USA - California: Fires spread as Northern California deals with widespread power outages

As nearly 200,000 people remain under evacuation order from threat of wildfire, some of the millions of people in Northern California on track to get their electricity back may not have it restored before another possible round of shutoffs and debilitating winds.

Read more at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/california-wildfires-spread-power-outages-1.5337673

Britain - elections: UK set for 12 December general election after MPs' vote

MPs give the green light for a pre-Christmas poll after months of deadlock over Brexit.

Read more at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50229318

Inovation: The Netherlands Ranks Among Top 5 countries in The Global Innovation Index

The Global Innovation Index 2019 (GII 2019), collated by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), has ranked the Netherlands amongst the global leaders in innovation. The report mentions that even in economic slower times, innovation still thrives. “In developed and developing economies alike, formal innovation—as measured by research and development (R&D) and patents—and less formal modes of innovation are thriving.” According to the GII 2019, Switzerland, Sweden, United States, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom complete the top five of most innovative nations in the world.


Top scores in innovation output en knowledge absorption:  The Netherlands scores particularly well on sub-rankings on innovation output (2) and knowledge absorption (2). The country remains in top position for IP payments and scores consistently strong on regulatory quality, online participation, intensity of local competition, collaboration between universities and industries, cluster development and inflows of foreign direct investment. The report specially mentions that it sees great improvements in government expenditures on R&D financed by business, and an increase in women that are employed having advanced degrees.

Online creativity and knowledge diffusion push Dutch innovative outputs:  The report mentions specifically that innovation outputs are high, because the Netherlands is strong on Knowledge diffusion (2nd) and Online Creativity (2nd), in particular in indicators such as IP receipts, FDI net outflows, ICTs and business model creation, and ICTs and organizational model creation. The GII 2019 also sees improvements in the quality of scientific publications (8th) and in cultural and creative services exports (10th).

Read more: The Netherlands Ranks Among Top 5 countries in The Global Innovation Index

EU- Schengen Area: Europe's free travel zone is set to get bigger — but what are the implications?

What does Schengen expansion mean for Europe, and can the EU overcome its border policy crisis triggered by the migrant influx that began in 2014?

Read more:  Schengen Area: Europe's free travel zone is set to get bigger — but what are the implications? 

EU Parliament: Gas and oil spent €250m lobbying EU - by Nikolaj Nielsen

The fossil fuel industry pumped €250m into lobbying the EU in the,past 10 years to water down climate friendly laws and targets, according to a new report.

"A cool quarter of a billion over the last decade buys a lot of access and influence in Brussels," said Pascoe Sabido of Corporate Europe Observatory, a Brussels-based NGO, and one of the authors of the report.

Read more at: Gas and oil spent €250m lobbying EU

Amazon Inc. : Jeff Bezos lost about $7 billion on Thursday

Amazon reported third-quarter earnings Thursday that disappointed investors and sent Amazon stock spiraling down. For Bezos, that means an on-paper loss of around $7 billion, putting his status as richest person in the world at risk.

Read more at: Jeff Bezos lost about $7 billion on Thursday

Britain: Boris Johnson calls for a snap general election on December 12

eneral election on December 12

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday called for a snap general election on December 1
• The prime minister is expected to bring forward a motion next week to hold an election before Christmas.
• It would require the support of two-thirds of MPs in the House of Commons.
• Opposition parties have rejected previous election motions for fear that Johnson would take the UK out of the European Union without a deal during the election period.
• However, the EU is expected to grant the UK another Brexit delay on Friday, paving the way for opposition parties to back a fresh election.
• The Labour Party is set to back a snap election once Brexit has been delayed.

VIDEO: Boris Johnson calls for a snap general election on December 12 - Business Insider

Netherlands - Social Security Fraud: UN rapporteur criticises Dutch system to identify social security fraud

UN human rights and
poverty rapporteur Philip Alston has criticised the way the Netherlands
is using an automated system to identify social security fraud,
broadcaster NOS said on Tuesday.

Alston has said in a letter to a court in The Hague that the system goes
against human rights because it appears to discriminate against people
with little money and people with a minority background.

Campaigners are taking the Dutch state to court to force officials to
stop experimenting with the scheme, known as SyrRi after a trial in
Rotterdam was abandoned this summer.

Read more at DutchNews.nl:

UN human rights and poverty rapporteur Philip Alston has criticised the way the Netherlands is using an automated system to identify social security fraud, broadcaster NOS said on Tuesday. 

