Sunday, March 31, 2019
Saturday, March 30, 2019
Central American-US Relations: Trump cuts all direct assistance to Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala
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| USA building a wall - China providing assistance |
“At the Secretary’s instruction, we are carrying out the President’s direction and ending FY [fiscal year] 2017 and FY 2018 foreign assistance programs for the Northern Triangle,” a State Department spokesperson told ABC News, referring to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “We will be engaging Congress as part of this process.”
Trump hinted at the cuts earlier on Friday, telling reporters,”I’ve ended payments to Guatemala, to Honduras, and to El Salvador. No money goes there anymore.”
While the president has threatened these cuts before, this time the administration is actually following through.
Trump said the funds totaled $500 million, but it wasn’t clear Friday if that figure was accurate. The State Department announced in December that the U.S. would mobilize $5.8 billion in public and private american investment to these three countries.
“We’re not paying them anymore because they haven’t done a thing for us,” he added.
Note EU-Digest: Once again, not a very clever move by the Trump administration, as China and Russia will obviously not waste too much time in providing these nations with the needed aid after the US drops out of the picture. As they have done in Venezuela, Suriname and several other countries in Central and South America.
Read more: Trump cuts all direct assistance to Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala
Friday, March 29, 2019
Iceland: Budget Airline WOW based in Iceland goes bankrupt
Passengers stranded as Icelandic budget airline WOW Air goes bust
Read more at:
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Wednesday, March 27, 2019
White Supremacy banned: Facebook bans white nationalism from their platform after pressure from civil rights groups - by David Ingram and Ben Collins
Facebook is banning white nationalism and white supremacy from its social network following criticism that it had not done enough to eliminate hate speech on its platform
The social media giant said in a blog post Wednesday that conversations with academics and civil rights groups convinced the company to expand its policies around hate groups.
“Today we’re announcing a ban on praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram, which we’ll start enforcing next week,” the company wrote in the post. “It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services.” Scrutiny of Facebook reached new heights in the past two weeks after a gunman in Christchurch, New Zealand, used Facebook to livestream his attacks on two mosques that killed 50 people.
Note EU-Digest: Bravo, let's hope Twitter does the same, which would ban Donald Trump and his Populist buddies in Europe and other areas of the world from using both Facebook and Twitter, to spread their white supremacy nationalist ideology.
Read more at: Facebook bans white nationalism from platform after pressure from civil rights groups
The social media giant said in a blog post Wednesday that conversations with academics and civil rights groups convinced the company to expand its policies around hate groups.
“Today we’re announcing a ban on praise, support and representation of white nationalism and separatism on Facebook and Instagram, which we’ll start enforcing next week,” the company wrote in the post. “It’s clear that these concepts are deeply linked to organized hate groups and have no place on our services.” Scrutiny of Facebook reached new heights in the past two weeks after a gunman in Christchurch, New Zealand, used Facebook to livestream his attacks on two mosques that killed 50 people.
Note EU-Digest: Bravo, let's hope Twitter does the same, which would ban Donald Trump and his Populist buddies in Europe and other areas of the world from using both Facebook and Twitter, to spread their white supremacy nationalist ideology.
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
EU: European MPs vote to end summer time clock change
European MPs vote to end spring/summer and winter time clock changes
Read more at :
Monday, March 25, 2019
EU-China Relations: France Sticks it to US as Macron steals Trump’s thunder with Chinese Airbus order – by Rym Momtaz
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| €30 billion A320 Airbus order by China |
China concluded a deal to buy 300 aircraft from Airbus during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to France. The value of the deal was twice what was touted last year, and only compounds the woes of U.S. manufacturer Boeing, whose 737 MAX planes have been grounded across the world this month, after two fatal crashes.
Macron on Monday stressed the “colossal progress” needed to rebalance trade between the two countries — the EU ran a trade in goods deficit with China of some €177 billion in 2017 — while also hailing a slew of deals done in the health, infrastructure, transport, renewable energy and financial sectors.
