Briefing

A Quick Look: The DMZ

The Demilitarised Zone (DMZ), where US President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday is considered the most heavily fortified strip of land in the world.…

Read More Here

Pregnant in Idlib, Syria means giving birth outdoors alone

This was not how Rabaa al-Shamaa imagined the birth of her fifth child. Out in an open field near the Syrian-Turkish border, the expectant mother lay on the grass, doubled…

Read More Here

The roots of Italy’s dysfunctional economy

Earlier this month, Italy’s national statistics agency estimated that 1.8m households were living in “absolute poverty”. These families accounted for about 5m people, or 8.4 per cent of the population.…

Read More Here

What we learnt after two nights, 20 candidates, four hours of the Democrats leadership debate

Two nights, 20 candidates, four hours and one unforgettable collision between former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Senator Kamala Harris. The New York Times presents a feature on…

Read More Here

Hungary’s lessons, applied in Poland… is it late for the EU’s championing of the Rule of Law?

Michael Meyer-Resende writes on the The Guardian that perhaps one day the spring of 2019 will be remembered as the moment when the European Union halted the destruction of democratic institutions in…

Read More Here

How politics of emotions gave way to politics of reason

"Since the 17th century Western societies have elevated reason above feeling as the basis for political action. Emphasising reason in this way presumed that it could be neatly separated from…

Read More Here

Is Putin’s popularity at home plummeting?

"Every year, Russian President Vladimir Putin stars in a big show, an hourslong televised question-and-answer marathon in which the president hears the people’s complaints, promises to tackle their problems and…

Read More Here

The right time for the EU to embrace English as its single official language – The Economist

For most of its life, the European Union had three main languages. German was its leading mother tongue. French was the preferred register of Brussels diplomacy. English was a widely…

Read More Here

What’s NATO’s future after US-Turkey rift?

Turkey currently has military personnel in Russia learning how to operate the new surface-to-air missile system it says will be delivered next month. In the United States, Turkish pilots are training on…

Read More Here

Chernobyl Memories : In Communist times, disasters just did not happen

When a unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in then-Soviet Ukraine exploded in the early hours of April 26, 1986, it sparked a fire that burned for nine days,…

Read More Here

The hot waters of the strained Strait of Hormuz – explainer

The recent attacks on two oil tankers on the Strait of Hormuz have sparked global conversation due to the passageway's strategic location, and its role as a vital gateway to…

Read More Here

Who’s who in the Tory’s leadership race

Boris Johnson: The former London mayor and foreign secretary adores the limelight and courts the media, tousling his blond hair to make it even more unruly and peppering his speeches…

Read More Here

Moldova’s new government formation challenged

Moldova has a new government after two rival groups agreed to form a coalition and oust the Democratic Party of influential businessman Vladimir Plahotniuc. The country held an election in February…

Read More Here

What happened in Sudan this week, needs to be noticed

This was the week that Darfur came to Khartoum. For the moment at least, Sudan’s dream of a peaceful revolution is over. In the early hours of Monday, troops belonging to…

Read More Here

Malta’s far-right festers in the wounds of society’s growing inequality – Matthew Vella (Malta Today)

Was the senseless murder of Lassana Cisse Souleymane – gunned down while walking back home in Hal Far – a criminal act long destined to take place in safe, safe, but racist, Malta?…

Read More Here

Neżżajtni minn bniedem – Jesmond Saliba

Neżżejatni minn bniedem, Imma inqdejt b’raħal twelidi, Biex tkun tista’ żżebblaħni, Biex tkun tista’ tobgħodni. ... Neżżajtni minn bniedem, Imma użajt lit-tim favorit tiegħi, Biex tkun tista’ toffendini, Biex tkun…

Read More Here

Lassana Cisse – This is what happens when… Herman Grech (Times Of Malta)

Malta has just witnessed what is being described as the first known racial murder. Many of us feared this motive the minute we heard about the drive-by shooting in Ħal…

Read More Here

Tal-Biża … l-indifferenza fejn waslitna – It-Torċa

Minkejja li ħafna għajtu għal ġustizzja dwar il-qtil ta’ Lassana, ittamajna li r-razziżmu ma jkunx involut f’dan il-qtil. Xtaqna li b’xi mod ma ngħixux f’pajjiż fejn xi ħadd ifettillu jispara…

Read More Here

The cold-blooded murder of Lassane Cisse Souleymane, a father of three, is indeed a sad day for Malta – Professor Carmen Sammut

This is a sad day for Malta and for those men and women in the Armed Forces who exercise their role with professionalism. This day is also a wake-up call.…

Read More Here

Analysis: Should the Eurovision Song Contest be politicised? (DW)

DW's Bernd Riegert writes: "Israel, has presented its hosting of Eurovision as evidence of what a tolerant and cosmopolitan democracy it is. There were calls by some activists for artists…

Read More Here

Analysis – Italy’s incurable economy (POLITICO)

Italy’s economy is sick and the governing coalition can’t agree on the cure — among themselves or with Brussels. The European Commission said last week that the government's flagship measures…

Read More Here

Analysis – Is the Middle East on the bring of a major showdown?

