EU Budget: Brussels begins big battle on post-Brexit budget

The EU will this week unveil its first formal plans for a larger, one-trillion-euro-plus long-term budget after Britain’s departure, which threaten to further deepen divisions in the bloc.

From slashed farm funds that will anger French farmers, to development cash tied to respect for democracy, and demands for greater national contributions, the 2021-2027 budget promises to be an explosive mixture.

EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger, who will present the plans in Brussels on Wednesday (2 May), says that tough steps are needed to fill a 12 to 14 billion euro hole left by Brexit.

A race against time will follow, especially as the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, wants the budget agreed before the next European Parliament elections in May 2019, two months after Britain leaves.

EU states say it is “impossible” given the rifts between east, west, north and south, with countries anxious not to put their hands in their pockets at a time when populism on the march.

Read more: Brussels begins big battle on post-Brexit budget – EURACTIV.com

Communications Industry: German owned T-Mobile to acquire Sprint Corp in $26 billion deal

Deutsche Telekom subsidiary T-Mobile US agreed on Sunday to buy out Sprint Corp for $26 billion (€21.4 billion).

If approved, the deal will combine the third and fourth largest US wireless carriers, bringing competition down to three major cellphone companies.

Some of the specifics of the deal include: 

• The two companies expect to complete their deal by the first half of 2019.
• Deutsche Telekom, which controls T-Mobile, will own 42 percent of the combined company, and will control the board, nominating nine of the 14 directors.
• The proposed all-stock deal values Sprint, owned by Japan's SoftBank Group Corp, at about $59 billion and the combined company at $146 billion, including debt.
• The transaction is at a fixed exchange ratio of 0.10256 T-Mobile shares for each Sprint share, or the equivalent of 9.75 Sprint shares for each T-Mobile US share. 

Read more; German owned T-Mobile to acquire Sprint Corp in $26 billion deal | News | DW | 29.04

Chemical Industry - Pesticides Use in Europe: EU To 'Completely Ban' Outdoor Use Of Neonicotinoids, Blamed For Devastating Bees

Citing concerns for food production, the environment and biodiversity, the European Union is set to "completely ban" the outdoor use of neonicotinoid insecticides that have been blamed for killing bees, and for keeping other bees from laying eggs.

"All outdoor use of the three substances will be banned and the neonicotinoids in question will only be allowed in permanent greenhouses where no contact with bees is expected," the EU announced on Friday.

An EU committee approved the plan to tightly restrict use of the insecticides, acting upon scientific advice from the European Food Safety Authority to tighten existing restrictions and protect bees, crucial pollinators.

The EFSA said in February that it had confirmed risks to both honeybees and to wild bees such as bumblebees posed by neonicotinoid pesticides.

"There is variability in the conclusions, due to factors such as the bee species, the intended use of the pesticide and the route of exposure," the head of EFSA's pesticides unit, Jose Tarazona, said at the time. "Some low risks have been identified, but overall the risk to the three types of bees we have assessed is confirmed."

Reacting to Friday's decision, Bayer CropScience, the biggest seller of neonicotinoids, called it "a sad day for farmers and a bad deal for Europe." Bayer added that the new rules "will not improve the lot of bees or other pollinators."

Bayer and another pesticide company have already challenged the EU's existing restrictions on neonicotinoids that were enacted in 2013. A verdict in that case is due next month.

 Read more: EU To 'Completely Ban' Outdoor Use Of Neonicotinoids, Blamed For Devastating Bee : The Two-Way : NPR

US Economy: An American recession may come just in time for Trump’s re-election bid - by Rich Miller

Here’s another reason to circle the 2020 election year on the calendar. It may well be the year of the next U.S. recession.

Hefty tax cuts, stepped-up government spending and robust global growth should help insulate the economy against a downturn over the next two years, in spite of last week’s stock market swoon. That would allow the expansion that began in 2009 to become America’s longest ever.

But after that, watch out, economists warn. Fading fiscal stimulus, higher and rising interest rates, and cresting world demand could leave the economy vulnerable to a contraction — just in time for the presidential campaign.

“2020 is a real inflection point,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc., in West Chester, Pa.

It’s not only President Donald Trump who needs to worry after claiming his policies of deregulation, deficit-widening fiscal measures and trade protectionism will lift the world’s largest economy out of a decade of mediocre growth. Investors should fret, too. A recession — or more accurately, the anticipation of

Read more: An American recession may come just in time for Trump’s re-election bid | Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

EU Economic Review - Future Shape of Europe: Macron Vs. the Germans? - by Holger Schmieding

French president Emmanuel Macron travelled to Berlin for serious negotiations about the future shape of Europe. Will he achieve much?

Almost everybody would like to support him, partly to strengthen his hand against his anti-European adversaries at home. But hardly anybody in Berlin seems ready to breach “red lines“ drawn in the past.

Macron probably knows by now that he will have to settle for some modest changes for the time being, with only baby steps to be agreed by the time of the next EU summit on June 28-29, 2018.

Money isn’t the key issue. Germany is ready to spend more and put more of it at risk. But it would come with three key strings attached.

1. Berlin will insist that commitments involving serious amounts of money will remain subject to approval by the German parliament, as is currently the case for support programs of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM). For those who love unwieldy German words, get used to “Parlamentsvorbehalt.“
2. Upon gradually completing the banking union, Germany will insist that each step to share risks comes after a step to reduce risks.
3. Partly because the Eurozone economy is doing fine at the moment and Germany is reluctant to endorse a major change in the governance of the Eurozone, Germany puts significant emphasis on changes for the EU rather than just the Eurozone level. For instance, this means improving controls of external borders (including significantly increasing the funding for FRONTEX), controlling migration and beefing up joint defense projects.

