Air Travel Europe: Europe travel troubles are piling up: How to avoid airport nightmares- Zach Wichter

Travelers heading to Europe this summer will have to pack a healthy supply of patience in addition to their passports. While passengers beginning their travels in Amsterdam tend to face the longest lines, Devin Matte said a flight delay leaving Boston caused him to miss his connection to Norway earlier this month. The Somerville, Massachusetts-based software engineer can attest to the customer service chaos travelers are facing in Europe firsthand.

"I talked to one guy who had flown from Atlanta to Amsterdam the night before, and he had to sleep in the airport. People in the airport, they said it was about six hours to get through security," Matte, 24, said.

When trying to rebook his flight, the customer service agent advised him to give himself at least six hours

to get through security if he wound up leaving the airport to stay in a hotel overnight.

While the pilot shortage has led to cancellations and delays in the U.S., a host of other issues overseas are leading to long lines at many major airports across the continent.

Read more at: Europe travel troubles are piling up: How to avoid airport nightmares

USA: How America went berserk

My sister is a teacher in America, which means she has had to teach her fourth-grade students about how to defend themselves against people who might walk into her public school with guns. Once, during a false alarm, her class followed the “safety protocol” they had learned. What did these children do to protect themselves from the shooter they thought was in the building? One boy wielded a peanut butter jar. Another: a bottle of hand sanitiser. A student with a broken leg held up his crutch. My sister crouched behind her desk and told them they were doing great.

I wonder if the elementary school students in Uvalde, Texas, had similar drills. I wonder if the teachers there, like my sister, worried about what they would do if they had to barricade the door. I wonder if the fourth graders in Texas had time to pick up their staplers and notebooks and lunch boxes to defend themselves from an 18-year-old armed to the teeth before he slaughtered them in their classroom.

The elementary school shooting in Texas is the 212th mass shooting this year. It is the 27th school shooting. It is also the deadliest mass shooting in the US so far in 2022, which says something because it happened just ten days after ten people were killed in a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. So far, at least 19 children and two adults are dead in Uvalde. Others are injured.

Read more at: How America went berserk - UnHerd

USA: As Joe Biden Touts Global Democracy, Signs Point to Concern Nearer to Home

While President Joe Biden looks to tout global democracy in the coming days, signs point to concern at home on the matter—and a potential lack of public desire to intervene elsewhere.

Biden hosts the first White House Summit for Democracy over the next two days, in which he will urge those attending to commit to "reversing the democratic recession and ensuring that democracies deliver for their people."

Read more at: As Joe Biden Touts Global Democracy, Signs Point to Concern Nearer to Home

Turkey: Erdoǧan loses his way

Some 10 years ago, Time magazine featured Turkey’s then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan on its cover. Erdoǧan was riding high. His Justice and Development Party (AKP) had just convincingly won a third general election and internationally he was lauded as a can-do leader. Since the AKP won power in 2002, Erdoǧan had overseen an economic boom, re-invigorated European Union accession talks and, alongside Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoǧlu, engineered a more active international role for Turkey.

A lot can change in a decade. Turkey joining the European Union now seems little more than a pipe dream, doubts have been raised over Erdoǧan’s democratic credentials and Turkey’s economic situation

Read more at: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/erdo-loses-his-way

The EU′s 4 persistent problems still dogging the bloc

The findings of a recent Eurobarometer survey, commissioned by the European Union itself, are clear: Citizens in the bloc believe that the main issues it should be addressing are climate change, the COVID pandemic, health care, the economic situation and social inequality. These are thus the themes that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will broach in her second State of the Union address before the European Parliament this coming Wednesday as she takes stock of the achievements of the past year and announces new measures.

Read more at: The EU′s 4 persistent problems still dogging the bloc | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 14.09.2021

The Netherlands: VVD continues to back PM Mark Rutte but coalition options are limited

A number of prominent VVD members have gone public with their support for beleaguered caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte, who is facing increasing isolation in The Hague after ‘forgetting’ he had suggested moving a critical MP to a ‘new role’.

Former ministers in Rutte-led governments, including Henk Kamp, Annemarie Jorritsma and Fred Teeven have all given their public backing to the prime minister, and there is no-one within the party who is publicly doubting his leadership, the NRC reported. After all, they point out the VVD won the election with 34 seats and ‘you do not dump a leader who made his party the biggest again’

Read more at: VVD continues to back Mark Rutte but coalition options are limited - DutchNews.nl

Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic – by Sharan Burrow

Scientists are performing magnificently in developing vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus with unprecedented speed, but BigPharma is calling the shots and governments are being left to squabble over what are, to begin with, inadequate supplies. Vaccine nationalism is rearing its ugly head, with devastating consequences for poorer countries and eventually for the whole world.