War clouds in the Middle East are thickening. A worrisome conjunction of circumstances is leading towards a possible showdown between the Axis of Resistance (Iran, Syria, Hezbollah and some Iraqi…

Read More Here

Analysis – Europe: The Road from Sibiu (FT)

At the end of a day of deliberations among EU leaders in the pittoresque Romanian town of Sibiu, Donald Tusk was clear about one thing: he wants the process of…

Read More Here

Why we must not let Europe break apart – The Guardian

The following is taken from an opinion piece by Timothy Garton Ash and was published on The Guardian: "Set against that historical measuring rod, our Europe has done pretty well:…

Read More Here

Corporate Dispatch Europe Explained – The Week Ahead

A quick glance at the main forthcoming events in the European Union including EU Council, Commission and Parliament meetings and other EU-related conferences and events. Events for the week of…

Read More Here

UK Local Elections – Is the Tory and Labour disastrous result linked to the Brexit delivery process failures?

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn have vowed to press ahead with seeking a cross-party solution to the Brexit deadlock at Westminster, after voters punished both major parties in local elections. The Conservatives…

Read More Here

Venezuela uprising – Update

Clashes between anti-government protesters and law enforcement officers erupted in Caracas on Tuesday after the Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, appeared alongside soldiers at a military base and called for…

Read More Here

For Sri Lanka’s children, the deepest scars may not be physical

Of the more than 250 people who died in suicide attacks Easter morning, officials believe that as many as 50 were children. Dozens more were badly wounded. A 7-year-old in…

Read More Here

Libya’s conflict is no good news for Malta, Europe or the world in general

Libya has witnessed eight years of chaos and disaster since the arrival of the Arab Spring and the assassination of its longest serving ruler Muammar Gaddafi on October 20, 2011,…

Read More Here

Ignorance destroying heritage, all the time.

In Malta ignorance destroys heritage all the time, building in archeological sites, lack of preservation of traditional streetscapes and village cores, vandalism and neglect are unfortunately all too common, making…

Read More Here

Analysis – Europe’s new ally is Japan

If he hadn't been speaking Japanese, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe could easily have been mistaken for an EU leader. Visiting Brussels on Thursday to meet Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and…

Read More Here

HMS Duncan joins two US aircraft carriers off Malta

After recently providing air defence and escort duties to a French carrier strike group, HMS Duncan has moved on to join 200,000 tonnes of naval might as she works simultaneously…

Read More Here

(Analysis) From James Bond to Mr. bean – The evolution of Britain through Brexit

Owen Jones, a Guardian columnist analysis the shift the UK underwent following the Brexit saga, comparing it to two British 'stereotypes' created through TV and cinema. We spend far too…

Read More Here

Is migration the reason for the reluctancy to be unequivocal for governments to say what the ‘real situation’ in Libya is?

Refugees and migrants in Tripoli's Qasr Bin Gashir detention center were shot and injured during a violent incident this week, the medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)…

Read More Here

Are concerns about Huawei justified?

Huawei is a Chinese business which has grown to become the world's largest telecommunications equipment vendor. Reports of its equipment being banned as nations seek to develop their 5G networks…

Read More Here

North Korea – Russia Summit’s message to Trump’s USA

North Korea may still be the hermit kingdom but its leader Kim Jong Un is becoming quite the traveller. Thursday's meeting in Vladivostok with Russian President Vladimir Putin is the…

Read More Here

Two US carrier strike groups in the Mediterranean sea for joint training

For the first time since 2016, the United States is deploying two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the USS John C. Stennis and the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Mediterranean. A typical…

Read More Here

Protect believers – The Guardian view on religious freedom

The massacre in churches in Sri Lanka forms part of a global pattern of religious persecution and hostility. To target Christian churches on their holiest day of the year is…

Read More Here

Entrapment – The Russian shadow over banking’s Nordic noir and money-laundering scandals – FT

When Nordic banks started to flood into the Baltic countries at the turn of the century, it seemed a golden opportunity to establish a lucrative new business in a hyper-competitive…

Read More Here

Analysis – How did Libya get here, again?

Libya's institutions, divisions and power structures are incredibly nuanced, but here is a broad view of the situation. After the Arab Spring uprisings and the subsequent fall of Muammar Gaddafi…

Read More Here

D|E Recommends – A cross-party approach to Brexit is now required – Financial Times

The rejection of UK prime minister Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement for a third time proves beyond doubt that an entirely new approach to Brexit is required. The story of…

Read More Here

PHOTOSTORY: First F-35A stealth fighter jets arrive in South Korea

A F-35A stealth fighter jet arrives at an air base in Cheongju, South Korea, on the 29 March 2019. It is one of a pair of the jets that South…

Read More Here

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – A Young Leader in Spotlight Again, but It’s Different – NYT

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been the sunny face of New Zealand, celebrated as the nation’s youngest leader in 150 years, the one who gave birth in office and brought…

Read More Here

Diplomatique.Expert recommends – “To prevent another Christchurch we must confront the right’s hate preachers” – The Guardian

There are coping strategies for dealing with terrorism and the feeling it is meant to induce, namely terror. One is to tell yourself, it won’t happen to me. Following the massacre…

Read More Here