Read more: Macron Vs. the Germans? - The Globalist

France-US Relations: Is it all a question about dandruff?

Donald Trump inspect Emmanuel Macron for dandruff

Hosting his first state visit, President Trump on Tuesday morning welcomed his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to the White House during a formal arrival ceremony on the South Lawn.

The president and First Lady Melania Trump greeted Macron and his wife, Brigitte, amid heavy pomp as almost 500 service members from all five branches of the military stood at attention for a “Review of the Troops.”

Vice President Mike Pence, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Chief of Staff John Kelly were among those in attendance to shake hands with the two leaders and their spouses.

Trump and Macron both sent their condolences to the families of the victims of the deadly van attack Monday in Toronto, as well as to the Bush family after the death of former First Lady Barbara Bush.
Former President George H.W. Bush has since been hospitalized with a blood infection.

Speaking in French, Macron said he wished to “express our deepest sympathy to President Bush and his family,” adding that at this time, “We stand together.”

In his remarks, Trump hailed France for its role in helping to respond to a chemical attack on civilians in the Damascus enclave of Douma in Syria.

“Along with our British friends, the United States and France recently took decisive action in response to the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons,” Trump said.

The two leaders are meeting on a number of issues, including the future of the Iran nuclear deal and the crisis in Syria.

On Tuesday evening, Macron will be honored with Trump’s first state dinner, where about 150 guests will dine on rack of lamb and nectarine tart before enjoying a performance by the Washington National Opera

Note EU-Digest: Even though the US President tried to be on his best behavior during the Macron welcoming ceremony, he was not able to contain himself to show his "macho side",  when, while speaking about his good relationship with Macron he leaned over to him and brushed away some imaginary dandruff, and said: I like him a lot, so much so, that I even brushed off the dandruff he had on his jacket.

As Herbert Read, a famous British art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher wrote: "The worth of a civilization or a culture is not valued in the terms of its material wealth or military power, but by the quality and achievements of its representative individuals - its philosophers, its poets and its artists. Unfortunately the President of the US, Donald Trump possesses none of these qualities. 

EU-Digest

EU ASYLUM LAW: EU granted 500,000 people asylum protection in 2017

EU member states as well as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland granted protection status to 538,000 asylum seekers in 2017, according to new data released by Eurostat recently.

Another 24,000 refugees were resettled in the region last year.

Last year's asylum seeker figures represent a 25% drop from 2016, when 710,000 asylum seekers qualified for international protection in the bloc.

Two forms of protection are offered under EU law: refugee status — for people fleeing persecution, and subsidiary protection — for those who face serious harm if they return to their country of origin, and who don’t qualify as refugees. But protection may also be given for humanitarian reasons, such as on grounds of ill health or if the person is an unaccompanied minor.

Around a third of such asylum seekers in Europe came from Syria last year, followed by Afghan citizens (19%) and Iraqis (12%).

Note EU-Digest:The Eurostat figures in this report are not very clear. 

According to the data listed in this re, a third (33.%) of asylum seekers come from Syria, followed by Afghanistan with 19% and Iraq with 12%. Added together 64%. 

Where do the rest of the asylum seekers (36%) come from? 

Probably a large number of them from Africa, who come to Libya by illegal means to make the crossing to Europe. In our  opinion, these are mainly "economic migrants" and not asylum seekers, just as most of them from Afghanistan and Iraq. It is also striking that many of the asylum seekers are young and able men . The EU and the governments of the Member States must, as far as their migrants and asylum policies are concerned do a far better job, Right now it can only be qualified as being barely functional.

READ MORE: EU granted 500,000 people asylum protection in 2017 | Euronews

EU staff propose partnership changes for next research programme

European Commission officials are looking at ways to simplify and reorganise research partnerships involving industry and foreign countries in the next research programme, according to a draft staff working document seen by Science|Business.

These include plans to “rationalise” several industry-focused competitions found in the current research programme, Horizon 2020, a change in rules on foreign access to EU research, and proposals to sweep away more of the complicated rules and acronyms that bedevil parts of the programme.

The paper, circulating for at least a few weeks, determines a blueprint for Framework Programme 9 and suggests the Commission will propose adopting many of the features of Horizon 2020, but with several substantial modifications. A final version of the paper, a so-called Impact assessment of the new programme, is expected to be published in the first week of June.

Commission officials declined to comment on the paper. But when asked about similar, earlier drafts circulating privately in Brussels, senior Commission officials have cautioned that the final plan in June could be very different – and say they don’t wish to appear to confirm ideas that may not yet have gone through the full, internal Commission approval process. After the publication of this paper in June, the European Council and Parliament will debate the plan for another few years before it takes effect in 2021.

Read more: EU staff propose partnership changes for next research programme | Science|Business

EU Low Carbon Energy - Coal: HSBC pulls the plug on coal as a viable source of - Cecilia Jamasmie

HSBC has joined an increasing list of large banks by announcing Friday it would not longer finance coal-fired plants, oil sands and arctic drilling

The move, announced by Europe’s largest bank at its annual meeting as part of its new energy policy, seeks to head off criticism from investors who want the institution’s actions to be aligned with the Paris

Agreement, a global pact to limit greenhouse gas emissions and curb rising temperatures.

