The British government’s scientific advisers urged the government on Friday to ensure coronavirus restrictions can be introduced rapidly, as the rate of new infections continues to grow.
Britain has recorded an average of 47,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day in the past week, up 18 percent from the week before, according to figures released on Friday. There was an average of 135 deaths a day, a 16 percent rise from the previous week. Britain has recorded more than 139,000 coronavirus deaths during the pandemic, the highest toll in Europe after Russia.
Many scientists are urging the government to reintroduce some of the measures that it lifted three months ago when more than a year of restrictions ended, including mandatory mask-wearing indoors, social distancing and work-from-home advice.
Read more at:
https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/22/scientists-urge-uk-to-prep-rapid-return-of-covid-measures
Showing posts with label Britain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Britain. Show all posts
Sunday, October 24, 2021
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Europe: Covid-19 surge: Morocco suspends flights from the UK over fears of Covid surge
Morocco is suspending until further notice all flights to and from the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands amid rising coronavirus infections in those countries.
The new restriction will come into force just before midnight Wednesday, the North African kingdom's airports authority said.
In a tweet, national carrier Royal Air Maroc said the move was due to "the pandemic situation." It did not provide further detail.
Read more at: Morocco suspends flights from the UK over fears of Covid surge
The new restriction will come into force just before midnight Wednesday, the North African kingdom's airports authority said.
In a tweet, national carrier Royal Air Maroc said the move was due to "the pandemic situation." It did not provide further detail.
Read more at: Morocco suspends flights from the UK over fears of Covid surge
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Britain: UK Covid Booster Vaccine Shots for Vulnerable Groups May Start From September - by Katharine Gemmell
The country’s independent vaccination committee recommended that the government plan to offer boosters in a two-stage program alongside the annual flu vaccination drive. The rollout will depend on further data and the guidance could change, according to the Department of Health & Social Care.
“We want to be on the front foot for Covid-19 booster vaccination,” Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said in a statement. The goal is to “keep the probability of loss of vaccine protection due to waning immunity or variants as low as possible, especially over the coming autumn and winter.”
The shots would first be made available to extremely vulnerable and immunosuppressed adults, those ages 70 or older, residents of elderly care homes and front-line health workers, the health department said. Those eligible in the second stage would include people over 50 and household contacts of the immunosuppressed.
The benefits of vaccinating other groups, including young adults who may not have had a second dose yet, will be evaluated at a later date.
Final recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization will be published before September, the statement said. It will consider data from a government-funded trial that is evaluating the effectiveness of different Covid-19 vaccines as booster shots, as well as any new information on the immunity levels from the current inoculation program.
Read more at: UK Covid Booster Vaccine Shots for Vulnerable Groups May Start From September - Bloomberg
“We want to be on the front foot for Covid-19 booster vaccination,” Jonathan Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, said in a statement. The goal is to “keep the probability of loss of vaccine protection due to waning immunity or variants as low as possible, especially over the coming autumn and winter.”
The shots would first be made available to extremely vulnerable and immunosuppressed adults, those ages 70 or older, residents of elderly care homes and front-line health workers, the health department said. Those eligible in the second stage would include people over 50 and household contacts of the immunosuppressed.
The benefits of vaccinating other groups, including young adults who may not have had a second dose yet, will be evaluated at a later date.
Final recommendations from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization will be published before September, the statement said. It will consider data from a government-funded trial that is evaluating the effectiveness of different Covid-19 vaccines as booster shots, as well as any new information on the immunity levels from the current inoculation program.
Read more at: UK Covid Booster Vaccine Shots for Vulnerable Groups May Start From September - Bloomberg
Thursday, April 8, 2021
Britain: Brexit takes its toll on U.K. economy as trade with EU falls sharply - by Pierre Briançon
The U.K. economy shrank less than expected in January, but trade with the European Union fell sharply after the end of the Brexit transition period at the beginning of the year, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.
Exports of goods to the EU fell by 40.7% compared with December, and imports by 28.8%, by far the largest declines since comparable numbers began to be collected in 1997.
By comparison, exports to non-EU countries rose 1.7% and imports from the same group only fell by 17.6%. The U.K. left the EU single market and its customs union on Jan. 1. The ONS also said that gross domestic product in January shrank by 2.9%, way below an analyst consensus forecast of a 4.9% fall.
