Brussels Airport Winter Schedule

Sunday 25 October marks the beginning of the winter season for the aviation sector. This year Brussels offers flights to 120 destinations both in and outside Europe. Above all, Brussels Airport is seeking to make travel safe, thanks in part to the pre-departure tests required for many destinations. From 25 October to 25 March 40…

Third Armenia-Azerbaijan Ceasefire Risks Collapse

A ceasefire brokered by the USA in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous frontier territory of Nagorno Karabakh has broken down in acrimony minutes after it came into effect earlier today. This is the third negotiated ceasefire in the dispute to risk collapse. Two earlier attempts failed to hold. Armenia has accused…

Is anyone meddling in the US Elections?

In their final head to head debate before the Presidential election on 3 November, Donald Trump and Joe Biden clashed over financial ties with Russia and China. Both candidates levelled allegations against the other. Trump has made more than $200 million in income from his foreign business interests since 2016, according to the Center for…

Welcome to ENU

“Welcome to ENU” is a programme developed by L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University (ENU) as a result of the “Welcome: Towards Incoming International University Communities” project, an Erasmus+ programme, writes Ekaterina Tsaranok. Within the framework of this programme, students from as far away as France, Germany, Turkey, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Kyrgyzstan, China and other…

Belgium Remembers

It is feared that the health pandemic could affect this year’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations in Belgium. The coronavirus crisis is likely to have a financial impact on the local Poppy Appeal, given that it is feared the public may well be cautious about the risks of touching collection tins and the poppies themselves.  Even so, the…

Scotland-Lithuania Cooperation

A Scottish start-up which develops technology to keep consumers safe online has struck a deal with the Lithuanian government to crack down on illicit trade. Vistalworks will spearhead closer ties between Scotland and Lithuania’s GovTech Lab, which encourages innovative solutions to help governments address a range of challenges. Glasgow-based Vistalworks is the only UK firm…

Armenia Disinformation over Nagorno-Karabakh?

In the ongoing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, civilians have too often become casualties, easy targets in the latest bid to escalate hostilities. An Armenian missile attack on Ganja, Azerbaijan’s second largest city, flattened several homes on the early morning of Saturday, killing at least 13 civilians asleep in their beds, writes Taleh Baghiyev, Truth too has…

Should mineral wool be considered in the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan?

The European Union’s Beating Cancer Plan is Europe’s main initiative to tackle the disease. But does it go far enough in addressing the hazards that workers in particular might face that could increase their risks, especially given that cancer causes around half of all deaths that are related to work? The European Commission has recently presented a…

Commission Work Programme 2021

The Commission on Monday adopted its 2021 work programme, designed to make Europe healthier, fairer and more prosperous, while accelerating its long-term transformation into a greener economy, fit for the digital age. It contains new legislative initiatives across all six headline ambitions of President von der Leyen’s political guidelines and follows her first state of the union…

ESM Fulfils Funding Target

The European Stability Mechanism (ESM) completed its fourth quarter funding needs on Monday, raising the full €2 billion it had targeted The ESM issued a new €2 billion 0% bond maturing on 16 December 2024. The spread was fixed at mid-swaps minus 8 basis points, for a reoffer yield of -0.582% and a new issue…