Briefing

The darker side of the EU leaders’ nomination process

In the unkindest analysis, the leaders chose von der Leyen, a largely unknown quantity in Brussels who has been dogged by misspending and mismanagement allegations in Berlin, not because of…

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Global Tourism in Review – From 25 million in 1950 to 1.4 billion in 2018 – The growing role of tourism in the world’s economy (Part 1)

Tourism is on the rise. In 2018 there were a record 1.4bn international tourist arrivals, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNTWO), a rise of 6% over 2017. That doesn’t…

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From Spitzenkandidat to Splitting candidate… the intrigues and backroom politics

The Spitzenkandidat, or "lead candidate," created in 2014 seems all but dead. Under that system, pan-European political groups nominated lead candidates for the European Parliament election who were also their…

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Understanding Libya’s proxy war

In forty-hours of momentous fighting in Libya’s civil war the forces of the government in Tripoli re-took a strategic city and captured sophisticated anti-tank weapons from the eastern Libyan government…

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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.…

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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…

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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.…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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?…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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.…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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:…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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(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…

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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)…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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