Photo by Ben Moreland on Unsplash Laying hens should be housed in cage-free systems, concludes a new study by the Union’s scientific body, the European Food Safety Authority, adding that meat chickens need more space and must come from slow-growing breeds only. The scientists confirm that it is not possible to provide sufficient space in cages. They also note that…
Month: March 2023
European Space Strategy for Security and Defence
The Commission and EU High Rep have unveiled for the first time a Joint Communication on a European Space Strategy for Security and Defence. Space systems and services in the European Union are,they say, “crucial” for the functioning of society and economy, as well as for security and defence. As such, the EU has identified…
High Speed Rail Goes Slow
Photo by Winston Chen on Unsplash Following his invention of the Rocket, in 1829 Robert Stephenson inaugurated the first inter-city railway in the world: connecting Liverpool and Manchester in the country’s northern manufacturing heartland was an obvious priority. Since then other countries have leapt into the future with high speed trains, while the UK struggles with one of…
EU Announces Fresh Support for Ukraine
Photo by Oleg Ivanov on Unsplash The EU has announced fresh new support for war-torn Ukraine. On Wednesday, the commission said it will ship 13,000 additional laptops, smartphones and tablets to the country. These have been gathered and will be delivered to Ukraine through the Commission-supported initiative “Laptops for Ukraine” scheme. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Commission has…
Salmonella Resistance
Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash Resistance of Salmonella and Campylobacter to commonly used antimicrobials is frequently observed in humans and animals, reveals a report issued today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). However, simultaneous resistance to critically important antimicrobials for humans was generally detected at low levels, except for…
The Cult of Inhumanity
Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash The international community received evidence that Russia violated all possible taboos at the level of international law and the rules and customs of warfare in early April 2022, when the Ukrainian army liberated the Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions of Ukraine. Foreign journalists and human rights defenders have received many indications that…
International Women’s Day
Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash To mark International Women’s Day (8 March), SMEunited has paid tribute to women entrepreneurs and their contribution to the European economy and society. The group, representing SMEs, said women entrepreneurs across Europe “invest their valuable time to represent SMEs at local, regional, national and European level.” According to their recent survey, the…
Moscow Creates Instability in the Caucasus
At the beginning of the year, a number of experts in leading publications such as The Hill, Washington Times and Politico predicted that Russia was trying to create a new area of instability in the South Caucasus, using the “Crimean model” that had already been tested in Ukraine. The region, which itself has plenty of…
Controversy Over EU Pesticide Reduction
Photo by József Szabó on Unsplash Centre right MEPs say they want to postpone the law proposal on pesticide reduction in its current form because it will jeopardise European food production during the war in Ukraine. “When there is a war in Europe, we cannot do business as usual. The current law proposal is not fit for purpose”,…
Does the Fate of the Aral Sea Await the Caspian Sea?
Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash Experts warn of the possibility of a new environmental disaster in the Caspian Sea in recent years, similar to the drying up of the Aral Sea, writes Professor Dr. Abdulvahap Kara. One of the important reasons for this is that the water in the Ural River is decreasing from year to year….