“In the aeronautic sector, the conclusion today of a big contract in terms of A320s and big transporters, A350s, is an important advance and an excellent signal in the current context,” Macron said during a joint press conference with his Chinese counterpart at the Élysée Palace.
Read more: Macron steals Trump’s thunder with Chinese Airbus order – POLITICO
Sunday, March 24, 2019
China - EU relations: Macron seeks United EU front on China as President XI visits France
Macron seeks united EU front on China as President Xi visits France
French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed President Xi Jinping for a
private dinner near Nice on Sunday as the Chinese leader tours Europe
seeking support for an ambitious economic programme dubbed the "new Silk
Road".
Read more at:
Saturday, March 23, 2019
The EU Commission: Who will become the next EU President of the Commission?
European Parliament elections 2019: who are the candidates for the EU’s top job?
Read more at:
Read more at:
Friday, March 22, 2019
Global Health Care Ranking: Survey Ranks the U.S. Health Care System Lowest in Performance - Melissa Hellmann
he U.S. health care system has been subject to heated debate over the past decade, but one thing that has remained
consistent is the level of performance, which has been ranked as the
worst among industrialized nations for the fifth time, according to the
2014 Commonwealth Fund survey 2014. The U.K. ranked best with Switzerland following a close second.
The Commonwealth Fund report compares the U.S. with 10 other nations: France, Australia, Germany, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K. were all judged to be superior based on various factors. These include quality of care, access to doctors and equity throughout the country.
Results of the study rely on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Health Organization and interviews from physicians and patients.
Although the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, the nation ranks lowest in terms of “efficiency, equity and outcomes,” according to the report. One of the most piercing revelations is that the high rate of expenditure for insurance is not commensurate to the satisfaction of patients or quality of service. High out-of-pocket costs and gaps in coverage “undermine efforts in the U.S. to improve care coordination,” the report summarized.
A striking take-home from the report was a need for equity throughout the nation. “Disparities in access to services signal the need to expand insurance to cover the uninsured and to ensure that all Americans have an accessible medical home,” it said. A lack of universal health care was noted as the key difference between the U.S. and the other industrial nations.
Note EU-Digest: Sorry to say but this Time report is right on target, Insurance companies, Medical Profession (Dr's) and Pharmaceutical companies have one common goal, ripping off patients, and the US political establishment not only does nothing about it, many are also on the payroll of these thieves.
Read more at: Survey Ranks the U.S. Health Care System Lowest in Performance | Time
The Commonwealth Fund report compares the U.S. with 10 other nations: France, Australia, Germany, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.K. were all judged to be superior based on various factors. These include quality of care, access to doctors and equity throughout the country.
Results of the study rely on data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Health Organization and interviews from physicians and patients.
Although the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, the nation ranks lowest in terms of “efficiency, equity and outcomes,” according to the report. One of the most piercing revelations is that the high rate of expenditure for insurance is not commensurate to the satisfaction of patients or quality of service. High out-of-pocket costs and gaps in coverage “undermine efforts in the U.S. to improve care coordination,” the report summarized.
A striking take-home from the report was a need for equity throughout the nation. “Disparities in access to services signal the need to expand insurance to cover the uninsured and to ensure that all Americans have an accessible medical home,” it said. A lack of universal health care was noted as the key difference between the U.S. and the other industrial nations.
Note EU-Digest: Sorry to say but this Time report is right on target, Insurance companies, Medical Profession (Dr's) and Pharmaceutical companies have one common goal, ripping off patients, and the US political establishment not only does nothing about it, many are also on the payroll of these thieves.
Read more at: Survey Ranks the U.S. Health Care System Lowest in Performance | Time
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
USA: CHEMICAL INDUSTRY: Judge finds "Roundup " substantial factor in man's cancer
Monsanto: Roundup substantial factor in man’s cancer, jury finds in key verdict.
