Thursday, August 22, 2019

Print Edition

Focus

EU’s Budget Commissioner opens consulting firm in Hamburg

European Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger will become an independent business and political consultant in Hamburg after the end of his term in office. Oettinger and his partner, the Hamburg event...
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BMW sponsorship of Finnish Council Presidency triggers EU probe

The European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is launching a probe on Finland’s BMW-sponsored six-month European Council Presidency. BMW will be providing 100 vehicles for EU delegations...

Italy’s opposition wants alternative government following Conte resignation

Italy’s main opposition party The leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, has called for the formation of a four-year alternative government in...
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EU opens anti-trust probe against Facebook’s Libra currency

The EU has opened an antitrust probe against Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency plan, with the European Commission actively investigating the company's potential anticompetitive behaviour amid...
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Pompeo threatens to sanction countries that allow Iranian tanker to drop anchor

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian oil tanker that left Gibraltar on...
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Danes angered over Trump cancellation following Greenland debacle

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen admitted on Tuesday that she was "annoyed" after US President Donald J. Trump abruptly announced that would cancel his...
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NEWSROOM

The danger of climate doomsayers

Most people on the planet wake up each day thinking that things are getting worse. It is little wonder, given what they routinely read in...
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Italy’s opposition wants alternative government following Conte resignation

Italy’s main opposition party The leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, has called for the formation of a four-year alternative government in...
Read more

EU opens anti-trust probe against Facebook’s Libra currency

The EU has opened an antitrust probe against Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency plan, with the European Commission actively investigating the company's potential anticompetitive behaviour amid...
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Pompeo threatens to sanction countries that allow Iranian tanker to drop anchor

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian oil tanker that left Gibraltar on...
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Danes angered over Trump cancellation following Greenland debacle

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen admitted on Tuesday that she was "annoyed" after US President Donald J. Trump abruptly announced that would cancel his...
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US Under Secretary Hale in Kazakhstan for C5+1 summit

Security in Central Asia was the main topic of discussion during the high-level C5+1 summit in Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, on Wednesday. The C5+1...
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Print Edition

Focus

The danger of climate doomsayers

Most people on the planet wake up each day thinking that things are getting worse. It is little wonder, given what they routinely read in...
Read more

Italy’s opposition wants alternative government following Conte resignation

Italy’s main opposition party The leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, has called for the formation of a four-year alternative government in...

EU Affairs

Italy’s opposition wants alternative government following Conte resignation

Italy’s main opposition party The leader of Italy's centre-left Democratic Party, Nicola Zingaretti, has called for the formation of a four-year alternative government in...
Read more

EU opens anti-trust probe against Facebook’s Libra currency

The EU has opened an antitrust probe against Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency plan, with the European Commission actively investigating the company's potential anticompetitive behaviour amid...
Read more

Pompeo threatens to sanction countries that allow Iranian tanker to drop anchor

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian oil tanker that left Gibraltar on...
Read more

Danes angered over Trump cancellation following Greenland debacle

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen admitted on Tuesday that she was "annoyed" after US President Donald J. Trump abruptly announced that would cancel his...
Read more

ISIS is reconstituting in Iraq and Syria

It has been than a year since US President Donald J. Trump took to Twitter to declare victory over the Islamic State, but new...
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Bundesbank echoes warnings of technical recession in Germany

The Bundesbank joined members of the government, think tanks and business analysts on Tuesday, warning of a plausible slump for Europe’s export-driven powerhouse. Recession is...
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Johnson takes bilateral track to sidestep the Irish backstop

Boris Johnson is meeting Angela Merkel on Wednesday in what appears to be more of a quest for assigning responsibility for the failure to...
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Leaders' Perspectives

Daron Acemoglu

Professor of Economics at MIT and co-author of Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty and The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty.

Big tech’s harvest of sorrow?

Digital technology has transformed how we communicate, commute, shop, learn, and entertain ourselves. Soon enough, technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, and the… Read More »

Nina L. Khrushcheva

Professor of International Affairs at The New School and a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute. She is the granddaughter of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

Women on top in the world’s democracies

US President Donald J. Trump’s recent declaration that four Democratic congresswomen of colour – Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib – should “go back”… Read More »

KASSANDRA

Competition

When an independent competition authority becomes politicised – The troubling example of Greece

In recent months, the Greek Competition Authority (HCC) has been in turmoil over the appointment of Vassiliki Thanou at the helm of the Agency,...
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In an EPPO stalemate, the alternative for Kovesi to tackle corruption from within the EU’s center of power

There is no question that momentum is coming back into favour for the Candidate for European Chief Prosecutor,  Laura Codruta Kovesi. Kovesi, who comes from...
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That’s Life!

