronews
EU: On the way to a European digital public sphere - by Barbara Thomaß
The European public sphere has become dysfunctional. Against this background, a debate has unfolded in recent years about a European digital public sphere (EDPS), exploring the possibilities of how another communicative digital infrastructure can emerge—not subject to the deformations resulting from the dominance of the United States digital giants of ‘GAFAM’ (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft).
The idea is there as a rough sketch: a public space for digital communication in Europe should make knowledge and content generated with public funds digitally accessible and useable for a broad public. In the debate on this European digital sphere, the perspective has evolved from a super-platform to a decentralised model of networked platforms.
Read more at: On the way to a European digital public sphere – Barbara Thomaß
The idea is there as a rough sketch: a public space for digital communication in Europe should make knowledge and content generated with public funds digitally accessible and useable for a broad public. In the debate on this European digital sphere, the perspective has evolved from a super-platform to a decentralised model of networked platforms.
Read more at: On the way to a European digital public sphere – Barbara Thomaß
11/15/21
US Joe Biden and China Xi Jinping: What they want from talks
US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are holding a virtual summit as tensions between the two superpowers deepen.
The competing nations surprised many last week by issuing a joint declaration to address climate change, at talks in Glasgow, Scotland.
But growing concerns of a military confrontation over Taiwan have thrown their differences into sharp relief.
Read more at: Joe Biden and Xi Jinping: What they want from talks - BBC News
The competing nations surprised many last week by issuing a joint declaration to address climate change, at talks in Glasgow, Scotland.
But growing concerns of a military confrontation over Taiwan have thrown their differences into sharp relief.
Read more at: Joe Biden and Xi Jinping: What they want from talks - BBC News
The Netherlands: Utrecht surgeons carry out first artificial heart implantation in the Netherlands
Specialists at Utrecht University’s teaching hospital have successfully implanted an artificial heart into a patient with very serious heart disease.
It is the first time such an operation has been carried out in the Netherlands. The operation is part of a long-term, international research project into an alternative for donor hearts with French firm Carmat. The heart has been licenced for sale in the EU since 2020.
Read more at: Utrecht surgeons carry out first artificial heart implantation in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
It is the first time such an operation has been carried out in the Netherlands. The operation is part of a long-term, international research project into an alternative for donor hearts with French firm Carmat. The heart has been licenced for sale in the EU since 2020.
Read more at: Utrecht surgeons carry out first artificial heart implantation in the Netherlands - DutchNews.nl
11/13/21
Scotland: COP 26 - final resolution with compromise on coal
Almost 200 nations at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow accepted a contentious climate compromise Saturday aimed at keeping alive a key target to limit global warming, but it contained a last-minute change that some officials called a watering down of crucial language about
See more at: http://www.eu-digest.blogspot.com
See more at: http://www.eu-digest.blogspot.com
11/11/21
Covid 19 vaccines: EU authorizes 2 medicines for people at risk of severe COVID-19
The European Medicines Agency has recommended the authorization of two new medicines against the coronavirus for people at risk of severe disease.
In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said it had concluded that the monoclonal antibody treatments -- a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, and the drug regdanvimab -- have both been proven to significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in patients vulnerable to serious COVID-19.
Read more at: EU authorizes 2 medicines for people at risk of severe COVID-19 | CTV News
In a statement on Thursday, the EU drug regulator said it had concluded that the monoclonal antibody treatments -- a combination of casirivimab and imdevimab, and the drug regdanvimab -- have both been proven to significantly reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in patients vulnerable to serious COVID-19.
Read more at: EU authorizes 2 medicines for people at risk of severe COVID-19 | CTV News
The Netherlands: Pressure mounts as Dutch govt coalition talks drag on
Pressure is mounting on Dutch political leaders to put together a coalition government, which after 226 days on Friday became the longest formation talks on record in the Netherlands.
Experts say even the position of long-time Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was by no means certain,
But seven months after Dutch voters went to the polls it was very much back to square one, with a future coalition government most likely resembling the one that stepped down in January over a childcare scandal.
Read more at: Pressure mounts as Dutch govt coalition talks drag on
Experts say even the position of long-time Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was by no means certain,
But seven months after Dutch voters went to the polls it was very much back to square one, with a future coalition government most likely resembling the one that stepped down in January over a childcare scandal.
