USA: Operation reopen America: are we about to witness a second historic failure of leadership from Trump? - by Ed Pilkington and Dominic Rushe

n Thursday evening, Donald Trump took to the dais in the White House press briefing room and declared that he was leading America in a “historic battle against the invisible enemy” that amounted to the “greatest national mobilisation since world war two”.

Warming to his theme, the US president said the country was now ready to move to the next phase in the war against coronavirus. It was time, he said, “to open up. America wants to be open, and Americans want to be open”

Unveiling new guidelines for the loosening of the lockdown, he committed his administration to a “science-based reopening”. He added: “We are starting our life again, we are starting rejuvenation of our economy again, in a safe and structured and very responsible fashion.”

Beyond the cloistered confines of the White House an alternative interpretation of events was gathering force. On a day in which the US suffered its highest death toll from Covid-19, with a total of more than 680,000 confirmed cases and 34,000 deaths, public health experts were scrutinising the president’s new guidelines and coming to rather different conclusions.

“This isn’t a plan, it’s barely a PowerPoint,” spluttered Ron Klain on Twitter. Klain, the US government’s Ebola tsar during the last health crisis to test the White House, in 2014, said the proposals contained “no provision to ramp up testing, no standard on levels of disease before opening, no protections for workers or customers”.

Read more at: Operation reopen America: are we about to witness a second historic failure of leadership from Trump? | US news | The Guardian

NATO: European Security in Crisis: What to Expect if the United States Withdraws from NATO - by Liana Fix and Bastian Giegerich

t is February 2021. A few months after his re-election as president of the United States, Donald Trump declares that NATO has become obsolete and the United States withdraws from the alliance. All U.S. forces — military personnel and equipment — including nuclear and missile defense assets will be withdrawn from Europe as soon as possible.

This nightmare scenario has been on the mind of many security policy officials, and experts, ever since the New York Times reported in January 2019 that Trump discussed several times over the course of 2018 wanting to withdraw from the alliance. Congress has acted and passed the NATO Support Act, which prohibits the use of funds to withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Yet the possibility of such a move cannot entirely be excluded.

A policy game prepared by Körber-Stiftung and the International Institute for Strategic Studies sought to answer these questions this summer in Berlin. Five country teams with experts from France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States addressed a fictional scenario that involved a U.S. withdrawal from NATO, followed by crises in a NATO member state in the western Balkans and across Eastern Europe. How would Europeans react to such a scenario? What are the red lines, interests, and priorities of the respective actors? How might Europeans organize their defense if the United States withdraws from NATO, and what role could the United States play in European security after the withdrawal?

European Security in Crisis: What to Expect if the United States Withdraws from NATO - War on the Rocks

EU - British relations: petition to revoke article 50 passes more than 1 million signatures

The British population emotionally, but not properly informed about the consequences, voted for Brexit with a razor thin majority three years ago. It is time for the British Political establisment to swallow their pride and say they made a mistake, revoke article 50, and return to the safety and economic prosperity of the EU. It would certainly be a showing of great statesmanship.

See also: 
http://www.ladbible.com/news/uk-petition-calling-to-revoke-article-50-passes-million-signature-mark-20190321?source=facebook

Brexit: Davis wants legal clarification from EU over Brexit payout- by Heather Stewart and Jennifer Rankin

David Davis’s negotiating team is demanding legal clarification from Brussels officials over its demands that the UK pay a substantial financial settlement as part of the process of quitting the European Union.

A senior government source said British negotiators have peppered EU officials with queries about the legal principles Brussels believes should be used to calculate the final exit bill.

Davis’s team have been stung by suggestions the government should have published a paper setting out its own position on the withdrawal bill – pointing out that the commission has not yet produced a paper on the border in Northern Ireland, while Britain has done so.

Read more: Davis wants legal clarification from EU over Brexit payout | Politics | The Guardian

Britain strikes ″special status″deal with the European Union

After marathon negotiations with his 27 European Union counterparts, British Prime Minister David Cameron said he had secured a "special status" agreement for Britain.