In the meantime Monsanto is still advertising. cancer causing ROUNDUP in the media.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Britain - Brexit: Theresa May plays "hardball" to push her Brexit deal even though she calls it a compromise vote
Theresa May asks MPs for 'honourable compromise' on Brexit
Saturday, March 16, 2019
Global Warming: Students around the world demand action on climate
Students around the world skip class to demand action
on climate Tens of thousands of students across the world skipped school
on Friday to take to the streets in protest at their governments'
failure to take sufficient actionagainst global warming.
Note EU-Digest: The US Trump administration which pulled out of the Global Paris Climate Agreement hopefully will take note
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Britain - Brexit MPs vote by a majority of 211 to seek delay to EU departure.
Brexit: MPs vote by a majority of 211 to seek delay to EU departure
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
US Budget Deficit: Trump is exploding, not cutting, US debt - by Heather Long
In March of 2016, then candidate Donald Trump told The Washington
Post that he could eliminate the entire U.S. debt in eight years. Now
that he’s president, Trump is doing the exact opposite.
Trump’s budget – his own budget – projects debt held by the public will hit $22.8 trillion by 2025, more than 50 percent higher than the year he took office (debt held by the public was $14.7 trillion in 2017).
That’s the rosy forecast. Trump’s budget relies on “gimmicks” to keep the debt rising by “only” that much, experts across the political spectrum say. Trump predicts the economy will grow at a home-run pace with no recessions for the next decade, and he proposes massive cuts to education, health care and other non-defense parts of the budget that will not be enacted.
Read more: Analysis: Trump is exploding, not cutting, US debt
Trump’s budget – his own budget – projects debt held by the public will hit $22.8 trillion by 2025, more than 50 percent higher than the year he took office (debt held by the public was $14.7 trillion in 2017).
That’s the rosy forecast. Trump’s budget relies on “gimmicks” to keep the debt rising by “only” that much, experts across the political spectrum say. Trump predicts the economy will grow at a home-run pace with no recessions for the next decade, and he proposes massive cuts to education, health care and other non-defense parts of the budget that will not be enacted.
Read more: Analysis: Trump is exploding, not cutting, US debt
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Britain - Brexit: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop - by Alice Tidey & Rachael Kennedy
British lawmakers on Tuesday rejected May's Brexit deal for a second time with 391 votes against, 242 in favour.
MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.
The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.
May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.
A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May.
They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10)
Bottom ine: the Brexit deal is clearly dead - and to make any sense of what the British really want, specially now the British Public has become more familiar with what breaking away from the EU and the Common Market would eventually mean to the economy and them, and the danger of becoming totally subservient to the US, is to have a second referendum.
This is the only way to stop this chaos, after the political establishment totally failed the people. It is high time to put the control of the future of Britain back in the hands of the British people, before the country implodes.
Read more: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop | Euronews
MPs first rejected the deal on January 14 by a margin of 230, handing May the worst defeat of any sitting government in British parliamentary history.
The prime minister said immediately after the vote that MPs now face "an unenviable choice" and said she still believes that her deal is the best and only deal available.
May said if lawmakers backed a no-deal Brexit on Wednesday, it would become government policy.
A division list released by the Commons website shows that 75 Conservative MPs rebelled against May.
They were joined by 232 Labour MPs, 17 independent MPs, and every single MPs from Scotland's National party (35), the Liberal Democrats (11) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (10)
Bottom ine: the Brexit deal is clearly dead - and to make any sense of what the British really want, specially now the British Public has become more familiar with what breaking away from the EU and the Common Market would eventually mean to the economy and them, and the danger of becoming totally subservient to the US, is to have a second referendum.
This is the only way to stop this chaos, after the political establishment totally failed the people. It is high time to put the control of the future of Britain back in the hands of the British people, before the country implodes.
Read more: British MPs reject Brexit deal by 391 to 242 despite May securing changes to backstop | Euronews
Monday, March 11, 2019
Britain - Gartner Data and Analytics Summit: Use of big data analytics keeps the Netherlands dry and transforms fashion brands
The use of big data analytics has helped everything from
water management in the Netherlands to both the retail and insurance
industries to undergo digital transformation, as proven in a number of
case studies at the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit.