Read more at: Pressure mounts as Dutch govt coalition talks drag on
Belarus: Lukashenko ponders cutting gas supplies if EU levies more sanctions over migrants - by Alasdair Sandfor
Allexander Lukashenko has raised the prospect of cutting gas supplies to the European Union if Brussels imposes new sanctions against his regime over the influx of migrants on the country's Brwestern border.
Thousands of people remain stuck out in the open in harsh conditions on the Belarusian-Polish frontier amid the standoff between Minsk and the EU, which accuses Belarus of deliberately orchestrating the crisis.
Read more at: Belarus: Lukashenko ponders cutting gas supplies if EU levies more sanctions over migrants | Euronews
Thousands of people remain stuck out in the open in harsh conditions on the Belarusian-Polish frontier amid the standoff between Minsk and the EU, which accuses Belarus of deliberately orchestrating the crisis.
Read more at: Belarus: Lukashenko ponders cutting gas supplies if EU levies more sanctions over migrants | Euronews
11/10/21
USA: pressure on Fed to raise interest rates as US inflation surges to 30-year high | US economy
Although the Federal Reserve has repeatedly insisted price pressures will prove “transitory”, financial markets were taken aback by a 6.2% increase in the cost of living in the world’s biggest economy over the past year.
A labor department report released on Wednesday showed prices rose by 0.9% in October alone – more than double the 0.4% jump in September – to push the annual rate of inflation to its highest level since December 1990, a time when global oil prices had risen sharply due to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
The news came after the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve tried to downplay rising costs, arguing they are a temporary phenomena driven by Covid-19’s unprecedented impact on the global supply chain
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/10/inflation-us-latest-high-30-years-economy-predictions?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
A labor department report released on Wednesday showed prices rose by 0.9% in October alone – more than double the 0.4% jump in September – to push the annual rate of inflation to its highest level since December 1990, a time when global oil prices had risen sharply due to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.
The news came after the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve tried to downplay rising costs, arguing they are a temporary phenomena driven by Covid-19’s unprecedented impact on the global supply chain
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/nov/10/inflation-us-latest-high-30-years-economy-predictions?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
11/9/21
Britain: History repeats itself: The U.K. in the 1970s and Today: Déja Vu All Over Again - by Denis MacShane
Why do I feel I am reliving the 1970s? That was my first proper political decade, after the warm-up excitement of being part of the 1968 generation at Oxford—student occupations, Vietnam, Paris, sex, drugs, Stones in the Park, rock’n roll.-
Read more at: https://www.theglobalist.com/the-united-kingdom-in-the-1970s-and-today-deja-vu-all-over-again/#noredirect
Read more at: https://www.theglobalist.com/the-united-kingdom-in-the-1970s-and-today-deja-vu-all-over-again/#noredirect
The Netherlands: COVID-19: Dutch hospitals sound alarm as eastern Europe reports record daily deaths
Hospitals in the southern Dutch province of Limburg warned the government on Tuesday that they can no longer cope with new COVID-19 patients.
"We are heading straight for a healthcare blockage and the entire system is grinding to a standstill," five hospitals in the border province said.
"We are convinced that other parts of the Netherlands will soon follow," they added in a statement.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/09/covid-19-dutch-hospitals-sound-alarm-as-eastern-europe-reports-record-daily-deaths
"We are heading straight for a healthcare blockage and the entire system is grinding to a standstill," five hospitals in the border province said.
"We are convinced that other parts of the Netherlands will soon follow," they added in a statement.
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/2021/11/09/covid-19-dutch-hospitals-sound-alarm-as-eastern-europe-reports-record-daily-deaths
Alternative Energy: We Can Love Electric Cars, But Let's Not Spurn Biofuels - by Dan Morgan
The Biden administration, the European Union, China and General Motors want to make battery-powered electric cars the champion of motorists worldwide.
At the same time, U.S. and European agricultural interests and investors are pouring serious money into biofuels that go into cars and trucks running on liquid fuels.
Read more at: We Can Love Electric Cars, But Let's Not Spurn Biofuels - The Globalist
At the same time, U.S. and European agricultural interests and investors are pouring serious money into biofuels that go into cars and trucks running on liquid fuels.