The moral and humanitarian case for fair access to vaccination is obvious and so is the public-health case: where vaccines are scarce, there will be more cases, each one an opportunity for the virus to continue to mutate, as all RNA viruses do. This means new variants could emerge which are different enough from the original virus that existing vaccines won’t work against it them. If those circulate widely, people who have been vaccinated will once again be susceptible to severe illness and death.

Read more at: Vaccine nationalism won’t defeat the pandemic – Sharan Burrow

US Economy: Analysis: Wall Street brushes off political turmoil, looks to economic rebound

Wall Street, despite major social and political problems still upbeat about US Economy.

Read more at: Analysis: Wall Street brushes off political turmoil, looks to economic rebound | Reuters

China-US relations: Are China-US relations drifting closer towards war?

When senior Chinese and American diplomats met in Hawaii last month, for the first time in nearly a year, the stakes were unusually high amid fears their acrimonious tensions are drifting imperceptibly towards war.

The secret meeting between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Yang Jiechi, the top diplomatic aide to Chinese President Xi Jinping, took place – perhaps coincidentally – at Pearl Harbor, scene of a pivotal moment for the US and world history when it was bombed by the Japanese nearly 80 years ago.

The two superpowers have been embroiled in an economic and technological decoupling amid an unfolding new Cold War. Beijing and Washington have engaged in a global blame-game over the deadly coronavirus and are at odds on almost every front, from

trade tensions to the South China SeaTaiwan,Xinjian and Huawei

.

Read more at:
Are China-US relations drifting closer towards war? | South China Morning Post 

Artificial intelligence: made by men for men? – by Juliane Bir

AI might seem neutral and technical but it poses a differential challenge to female jobs and can be imbued with insidious gender biases.

Read more at:
https://www.socialeurope.eu/artificial-intelligence-made-by-men-for-men

Netherlands Headed For Unprecedented Crisis?: Millions Of Retirees Face Pensions Cuts Thanks To The ECB - ""This Report is Questionable say Dutch Government insiders"" - by Tyler Durden

When one thinks of pensions crisis, the state of Illinois - with its woefully underfunded retirement system which issues bonds just to fund its existing pension benefits - usually comes to mind. Which is why it is surprising that the first state that may suffer substantial pension cuts is one that actually has one of the world's best-funded, and most generous, pension systems.

According to the FT, millions of Dutch pensioners are facing material cuts to their retirement income for the first time next year as the Dutch government scrambles to avert a crisis to the country's €1.6 trillion pension system. And while a last minute intervention by the government may avoid significant cuts to pensions next year - and a revolt by trade unions -  if only temporarily, the world finds itself transfixed by the problems facing the Dutch retirement system as it provides an early indication of a wider global pensions funding shortfall, not to mention potential mass unrest once retirees across some of the world's wealthiest nations suddenly finds themselves with facing haircuts to what they previously believed were unalterable retirement incomes.

At the core of the Dutch cash crunch is the ECB's negative interest rate policy, which has sent bond yields to record negative territory across the eurozone, and crippled returns analysis while pushing up the funding requirements of Dutch pension funds.

Ahead of a parliamentary debate on Thursday on this hot topic issue, the Dutch minister for social affairs and employment, Wouter Koolmees, will write to lawmakers to outline his response to the pension industry’s problems, the FT reported.

 Read more: Netherlands Headed For Unprecedented Crisis: Millions Of Retirees Face Pensions Cuts Thanks To The ECB | Zero Hedge

Russia: Vladimir Putin's in trouble, and the Moscow election results are just the start of his problems - by James Rodgers

Since Vladimir Putin first became president of Russia almost 20 years ago, the unwritten rules governing the relationship between political power and the people have been clear: Citizens accept less political freedom in return for receiving greater prosperity. 

But five years of falling incomes mean that the Kremlin is no longer keeping its side of the deal.

Russia's leadership is increasingly worried that more people will demand change. The results of Sunday’s elections in Moscow for local government positions suggest they are right to be afraid.

Russia's strict laws governing political protests — not encouraged, and requiring permission which is only sometimes granted (often merely to give the impression that freedom of assembly exists) — were not enough to stop demonstrators taking to the streets by the tens of thousands in the months leading up to Sunday's vote.

The rallies — which resulted in police beating demonstrators and more than 2,000 protesters being detained— were sparked by the government's refusal to allow opposition candidates to register for the elections. Though the majority of the protesters were released shortly afterwards, the heavy-handed approach seemed to only steel the protesters' determination.

Denied the chance to vote for candidates opposed to Putin, the rebels endorsed the practice of tactical voting, supporting candidates from parties other than United Russia, the party that exists mainly to support whichever policies the Kremlin is pursuing.