Daniel Klier, HSBC’s sustainability boss, said the decision reflected the bank’s ambition to help its customers make the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Read more: HSBC pulls the plug on coal | MINING.com

EU-Singapore: Trade and Investment Protection: EU and Singapore successfully on Trade and Investment Protection Agreements

The European Commission has given the green light to clear an EU-Singapore trade and investment agreements that aim to take bilateral relations to a new level and comes on the heels of the recently signed EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement,

The speed by which Brussels moved to wrap-up both agreements is being seen as an effort to send a strong message to US President Donald J. Trump about the EU’s approach to fair and rules-based international trade.

The EU-Singapore pacts are the first bilateral trade and investment agreements concluded between the EU and a Member State of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and will serve as a reference point for other trade and investment agreements, including negotiations between the EU and Malaysia that were launched in 2010, as well as similar ongoing talks between the EU, Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia that began in 2012.

The EU-Singapore deal is the most significant as the wealthy city-state is by far the EU’s largest ASEAN partner, with total bilateral trade in goods at €53.3 billion in 2017 and services at €44.4 billion in 2016.

Read more: EU and Singapore successfully on Trade and Investment Protection Agreements

Arms Industry: USA arming the world: Inside Trump's “Buy American” drive to expand weapons exports - by Matt Spetalnick and Mike Stone

In a telephone call with the emir of Kuwait in January, U.S. President Donald Trump pressed the Gulf monarch to move forward on a $10 billion fighter jet deal that had been stalled for more than a year.

Trump was acting on behalf of Boeing Co, America’s second-largest defense contractor, which had become frustrated that a long-delayed sale critical to its military aircraft division was going nowhere, several people familiar with the matter said.

With this Oval Office intervention, the details of which have not been previously reported, Trump did something unusual for a U.S. president – he personally helped to close a major arms deal. In private phone calls and public appearances with world leaders, Trump has gone further than any of his predecessors to act as a salesman for the U.S. defense industry, analysts said.

Read more: Arming the world: Inside Trump's “Buy American” drive to expand weapons exports

USA: Disturbing facts about the US Infrastructure and a variety of other problems which are getting worse by the day

The US infrastructure and the country is in dire need of repair

Someone once said that you can tell a lot about a nation by the condition of the infrastructure.

So what does the US infrastructure say about America?  It says that America is in a very advanced state of decay.

At this point, much of America is being held together with spit, duct tape and prayers.  Roads are crumbling and thousands of its bridges look like they could collapse at any moment.  The power grid is ancient and over a trillion gallons of untreated sewage is leaking from aging sewer systems each year.

US  airports and seaports are clogged with far more traffic than they were ever designed to carry.

Approximately a third of all of the dam failures that have taken place in the United States since 1874 have happened during the past decade.  The national parks and recreation areas have been terribly neglected and the US railroads system is a bad joke.

Recent hurricanes which hit America showed how vulnerable the  levees and dikes are, and drinking water systems all over the country are badly outdated.  Sadly, at a time when we could use significant new investment in infrastructure,  the spending on infrastructure is actually way down.

Back during the 50s and the 60s, the U.S. was spending between 3 and 4 percent of GDP on infrastructure.  Today, that figure is down to about 2.4 percent.  But the US does not have any extra money to spend on infrastructure because of reckless spending and because of the massive amount of national debt that it has accumulated.

Here are 21 facts about America’s failing infrastructure

#1 The American Society of Civil Engineers has given America’s crumbling infrastructure an overall grade of D.
#2 There are simply not enough roads in the United States today.  Each year, traffic jams cost the commuters of America 4.2 billion hours and about 2.8 million gallons of gasoline.
#3 It is being projected that Americans will spend an average of 160 hours stuck in traffic annually by the year 2035.
#4 Approximately one-third of all roads in the United States are in substandard condition.
#5 Close to a third of all highway fatalities are due “to substandard road conditions, obsolete road designs, or roadside hazards.”
#6 One out of every four bridges in America either carries more traffic than originally intended or is in need of repair.
#7 Repairing all of the bridges in the United States that need repair would take approximately 140 billion dollars.
#8 According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, our decaying transportation system costs the U.S. economy about 78 billion dollars annually in lost time and fuel.
#9 All over America, asphalt roads are being ground up and are being replaced with gravel roads because they are cheaper to maintain.  The state of South Dakota has transformed over 100 miles of asphalt roads into gravel roads, and 38 out of the 83 counties in the state of Michigan have transformed at least some of their asphalt roads into gravel roads.
#10 There are 4,095 dams in the United States that are at risk of failure.  That number has risen by more than 100 percent since 1999.
#11 Of all the dam failures that have happened in the United States since 1874, a third of them have happened during the past decade.
#12 Close to half of all U.S. households do not have access to Public bus or rail transit.
#13  The US's aging sewer systems spill more than a trillion gallons of untreated sewage every single year.  The cost of cleaning up that sewage each year is estimated to be greater than 50 billion dollars.
#14 It is estimated that rolling blackouts and inefficiencies in the U.S. electrical grid cost the U.S. economy approximately 80 billion dollars a year.
#15 It is being projected that by the year 2020 every single major container port in the United States will be handling at least double the volume that it was originally designed to handle.
#16 All across the United States, conditions at many of our state parks, recreation areas and historic sites are deplorable at best.  Some states have backlogs of repair projects that are now over a billion dollars long….
#17 Today, the U.S. spends about 2.4 percent of GDP on infrastructure.  Meanwhile, China spends about 9 percent of GDP on infrastructure.
#18 In the United States today, approximately 16 percent of our construction workers are unemployed.
#19 China has plans to build 55,000 miles of highways by the year 2020.  If all of those roads were put end to end, it would be longer than the total length of the entire U.S. interstate system.
#20 The World Economic Forum ranks U.S. infrastructure 23rd in the world, and we fall a little bit farther behind the rest of the developed world every single day.
#21 It has been projected that it would take 2.2 trillion dollars over the next 5 years just to repair our existing infrastructure.  That does not even include a single penny for badly needed new infrastructure.

