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Europe
Slovakia
July 20, 2024 Slovakia and Hungary said this week they had stopped receiving oil from LUKoil after Ukraine imposed a ban last month on the transit of LUKoil resources via its territory. For Slovakia, that meant a loss in some supplies for its Slovnaft refinery, which is owned by Hungarian oil and gas group MOL. Slovakia will not be a 'hostage' to Ukraine-Russia relations, Prime Minister Robert Fico told his Ukrainian counterpart in a call today, after Kyiv placed Russia’s LUKoil on a sanctions list. Slovakia's government office said that Fico spoke by telephone with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal. (Source: rferl* / Reuters)
* Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty
European Commision
July 19, 2024 Why a von der Leyen’s second mandate is not a good news? Von der Leyen won a second mandate at the head of the European Commission. According to many observers and decision makers the political outcome is a good news for Europe, and under von der Leyen’s mandate ’unprecedented achievements’ have been registered. For the fist time ever, common debt has been issued in order to finance the post-pandemic recovery of the European economies. The RRF and the eurobond are one of the 'greatest' von der Leyen’s achievements. Furthermore, with a European Union called to face the health crisis posed by COVID-19 pandemic, the EU has started to build up a European Union for Health, something totally new and unexpected given the national competence on the matter. A huge amount of money is needed to translate into practice the European Green Deal, as well as raw material. The EU lacks of both element, resulting squeezed between the US rich in money and the PRC rich in natural resources. Going forward with the Green Deal, something promised by von der Leyen in order to be re-elected for her post, means to play a risky geopolitical game in time of geopolitical tensions. Under her leading role, the EU has been shifting from an inclusive mode to an uncompromising one, from a peace-building vision to an aggressive one. Migration policy made clear how the newly appointed president of the EU Commission is there to serve the Member States. At the same time, the 'wolf scandal'. When one of von der Leyen’s ponies was found dead by a wolf attack (so was it alleged and then confirmed), the same von der Leyen immediately tabled a proposal to reduce safeguard and protection requirements for wolves. She went on despite MEPs warned her about a decision taken without the necessary case studies. Looking at foreign affairs, the European Commission was more then quick in imposing sanctions against Iran because of his role in supporting Russia in the Russian-Ukrainian war, but the same didn’t happen in the Middle East crisis. Despite the Israeli violation of international law, no restrictive measures have been proposed by the Commission. The von der Leyen’s commission finished to adapt a double standard approach, in contradiction with the call of respecting law. Is that the idea of democracy we have in Europe? Are these the values von der Leyen talks about? EU leaders started to ask for military assistance and a new era for the European defense industry. Von der Leyen, once again, decided to re-write the European narrative: peace means defense. Orwell wrote once: 'War is peace'. She supported the nomination of Kallas for the role of the next High Representative for Foreign policy. We talk about the former prime minister of Estonia, who has constantly been stressing the need of inundating Ukraine of tanks, fighter jets, ammunition. In her plenary speech von der Leyen announced the creation of both 'a Commissioner whose responsibilities will include housing', and «a first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan». A good and smart move to get the socialists onboard. Here the EU commission can do little, since housing is a national competence, linked to other national competences. Labor market reform can recommended by the European Commission, but it’s up to the Member States to act there. So, there are social intentions from von der Leyen which can generate expectations difficult to fulfill, providing the anti-EU forces extra arguments to go against the European project. No, von der Leyen’s re-election is not a good news, at all. The agenda is actually the point - a more aggressive and less inclusive Union, led by a president of the European Commission in love with herself. Always a tweet, always a picture, always the need to put her face on anybody file or meeting. Welcome to the von der Leyen’s ego-system, enriched by new risky commitments. (Source: euelectionsitaly)
North America
United States
