Summer of ’63: Book Review

Leeds United History

Football is littered with tales of  woe  – clubs whose hopes and ambitions rise but then fall just as suddenly. One minute a club can seem to be moving in the right direction but, next, it is heading the opposite way. Such has been the fate of one of English football’s most respected institutions, Leeds…

The Civilised World Must Ostracise Russia

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Photo by Max Griss on Unsplash The callous barbarity of Russia’s blitz of civilian targets in Ukraine surpasses even the terror of the London blitz by Hitler. Putin has copied the Nazi strategy and developed it to new levels of depravity. Russia is continuing the genocide of Ukrainians and intensifying its missile terror. The only way to stop…

Taiwan Campaign For WHA Membership

Photo by Lisanto 李奕良 on Unsplash

On 24 May Taiwan’s Ambassador Remus Li-Kuo Chen, together with members of staff from Taiwan’s Representative Office and their families, attended the “Health for All, Taiwan can Help – the bid to support Taiwan’s entry into WHA” event held at the Place du Luxembourg in front of the European Parliament. The occasion was organized by…

Do No Harm To Cohesion

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Photo by Jack Ward on Unsplash The European Union cannot tackle social, economic and territorial disparities through Cohesion Policy alone. All EU initiatives and policies, like the post-COVID recovery plan NextGenerationEU, should fight against inequalities and promote cohesion, which must be a fundamental value of the European Union. This is the main message of the opinion on the…

Greens Attack Populists and Extremists

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Photo by Chris LeBoutillier on Unsplash The Greens have launched an attack on other groups following a vote in parliament.It accused a majority of EPP, Renew, right-wing “populists and extremists” in the European Parliament’s Fisheries Committee of rejecting the European Commission’s proposal for a Directive on Nature Restoration.  Previously, the same political alliance had rejected the proposal in…

Factory Farms Must Clean Up Their Mess

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Photo by Jack Sloop on Unsplash MEPs responsible for environment policy have voted against proposals to give what campaigners call “industrial-scale cattle farms a free pass to avoid their responsibility in wrecking the climate.” Last month, MEPs in the Agriculture Committee voted to exempt industrial-scale cattle farming exempt from EU rules limiting industrial pollution.  Campaigners said they agreed to this…

Support for Environmental Causes Growing

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Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash Despite the recession,  philanthropic support for environmental causes is increasing, says a new report. This is one of the key messages to emerge from the 6th edition of an annual assessment. Called “Environmental Funding by European Foundations” it is claimed to  be the most comprehensive report that has ever been published on environmental philanthropy across…

EU Needs New Laws to Seize Criminal Assets

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Photo by Wout Vanacker on Unsplash MEPs say that new EU laws on seizing criminal assets would ensure “fast and efficient freezing operations everywhere in the EU, and quicker compensation for victims.” Euro deputies say the legislation will speed up asset freezing and confiscations and close loopholes. Members of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee last…

Baby boom at Planckendael

Spring has sprung and so few have the new arrivals at Planckendael ZOO, on the outskirts of Brussels. In fact, there has been something of a baby boom at the animal park in recent weeks with the arrival of lots of “little ones”. The park, for example, just welcomed an anteater, the first baby anteater…

Bathing in Beer – Now Available in Belgium

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Photo by Pradnyal Gandhi on Unsplash To beer or not to beer – that is no longer the question with the arrival of an inventive new attraction in Belgium. The idea is that you combine arguably the country’s best-known export – beer – with the current craze for wellness and well-being. The result? Well, it is a beer…