So where did the US go wrong?

Well, one of the big problems is that the US have become a very materialistic "me first" society that is obsessed with short-term thinking.  Investing in infrastructure is something that has long-term benefits, but these days Americans tend to only be focused on what is happening right now and most politicians are only focused on the next election cycle.

Another major problem is that there is so much corruption and waste in the US  system these days. Special interest groups and corporations have basically total control over the US political system

The government certainly spends more than enough money, but very little of that money is spent wisely. Too much is going into military spending, without questions asked; No one in America seems to have figured out that the US is not obliged to be the global cop to keep the weapons industry happy.

And sadly, the US simply does not have the money that it  needs for infrastructure because of all the debt that it has have piled up.

Unless the Trump Administration puts their money where their mouth is ( which they have not done so far) the federal government, state governments and local governments are all struggling to stay afloat in an ocean of red ink, and unfortunately that means that spending on infrastructure is likely to be cut even more in the years ahead.

It is high time everyone in America wakes up to the reality that "business as usual" is not working anymore and that radical change is needed. So far no one has seriously stepped up to the plate. 

EU-Digest

EU-USA Relations: EU drags US to WTO over steel, aluminum tariffs

EU-US Relations turn sour

The European Union on Monday complained to the World Trade Organization over US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

The move comes despite US President Donald Trump temporarily exempting the 28-nation bloc from the tariffs that have threatened to trigger a trade war.

The EU made following statement in reference to their WTO complaint

• The EU rejects the "national security" justification for the US tariffs and believes they have been imposed just to protect US industry.
• It wants to hold consultations with the US as soon as possible.
• The aim of the discussions would be to "exchange views and seek clarification regarding the proposed measures."

Read more: EU drags US to WTO over steel, aluminum tariffs | News | DW | 16.04.2018

Middle East - Syria: Limited U.S. military action leaves al-Assad looking like the winner - by Mark MacKinnon

U.S. President Donald Trump declared “mission accomplished” in the wake of Friday’s strikes against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad − but if anyone emerged as a winner it was Mr. al-Assad. 

In a video posted on Twitter by his office Saturday morning, Mr. al-Assad was shown walking calmly to work just hours after the cruise-missile strikes ended. Later in the day, the Syrian military announced it was in full control of Douma, the town on the outskirts of Damascus where Mr. al-Assad’s forces are alleged to have used chlorine gas and perhaps other chemical agents in an April 7 attack.

“All the terrorists have left Douma city,” the Syrian army said in its own “mission accomplished” statement, declaring an end to the five-year siege of the wider area known as East Ghouta. The Army of Islam militia that held Douma until the weekend said that it was forced to withdraw after the attack that killed dozens.

Read more: Limited U.S. military action leaves al-Assad looking like the winner - The Globe and Mail

EU Economy: A daunting task for the EU’s economic liberals

As the Brexit process grinds on, attention elsewhere in Europe is turning to the political dynamics of the EU without one of its most reliably free-market member states.

For many years, the UK, both because of its economic heft and the often under-appreciated skills of its civil servants, has led an informal economic bloc pushing for liberalisation in the single market and external trade. Some members, usually including the Nordic nations, have frequently relied on the UK to persuade other states.

A new counterweight to economic mercantilism is sorely needed. EU member states have, regrettably, been moving in a more protectionist direction in recent years. They have, for example, rewritten their laws on antidumping and antisubsidy duties, giving themselves more leeway to impose emergency blocks on imports.

Germany, traditionally the swing voter in the EU, has shifted more towards the protectionist end of the spectrum, dominated by France and Italy. In theory, the accession of Emmanuel Macron as France’s president, with his talk of freeing up markets to boost growth, should shift the centre of gravity back towards the liberal side.

In practice, Mr Macron’s commitments to liberalisation tend to stop at the French frontier. In order to buy some political space for his changes to labour law, Mr Macron has taken restrictive positions on cross-border issues including migration, foreign direct investment and signing trade deals that will endanger France’s perennially vocal farmers.

Read more: A daunting task for the EU’s economic liberals

Middle East: Syria: U.S. fires missiles at Syria in retaliation for suspected poison gas attack - by Bob Drogin and David S. Cloud

U.S. and allied warships and warplanes in the eastern Mediterranean launched a fiery barrage of missiles at multiple military targets in Syria to punish the Russian-backed government in Damascus for its alleged use of poison gas against civilians last weekend, President Trump announced.

Trump authorized the punitive attack against President Bashar Assad's government and sought to cripple its chemical and biological weapons facilities with what he called precision airstrikes. French and British forces joined the attack, Trump said in a televised address Friday night.

The Pentagon said about 120 missiles targeted a scientific center near Damascus that was used for research, development and production of chemical and biological agents; a chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs; and a separate chemical agent storage site and command post near Homs. Officials said no U.S., French or British casualties were reported.

"We are prepared to sustain this response until the Syrian regime stops its use of prohibited chemical agents," Trump said. Loud explosions and air raid sirens were reported in the Syrian capital as he spoke at 9 p.m. in Washington. It was before dawn Saturday in Damascus.

Read more: U.S. fires missiles at Syria in retaliation for suspected poison gas attack

Electronic communications: go European and benefit from stricter personal privacy laws

Have you ever wondered  what happens to your e-mail data on servers owned by popular e-mail servers like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook Earthlink, or other non-European based communication companies.