Besides shrinking trade, the GDP fall is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to economic activity that were imposed shortly after the new year, including the closure of schools. The hit to services and manufacturing was in part compensated by a significant increase in health spending, due to the nationwide rollout of a “test and trace” system. The U.K. economy shrank less than expected in January, but trade with the European Union fell sharply after the end of the Brexit transition period at the beginning of the year, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday. Exports of goods to the EU fell by 40.7% compared with December, and imports by 28.8%, by far the largest declines since comparable numbers began to be collected in 1997. By comparison, exports to non-EU countries rose 1.7% and imports from the same group only fell by 17.6%. The U.K. left the EU single market and its customs union on Jan. 1. The ONS also said that gross domestic product in January shrank by 2.9%, way below an analyst consensus forecast of a 4.9% fall. Besides shrinking trade, the GDP fall is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to economic activity that were imposed shortly after the new year, including the closure of schools. The hit to services and manufacturing was in part compensated by a significant increase in health spending, due to the nationwide rollout of a “test and trace” system. The U.K. economy shrank less than expected in January, but trade with the European Union fell sharply after the end of the Brexit transition period at the beginning of the year, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.
Exports of goods to the EU fell by 40.7% compared with December, and imports by 28.8%, by far the largest declines since comparable numbers began to be collected in 1997. By comparison, exports to non-EU countries rose 1.7% and imports from the same group only fell by 17.6%. The U.K. left the EU single market and its customs union on Jan. 1. The ONS also said that gross domestic product in January shrank by 2.9%, way below an analyst consensus forecast of a 4.9% fall. Besides shrinking trade, the GDP fall is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to economic activity that were imposed shortly after the new year, including the closure of schools. The hit to services and manufacturing was in part compensated by a significant increase in health spending, due to the nationwide rollout of a “test and trace” system.
Read more at: Brexit takes its toll on U.K. economy as trade with EU falls sharply - MarketWatch
Exports of goods to the EU fell by 40.7% compared with December, and imports by 28.8%, by far the largest declines since comparable numbers began to be collected in 1997.
By comparison, exports to non-EU countries rose 1.7% and imports from the same group only fell by 17.6%. The U.K. left the EU single market and its customs union on Jan. 1. The ONS also said that gross domestic product in January shrank by 2.9%, way below an analyst consensus forecast of a 4.9% fall.
Besides shrinking trade, the GDP fall is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to economic activity that were imposed shortly after the new year, including the closure of schools. The hit to services and manufacturing was in part compensated by a significant increase in health spending, due to the nationwide rollout of a “test and trace” system. The U.K. economy shrank less than expected in January, but trade with the European Union fell sharply after the end of the Brexit transition period at the beginning of the year, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday. Exports of goods to the EU fell by 40.7% compared with December, and imports by 28.8%, by far the largest declines since comparable numbers began to be collected in 1997. By comparison, exports to non-EU countries rose 1.7% and imports from the same group only fell by 17.6%. The U.K. left the EU single market and its customs union on Jan. 1. The ONS also said that gross domestic product in January shrank by 2.9%, way below an analyst consensus forecast of a 4.9% fall. Besides shrinking trade, the GDP fall is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to economic activity that were imposed shortly after the new year, including the closure of schools. The hit to services and manufacturing was in part compensated by a significant increase in health spending, due to the nationwide rollout of a “test and trace” system. The U.K. economy shrank less than expected in January, but trade with the European Union fell sharply after the end of the Brexit transition period at the beginning of the year, numbers from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday.
Exports of goods to the EU fell by 40.7% compared with December, and imports by 28.8%, by far the largest declines since comparable numbers began to be collected in 1997. By comparison, exports to non-EU countries rose 1.7% and imports from the same group only fell by 17.6%. The U.K. left the EU single market and its customs union on Jan. 1. The ONS also said that gross domestic product in January shrank by 2.9%, way below an analyst consensus forecast of a 4.9% fall. Besides shrinking trade, the GDP fall is mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions to economic activity that were imposed shortly after the new year, including the closure of schools. The hit to services and manufacturing was in part compensated by a significant increase in health spending, due to the nationwide rollout of a “test and trace” system.