Alston has said in a letter to a court in The Hague that the system goes against human rights because it appears to discriminate against people with little money and people with a minority background.

Campaigners are taking the Dutch state to court to force officials to stop experimenting with the scheme, known as SyrRi after a trial in Rotterdam was abandoned this summer.

Read more at: UN rapporteur criticises Dutch system to identify social security fraud - DutchNews.nl

Britain - the Brexit drama: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent an unsigned letter to the European Union on Saturday requesting a delay to Brexit but he also sent another message in which he stated he did not want the extension, a government source said.

Johnson was compelled by a law, passed by opponents last month, to ask the bloc for an extension to the current Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 until Jan. 31 after lawmakers thwarted his attempt to pass his EU divorce deal earlier on Saturday.

The government source said Johnson sent a total of three letters to Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council: a photocopy of the text that the law, known as the Benn Act, forced him to write; a cover note from Britain's EU envoy; and a third letter in which he said he did not want an extension.

As Parliament met in London Saturday morning and voted to force a Brexit delay, hundreds of thousands of anti-Brexit protesters marched in the city’s streets demanding citizens be given a second chance at deciding whether to leave the European Union. 

The massive crowds moved through the city towards Parliament in a festive and defiant demonstration of frustration with the country’s impending break with the EU, the New York Times reported.

Organizers of the effort told the Times they expected more than a million demonstrators, which would make it one of the largest protests Britain has ever had.

The demonstrators were joined by a host of current and former politicians, as well as celebrities, who addressed the crowd. In his speech, former Conservative deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine said Brexit represents “a creeping paralysis, where yesterday’s nostalgia distorts tomorrow’s opportunities”.

Note EU-Digest: Boris Johnson by politically manuevering in a very devious and undemocratic way, without letting the people have a final say on the agreement he reached with the EU, is taking Britain on a disastrous destructive path, from which they probably will never recover .

Read more at: UK PM Johnson sends conflicting messages to EU on Brexit delay request

EU - US relations: US can expect counter measures after tariff move

The EU said Friday it "regrets" the US decision to impose tariffs over the WTO's ruling on illegal subsidies to aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

It leaves the EU with "no alternative but to follow through in due course with our own tariffs" in a similar case involving Boeing, trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said . "The European Commission is committed to defending European companies, farmers and consumers," she added.

Read more at: EU: US can expect counter measures after tariff move

Britain - Brexit: Johnson ready to sell his soul to the devil to get his way on Brexit

Read more at:
https://reut.rs/35MutbM

EU-Britain: Brexit Deal in Brussels, but British Parliament has the last say, and that is not sure at all

Britain and the European Union on Thursday agreed on the draft text of a Brexit deal, setting up a fateful showdown in the British Parliament on Saturday, where it was not clear that Prime Minister Boris Johnson could marshal the votes to nail down his plan after three anguished and politically damaging years of debate.

But Mr. Johnson may already be thinking beyond whether Parliament approves his plan. Even if he loses, analysts say, he may call for a general election, hoping voters will rally behind him and deliver him a strong majority.

EU-Digest

Brexit - Britain - EU: Michael Barnier gives three possible scenarios

The European Union's Brexit negotiator told the 27 EU states staying on together that he saw three possible scenarios ahead:

1) A deal with Britain later on Tuesday

2) Another delay to Britain's departure

3) A "breakdown" of talks

This is according to EU diplomats.

Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2019/10/15/brexit-deal-still-possible-says-barnier-as-deadline-looms

Communications - 5G: New German rules leave 5G telecoms door open to Huawei

Germany has finalised rules for the build-out of 5G mobile networks that, in a snub to the United States, will not exclude China’s Huawei Technologies.

Government officials confirmed that Germany’s so-called security catalogue foresaw an evaluation of technical and other criteria, but that no single vendor would be barred in order to create a level playing field for equipment vendors.

“We are not taking a pre-emptive decision to ban any actor, or any company,” German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told a news conference in Berlin on Monday.

New German rules leave 5G telecoms door open to Huawei – EURACTIV.com

Britain - Brexit: talks fail to yield breakthrough with timely deal feared ‘impossible’

Brexit talks fail to yield breakthrough with timely deal feared ‘impossible’

Read more at:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/oct/13/barnier-warns-brexit-talks-have-been-difficult-amid-pessimism-over-deal?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Global Warming ?: Japan hit by biggest Typhoon in decades

Typhoon Hagibis: Biggest Japan storm in decades makes landfall

Read  more at: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50020108

Brexit: EU and UK to 'intensify' Brexit talks

The European Commission on Friday released a statement saying the "EU and the UK have agreed to intensify discussions over the coming days."