But here is the good news. It is called the European mode, and you don't have to be a European to benefit from the far stricter European personal privacy laws, and other regulations imposed on how companies make use of your personal data.

Here are two companies you might want to look intom if you want a secure European based e-mail account.

ECLIPSO

PROTON MAIL

In this context  FREENET  and  TOR , are also recommended networks, specially if you live in, or visiting a country where there is censorship, interception of electronic communications, and control over what you are allowed to see or not over the Internet.

It certainly is worth to look into, and best of all, they come for free, if you don't require their "premium" services.

EU-Digest 

America in Crises Mode - Presidential Historian Gil Troy says: "Donald Trump has committed “a crime against the American people” - by Chauncey DeVega

This in-depth report on Donald Trump is from an interview by Salon Magazine of Gil Troy, a professor at McGill University in Montreal, and the author of numerous books, including "The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s," "The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction" and "Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents."

Donald Trump is president of the United States by title and law. He is not president of all Americans. Trump cares only about his voters and the most enthusiastic part of his "base." He is a political cult leader. Nothing seems to matter to him but the adoration and power that comes from his followers.

Public opinion polls and other research have shown that Trump's supporters are driven by racism, sexism, Christian nationalism and nativism. They hold authoritarian values and hold America's democratic norms in contempt. All that matters is winning: Democracy be damned.

Donald Trump is also enabled by the Republican Party and a right-wing media machine that has empowered this assault. Political scientists, historians and others have already begun to assess Trump's presidency. The consensus: At this early point in his tenure, Trump already ranks among the worst presidents in United States history. As I have already suggested, perhaps there should be an asterisk next to his name in future accounts of this political moment, a gesture of shame and apology to the world and the American future.

How will history remember those Republicans and other conservatives who voted Trump into office and continue to back him? How has Trump defiled the presidency? Is it possible for Trump to pivot back to the normal standards of the office? Is there still a place for moderation and incrementalism in American politics during a time of crisis and extreme polarization?

In an effort to answer these questions, I recently spoke with historian Gil Troy. He is a professor at McGill University in Montreal and the author of numerous books, including "The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s," "The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction" and "Why Moderates Make the Best Presidents."

How was Donald Trump able to win the 2016 election?

I think we have to divide your question into two parts. One, how was Donald Trump able to win? And two, how was Hillary Clinton able to lose? I think the more we read about that Clinton campaign we see all the opportunities she missed. Ultimately, she proved herself both in 2008 and 2016 to be just a terrible, terrible candidate.

We forget that she went into the 2016 campaign with popularity ratings of about 65 percent when she had been secretary of state -- then she just allowed herself to get taken to the cleaners by Donald Trump's. She did not have an effective message. During the campaign, I spoke to groups of people in the United States and elsewhere. I would say to them, “Donald Trump promises to make America . . .” And people yelled, “Great again!”

Even if they all hated Donald Trump, they would yell it. Hillary Clinton had no core message. There was also a kind of a conscious decision on the part of the Hillary Clinton campaign that they were not going to win because of Bill Clinton.

They didn't consult one of the great geniuses of modern American politics who understands how to speak to the frustrated white working-class people of America. We saw how that played out in those states which were so crucial to Trump's victory.

On the Trump side of this question there was a little bit of luck. He was running against the legacy of an incumbent president who’s been in office for eight years; he was also blessed to have Hillary Clinton as an opponent. But I really think we have to give him credit for being one of the great salesmen of our age, who was able to tap into the high amounts of frustration out there in many parts of America.

I was among the first people who tried to sound the alarm on national radio and TV about the likelihood of Trump winning. I highlighted how he is entertaining and a master communicator. We knew what he stood for. Hillary Clinton had no clear and simple message. 

Absolutely. We started talking about Donald Trump in the summer of 2015. He understood that notoriety in today's celebrity culture counts. Let's be honest. For the last 30 or 40 years, to a wide swath of the American people, Trump is a brand that means quality, success and understanding how to work the system.

In assessing Trump as a president and a candidate, is he smarter than he appears? Or is he just a useful idiot for the Republican Party, the Koch brothers and other gangster capitalists, Christian nationalists and the like?

I think he's smarter than people think. He also worked harder than many people are aware of. For example, Trump would watch clips of himself on television and he got better at using the medium.

And you saw that play out brilliantly in the Republican debates. He understood that it was about the stage. But it was also really about the studio and how to speak to the viewer sitting at home. Also, I do think there's a certain substance in terms of his political strategy and presentation.

When people go, “Oh, he's so foolish, he’s alienating people,” well, he's alienating people who aren't going to vote for him at all. He also is taking something from the Ronald Reagan playbook. I think there are many different ways in which he is not like Ronald Reagan at all, but Ronald Reagan loved being underestimated.

When people would dismiss him as an actor, Reagan had a great comeback, which was, "I don't know how you could do this politics thing without having been in show business." But Reagan knew that once they were calling him a mere actor, it would mean they wouldn't be taking his message seriously, and they also wouldn't be taking his constituents seriously.

When we see the degree to which the Democrats have spent time treating anyone who votes for Trump or says anything positive about Trump as a buffoon, as a racist, as a sexist, as a pig — how are you going to convince those people to vote for you? And there are millions of Americans who were able to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 and then vote for Donald Trump.

You have to be thinking about how you get those people.

Trump has channeled the politics of hatred and resentment to win the White House and maintain control over his voters. In all, he is a symptom of a much bigger problem. But in terms of Trump as a leader, do you think it is still possible for him to pivot?