Read more at: Brexit takes its toll on U.K. economy as trade with EU falls sharply - MarketWatch
Monday, April 5, 2021
EU wrestles for control of euro clearing after Brexit – by Hannah Brenton
The EU’s latest battle with Britain concerns interest-rate swaps — a financial transaction used by fund managers, insurers, pension funds and banks to protect themselves against unexpected changes in the cost of borrowing.
These swaps are “cleared” — that is, monitored and managed — through clearinghouses like LCH in London, by far the major player in the industry. The clearinghouse becomes the buyer to the seller, and vice versa, to guarantee a trade.
Read more at: EU wrestles for control of euro clearing after Brexit – POLITICO
These swaps are “cleared” — that is, monitored and managed — through clearinghouses like LCH in London, by far the major player in the industry. The clearinghouse becomes the buyer to the seller, and vice versa, to guarantee a trade.
Read more at: EU wrestles for control of euro clearing after Brexit – POLITICO
Wednesday, March 24, 2021
Britain-EU relations: Europe's trust in Britain has gone. We're now a problem, not a partner - by Raphael Behr
The pandemic is landing well-aimed punches on the already bruised relationship between Britain and the European Union. A dispute over vaccine supplies threatens to bring blunt instruments of trade war down on delicate national feelings. Not in the darkest hours of Brexit negotiations did either side imagine that supply-chain management would so quickly become a matter of life and death.
At a summit later this week, European leaders will discuss a possible ban on exports to the UK from an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands. There is frustration in Brussels that millions of vaccine doses have gone overseas (mostly Pfizer ones) and none have come over in return. The UK responds that it cannot be blamed for moving earlier, signing better contracts and generally getting its immunising act together faster.
Tory MPs say Brussels is lashing out in jealousy. Vaccination is something Boris Johnson’s government is doing well, and the EU is floundering. That has less to do with Brexit than is claimed by triumphant ministers, but as propaganda the point is irresistible: there is nothing else to trumpet as a benefit of detachment from the continent, and winning the vaccination race resonates with voters grateful for jabs.
Read more at: Europe's trust in Britain has gone. We're now a problem, not a partner | Brexit | The Guardian
At a summit later this week, European leaders will discuss a possible ban on exports to the UK from an AstraZeneca plant in the Netherlands. There is frustration in Brussels that millions of vaccine doses have gone overseas (mostly Pfizer ones) and none have come over in return. The UK responds that it cannot be blamed for moving earlier, signing better contracts and generally getting its immunising act together faster.
Tory MPs say Brussels is lashing out in jealousy. Vaccination is something Boris Johnson’s government is doing well, and the EU is floundering. That has less to do with Brexit than is claimed by triumphant ministers, but as propaganda the point is irresistible: there is nothing else to trumpet as a benefit of detachment from the continent, and winning the vaccination race resonates with voters grateful for jabs.
Read more at: Europe's trust in Britain has gone. We're now a problem, not a partner | Brexit | The Guardian
Tuesday, March 16, 2021
British-EU reations: EU starts legal action against UK over Northern Ireland - by Eszter Zalan
The European Parliament has urged EU states to go after alleged Syrian war criminals in Europe, 10 years after the start of the bloodiest war in its neighbourhood.
"Persons responsible for core international crimes must be duly prosecuted, including by EU member states ... [as] lack of accountability provides a breeding ground for further atrocities," the parliament said in a non-binding resolution adopted last week.
Read more at: EU starts legal action against UK over Northern Ireland
"Persons responsible for core international crimes must be duly prosecuted, including by EU member states ... [as] lack of accountability provides a breeding ground for further atrocities," the parliament said in a non-binding resolution adopted last week.
Read more at: EU starts legal action against UK over Northern Ireland
Monday, February 22, 2021
Boeing 777: UK temporarily bans Boeing 777 planes with engine that blew apart in US
United Kingdom will temporarily ban Boeing 777 planes with the same engine that blew apart in the US over the weekend, transport secretary Grant Shapps said.
The engine, designed by Pratt and Whitney, failed shortly after United Airlines flight 328 took off from Denver, Colorado, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing on Sunday.
Read more at: UK temporarily bans Boeing 777 planes with engine that blew apart in US | Euronews
The engine, designed by Pratt and Whitney, failed shortly after United Airlines flight 328 took off from Denver, Colorado, forcing pilots to make an emergency landing on Sunday.