From defending the Netherlands against the type of flood that claimed 1,800 lives 66 years ago to helping fashion brands sail confidently through the perilous waters of online shopping, the use of big data analytics has never had such a profound effect.
Sensor technology interconnected through the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and data analysis have been applied to water management to keep Dutch communities safe in an era when climate change is beginning to cause the country real concern.
And in business, they have traditional industries such as retail and insurance to meet customer demand and improve internal processes.
A range of case studies were put forward at the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit in London this week to highlight how almost any sector or business function can undergo digital transformation through intelligent data insight
Read more: Use of big data analytics keeps Holland dry and transforms fashion br
From defending the Netherlands against the type of flood that claimed 1,800 lives 66 years ago to helping fashion brands sail confidently through the perilous waters of online shopping, the use of big data analytics has never had such a profound effect.
Sensor technology interconnected through the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence and data analysis have been applied to water management to keep Dutch communities safe in an era when climate change is beginning to cause the country real concern.
And in business, they have traditional industries such as retail and insurance to meet customer demand and improve internal processes.
A range of case studies were put forward at the Gartner Data and Analytics Summit in London this week to highlight how almost any sector or business function can undergo digital transformation through intelligent data insight
Read more: Use of big data analytics keeps Holland dry and transforms fashion br
Sunday, March 10, 2019
Aviation Industry: How US's Boeing's 737 Max Went From Bestseller to Safety Concern - by Christopher Jasper
Boeing Co.’s 737
jetliner has been an aviation workhorse since it first took to the
skies in 1967, enjoying unparalleled success while improving its safety
record each decade as fatal incidents became increasingly rare across
the industry.
The latest Max version extended the 737’s popularity with a welter of orders, but two deadly incidents claiming close to 350 lives in five months have raised questions about the model’s future. Here’s a timeline showing how the aircraft has gone from being a marketing triumph to a focus for safety concerns.
Read more: How Boeing's 737 Max Went From Bestseller to Safety Concern
The latest Max version extended the 737’s popularity with a welter of orders, but two deadly incidents claiming close to 350 lives in five months have raised questions about the model’s future. Here’s a timeline showing how the aircraft has gone from being a marketing triumph to a focus for safety concerns.
Read more: How Boeing's 737 Max Went From Bestseller to Safety Concern
Saturday, March 9, 2019
NORWAY: To cut oil and gas investments Norway will sell some stock from their $1 trillion fund
Norway's $1 trillion fund to cut oil and gas investments
Read more at:
Friday, March 8, 2019
Britain -- Brexit: May on course of another BREXIT defeat after Barnier says NO to more changes to the agreement
'A slap in the face': Barnier sets May on course for Brexit defeat
Thursday, March 7, 2019
EUROPEAN Central Bank: Rates to remain unchanged despite weakening economy
ECB to keep rates unchanged amid weakening economy European Central Bank
policymakers on Thursday responded boldly to fears of a eurozone
slowdown by announcing that interest rates would stay unchanged for the
rest of the year and launching a fresh round of super-cheap loans to
banks.
Read more at:
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
The Netherlands: Russian money laundering machine shifted millions through the Netherlands
In total, almost €1bn of the money ended up in the Netherlands, some of which was used to buy two luxury yachts, said the research project, which includes Trouw and the Groene Amsterdammer magazine plus Dutch investigative journalism collective Investico.
The OCCRP says Troika Dialog, once Russia’s largest private investment bank, channeled billions of dollars out of Russia from 2004 via a network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania. The two Lithuanian banks were closed down in 2011 and 2013.
The scheme was discovered in a collection of 1.3 million banking transactions and other documents obtained by OCCRP and the Lithuanian news site 15min.lt, which stem from the two Lithuanian banks.
Some of the money was channeled into the Netherlands via the Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) and Turkey’s C. ATB, part of Russia’s Alfa Bank, is already involved in corruption investigations.