First of all, it's definitely possible.

We forget, first of all, how steep the learning curve is, how complicated the job is, and how much presidents really do change. Also, the greatest problem for every American president is just the constant barrage of external stimuli from internal scandals to politics to just stuff that happens that you don't anticipate. For a historian to say it's impossible for him to pivot, he's never going to change, wouldn't be an accurate reading of human beings, the history of the American presidents or the history of leadership.

On the other hand, I think many of us have been predicting a turn toward political maturity, a turn toward nation-building, a turn toward unity. That has not happened. That's why I really emphasize the degree to which Trump has not been like Reagan.

Trump has not shown that ability. As you say, he's playing to his base and by playing to his base, he’s using the politics of resentment and the presidency itself as a wedge. That is very disturbing,

I had an off-the-record meeting with a bunch of Republican congressmen. It was supposed to be nonpartisan so I was very carefully avoiding politics.

At one point they turned to me and one of them from the Deep South — who was as red as you can find in his voting record — says to me, “Well, what do you think about our president?”

I said, “Look, I don't want to get into partisanship tonight. I don't want to get into the politics of this particular issue. But as a historian of the American presidency, I really have a lot of reverence for the office and for the Lincolnian role of the president as someone who brings out the better angels of our nature. Franklin Roosevelt also talked about the presidency being a pre-eminent place of moral leadership. By that criterion, Donald Trump has not even tried and has certainly not met the standard of any of his predecessors."

There was a moment of silence and the congressman looks at me and says, “You can say that again.”

I really cannot think of a president who came into office — now in office for over a year — and is dedicated to not using the role of president as the civic high priest of America. Who has not tried to be the healer, who's not trying to be the one who transcends divisions, but in fact is the one who makes divisions.

I don't want to be categorical because there certainly have been moments every now and then. For example, there was the Florida mass shooting, when he tried to play that presidential role. But we see how quickly even there Trump goes into judgmental mental mode. He goes into demagogic mode. He goes into wedge mode rather than healing mode. Let's be honest, that's what won him the presidency and has now become his political mode.

One of the things [that] is also fascinating about Trump is that we really have never had such an amateur.

Trump really comes from a different universe, a different world, the business world and in particular the family business world. That is one of the dynamics that people sometimes miss in trying to understand what's going on with this presidency.

Donald Trump inherited this divided country — and he’s only so far made an angrier and more divided [country] and that's a crime. It is a crime against the American people and it is a crime against the American presidency.

There have been many moments when Trump could have exercised presidential leadership and elevated himself in the eyes of the public and world. But he keeps failing in that moment because, except for rage, he seems to lack genuine human emotion.

Donald Trump comes very much from a place of not having much empathy. He was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.

Consider the presidential inauguration. It is always a sacred moment when you transcend the partisan divides, heal the divisions of the presidential campaign and then the American people are willing to look at you in a new light.

Reflect on Trump's "American carnage" inauguration speech for a moment. There was no poetry or beauty there. It really is one of the most divisive, polarizing and just atonal, un-lyrical inaugural speeches in American history. There is a certain lack of grace in the man. But again, is it celebrity Trump or real Trump? I think he's been playing that role for so long on the public stage that he may not even know who the real Donald Trump is anymore.

As those of us who follow professional wrestling would say, in many ways Donald Trump is "living the gimmick." He is a person who actually starts to believe his persona; the fictional character is real. Where does the person begin and the celebrity end? These stories usually don't end well. This word is overused, but can Donald Trump's rise to the presidency be correctly described as "unprecedented?"

The degree to which you have the president of United States running against the country's institutions -- including the Constitution -- is problematic and probably unprecedented. But there is something else going on as well: One of the things that Donald Trump is teaching us is that the Constitution works.

It's much easier for me right now as an American historian to explain to my students the separation of powers than it was a year-and-a-half ago.

What is the place of incrementalism or of pursuing the virtues of moderation in this moment? Is that even possible in this type of political environment?

I wrote a book in 2008 about why moderates make the best presidents. Before the book was accepted, I received a wonderful rejection from one editor who said, “I read your thesis, I completely agree,” but his lament explains why no one is going to buy the book. He was quite accurate. I was trying to make a countercultural argument that we actually do need moderation. Clearly, there are so many structures now that mitigate against that. You start with the internet, the news media and how no one even tries to be objective in the way that Walter Cronkite did back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Then you get the partisan gridlock. In Capitol Hill you get the death of the kinds of relationships that we used to see between an Orrin Hatch and Teddy Kennedy, for example.

To get to the core of your question, there’s no place for incrementalism in that kind of hyper-partisan "all or nothing" politics. American politics often was about big moves but also little compromises.

How would you counsel Republicans and other conservatives who know that Trump is a disaster for America but for whatever reason stay silent, only complain in private, or if they are elected officials decide to vote with him or otherwise provide cover? How will history judge them?

I would tell them that history can be very kind but it can also be very, very harsh. I think when we write the history of this time we will find the people who stood up and said "no" and we’ll also find the Democrats who said, “Wait a minute, we are going too far.” We’ll also find the Democrats who said, “Wait a minute, we have to work together.” The addiction to Fox News and MSNBC and making headlines is also worsening the situation.

It took 20 years, but there are many people who are finally embarrassed by the degree to which they enabled Bill Clinton and an environment in the White House that was truly a hostile environment for women. I’m someone who, in the late 1990s, when I did criticize Bill Clinton, was called all kinds of awful names. I was just simply saying, “Wait a minute. What message are my women students getting by the way Bill Clinton treated Monica Lewinsky? With the way many of the men around Bill Clinton facilitated that?” Now I’m equally critical of Donald Trump, and we need those consistent voices, because life isn’t just about partisanship and politics. Ultimately, we have to be thinking about how we build a society together and nurture the ability to disagree amicably and civilly.