Read more at: UK temporarily bans Boeing 777 planes with engine that blew apart in US | Euronews
Saturday, January 2, 2021
Britain an "Island" again: How U.K.'s Separation From EU Will Affect The Country
New Year's Eve - the ball drops, the champagne corks pop and the United Kingdom finally officially finishes its divorce from the world's largest trading bloc, the European Union. Brexit has huge consequences for business, travelers and regular people who built lives based on a Europe that spanned the English Channel. This is a big gamble for the U.K., one that started more than four years ago when one of the biggest cheerleaders for Brexit was a former London mayor named Boris Johnson.
Johnson and his fellow Brexiteers had no real plan for how to actually untangle decades of economic and legal integration with Europe. And so a country known for effective, sometimes dull governance was plunged into years of political chaos that cost two prime ministers their jobs; first, David Cameron, the man who called the referendum, even as he urged Brits to vote against it.
From the perspective of a political scientist, you could not have hoped to live through a more interesting time to study the politics of your country. The other thing for me that is fascinating, though, is that many - for many people who supported Brexit, leaving the European Union wasn't an end in itself. It was a means to an end. That is to say if we leave the European Union, then we can, dot, dot, dot. You fill in that blank as you want - become a more activist international player, deregulating the way the European Union would never let us. So actually, the real test of Brexit in many ways is yet to come, which is now you've got that freedom. What the hell are you going to do with it? And how are you going to make people's lives better because of it, despite the fact that you're in charge of an economy that is growing less fast than it would have done had we not left in the first place?
Read more at: How U.K.'s Separation From EU Will Affect The Country : NPR
Johnson and his fellow Brexiteers had no real plan for how to actually untangle decades of economic and legal integration with Europe. And so a country known for effective, sometimes dull governance was plunged into years of political chaos that cost two prime ministers their jobs; first, David Cameron, the man who called the referendum, even as he urged Brits to vote against it.
From the perspective of a political scientist, you could not have hoped to live through a more interesting time to study the politics of your country. The other thing for me that is fascinating, though, is that many - for many people who supported Brexit, leaving the European Union wasn't an end in itself. It was a means to an end. That is to say if we leave the European Union, then we can, dot, dot, dot. You fill in that blank as you want - become a more activist international player, deregulating the way the European Union would never let us. So actually, the real test of Brexit in many ways is yet to come, which is now you've got that freedom. What the hell are you going to do with it? And how are you going to make people's lives better because of it, despite the fact that you're in charge of an economy that is growing less fast than it would have done had we not left in the first place?
Read more at: How U.K.'s Separation From EU Will Affect The Country : NPR
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Arms Sales versus Human Rights: US approves sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia
Arms deals with Middle East dictatorships are being rushed through by Trump, critics say, despite opposition over human rights records.
The US state department has approved the sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia as part of a flurry of arms deals with Middle Eastern dictatorships in the last weeks of the Trump administration.
Critics of the sales say they are being rushed through despite broad congressional and public opposition to such military support because of the human rights records of the regimes involved and in the case of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the huge civilian death toll from the war in Yemen.
Read more at: US approves sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia | US news | The Guardian
The US state department has approved the sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia as part of a flurry of arms deals with Middle Eastern dictatorships in the last weeks of the Trump administration.
Critics of the sales say they are being rushed through despite broad congressional and public opposition to such military support because of the human rights records of the regimes involved and in the case of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the huge civilian death toll from the war in Yemen.
Read more at: US approves sale of $290m in bombs to Saudi Arabia | US news | The Guardian
Saturday, December 26, 2020
European Union, U.K. unveil post-Brexit trade deal set to take effect on Jan. 1
EU ambassadors and lawmakers on both sides of the English Channel will now pore over the "EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement," which contains 1,246 pages of text. EU envoys are expected to meet on Monday to discuss the document, drawn up over nine intense months of talks.
Most importantly, the deal as it stands ensures that Britain can continue to trade in goods with the world's biggest trading bloc without tariffs or quotas after the U.K. breaks fully free of the EU. It ceased to be an official member on Jan. 31 this year and is days away from the end of an exit transition period.
Read more at: European Union, U.K. unveil post-Brexit trade deal set to take effect on Jan. 1 | CBC News
Most importantly, the deal as it stands ensures that Britain can continue to trade in goods with the world's biggest trading bloc without tariffs or quotas after the U.K. breaks fully free of the EU. It ceased to be an official member on Jan. 31 this year and is days away from the end of an exit transition period.