Read more at: We Can Love Electric Cars, But Let's Not Spurn Biofuels - The Globalist
11/8/21
NATO: has Jens Stoltenberg gone mad ? : NATO’S strategy 2030 to confront China's security challenges -"instead why not seek peaceful cooperation?"
The United States of America is leading the way in anticipating the NATO countries in Brussels to meet the “security challenges of 2030”, placing the “first priority on China” and then Russia as its ally. Therefore, the White House issued a statement to express the issue, affirming:
“The countries of NATO and the United States of America will jointly launch a set of “ambitious” initiatives to ensure the preservation of the security of the alliance until 2030 and beyond, with full focus on the upcoming threats from Russia and China, as they are the most important challenges facing the countries of the alliance in the coming years” The most prominent is the unanimity of the thirty members of NATO led by the United States of America, during the “Brussels” summit of the NATO leaders’ meeting in mid-June 2021, and their agreement in the statement of the NATO summit in June 2021, on: “The necessity of reviewing “NATO’s strategic concept”, which will “guide its approach in an evolving strategic environment”, to include: the hostile policies and behaviors of both Russia and China and the security challenges that China poses to our security and prosperity” Perhaps what is new in the “NATO” summit meeting in June 2021” is that explicit text issued in a clear public statement by the White House on China, and it is understood from it that “NATO and its members have become a security tool in Washington’s hands in order to move a proactive initiative expected by NATO against China and Russia”, which may represent a major shift in the path of the alliance and its strategic and defense objectives towards China, and we understand this by analyzing the approach of “NATO and its thirty members” in the recent period, as follows:
The declaration of the Secretary-General of NATO, “Jens Stoltenberg”, at the “NATO summit meeting in June 2021”, and his call by the leaders of the alliance countries during their summit in “Brussels”, the need to “establish a stronger common policy to counter the growing dominance of China”.
Secretary-General of NATO, “Stoltenberg” declared publicly and without substantiating his words with evidence, in echoing the same American security agenda towards China, by saying:
Read more at: NATO’S strategy 2030 to confront China's security challenges - Modern Diplomacy
“The countries of NATO and the United States of America will jointly launch a set of “ambitious” initiatives to ensure the preservation of the security of the alliance until 2030 and beyond, with full focus on the upcoming threats from Russia and China, as they are the most important challenges facing the countries of the alliance in the coming years” The most prominent is the unanimity of the thirty members of NATO led by the United States of America, during the “Brussels” summit of the NATO leaders’ meeting in mid-June 2021, and their agreement in the statement of the NATO summit in June 2021, on: “The necessity of reviewing “NATO’s strategic concept”, which will “guide its approach in an evolving strategic environment”, to include: the hostile policies and behaviors of both Russia and China and the security challenges that China poses to our security and prosperity” Perhaps what is new in the “NATO” summit meeting in June 2021” is that explicit text issued in a clear public statement by the White House on China, and it is understood from it that “NATO and its members have become a security tool in Washington’s hands in order to move a proactive initiative expected by NATO against China and Russia”, which may represent a major shift in the path of the alliance and its strategic and defense objectives towards China, and we understand this by analyzing the approach of “NATO and its thirty members” in the recent period, as follows:
The declaration of the Secretary-General of NATO, “Jens Stoltenberg”, at the “NATO summit meeting in June 2021”, and his call by the leaders of the alliance countries during their summit in “Brussels”, the need to “establish a stronger common policy to counter the growing dominance of China”.
Secretary-General of NATO, “Stoltenberg” declared publicly and without substantiating his words with evidence, in echoing the same American security agenda towards China, by saying:
Read more at: NATO’S strategy 2030 to confront China's security challenges - Modern Diplomacy
USA: CDC approves Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids 5 to 11 in the U.S.
U.S. health officials on Tuesday gave final approval to Pfizer's kid-sized COVID-19 shot, a milestone that opens a major expansion of the nation's vaccination campaign to children as young as five.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already authorized the shots for children ages five to 11 — doses just one-third of the amount given to teens and adults. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) formally recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines.
The announcement by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky came only hours after an advisory panel unanimously decided Pfizer's shots should be opened to the 28 million youngsters in that age group.
Read more at: CDC approves Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids 5 to 11 in the U.S. | CBC News
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) already authorized the shots for children ages five to 11 — doses just one-third of the amount given to teens and adults. But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) formally recommends who should receive FDA-cleared vaccines.