Summertime. The livin' is easy and while watching the deep blue of the Aegean, took the opportunity to review some of my files that...
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The name is Ambassador. EU Ambassador.

It's very cool to have a great twitter handle. Typically, for the European Commission politicians, and civil servants you would expect to find something...
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Cyprus, the island sinking in waste

Cyprus, the island of Aphrodite, as myth has it, is often described as the crown jewel of the Mediterranean, with pristine waters and year-round...
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Garbage in paradise

Last week, Kassandra looked at the overall disquieting situation of inefficient waste management practices in South-eastern Europe. Among the worst offenders are the two...
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Wasting waste and wasting an opportunity

The optics of it certainly look extraordinary: Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, aged 16, sat down with the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in...
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EUROPEAN COMMISSION

EU opens anti-trust probe against Facebook’s Libra currency

The EU has opened an antitrust probe against Facebook's Libra cryptocurrency plan, with the European Commission actively investigating the company's potential anticompetitive behaviour amid...
Read more

What can be done to save Hong Kong?

It is becoming increasingly clear, as the Hong Kong protests continue, that the Chinese Communist Party will be forced to make a choice -...

Juncker forced to return from summer holiday for immediate medical procedure

Jean-Claude Juncker, the outgoing President of the European Commission, has had to cut his summer holiday in Austria short to undergo urgent surgery to...

British Airways faces record EU fine for major data-breach

The European Commission is ready to impose a £183.4 million fine on British Airways for its failure to protect the personal details of 500,000...

EIB finances 21 new wind farms in Spain

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €385 million in financing to wind energy company Alfanar to support its plans to construct 21 new...

EU’s Copernicus satellite maps to assist Turkey’s Civil Protection Services after 5.7 earthquake

Following a request by Turkey after the 5.7 magnitude earthquake, the European Commission is providing Turkey with Copernicus emergency satellite maps, according to the...

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

EP president urges Italian government to let all migrant ship passengers disembark

The President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, has urged the Italian government to allow the Open Arms migrant ship to dock on the...
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Bosnia’s authorities draw cautious praise from Brussels after agreeing to form Council of Ministers

Nearly 10 months after Bosnia and Herzegovina's last round of elections, the leaders of country's three main ethnoreligious groups finally reached an agreement to...

Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation and a threat to Europe

If Europe is serious about combating antisemitism, the Lebanon-based global terror group Hezbollah must be stopped in its tracks. As we marked on 18...

Ursula von der Leyen is the new president-elect of the European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen, Germany's current defence minister, has won the backing of enough Members of the European Parliament to be named the president-elect of...

EU could be in for a difficult summer if von der Leyen is not elected

Ahead of Tuesday’s crucial vote in Strasbourg, the EU may be left in the lurch as it will be caught in the mid-summer season...

Green deal emerges as a core policy for von der Leyen during latest hearing

Germany's defence minister, Ursula von der Leyen, the top candidate to become the next president of the European Commission promised on Tuesday a so-called "green deal”...

EUROPEAN COUNCIL

World Bank CEO Georgieva picked as Europe’s nominee to lead IMF

After tapping IMF chief Christine Lagarde to head the European Central Bank, the EU has put forward another powerful woman's name to take the...
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BMW sponsorship of Finnish Council Presidency triggers EU probe

The European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly is launching a probe on Finland’s BMW-sponsored six-month European Council Presidency. BMW will be providing 100 vehicles for EU delegations...

Finnish presidency sets August 26 as MFF deadline for budget priorities 

Informing the EU affairs ministers about plans for work on a multi-annual financial framework (MFF) for 2021-2027, the Finnish presidency has set a deadline...

Timmermans says EU Commission under von der Leyen will be tough on rule of law

European Commission First Vice-president Frans Timmermans said during a press conference following an EU affairs meeting in Brussels that he has no doubt that...

Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation and a threat to Europe

If Europe is serious about combating antisemitism, the Lebanon-based global terror group Hezbollah must be stopped in its tracks. As we marked on 18...

Mogherini says Brussels is not ready to trigger Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanism

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has declared that the remaining parties to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, widely known as the Iran...