Things are different now, as that stability has eroded. With living standards falling, there are Russians taking to the streets to improve their financial prospects. Some of the most significant before this summer's demonstrations over the elections have been against pension reforms proposed raising the retirement age.

For the complete report click here: Vladimir Putin's in trouble, and the Moscow election results are just the start of his problems

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The EU's Migrant Problem:Will the EU continue paying to keep migrants away? - by Elena Sánchez Nicolás

Four years since the peak of the migration crisis in Europe, member states still have not found a coordinated solution to tackle migratory consequences in an effective way.

Since populist and anti-migration governments succeed entering into European politics, the EU has made deals with several countries, such as Libya, Turkey or Niger, to keep asylum seekers away from Europe's shores.

In February 2017, EU leaders agreed on increasing cooperation with Libya to reduce irregular immigration - providing the country with €237m to fund programmes addressing migration challenges.

But, after deadly airstrikes hit detention centres this summer around Libya's capital, Tripoli, the EU is now planning on evacuating vulnerable migrants and refugees to Rwanda.

The east African country will receive some 500 migrants evacuated from Libya, although it is unclear when this will happen, according to the New York Times.

Read more: Will the EU continue paying to keep migrants away?

Support EU-Digest, which has reported the news without any political affiliation since 2004, and opposes those who seek to discredit news organizations who believe in the right of a free Press, by investing in an advertisement, or by giving a donation to keep our efforts going : to donate or advertise click on: https://www.paypal.com/webapps/hermes?token=8BP18304C1657151J&useraction=commit&mfid=1567106786154_8591ae1288ebf   

ITALY: PM Conti threatens to quit unless government coalition solves spat among themselves

Italy: PM Conte threatens to quit unless government solves spat

Read more at:
https://p.dw.com/p/3Jlru

EU Parliamentary elections: Eastern southern Europeans dread emigration more than immigration

EU elections: Eastern, southern Europeans dread emigration more than immigration With just seven weeks to go before EU Parliament elections a sweeping study shows that, despite a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric, many Eastern and southern Europeans say they are more worried about emigration. 

Read more at:
http://www.france24.com/en/20190402-europe-immigration-eu-elections-eastern-southern-dread-emigration

EU: Inconvenient Truths About Migration- by Robert Skidels

Sociology, anthropology, and history have been making large inroads into the debate on immigration. It seems that Homo economicus, who lives for bread alone, has given way to someone for whom a sense of belonging is at least as important as eating.

This makes one doubt that hostility to mass immigration is simply a protest against job losses, depressed wages, and growing inequality. Economics has certainly played a part in the upsurge of identity politics, but the crisis of identity will not be expunged by economic reforms alone. Economic welfare is not the same as social wellbeing

Liberal over-optimism about the ease of integrating migrants stems from the same source: if society is no more than a collection of individuals, integration is a non-issue. Of course, says Goodhart, immigrants do not have to abandon their traditions completely, but “there is such a thing as society,” and if they make no effort to join it, native citizens will find it hard to consider them part of the “imagined community.”

A too-rapid inflow of immigrants weakens bonds of solidarity, and, in the long run, erodes the affective ties required to sustain the welfare state. “People will always favor their own families and communities,” Goodhart argues, and “it is the task of a realistic liberalism to strive for a definition of community that is wide enough to include people from many different backgrounds, without being so wide as to become meaningless.”

Economic and political liberals are bedfellows in championing unrestricted immigration. Economic liberals view national frontiers as irrational obstacles to the global integration of markets. Many political liberals regard nation-states and the loyalties they inspire as obstacles to the wider political integration of humanity. Both appeal to moral obligations that stretch far beyond nations’ cultural and physical boundaries.

At issue is the oldest debate in the social sciences. Can communities be created by politics and markets, or do they presuppose a prior sense of belonging?

It seems to me that anyone who thinks about such matters is bound to agree with Goodhart that citizenship, for most people, is something they are born into. Values are grown from a specific history and geography.

If the make-up of a community is changed too fast, it cuts people adrift from their own history, rendering them rootless. Liberals’ anxiety not to appear racist hides these truths from them. An explosion of what is now called populism is the inevitable result.

Read more: Inconvenient Truths About Migration

EU Privacy Shield: Guarding the EU’s privacy shield against Trump Administration- by Mehreen Khan

The controversial EU-US data sharing arrangement, which emerged from the ashes of the invalidated Safe Harbour, will undergo its first progress report from the European Commission after just over a year in existence today. More than 2,400 US companies, including Microsoft, Facebook and Google, have signed up to the pact, which allows them to legally transfer everything from pictures to payslips across the Atlantic without breaching the EU's robust laws on personal privacy.