He said he would return to Britain and campaign vigorously for a "yes" vote for the country to stay in the EU. British voters are expected to vote on the issue on in a public referendum on June 23.

"There are many people who for years have been frustrated with the way Europe works and this deal addresses those concerns," Cameron said during a press conference. "These are significant changes and it gives us a chance to go forward."

Cameron noted that migrants would no longer be able to come to Britain and start collectng social benefits before they have even had time to look for work. Indeed, he said they won't have access to it for four years.
Paradoxically, he also voiced support for the free movement of people and labor.

"We accept free movement under the EU and we benefit from that," he said. "This allows us to change how welfare and migration act together.

"People shouldn't be able to come in and claim unemployment benefits," he continued. "And if, after six months, they haven't found a job they should go back to the country they came from."

British Prime Minister David Cameron says the deal grants the UK a "special status" within the EU:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who leads the EU's largest economy voiced support for the deal, saying it would allow Britain, the EU's second largest economy to stay in the Union.

Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen also celebrated the deal on Twitter, saying: "David Cameron fought hard for Britain. Good deal for UK and for EU. Congrats!"

Read more: Britain strikes ″special status″deal with the European Union | News | DW.COM | 19.02.2016

British Referendum: Support For Britain Leaving The EU Surges To 45 Percent

The campaign hoping to take Britain out of the European Union (EU) is enjoying a fresh lead in the polls with 45 percent of British citizens supporting secession and 36 percent supporting the status quo.

Later this year, Britain will vote on whether to leave the EU, with most commentators expecting the vote to come in May or June.

Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has spent the last few months touring European capitals, attempting to win concessions from EU leaders to change the terms of Britain’s EU membership.

During last year’s general election in May, the Conservatives promised they would deliver a referendum on whether the United Kingdom should stay or leave the EU by the end of 2017. The Conservative Party won a surprise victory with a majority of 12 seats in parliament.

Note EU=Digest: the British want their cake and eat it also. Being member of a club which includes 27 other members requires cooperation, give and take and not a free for all. If the Brits can't understand that they better get out of the EU and enjoy the consequences.  

Read more: Support For Britain Leaving The EU Surges To 45 Percent | The Daily Caller

US Government Shutdown Hits Free Trade Pact Talks With EU - by Sreeja VN

Negotiations for a major free-trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S. have been postponed after Washington expressed its inability to continue them because of the partial government shutdown. Officials from EU member-states and the U.S. were scheduled to meet in Brussels next week to discuss the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP, which upon its successful conclusion would be the world’s largest free-trade pact.

However, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman informed EU officials Friday that the federal government shutdown has made it impossible to send a negotiating team to Brussels as scheduled, BBC News reported. Froman said deal talks can continue after the shutdown ends, albeit with an alternate schedule.

The partial government shutdown that began Tuesday has led to a severe staff crunch, as more than 800,000 government employees are temporarily out of work and out of pay. The government was forced to call a halt to all so-called nonessential operations after Congress failed to OK federal spending on either short-term or long-term bases.

Reacting to the U.S. announcement about the negotiations, European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said in a statement that the delay was unfortunate, but the talks would continue once the deadlock ended. “But let me underline that it in no way distracts us from our overall aim of achieving an ambitious trade and investment deal,” he said.

Read more: US Government Shutdown Hits Free Trade Pact Talks With EU

US shutdown: 10 unexpected consequences - by Tom Geoghegan

A closed sign on national parks and monuments across the US is the most visible consequence of a budget wrangle that has caused large parts of the government to shut down. But what about the more surprising consequences?

1. One person maintaining the Canada border  
2. US War cemeteries in Europe are closed
3. Sanctions respite for Iran
4. A meat rush in Kentucky
5. That race you've trained a year for... it's off 
6. More James Bond buffs
7. Free food for civil servants 
8. Satirical T-shirts 
9. Cancer drug trials on hold 
10. British people now know what 'furlough' means







 


Read more: BBC News - US shutdown: 10 unexpected consequences