EU National News

Pompeo threatens to sanction countries that allow Iranian tanker to drop anchor

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian oil tanker that left Gibraltar on...
Read more

Danes angered over Trump cancellation following Greenland debacle

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen admitted on Tuesday that she was "annoyed" after US President Donald J. Trump abruptly announced that would cancel his...
Read more

Bundesbank echoes warnings of technical recession in Germany

The Bundesbank joined members of the government, think tanks and business analysts on Tuesday, warning of a plausible slump for Europe’s export-driven powerhouse. Recession is...

Johnson takes bilateral track to sidestep the Irish backstop

Boris Johnson is meeting Angela Merkel on Wednesday in what appears to be more of a quest for assigning responsibility for the failure to...

Italian PM Conte resigns

After weeks of coalition turmoil between the increasingly popular Lega party and their governing partners, the 5-Star Movement, Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced...

Decisive day for the Italian political crisis

Italy’s prime minister Giuseppe Conte will address the Senate on Tuesday, for the first time since his government’s junior coalition partner withdrew its support. There...

Formerly detained Iranian tanker leaves Gibraltar for Greece

An Iranian tanker captured by Royal Marines and detained by Gibraltarian authorities since July 4 was released late Sunday and sailed for Greece on...

Swiss justice charges tax avoidance whistle-blower with industrial espionage

A whistle-blower responsible for uncovering one of the biggest cases of tax avoidance in Germany is now prosecuted by Swiss authorities for industrial espionage,...

UK to end freedom of movement for EU citizens on October 31st

Should the UK leave the EU without a deal on October 31, freedom of movement for EU citizens would seize effective immediately, the government...

What can be done to save Hong Kong?

It is becoming increasingly clear, as the Hong Kong protests continue, that the Chinese Communist Party will be forced to make a choice -...

World News

Pompeo threatens to sanction countries that allow Iranian tanker to drop anchor

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington will take every action it can to prevent an Iranian oil tanker that left Gibraltar on...
Read more

What can be done to save Hong Kong?

It is becoming increasingly clear, as the Hong Kong protests continue, that the Chinese Communist Party will be forced to make a choice -...
Read more

When Leninists overreach

Ongoing street protests in Hong Kong and Moscow have no doubt spooked the authoritarian duo of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir...

Ukraine’s new president must stop the cover-up of journalist’s murder

Three years after the murder of Belarusian-Ukrainian journalist Pavel Sheremet, time is up for Ukrainian law enforcers. It’s hard to imagine a more utter failure:...

Kazakhstan upgrades diplomatic missions in Europe

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev decided to transform the diplomatic missions in Belgrade, Bratislava, Lisbon, Riga and Sofia, Akorda reported. The consulate of...

Iran escalates tensions in the Persian Gulf after seizing UK tanker

In the latest escalation in the Persian Gulf region, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard reportedly captured a British-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz...

Geoana named next NATO Deputy Secretary-General

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has tapped Romania's ex-Foreign Minister Mircea Geoana to take over the next Deputy Secretary-General in mid-October. Geoana will replace Rose Gottemoeller, an American, who has...

Hezbollah is a terrorist organisation and a threat to Europe

If Europe is serious about combating antisemitism, the Lebanon-based global terror group Hezbollah must be stopped in its tracks. As we marked on 18...

Ukraine’s creative youth reappraise the country’s Soviet aesthetics

Whether by choice or necessity, Ukraine’s new generation of creative professionals are rebelling against former President Petro Poroshenko’s draconian ‘de-Communisation’ policies by calling for...

The sky didn’t fall in Ukraine

What so many Ukrainian voters were afraid of simply did not happen. After being sworn in as president, Volodymyr Zelensky did not attempt to...

THE ENLARGEMENT MONITOR

Mitsotakis government’s foreign policy inevitably points to Washington

In view of ongoing tension between Turkey, the EU and Washington, it was completely reasonable for the new Greek government of Prime Minister Kyriakos...
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The Name Dispute after the July 7 Greek elections

The June 2018 Prespes Agreement, which settled the so-called Name Dispute with newly-renamed North Macedonia, Greece’s northern neighbor, was an important but not the...
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Western Balkan nations strengthen cooperation at Poland summit

Government officials from the Western Balkans and high-level EU representatives met from the 4-5 July in the Polish city of Poznań to discuss and...
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As enlargement discussions freeze, aspirants twist in the wind

Discussions in Luxembourg regarding EU enlargement in the Western Balkans made little headway this past week, despite the threat from North Macedonian Prime Minister...
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Enlargement, going back to square one

