Thanks to direct mediation by the Kingdom of Morocco, under the leadership of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the Israeli authorities have decided to open, without interruption, the Allenby/King Hussein border crossing, linking the West Bank and Jordan. This mediation, led by the Kingdom of Morocco and the United States of America, led to an…
Russia is encouraging extrajudicial executions, and is converting the occupied territories of Ukraine into a prototype of a “new Kampuchea”. In Russia, the death penalty has been abolished at the legislative level, but Putin’s dictatorial regime encourages the creation of “gray zones” where lawlessness and arbitrariness reign. The Russian-controlled “republics” of the “LPR” and “DPR”…
Some have argued that the sanctions in effect against Russia have driven Russian businesses closer to Putin, for their own survival. But what is indisputable is that the sanctions have led to a sharp rise in prices, and have also reduced the number of quality Western goods, thereby greatly affecting the every day lives of…
An overwhelming majority of EU citizens who responded to a European Commission initiative say they support tobacco harm reduction products. The Commission’s “Call for Evidence” on the legislative framework for tobacco control received an unprecedented level of feedback, with consumers of alternatives to tobacco products – vaping, heated tobacco and oral nicotine pouches – making…
The Ukrainian city of Kharkiv is located only 40 kilometers from the border with Russia. A large number of Russian-speaking people live in the city, but Kharkiv is not pro-Russian and does not support so-called “Russian world”. Probably, the enemy hasn’t forgiven Kharkiv for this. Since February 24, the city has been subjected to daily shelling. Local residents have a sad joke:…
Lobby watchdog Corporate Europe Observatory say the so called Uber file revelations in The Guardian, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Le Monde, and others, “illuminate the laissez-faire approach of the European Commission to revolving doors, conflicts of interest, privileged access, and corporate capture.” A CEO statement said, “Indeed across Europe, Uber seems to have put…
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) says it welcomes the European Commission’s proposed new rules for managing the fines it imposes on firms that breach EU law and the penalties it imposes on countries that fail to apply it. In particular, the proposal is intended to ensure that firms and countries receive reasonable compensation if…
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has been accused of failing to curtail investments in climate-damaging highways despite acknowledging how cars and lorries pump huge amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. Frank Vanaerschot, Director of the group “Counter Balance”, said: “If this plan is adopted, the EIB will be encouraging more cars onto roads while decrying that…
The European Commission has presents a priority list of top-3 health threats that require coordination of measures at EU level in the context of medical countermeasures. The list which includes three threat categories of life-threatening or otherwise seriously harmful hazards to health which have the potential of spreading across Member States. They are: (1) pathogens with…
The European Commission has received an official recovery and resilience plan from the Netherlands. This plan sets out the reforms and public investment projects that the Netherlands plans to implement with the support of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). The RRF is, according to the EU, at the heart of NextGenerationEU which will provide…