The arrangement has been hailed as providing a bespoke framework for the flow of commercial data between Europe and third countries. Today's inaugural review will begin in Washington when EU commissioner Vera Jourova meets Wilbur Ross, Donald Trump's commerce secretary, before heading off to Silicon Valley to ask Google and Facebook about life under the new regime.

Speaking to the FT, Ms Jourova said she expects the fact-finding mission to identify holes and make “some proposals for improvement but I don’t expect we will reopen negotiations again”. One lawyer thinks Brussels will give Privacy Shield a "B grade” when the report is published next month.

But not all is well. The Commission has fired a warning shot to President Trump that it could soon run out of patience with Washington's delays in making key senior appointments — such as an independent ombudsman — to oversee the pact. “We are patient but cannot be patient forever”, said Ms Jourova.

The tough talk reflects unease in Europe about relations with the new White House administration.

After a difficult start to life (MEPs initially rejected Privacy Shield in a non-binding vote and the pact is already subject to two legal challenges), the framework faces a fresh test in the shape of a president who is unapologetic about prioritizing national security and business interest over personal privacy, the environment and concerns for the niceties of international diplomacy.

Read more: Guarding the EU’s privacy shield against Trump

USA Health Care Bill: Future Unclear as Senate Shelves Vote - Erica Werner and Alan Fram

The Republican Party's long-promised repeal of "Obamacare" stands in limbo after Senate GOP leaders, short of support, abruptly shelved a vote on legislation to fulfill the promise.

The surprise development leaves the legislation's fate uncertain while raising new doubts about whether President Donald Trump will ever make good on his many promises to erase his predecessor's signature legislative achievement.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell announced the delay Tuesday after it became clear the votes weren't there to advance the legislation past key procedural hurdles. Trump immediately invited Senate Republicans to the White House, but the message he delivered to them before reporters were ushered out of the room was not entirely hopeful.

Read more: Health Care Bill: Future Unclear as Senate Shelves Vote | Time.com

US Trump Administration: The Trouble With Trump’s White House Is Donald Trump - by Rick Wilson

It took Donald Trump 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles to buy himself one day of kind coverage at the end of another otherwise terrible week. But what the president himself described as an impulsive reaction to heartrending photos of Syrian children gassed by Assad on his watch isn’t a coherent strategy to punish Assad for using chemical weapons.

Even supporters who hoped the strike would show Trump as a he-man leader willing to grasp the saber of state in his tiny hands and rattle it firmly, it failed to paper over the political crisis consuming his White House as his staff and family have become warring factions seeking his favor so that the story has become not about the president’s goals, policies, or accomplishments, but a group of people around him who make the Borgias look like the Brady Bunch.

Trump is faced with terrible options when it comes to rearranging the deck chairs on the SS White House, and those of us who warned you this was inevitable are ordering popcorn. The cancer in the presidency isn’t his staff—though they reflect his shoddy intellect, his shallow impulsiveness, his loose grasp of reality, and Chinese-menu ideology. The problem is Trump himself, and nothing and no one can change that.

Let’s start with the leader of the Pepe Army sleeper cell at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Steve Bannon. If Trump keeps his chief strategist, he keeps the poisonous, post-conservative nationalism and thinly-veiled racial and religious animus that helped put him in the Oval Office. Bannon was great at running a conspiracy blog, but his political instincts are those of an arsonist, not a strategist. He has led Trump into a series of unforced political debacles, tainted relations with Congress, and alienated members of America’s new royal family.

He’s already become persona non grata in Congress for his absurdly villainous performance trying unsuccessfully to browbeat them into accepting the ludicrously unpopular Trumpcare bill, and his economic nationalism is big-government statism wrapped in populist trade and industrial policies. Bannon is a famous brawler, and like many brawlers after too many beers, he lashes out any anyone for lookin’ at him funny.

A Bannon power center in the White House is as dangerous as its vacuum.

If he fires Bannon, Trump should prepare for war. The information warfare architecture Bannon built with the money of Robert and Rebekah Mercer is already restive and nervous that Trump has been co-opted by (((them))) and lured into being a more conventional president.

Since the Trumpbart/Bannon/Mercer propaganda platform helped elect Trump with its lurid “reporting” and its troll army (shoutout to Putin!), it can just easily be turned against him. Trump’s social media power was always boosted by—if not contingent upon—this system, and the idea of a vengeful Bannon turning those tools against him should keep Donald awake at night.

Read more: The Trouble With Trump’s White House Is Donald Trump - The Daily Beast

Europe: What to watch out for: in 2016-2017

A revealing and alarming "White Paper" by the Global Agenda Council on Europe.

Read more: WEF_White_Paper_Europe_What_Watch_Out_for_2016-2017.pdf