We have our cultural problems. We have family breakdown. We have social divisions. We have political gridlock. We have a president who makes too many Americans feel marginalized and not welcome.

I’m not denying any of the anguish and trouble in the country. But there are many, many more success stories on the American streets, in the American home, in American offices, in American universities, and even in Washington, D.C., than we’ll read about and notice on CNN or The New York Times. We should be grateful for that, even as we go through a very difficult passage in our politics.

Presidential historian Gil Troy: Donald Trump has committed “a crime against the American people” - Salon.com

Artificial Intelligence: Twenty-four EU countries sign artificial intelligence pact in bid to compete with US & China – Catherine Stupp

Twenty-four EU countries pledged to band together to form a “European approach” to artificial intelligence in a bid to compete with American and Asian tech giants.

Ministers signed a declaration on Tuesday (10 April) saying they will consider putting public research funding into AI, but did not promise a specific amount of dedicated new investments.

All EU member states except for Cyprus, Romania, Croatia and Greece vowed to “modernise national policies” as part of an effort to develop large-scale AI research.

One Commission official said the four EU countries that did not sign were not opposed to the initiative but might still need formal approval before signing. Norway also signed the declaration.

Twenty-four EU countries sign artificial intelligence pact in bid to compete with US & China – EURACTIV.com

USA: Trump Tariffs: Trump’s China Trade War Has Deeper Agenda - by F. William Engdahl

Washington’s recent trade actions are aimed foursquare at China, not at the EU or other trade partners. However, the aim is not to reduce China exports to the US. The aim is a fundamental opening up of the Chinese economy to the Washington free market liberal reforms that China has steadfastly resisted. In a sense, it is a new version of the Anglo-American Opium Wars of the 1840s using other means to open China. China’s vision of its economic sovereignty is at direct odds with that of Washington. Because of this Xi Jinping is not about to cave in and Trump’s latest threats of escalation risk a major destabilization of the precarious global financial system.

There exist basically two contradictory visions of the Chinese future economy and this is what the Washington attacks are about. One is to force China to open its economy on terms dictated by the West, especially by US multinationals. The second vision is one put in place during the first term of Xi Jinping aiming to transform China’s huge economy into the world’s leading technology nation over the coming seven years, a tall order but one Beijing takes deadly serious. It is also integral to the vision behind Xi Jinping’s Belt Road Initiative.

Washington is determined to push China to adhere to a document it produced in 2013 together with the World Bank during the time Robert Zoellick headed it. The document, China 2030, calls for China to complete radical market reforms. It states,

“It is imperative that China … develop a market-based system with sound foundations…while a vigorous private sector plays the more important role of driving growth.”

The report, cosigned then by the Chinese Finance Ministry and State Council, further declared that

“China’s strategy toward the world will need to be governed by a few key principles: open markets, fairness and equity, mutually beneficial cooperation, global inclusiveness and sustainable development.”

Referring to the current Washington strategy of imposing import tariffs on billions worth of Chinese products, Michael Pillsbury, a neo-conservative former Trump Transition adviser and China expert told the South China Morning Post,

“The endgame is that China complete its deep reforms of its economy as laid out in the joint report,” referring to the World Bank Zoellick China 2030 report.

 Read more: Trump’s China Trade War Has Deeper Agenda | Global Research - Centre for Research on Globalization

Spain - Swiss relations : Tit for Tat - Banking Industry: HSBC whistleblower held in Swiss-Spanish extradition saga

 Whistleblower Herve Falciani, a former HSBC employee who exposed massive tax evasion via Swiss accounts, was Wednesday arrested in Spain but released again on Thursday. Falciani had fled to Spain to avoid jail in Switzerland. The arrest of the whistleblower comes at a sensitive time in Swiss-Spanish relations when Swiss courts are considering a Spanish extradition request for Catalan separatist Marta Rovira, who fled to Switzerland earlier this year.

Read more: HSBC whistleblower held in Swiss-Spanish extradition saga

Green Energy- Solar Power: China outshines Europe in 2017 clean power investment ranking

Solar Power Plant in ALMERE, the Netherlands

Solar power dominated a global ranking of new renewable energy investments “like never before” last year, with China accounting for more than half of the world’s new capacity, the UN said on Thursday (5 April). Investments in Europe, on the other hand, recorded a massive drop.

The world installed a record 98 gigawatts of new solar capacity in 2017, far more than the net additions of any other technology – renewable, fossil fuel or nuclear – according to new data.

The ‘Global Trends in Renewable Energy Investment 2018’ report was released on Thursday (5 April) by UN Environment, the Frankfurt School – UNEP Collaborating Centre, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

At $160.8 billion, solar power attracted far more investment than any other technology. China saw “an unprecedented boom” in solar that saw some 53 gigawatts added – more than half the global total – with $86.5 billion invested.

‘’China’s clean energy push is impressive and good news for the planet,” said trade association SolarPower Europe, citing “a near 80% red

Overall, renewable energies were far ahead, at $279.8 billion, towering above new investment in coal and gas generation capacity, which reached an estimated $103 billion.

“The world added more solar capacity than coal, gas, and nuclear plants combined,” said Nils Stieglitz, President of Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. “This shows where we are heading, although the fact that renewables altogether are still far from providing the majority of electricity means that we still have a long way to go.”