Read more at: European Union, U.K. unveil post-Brexit trade deal set to take effect on Jan. 1 | CBC News
Friday, December 25, 2020
EU-Britain Relations: Brexit: EU, UK finally clinch ′historic′ trade deal
The United Kingdom and the European Union have agreed to a post-Brexit free trade deal, sealing the UK's exit from the bloc, the UK government and EU announced on Thursday.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference on Thursday that: "It was a long and winding road, but we have a good deal to show for it."
The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted an image of himself in front of a British flag with his thumbs up. The picture was accompanied by the text: "The deal is done."
Read more at: Brexit: EU, UK finally clinch ′historic′ trade deal | News | DW | 24.12.2020
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said at a press conference on Thursday that: "It was a long and winding road, but we have a good deal to show for it."
The UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted an image of himself in front of a British flag with his thumbs up. The picture was accompanied by the text: "The deal is done."
Read more at: Brexit: EU, UK finally clinch ′historic′ trade deal | News | DW | 24.12.2020
Monday, December 21, 2020
Brexit Stalemate: Britain, EU tell each other to give way in 'difficult' trade talks
Negotiations are expected to continue on Monday, beyond a Sunday deadline set by the European Parliament, and a senior British government source described them as “difficult” because of the “significant differences” in position.
With less than two weeks before Britain leaves the EU’s orbit, both sides are calling on the other to move to secure a deal and safeguard annual trade in goods from tariffs and quotas. But so far, neither has budged far enough for a breakthrough.
Read more at Britain, EU tell each other to give way in 'difficult' trade talks | Reuters
With less than two weeks before Britain leaves the EU’s orbit, both sides are calling on the other to move to secure a deal and safeguard annual trade in goods from tariffs and quotas. But so far, neither has budged far enough for a breakthrough.
Read more at Britain, EU tell each other to give way in 'difficult' trade talks | Reuters
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
BREXIT: Talk of a 'no deal' Brexit grows as deadline looms - by: Elizabeth Piper, Padraic Halpin
Talk of a chaotic British split from the European Union grew on Tuesday with just three weeks left to break a deadlock in trade deal negotiations, with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warning that the two sides may have to accept “no deal”.
Read more at: Talk of a 'no deal' Brexit grows as deadline looms | Reuters
Read more at: Talk of a 'no deal' Brexit grows as deadline looms | Reuters
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
USA: Joe Biden warning dashes UK hopes of early US trade deal
Britain’s hopes of securing an early trade deal with the US have been dashed by a warning from Joe Biden, the president-elect, that America will not sign a trade deal with anyone until the US has sorted out its competitiveness.
Read more at:Joe Biden warning dashes UK hopes of early US trade deal | Trade policy | The Guardian
Read more at:Joe Biden warning dashes UK hopes of early US trade deal | Trade policy | The Guardian
Monday, November 30, 2020
Germany: Angela Merkel: No-deal Brexit would send a bad signal to the world
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that it would send a bad signal to the world if a Brexit trade deal could not be reached, as an EU negotiating team stayed in London for additional talks.
With just one month remaining for the European Union and the UK to come to an agreement, Merkel told a virtual gathering of parliamentarians from across the continent: "Britain and the EU share common values. If we failed to reach a deal, it would not send a good signal."
Read more at: Angela Merkel: No-deal Brexit would send a bad signal to the world | News | DW | 30.11.2020
With just one month remaining for the European Union and the UK to come to an agreement, Merkel told a virtual gathering of parliamentarians from across the continent: "Britain and the EU share common values. If we failed to reach a deal, it would not send a good signal."
Read more at: Angela Merkel: No-deal Brexit would send a bad signal to the world | News | DW | 30.11.2020
Wednesday, November 25, 2020
UK economy to suffer 'largest fall in output for 300 years' as GDP down 11.3% in 2020, says Sunak
Debt would be 91.9% of GDP this year, rising to 97.5% in 2025-26, he said. In comparison, government debt in the eurozone stood at 95.1% of GDP in the second quarter of 2020, according to Eurostat, the EU statistics agency.
The OBR said that if the UK trades with the EU under World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, as would happen should no trade deal be reached by the end of the transition period on December 31, the effect would "reduce real GDP by a further 2% in 2021". Bottom line, the economic picture for Britain looks quite bleak.