The announcement by CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky came only hours after an advisory panel unanimously decided Pfizer's shots should be opened to the 28 million youngsters in that age group.
Read more at: CDC approves Pfizer's COVID vaccine for kids 5 to 11 in the U.S. | CBC News
11/7/21
Global Warming:: Fossil fuels replaced by hydrogen an economic bonanza
Emission-free hydrogen could, one day,entirettey replace fossil fuels - and a start up in Germany believes it has the key ingredient to make it accessible to all.
Born in a climate-change affected South Pacific Island, Vaitea Cowan believes deeply in green hydrogen technology. She co-founded Enapter more than three years
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/11/07/green-hydrogen-how-half-the-water-flushing-a-toilet-could-power-your-home-for-days
Born in a climate-change affected South Pacific Island, Vaitea Cowan believes deeply in green hydrogen technology. She co-founded Enapter more than three years
Read more at: https://www.euronews.com/green/2021/11/07/green-hydrogen-how-half-the-water-flushing-a-toilet-could-power-your-home-for-days
EU: Is Germany - tuning left ?
German election: Could there soon be a left-wing government?
German parties are often referred to by their colors, where red stands for left-leaning, green for environmentalists, and black for conservatives. So could a "red-red-green" coalition come to pass at the federal level? Angela Merkel, who is not running for reelection, has warned against this: "With me as chancellor, there could never be a coalition involving the Left," she stated in parliament in early September. "And whether this is shared by Olaf Scholz or not, that remains open."
Read more at: https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-could-there-soon-be-a-left-wing-government/a-59073355
German parties are often referred to by their colors, where red stands for left-leaning, green for environmentalists, and black for conservatives. So could a "red-red-green" coalition come to pass at the federal level? Angela Merkel, who is not running for reelection, has warned against this: "With me as chancellor, there could never be a coalition involving the Left," she stated in parliament in early September. "And whether this is shared by Olaf Scholz or not, that remains open."
Read more at: https://www.dw.com/en/german-election-could-there-soon-be-a-left-wing-government/a-59073355
11/6/21
The Netherlands: Coronavirus in the Netherlands: what changes on Saturday November 6
Masks will once again be compulsory in all public buildings where coronavirus passes are not required. This includes: Supermarkets and shops Libraries Government buildings and council offices Airports and railway stations Colleges and universities when moving between locations People in contact professions, such as hairdressers, will again have to wear masks, but not sex workers. Those who do not wear a mask can be fined €95. Masks remain compulsory in taxis and on public transport.
Read more at: Coronavirus in the Netherlands: what changes on Saturday - DutchNews.nl
Read more at: Coronavirus in the Netherlands: what changes on Saturday - DutchNews.nl
Britain-EU Relations: Brexit: EU warns of 'serious consequences' if UK triggers Article 16
Europe’s top Brexit negotiator has warned of “serious consequences” if the UK makes good on its threat to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol amid an ongoing row with Brussels over how goods can be shipped between the territory and the UK mainland.
European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic told a press conference on Friday that while the EU had proposed a solution to the impasse which avoided trade delays between the UK and Northern Ireland and “cut red tape in half”, the UK had so far refused to engage.
Read more at{ Brexit: EU warns of 'serious consequences' if UK triggers Article 16 | Euronews
European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic told a press conference on Friday that while the EU had proposed a solution to the impasse which avoided trade delays between the UK and Northern Ireland and “cut red tape in half”, the UK had so far refused to engage.
Read more at{ Brexit: EU warns of 'serious consequences' if UK triggers Article 16 | Euronews
11/5/21
Sweden: Here they go again – ABBA reunite for first new album in 40 years
Swedish supergroup ABBA announced their first new album in four decades recently, and said they would stage a series of virtual concerts using digital avatars of themselves in London next year
ABBA was founded in the early 70s by then couples Agnetha and Bjorn, together with Benny and Anni-Frid. Their initials gave the band its name.
Read more at: Here they go again – ABBA reunite for first new album in 40 years
ABBA was founded in the early 70s by then couples Agnetha and Bjorn, together with Benny and Anni-Frid. Their initials gave the band its name.