Smaller amounts were moved through ING and ABN Amro, the Groene Amsterdammer said. ‘The million euro payments came from the Troika Bank and had many signs of money laundering,’ the magazine said.
In addition, €43m went to the Rabobank account of luxury yacht builder Heesen, according to Dutch investigative news collective Investico.
‘How could all this happen under the watchful eye of the central bank DNB?’ the magazine asked. ‘Banks are banned from carrying out transactions if they don’t know who profits, but, the central bank says, banks often have no idea who is really hiding behind anonymous companies.’
The central bank declined to answer specific questions about the claims, the Groene Amsterdammer said.
EU-Digest
Tuesday, March 5, 2019
EU Economy: Italy, Germany Drag on Euro-Area Economy as EU Cuts Outlook - by Viktoria Dendrinou
The European Commission slashed its growth forecasts for all the euro
region’s major economies from Germany to Italy and warned that Brexit
and the slowdown in China threaten to make the outlook even worse.
The European Union’s executive arm delivered a downbeat report on Thursday that shaved a whole percentage point off its 2019 projection for Italy, now seen with minimal expansion of just 0.2 percent for the whole year. Officials in Brussels warned that the region’s outlook faces “substantial” risks.
The gloomier forecasts reflect more pronounced weakness in the region, which stumbled at the end of 2018 as political instability continued to rock Italy, violent protests in France depressed output, and Germany’s car industry struggled to rebound from changes in regulation. Global trade uncertainty and a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China also pose external risks to the economic outlook.
Read more at: Italy, Germany Drag on Euro-Area Economy as EU Cuts Outlook - Bloomberg
The European Union’s executive arm delivered a downbeat report on Thursday that shaved a whole percentage point off its 2019 projection for Italy, now seen with minimal expansion of just 0.2 percent for the whole year. Officials in Brussels warned that the region’s outlook faces “substantial” risks.
The gloomier forecasts reflect more pronounced weakness in the region, which stumbled at the end of 2018 as political instability continued to rock Italy, violent protests in France depressed output, and Germany’s car industry struggled to rebound from changes in regulation. Global trade uncertainty and a sharper-than-expected slowdown in China also pose external risks to the economic outlook.
Read more at: Italy, Germany Drag on Euro-Area Economy as EU Cuts Outlook - Bloomberg
Monday, March 4, 2019
EU - US RELATIONS: Becoming more strained than ever over US tariffs on car exports
Transatlantic ties become strained over European car import Tariffs discussions
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Italy: Venice introduces entry fee for tourists to increase income for City upkeep
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| Venice starts charging tourist fees to pay for increasing cost city maintenance |
Beginning on May 25 the visitors of the city of canals will begin paying a €3 entry fee, which will later rise to €6 in 2020.
The Venetian government eventually plans to create a variable entry fee ranging from €3-to-€10 depending on the number of tourists in the city. Visitors who attempt to avoid paying the entry fee will face a stiff €450 municipal fine.
The plan is to exempt hotel guests, as they already pay a city tax, and children under the age of 6,
Over the past decade, Venice has been so inundated with tourists that local residents have had difficulty coping with the increasing crowds and sky-high property prices that continue to climb. Local residents that have lived in Venice for generations have been forced to leave the city as scores of cruise ship visitors and day=trippers have effectively taken over.
An estimated 14 million tourists visit Venice just for a day, which brings little-to-no benefit to the local economy. Instead, tourism burden local authorities are left with excessive costs for the cleaning and maintenance of the city’s centuries-old infrastructure.
Read more: Venice introduces entry fee for tourists
Saturday, March 2, 2019
Saudi Arabia: Shame on any country which supports, trades and sells weapons to this barbarian state which does not respect human rights and murders journalists
Saudi prosecutors say women's rights activists to face trial
Friday, March 1, 2019
The EU Parliament: 2019 European Elections
An in- depth review of the upcoming EU parliamentary elections....
Read full report at: 2019 European Elections - POLITICO
Read full report at: 2019 European Elections - POLITICO
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