Last year was the eighth in a row in which global investment in renewables exceeded $200 billion, the report said. Since 2004, the world has invested $2.9 trillion in these green energy sources.

But some regions like the United States and Europe have clearly fallen behind. In the US, investments dropped 6%, to $40.5 billion. In Europe, the fall was steeper, at 36%, to reach $40.9 billion. The biggest drops were recorded in the United Kingdom (down 65% to $7.6 billion) and Germany (down 35% to $10.4 billion).

“In countries that saw lower investment, it generally reflected a mixture of changes in policy support, the timing of large project financings, such as in offshore wind, and lower capital costs per megawatt,” said Angus McCrone, Chief Editor of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and lead author of the report.

Read more: China outshines Europe in 2017 clean power investment ranking – EURACTIV.com

EU Labor Statistics: Euro area unemployment at 8. 5 % EU28 at 7. 1 % - lowest since December 2008

The euro area (EA19) seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.5% in February 2018 down from 8.6% in January 2018 and from 9.5% in February 2017

This is the lowest rate recorded in the euro area since December 2008.

Read the complete detailed report at Eurostat

EU-US Relations: EU Sours on Reviving Trade-Pact Push With U.S. Amid Tariffs Row

The European Union distanced itself from the idea of reviving talks on a broad free-trade agreement with the U.S. as part of EU efforts to gain a permanent exemption from President Donald Trump’s controversial import tariffs on steel and aluminum.

A day after U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the Trump administration is willing to restart negotiations on the stalled Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the European Commission said it’s seeking a “dialog” with Washington “on issues of common interest” including global steel overcapacity.

“More contacts will be held in the coming weeks to agree the exact scope and framework of this EU-U.S. dialog,” a spokesman for the commission, the 28-nation EU’s executive arm in Brussels, said on Friday. “The commission is committed to engage in this process in an open and constructive way. However, it should be clear that this dialog does not represent the revival of the process for a comprehensive Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.”

The TTIP negotiations to expand the world biggest economic relationship have been frozen since Trump entered the White House with an “America First” agenda that has shunned multilateral trade initiatives. This extended to the completed Trans-Pacific Partnership, from which Trump withdrew.

“He terminated the trans-Pacific deal; he didn’t terminate TTIP,” Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday. “That was meant quite deliberately and quite overtly as a message that we’re open to discussions with the European Commission.”

EU leaders showed as much annoyance as relief at the temporary exemption on March 23, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying “we won’t talk about anything while there’s a gun pointed at our head.”

Note EU-Digest: Given the hole Mr. Trump buried the US in with his tariffs, quitting the Paris Climate Agreement, getting out of the TTIP negotiations, and  putting the agreed on Iran deal on ice,  the EU in no way should let the Trump Administration get away with this. It is high time for the EU to let the Trump Administration swallow their own spit, and accept the consequences of their arrogance. 

Read  more: EU Sours on Reviving Trade-Pact Push With U.S. Amid Tariffs Row - Bloomberg

USA: Health Insurance -What it's like living without health insurance in America - by John Tozzi and Emma Ockerman

Last week, Bloomberg News told the story of three families without health insurance. We also asked readers to share their own stories as we spend the next year following people who are “risking it.”

The response was overwhelming. More than 3,000 people from across the U.S. filled out our questionnaire and shared their challenges, and how their decisions have affected their health and financial well-being.

Some can’t afford to insure their children. Others are seeking cheaper care abroad. Some older adults are counting down the years until they qualify for Medicare.

While these people are among the 27 million Americans who remain uncovered despite the large expansion of health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, their stories transcend politics, reflecting tough kitchen-table decisions about health care faced by many families

Read more: What it's like living without health insurance in America

US Economy: Dow closes down 450 points as Trump's ire rocks Amazon

Stocks fell sharply on the first trading day of the month and the quarter as a decline in Amazon shares put pressure on the broader tech sector Monday.

The Dow ended nearly 458 points lower after sinking more than 700 points, with Intel as the worst-performing stock in the index. The S&P 500 pulled back 2.2 percent and entered correction territory, with tech falling more than 3 percent. The index also dropped below its 200-day moving average, a key technical level. The Nasdaq dropped 2.7 percent, also entering a correction, as Amazon declined 5.2 percent.

"The market leaders are under pressure," said Marc Chaikin, the CEO of Chaikin Analytics. "It's a situation where the proven winners for the past few years are faltering." When that happens, "there is a negative psychological sense in the market."

Read more: Dow closes down 450 points as Trump's ire rocks Amazon

China -US Relations: Trade war escalates as China says it will impose tariffs on 128 U.S. exports, including pork and fruit - by Damian Paletta

The Chinese government plans to immediately impose tariffs on 128 U.S. products, including pork and certain fruits, a direct response to President Trump’s recent moves to pursue numerous trade restrictions against Beijing.

If U.S. goods become more expensive in China, Chinese buyers could opt to purchase products from Europe, South America or elsewhere, though White House officials have routinely discounted the likelihood of this.

Beijing’s move could force Trump to decide whether to follow through on expansive trade restrictions he had hoped would crack down on China even if Beijing is now threatening to harm U.S. companies that rely on Asian markets for buyers.

A Twitter post from the “People’s Daily,” an English-language news organization controlled by the Chinese government, said Sunday that “China imposes tariffs on 128 items of imports from the U.S. including pork and fruit products starting Monday as a countermeasure in response to a previous U.S. move to slap tariffs on steel and aluminum imports: Ministry of Finance.”

Read More: Trade war escalates as China says it will impose tariffs on 128 U.S. exports, including pork and fruit