Read more at: Here they go again – ABBA reunite for first new album in 40 years
Germany: COVID: Germany to offer booster shots for all
All people in Germany will eventually be offered a booster shot of a COVID-19 vaccine six months after receiving their previous injection, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Friday.
The measure had been agreed with regional health ministers, Spahn said.
"This should become the norm, not the exception," Spahn added.
Read more at: COVID: Germany to offer booster shots for all | News | DW | 05.11.2021
The measure had been agreed with regional health ministers, Spahn said.
"This should become the norm, not the exception," Spahn added.
Read more at: COVID: Germany to offer booster shots for all | News | DW | 05.11.2021
‘Social media’, market power and the health of democracy –by Piergiuseppe Fortunato
According to its former employee Frances Haugen, Facebook algorithms consciously amplify dangerous misinformation and privilege the most divisive content posted on the network. Such content is more frequently shared by users and foregrounding it maximises traffic on the platform—and so turnover.
This modus operandi, which became still more aggressive from 2018, is generating perverse incentives pushing even relatively moderate users to sharpen and polarise their content to obtain visibility. It is a Darwinian struggle for prominence which, given the rules of the game, leads to the survival of those users most fit for division and risks skewing public opinion and altering political outcomes. A recent working paper I co-authored shows that exposure to political information through ‘social media’ has been closely associated with the diffusion of divisive ideas in Europe in the last decade.
Read more at: ‘Social media’, market power and the health of democracy – Piergiuseppe Fortunato
This modus operandi, which became still more aggressive from 2018, is generating perverse incentives pushing even relatively moderate users to sharpen and polarise their content to obtain visibility. It is a Darwinian struggle for prominence which, given the rules of the game, leads to the survival of those users most fit for division and risks skewing public opinion and altering political outcomes. A recent working paper I co-authored shows that exposure to political information through ‘social media’ has been closely associated with the diffusion of divisive ideas in Europe in the last decade.
Read more at: ‘Social media’, market power and the health of democracy – Piergiuseppe Fortunato
11/4/21
Facebook and Climate Change: Facebook fails to flag denial, study finds - by Rachel Schraer & Kayleen Devlin
The Center for Countering Digital Hate and the Institute for Strategic Dialogue said less than 10% of misleading posts were marked as misinformation.
And the CCDH researchers linked the majority of these to just 10 publishers.
Facebook said this represented a small proportion of climate change content.
Read more at: Climate change: Facebook fails to flag denial, study finds - BBC News
And the CCDH researchers linked the majority of these to just 10 publishers.
Facebook said this represented a small proportion of climate change content.
Read more at: Climate change: Facebook fails to flag denial, study finds - BBC News
Coronavirus on the increase? : Europe and Central Asia could see 500k COVID deaths by February 1, says WHO Europe chief - by Lauren Chadwick
Europe and Central Asia are once again at the "epicentre" of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a possible 500,000 additional deaths before February 1, the World Health Organization (WHO)'s European regional director said at a press conference.
Dr Hans Kluge said the 55% increase in new COVID-19 cases over the last four weeks in the region was due to low vaccination rates and few preventive measures.
Europe and Central Asia accounted for 59% of global cases and 48% of reported deaths, he added.
Read more at Europe and Central Asia could see 500k COVID deaths by February 1, says WHO Europe chief | Euronews
Dr Hans Kluge said the 55% increase in new COVID-19 cases over the last four weeks in the region was due to low vaccination rates and few preventive measures.
Europe and Central Asia accounted for 59% of global cases and 48% of reported deaths, he added.
Read more at Europe and Central Asia could see 500k COVID deaths by February 1, says WHO Europe chief | Euronews
Portugal's president calls a snap election on Jan. 30 after government lost vote on 2022 budget
Portugal's president dissolved parliament on Thursday evening and announced that the country will head to the polls for snap elections on January 30.
The country was plunged into a political crisis last week when MPs rejected the 2022 state budget proposed by Prime Minister António Costa.
The decision brought an end to the minority Socialist (PS) government alliance, which had ruled Portugal since 2015.
Read more at: Portugal's president calls a snap election on Jan. 30 after government lost vote on 2022 budget | Euronews
The country was plunged into a political crisis last week when MPs rejected the 2022 state budget proposed by Prime Minister António Costa.