July 20, 20245:40 AM When the political satire Veep premiered on HBO in 2012, it was viewed by those outside of government as a show too absurd to be a true commentary on the vagaries of American political power. By the time the show ended in 2019, two and a half years after Trump had been sworn in as the president, Veep’s absurdism was starting to feel like a black mirror to reality. There are the vanity-obsessed lawmakers, the slobbering cronies, unethical lobbyists, and the now-predictable incompetence and selfishness that we recognize as holding us all hostage in a political system that feels far from representative. Central to all of that in Veep’s universe is Vice President Selina, an ineffectual, sharp-elbowed politician who’s routinely shunted to the side in President Hughes’ administration. In early seasons of the show, VP Meyer’s sole political power is in being trotted out for photo ops with “the people” while rarely getting invitations to official briefings. Most of the show’s jokes stem from her barely repressed fury at being ignored by her own party; she struggles so much to get any face time with the president that the audience never sees his face either. You’re probably already thinking about her real-life analogue: the veep herself, Kamala. It’s been a long time since the Democrats have had anyone who was ha-ha funny and not does-he-have-dementia funny. America spent years turning the vice president Harris into a joke. On social media, you can find countless side-by-side comparisons of Harris’ real statements and Meyer’s scripted ones; both share a penchant for long-winded, nonsensical speeches, folksy interactions with the public that come off as clueless, and klutzy answers to even the simplest questions. A favorite Harris-as-Meyer moment took place on Barrymore’s daytime talk show in April. Barrymore, taking the vice president’s hands delivers a plea: We all need a mom. We all need a tremendous hug in the world now, but in our country, we need you to be Momala of the country. A great protector. What … the hell is she talking about? Momala. Has any vice president been talked to so condescendingly, and with no real recourse available to her? Of course not: No one would ever ask Cheney to take over the reins as Papa America and bring us comfort during the Iraq War. Harris, meanwhile, has the distinct expression of someone who’s just been spit on in public but is forced to grin and bear it. This kind of bizarro-world moment is one of a hundred for Harris, who has spent much of her first term as vice president known less for her accomplishments than for being a living meme. There was Harris dancing with a marching band made up of children, Harris laughing maniacally with her whole body, Harris mimicking a senator’s voice while swearing him in, Harris talking about coconut trees. Since she joined Biden’s ticket in 2020, Harris has been sidelined by her party, defanged in quips made by pundits and in TikTok memes, and largely forgotten by voters in a fate befitting that of the first woman of color in her position. How funny, then, that Harris is now being bandied about as one of democracy’s last hopes as the presidential election draws nearer like the promise of death itself - the only person who might be able to save us is the very person we’ve been dutifully ignoring this whole time. Veep couldn’t have scripted it any better. A viable candidate in 2019, she had the right backstory: a biracial woman of color, a first-generation American raised by a scientist mother from India and an economist father from Jamaica, who came of age at Civil Rights protests at Berkeley in the 1960s. Once elected as vice president, Harris quickly receded from view, perhaps in an effort to downplay reports that Harris was mistreating staff members - how very Veep indeed! - or perhaps to mollify complaints coming from both ends of the political spectrum. Republicans hated her: She wanted to open the jails and make everyone gay! Progressives hated her, too: She built her career on holding up many of the very systems her more radical parents protested against in the ’60s. Between those anxieties and the rumors that, as a boss, she was cruel, or ineffectual, or disorganized, or egomaniacal, no wonder the White House chose to simply defang her instead. Shut out of any meaningful positions of power within the administration, Harris has been dispatched to do the kind of low-stakes posturing that Selina was always so pissed off about. In 2021, Biden appointed Harris to handle migration issues at the southern border, a job that already felt a little fake, but felt even more ludicrous once Republicans dubbed the gig “border czar.” Classic: A flimsy, impossible task handed to Harris, warped into a job title for the scary biracial woman here to ruin America with Soviet-style socialism. For the past few months, Harris has been spending much of her time engaged in the soft sciences of campaigning: Pride events where she’s wiggling around in a bedazzled denim jacket, reproductive rights events where she talks about what she and Biden will do after the election to bring back Roe v. Wade, outreach events with different ethnic groups in an attempt to bring Biden their (exhausted, indifferent) vote. We rarely heard from Harris when it comes to the economy, war, national debt, or climate change. Mostly, she’s been trotted out as token woman (when it comes to abortion or reproductive rights) or Black woman (Juneteenth) or Indian woman (Diwali only, steering clear of most discussion around India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party). Harris; in all her attempts to appear approachable and relatable, comes across like an OpenAI-generated image that’s too shiny and has too many extra fingers to be legitimate. No wonder we’re all laughing at her singing “The Wheels on the Bus” - she looks like she’s never heard a song before in her life. The internet can’t resist such a strange spectacle, of course, especially as this election is shaping up to be our most dystopian thus far. Harris’ funny repeated aphorisms, her signature cackle, her mom-at-a-wedding dancing - all make her social-media catnip. Lately, the memes have increased tenfold as everyone has collectively lost their minds, leaning into the