UK economy to suffer 'largest fall in output for 300 years' as GDP down 11.3% in 2020, says Sunak | Euronews
The OBR said that if the UK trades with the EU under World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, as would happen should no trade deal be reached by the end of the transition period on December 31, the effect would "reduce real GDP by a further 2% in 2021". Bottom line, the economic picture for Britain looks quite bleak.
UK economy to suffer 'largest fall in output for 300 years' as GDP down 11.3% in 2020, says Sunak | Euronews
Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Brexit negotiations: Britain snubs EU deadline over bill breaking Brexit deal
To date, the EU has received no reply from the UK,” spokesman Daniel Ferrie told journalists, three days after a deadline for London to reply to Brussels had passed.
“We are therefore considering the next steps, including issuing a reasoned opinion,” the next stage in the EU’s legal action launched against Britain a month ago, Ferrie said.
Read more at: Britain snubs EU deadline over bill breaking Brexit deal
“We are therefore considering the next steps, including issuing a reasoned opinion,” the next stage in the EU’s legal action launched against Britain a month ago, Ferrie said.
Read more at: Britain snubs EU deadline over bill breaking Brexit deal
Saturday, October 24, 2020
America's Latest Export: The Conspiracy Theorists Crazies have crossed the Atlantic and QAnon is now in Europe–by Mark Scott
If you don't know what QAnon is this is how wikileaks divines the cult - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/QAnon.
At first glance it’s not a natural fit. The U.S. conspiracy theory — now with millions of acolytes worldwide — alleges a vast deception to undermine U.S. President Donald Trump. It blends anti-government, anti-lockdown and anti-Semitic rhetoric with unfounded beliefs about a vast pedophile ring run by the global elite. Its followers adhere to a quasi-religious belief that a great savior — aided by “Q,” an anonymous government insider from whom QAnon gets its name — will protect followers from the dark forces behind the conspiracy.
In the U.S., discussion about QAnon has broken into the political mainstream. When Trump was asked to disavow the group at a recent town hall event, he first said he knew “nothing about QAnon” but then added: “I do know that they are very much against pedofiles.
Despite its digital roots, this conspiracy based, populst, ultra -right-wing QAnon has extended its reach into the real world, with attendees at protests against anti-coronavirus measures and supportive of conspiracy theories spreading its talking points across Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Read more at: QAnon goes European – POLITICO
At first glance it’s not a natural fit. The U.S. conspiracy theory — now with millions of acolytes worldwide — alleges a vast deception to undermine U.S. President Donald Trump. It blends anti-government, anti-lockdown and anti-Semitic rhetoric with unfounded beliefs about a vast pedophile ring run by the global elite. Its followers adhere to a quasi-religious belief that a great savior — aided by “Q,” an anonymous government insider from whom QAnon gets its name — will protect followers from the dark forces behind the conspiracy.
In the U.S., discussion about QAnon has broken into the political mainstream. When Trump was asked to disavow the group at a recent town hall event, he first said he knew “nothing about QAnon” but then added: “I do know that they are very much against pedofiles.
Despite its digital roots, this conspiracy based, populst, ultra -right-wing QAnon has extended its reach into the real world, with attendees at protests against anti-coronavirus measures and supportive of conspiracy theories spreading its talking points across Europe, the U.S. and other parts of the world.
Read more at: QAnon goes European – POLITICO
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
EU-Britain Relations: How a ‘Global Britain’ Could Cope With the Brexit Consequences - by Ben Judah, Georgina Wright
Over the past four years, as the United Kingdom has wrestled with the consequences of its narrow vote to leave the European Union, there has been little to no broader foreign policy debate in the country. Instead, Britons seem to have become caught between three temperaments. There are the catastrophists, who argue the U.K. has become completely irrelevant on the international stage as a result of Brexit; the nostalgics, who see a powerful Britain through the lens of a great colonial power; and the denialists, who refuse to accept that Britain must adapt to a changing global context. All are characterized by a surfeit of emotion and deficit of strategy⎯and none have answers to the key questions their government must now answer.
Read more at: How a ‘Global Britain’ Could Cope With the Brexit Consequences
Read more at: How a ‘Global Britain’ Could Cope With the Brexit Consequences
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