The decision brought an end to the minority Socialist (PS) government alliance, which had ruled Portugal since 2015.
Read more at: Portugal's president calls a snap election on Jan. 30 after government lost vote on 2022 budget | Euronews
USA: Why the US still hasn't had a woman president
Estonia, Singapore, Ethiopia and Finland – these are some of the 21 countries currently governed by a female president or prime minister.
Yet a woman president of the U.S. still remains only a hypothetical.
The 2020 Democratic nomination contest originally featured six women candidates, a record number. But the most prominent female candidates for the Democratic nomination – Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar – have all dropped out, and the focus of the race has narrowed to two males.
My research examines what countries where women run the government have in common – and why the U.S. still lags behind.
Read more at: Why the US still hasn't had a woman president
Yet a woman president of the U.S. still remains only a hypothetical.
The 2020 Democratic nomination contest originally featured six women candidates, a record number. But the most prominent female candidates for the Democratic nomination – Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar – have all dropped out, and the focus of the race has narrowed to two males.
My research examines what countries where women run the government have in common – and why the U.S. still lags behind.
Read more at: Why the US still hasn't had a woman president
USA: Democratic Party In-fighting: Here's what’s in and out of Democrats’ big social-spending bill — for now-by Victor Reklaitis and Robert Schroeder -
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House Democrats are moving ahead with their $1.75 trillion social-spending bill, with voting measure possible as soon as this week even as parts of it face resistance in the Senate.
Smarting from election results including a loss in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest, members of President Joe Biden’s party have added into the bill items like paid family and medical leave and a sharp increase in the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction — or SALT, for short. Biden, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said “people want us to get things done.”
Read more at: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGlkjcbRnTrnmrhXrJkbmmGKhJD
Smarting from election results including a loss in Virginia’s gubernatorial contest, members of President Joe Biden’s party have added into the bill items like paid family and medical leave and a sharp increase in the $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction — or SALT, for short. Biden, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said “people want us to get things done.”
Read more at: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/FMfcgzGlkjcbRnTrnmrhXrJkbmmGKhJD
11/3/21
Information: It pays to stay informed
Check Out
EU-Digest for all your news related and about Europe
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EU-Digest for all your news related and about Europe
For news about and related to the Republic of Turkey go to:
Turkish-Digest And for news about and related to the Netherlands see more at:
Almere-Digest
China-EU Relations: China’s Foreign Minister Tries Again to Win Europe Back
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Europe this week, hoping to stem a downward slide in China-Europe relations. He started his trip in Greece and will visit Serbia, Albania, and Italy from October 27 to 29, ending his trip just ahead of the G-20 Summit in Rome. (China’s President Xi Jinping will not be attending the Rome meeting in person, continuing his 21-month streak of avoiding international travel.)
Wang’s Europe tour followed a trip to Qatar from October 25 to 26, where he met with a delegation of the Afghan Taliban’s interim government.
Read more at China’s Foreign Minister Tries Again to Win Europe Back – The Diplomat
Wang’s Europe tour followed a trip to Qatar from October 25 to 26, where he met with a delegation of the Afghan Taliban’s interim government.
Read more at China’s Foreign Minister Tries Again to Win Europe Back – The Diplomat
USA: Lock him up! Why is repeat offender Donald Trump still a free man? by - S imon Tisdall
A distraught Napoleon talked to coffee bushes on St Helena. Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia hung around the haberdashery department of Jolly’s in Bath. Uganda’s Idi Amin plotted bloody revenge from a Novotel in Jeddah. Only Alfred the Great made a successful comeback.
All of which brings us to Donald Trump, currently in exile at his luxury club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Whingeing amid the manicured greens and bunkers of his exclusive golf course, the defeated president recalls an ageing Bonnie Prince Charlie – a sort of “king over the water” with water features. Like deposed leaders throughout history, he obsesses about a return to power.
Yet as Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell moves to kill off a 9/11-style national commission to investigate the 6 January Capitol Hill insurrection, the pressing question is not whether Trump can maintain cult-like sway over Republicans, or even whether he will run again in 2024. The question that should most concern Americans who care about democracy is: why isn’t Trump in jail?