The statement followed a meeting between EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay.

The UK is set to leave the European Union on 31 October as outstanding issues remain entrenched on efforts to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit.

Read more: EU and UK to 'intensify' Brexit talks

EU Economy: Netherlands has the most competitive economy in Europe says WEF

https://nltimes.nl/2019/10/09/netherlands-eus-competitive-economy-wef

EU-US Trade War: A flood of new data from the US and eurozone suggests recession risks are flashing red. Here's a full rundown of the wreckage - by Ben Winck

Key economic metrics are flashing red for the US and the European Union as tensions between the two reach new highs.

The latest readings from prominent purchasing managers' indexes show manufacturing sectors the US and EU struggling amid global trade conflict and slowing economies. Service and non-manufacturing industries also slowed through September in both areas.

The negative signs arrive after the WTO granted the US permission to levy $7.5 billion in tariffs on EU imports, specifically targeting Boeing competitor Airbus.

Further escalation of trade conflict between the bloc and the US could plunge the two economies into deeper economic woes.

Read more at: A flood of new data from the US and eurozone suggests recession risks are flashing red. Here's a full rundown of the wreckage. | Markets Insider

Britain - Brexit: Merkel throws cold water on Boris Johnson Brexit proposal

Read more at
https://feeds.thelocal.com/app/android/article.php?e=161062

The have and have nots; Analysis Shows Top 1% Gained $21 Trillion in Wealth Since 1989 While Bottom Half Lost $900 Billion

Read more at:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/14/eye-popping-analysis-shows-top-1-gained-21-trillion-wealth-1989-while-bottom-half

Britain - Brexit: Macron says EU decission on Brexit deal will be at the end of this week

Macron: EU Brexit deal decision 'at end of week'

Read more at: 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49953914

FRANCE: Macron says no escape possible for Google from French law

Read more at:
https://feeds.thelocal.com/app/android/article.php?e=160996

EU: Falling short of promoting Democracy

Read more at:
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/10/europe-falling-short-promoting-democracy/599311/

Italian-US relations:Trump slaps extra tariffs on Italian cheese but not wine

Read more at:
https://www.thelocal.it/20191003/trump-slaps-extra-tariffs-on-italian-cheese-but-not-wine

Britain-Brexit: New British Brexit proposal rebuffed by EU as no basis for a deal

Read more at
https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-reaction/uks-brexit-proposal-rebuffed-in-brussels-as-no-basis-for-a-deal-idUKKBN1WI0PX

Brexit: UK′s Boris Johnson sends last-gasp Brexit proposals to Brussels

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker a four-page letter on Wednesday offering what he described as a "fair and reasonable" compromise to get Brexit over the line before the October 31 deadline.

The proposal said it would be a "failure of statecraft for which we would all be responsible" if the two sides failed to reach an agreement. He added that "both sides now need to consider whether there is sufficient willingness to compromise" to get a "rapid" deal done in time.

According to a UK official, Johnson subsequently spoke with European leaders, including Germany's Angela Merkel and Ireland's Leo Varadkar, in addition to the EU's Juncker.

Later on Wednesday, 10 Downing Street also announced plans to prorogue parliament from Tuesday, October 8 until the following Monday. This follows the recent Supreme Court decision nullifying the government's bid to shutter parliament for 5 weeks.

The end date for the prorogation, October 14, just before the decisive EU leaders' summit, is the same as the previous attempt to shut the chamber.

No backstop, but also few details, for Northern Ireland

The core suggestion in the letter to Brussels was the abolition of the backstop for Northern Ireland — an insurance policy designed to ensure there is no return to customs posts or other infrastructure on the UK border in Ireland.
 
Instead, the government suggested "the potential creation of an all-island regulatory zone on the island of Ireland, covering all goods including agrifoods."

The letter offered few details on how or whether this could be achieved and said it should depend on consent from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland's Assembly at Stormont has not been in session since January 2017.

Read more at: UK′s Boris Johnson sends last-gasp Brexit proposals to Brussels | News | DW | 02.10.2019

The Netherlands: Big farmers demonstrations cause massive traffic jam on Dutch highways

Read more at: 

https://nltimes.nl/2019/10/01/hundreds-tractors-highway-farmers-protest-causes-busiest-morning-rush-hour-ever