absurdity of our political reality - coconut trees and all. We’re stuck between a septuagenarian convicted felon and an octogenarian who accidentally referred to himself as “the first black woman to serve with a black president.' So yes, the coconut tree memes are all we have. The grand twist of Harris being made into a joke is that her name is now being floated as our last true hope in this election cycle. ’Whether she’s capable or not, she might be our last best hope’. Memes do not necessarily a presidential successor make. The Biden administration wanted a more palatable, less visible Harris, one they could trot out at reproductive rights rallies, and not one that spooked people leery of biracial radicals or of hard-ass prosecutors. They got it: a version of Harris whose first-term record and public perception among left-leaning voters are more akin to that of a goofy auntie than of the second most powerful person in the country. Meanwhile, the right is still treating her like a radical who’s prone to destroying the economy and enforcing communism. Either too silly or too dangerous, Harris is caught between two poles of absurdity, just as she has been this entire time. Most of the support around her comes from a few media figures and weirdos on the internet intersplicing footage of her dancing to the tune of the new Charli XCX record. While big-time Democratic supporter Clooney is writing op-eds for the New York Times about possible replacements, he’s not even listing Harris first on his own list of possible candidates. There’s nothing more Veep than that. Biden is weaker than ever, even worse than after his disastrous debate performance against Trump. With Vance now formally on the GOP ticket, ’a brutalist, even more unflinchingly anti-woman’ Republican Party is fully formed and still very likely to take the presidency this fall. Trump, having survived an assassination attempt, is more popular than ever, armed now with a shield of martyrdom and a direct line to Reagan and Jesus comparisons. It would take a lot to beat this team. What we need is an adult. At a campaign stop in North Carolina earlier this week, she spoke fiercely about Project 2025, about the plan to restrict abortion rights across the country, about the Trumpian attempts to overturn the last election. She’s not fucking around. She’s not falling out of a coconut tree. Harris’ expression is the soft, simmering irritation of a woman who does not want to have to mother anyone. What she wants - what she has clearly always wanted - is to be trusted with the job. In the end, she might get the last laugh. (Source: slate)
July 20(, 2024) Former president Trump spoke by phone with President Zelensky, discussing an end to Ukraine's ongoing war with Russia. Trump said the two leaders had a "very good phone call" Friday. ’We agreed with President Trump to discuss at a personal meeting what steps can make peace fair and truly lasting,’ Zelensky said. 'I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families," Trump said following the call. "Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity." Zelensky recently met with newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and addressed the country's Cabinet, where he called for a reduction of weapon use restrictions on arms supplied by Western countries for use in Ukraine's war with Russia. (Source: upi* )
* United Press International
Globalization
20/07/2024 - 07:54 The new normal of information chaos after a major world event. Airlines, banks, TV channels and financial institutions were engulfed in turmoil after the crash, one of the biggest in recent years that was the result of a faulty software update to an antivirus program operating on Microsoft Windows. The global outage sent US stocks falling was linked to a bug in an update from American cybersecurity group CrowdStrike. From fearmongering about a looming 'World War III' to narratives linking a cabal of global elite to a cyberattack, a torrent of online conspiracy theories took off Friday after the major IT crash. The outage gave way to a swirl of evidence-free posts on X: The world was under attack by a nefarious force. The IT crash stirred up a theory that the World Economic Forum (WEF) had plotted a global cyberattack. The WEF has long been a target for conspiracy theorists pushing the idea of a shadowy cabal of elites working for private gain under the garb of solving global issues. To make that theory appear credible, many posts linked an old WEF video that warned about the possibility of a "cyberattack with Covid-like characteristics." The video, available on the WEF's website, had cautioned that the only way to stop the exponential spread of the cyber threat would be to disconnect millions of vulnerable devices from each other and the internet. Also gaining rapid traction online were conspiratorial posts using the hashtag "cyber polygon," a reference to a global training event aimed at preparing for potential future attacks. What is unique to events like these is how social media platforms, forums, and messaging apps facilitate the rapid dissemination of content, allowing theories to gain traction quickly and reach a global audience. The trend demonstrates the ability of falsehoods to mutate into viral narratives on tech platforms. During fast-developing news events, confusion now often reigns on major tech platforms, with users scrambling to obtain accurate information. (Source: france24 / AFP)
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