The fact he is not, and has not been charged with anything, is a genuine puzzle – some might say a scandal, even a conspiracy. Trump’s actual and potential criminal rap sheet long predates the Capitol siege. It includes alleged abuses of power, obstruction of justice, fraud, tax evasion, Russian money-laundering, election tampering, conflicts of interest, hush-money bribes, assassination – and a lot of lies.
Read more at: Lock him up! Why is repeat offender Donald Trump still a free man? | Simon Tisdall | The Guardian
All of which brings us to Donald Trump, currently in exile at his luxury club in Bedminster, New Jersey. Whingeing amid the manicured greens and bunkers of his exclusive golf course, the defeated president recalls an ageing Bonnie Prince Charlie – a sort of “king over the water” with water features. Like deposed leaders throughout history, he obsesses about a return to power.
Yet as Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell moves to kill off a 9/11-style national commission to investigate the 6 January Capitol Hill insurrection, the pressing question is not whether Trump can maintain cult-like sway over Republicans, or even whether he will run again in 2024. The question that should most concern Americans who care about democracy is: why isn’t Trump in jail?
The fact he is not, and has not been charged with anything, is a genuine puzzle – some might say a scandal, even a conspiracy. Trump’s actual and potential criminal rap sheet long predates the Capitol siege. It includes alleged abuses of power, obstruction of justice, fraud, tax evasion, Russian money-laundering, election tampering, conflicts of interest, hush-money bribes, assassination – and a lot of lies.
Read more at: Lock him up! Why is repeat offender Donald Trump still a free man? | Simon Tisdall | The Guardian
11/2/21
The Netherlands: Face masks are back, more working at home, as Dutch bring back anti-Covid rules
The Netherlands is bringing in new measures to control coronavirus in a bid to reverse the sharp rise in new cases, and tougher rules are also in the pipeline if there is no improvement. The new plans were outlined by ministers at a press conference on Tuesday evening, shortly after officials raised the risk level to ‘severe’ now that the average number of hospital admissions per day is above 100.
Although social distancing will not be compulsory, it is the government’s ‘urgent advice’, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday evening .
Read more at: Face masks are back, more working at home, as Dutch bring back anti-Covid rules - DutchNews.nl
Although social distancing will not be compulsory, it is the government’s ‘urgent advice’, prime minister Mark Rutte told a press conference on Tuesday evening .
Read more at: Face masks are back, more working at home, as Dutch bring back anti-Covid rules - DutchNews.nl
USA: Florida: Ron DeSantis gets brutally owned by one of Florida's largest papers: "What a fraud. What a phony."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is said to be positioning himself as the next Donald Trump, a mantle coveted not just for its political benefit amongst lunatic right-wing extremists but also the seeming immunity it provides from media scrutiny. The most heartless decisions and bigoted distortions of reality are portrayed as savvy, not savage, if they’re made with obvious political cynicism aimed at revving up the MAGA base.
DeSantis has spent more than a year benefiting from this dangerous double standard, whether it’s on voter suppression, violence against Black Floridians, environmental poisoning, or, and especially, his homicidal approach to Covid-19.
A recent study found that had DeSantis worked to get people vaccinated in his state, instead of working relentlessly to raise doubts about science, deny low-income communities access to the vaccine, and push treatments owned by donors, the lives of more than 17,000 Floridians could have been spared this past summer alone. He has genocide levels of blood on his hands, and yet last week, DeSantis went on a victory tour of sorts, celebrating Florida’s recent decline in cases following a full summer leading the nation in every grim category.
Read more at: Ron DeSantis gets brutally owned by one of Florida's largest papers: "What a fraud. What a phony."
DeSantis has spent more than a year benefiting from this dangerous double standard, whether it’s on voter suppression, violence against Black Floridians, environmental poisoning, or, and especially, his homicidal approach to Covid-19.
A recent study found that had DeSantis worked to get people vaccinated in his state, instead of working relentlessly to raise doubts about science, deny low-income communities access to the vaccine, and push treatments owned by donors, the lives of more than 17,000 Floridians could have been spared this past summer alone. He has genocide levels of blood on his hands, and yet last week, DeSantis went on a victory tour of sorts, celebrating Florida’s recent decline in cases following a full summer leading the nation in every grim category.
Read more at: Ron DeSantis gets brutally owned by one of Florida's largest papers: "What a fraud. What a phony."
11/1/21
Global Warming: Could a technological fix save the planet from climate change?
UN climate experts were unanimous in their latest report published in August: Unless we keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, the earth will be racked by heatwaves, cyclones and storms, entire species will be wiped out, and large swathes of humanity will have to leave their homes when coastal settlements go underwater.
As despair growths about humanity’s ability to avoid this fateful threshold, researchers are looking at geoengineering as a potential means of reversing the damage.
“Geoengineering is a way of using various technological tools to cancel out the environmental effects of human actions,” explained Sofia Kabbej, a researcher in the Climate, Energy and Security Programme at France’s Institute of International and Strategic Relations.
Read nore at: Could a technological fix save the planet from climate change?
As despair growths about humanity’s ability to avoid this fateful threshold, researchers are looking at geoengineering as a potential means of reversing the damage.
“Geoengineering is a way of using various technological tools to cancel out the environmental effects of human actions,” explained Sofia Kabbej, a researcher in the Climate, Energy and Security Programme at France’s Institute of International and Strategic Relations.
Read nore at: Could a technological fix save the planet from climate change?
Costa Rica: A climate success story - by Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin
In the space of just a few years, the small Central American nation of Costa Rica has become a global laboratory for decarbonisation. Costa Rica is the world's only tropical country that has managed to reverse the process of deforestation: forests now cover more than half its surface. It’s also one of the few countries to get almost all its electricity (99 percent) from renewable sources. Costa Rica's inspiring and bold example reflects badly on major world powers, which have considerably more resources available to achieve their climate goals.
Costa Rica abolished its army back in 1948, and 99 percent of its energy is renewable. The small country is an exception in Latin America. Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada sat down for an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24. Ahead of November's COP26 conference in Glasgow, he laid out several concrete proposals to fight climate change and sounded the alarm, saying: "The biggest challenge of this generation is decarbonisation and fighting climate change."
Read more at: Costa Rica: A climate success story - Reporters
Costa Rica abolished its army back in 1948, and 99 percent of its energy is renewable. The small country is an exception in Latin America. Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada sat down for an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24. Ahead of November's COP26 conference in Glasgow, he laid out several concrete proposals to fight climate change and sounded the alarm, saying: "The biggest challenge of this generation is decarbonisation and fighting climate change."
Read more at: Costa Rica: A climate success story - Reporters
European Parliament sues Commission for failing to hold members accountable over rule of law - by Jorge Liboreiro
The European Parliament has decided to sue the European Commission after the executive's repeated refusal to activate a new conditionality mechanism that can freeze EU funds for member states suspected of breaching EU law.
The lawsuit was submitted on Friday by the Parliament's legal service before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), based in Luxembourg.
Read more at: European Parliament sues Commission for failing to hold members accountable over rule of law | Euronews
The lawsuit was submitted on Friday by the Parliament's legal service before the European Court of Justice (ECJ), based in Luxembourg.
Read more at: European Parliament sues Commission for failing to hold members accountable over rule of law | Euronews
France-UK relations: Deadlock over fish as UK and France spar over Brexit deal - by Elizabeth Piper and Michel Rose
Britain and France clashed again in a post-Brexit fishing row on Sunday, with London denying it had shifted its position and Paris insisting it was now up to Britain to resolve a dispute that could ultimately hurt trade.
The two sides painted different pictures of a meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Rome.
Read more at: Deadlock over fish as UK and France spar over Brexit deal | Reuters
The two sides painted different pictures of a meeting between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Rome.
Read more at: Deadlock over fish as UK and France spar over Brexit deal | Reuters
COP 26: Greta Thunberg: Activist calls on banks to stop funding climate 'destruction'
The teenage Swedish climate activist is in London to take part in protests demanding the financial system stops funding fossil fuel projects.
She told the BBC's Andrew Marr that "change is possible" at the summit, if pressure on politicians is maintained.
But she added she has not been "officially" invited to speak at the event in Glasgow.
Read more at: Greta Thunberg: Activist calls on banks to stop funding climate 'destruction' - BBC News
She told the BBC's Andrew Marr that "change is possible" at the summit, if pressure on politicians is maintained.
But she added she has not been "officially" invited to speak at the event in Glasgow.
Read more at: Greta Thunberg: Activist calls on banks to stop funding climate 'destruction' - BBC News
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