North Macedonia and Albania are inexorably tied by the delay in their long course to join Europe, yet for different reasons. Albania has the perpetual...
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Zaev hints at early elections

Prime Minister Zoran Zaev of North Macedonia hinted on 5 June, and again the next day, that he would consider calling early elections if...
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Kosovo-Serbia relations again disrupted

Raids by Kosovo police on 28 May in a large anti-corruption operation triggered a serious deterioration of already-strained Kosovo-Serbia relations in the following days,...
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Internet & ICT

Don’t squander the techno-revolution

Public discussion of the effects of automation and artificial intelligence (AI) often focuses on the productivity benefits for companies and the economy, on the...
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India to be fourth state to land a spacecraft on the moon

India's space agency has launched a lunar mission to the moon’s unexplored south pole on Monday; that makes India the fourth nation to land...
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Brussels to further scrutinise China’s intelligence law on 5G

The European Union must take China's national intelligence law into account when deciding on the construction of 5G networks in Europe, said EU Commissioner...
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Washington to ease restrictions on Huawei’s US suppliers

The U.S. is ready to ease restriction on Huawei, allowing US suppliers to continue trading with the Chinese company, Reuters reported on Monday. Since May,...
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Sweden joins the British Jet-fighter program

Sweden will join the British sixth-generation jet-fighter programme Tempest, to be completed by 2035. The Tempest programme is developed by BAE Systems, that is, a...
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Labour market shortages take their toll on Central Eastern European economies

The labour market in Central Eastern Europe is continuing to tighten despite a worldwide economic slowdown, with unemployment below 4% in the Czech Republic,...
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The EU, US, and 5G

On 13 June, New Europe took part in a media roundtable on 5G and telecommunications security with Jonathan Fritz, Director for Bilateral and Regional...
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Energy

Formerly detained Iranian tanker leaves Gibraltar for Greece

An Iranian tanker captured by Royal Marines and detained by Gibraltarian authorities since July 4 was released late Sunday and sailed for Greece on...
Read more

Kashagan, Tengiz, Karachaganak top Kazakh oil production

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan - The volume of oil production in Kazakhstan during the last seven months amounted to 52.23 million tonnes, meaning it has implemented...
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US-Greece-Cyprus-Israel want oil, gas as much East Med peace

ATHENS - Meeting in Athens, the energy ministers of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel - Kostas Hatzidakis, Georgios Lakkotrypis, and Yuval Steinitz, as well as...
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EIB finances 21 new wind farms in Spain

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing €385 million in financing to wind energy company Alfanar to support its plans to construct 21 new...
Read more

ENI inks exploration contract in Caspian

Italian energy major ENI and Kazakhstan’s state oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) have signed a contract for the exploration and production of hydrocarbons...
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East Med Gas Forum wants worldwide upgrade

Energy ministers of the East Med Gas Forum (EMGF) met in Egypt on 25 July, agreeing to access the possible upgrade of the forum...
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Total, KMG, Kazakh Energy Ministry sign MoU

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan – France energy giant Total has signed a Memorandum of Understanding in the field of digitalization in the oil and gas industry...
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Faith and Religious Freedom

Civil society organisations urge Pakistan’s PM to end blasphemy laws

The Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) Roundtable Brussels-EU, a civil society initiative who gathers regularly to exchange ideas with the EU institutions to...
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Quebec ban on religious symbols causes international outcry

Two groups of Canadian activists have filed an appeal against a Quebec judge's decision to ban the wearing of religious symbols by public employees. The...
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Non-religious activists call for UK government to protect them from violence

As the world’s religious communities continue to fight for their rights, few, it seems, speak out for those who identify as being non-religious, which...
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Israel’s El Al hires first Druze flight attendant

Accounting for roughly 1.7% of Israel's overall population, the country's national flag carrier El Al hired its first flight attendant from the community in...
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Armenian minority scores rare win in Turkey’s top court over election of new patriarch

Turkey's Constitutional Court has ruled that a 2017 administrative decision that refused two initiatives to elect a new patriarch for the Armenian Orthodox Church was a...
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Europe attempts to step up its fight against antisemitism

European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová recently held the first meeting of the bloc's working group on antisemitism since Brussels formed a...
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South Sudan’s churches urge acceptance of sexual violence victims

A ray of hope for South Sudanese women and girls who have suffered brutal sexual violence during the country’s ongoing war received a much-needed...
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Supported by the  Faith and Freedom Summit Coalition

Columnist

Monnet Matters
By Editorial

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is one of the world’s main terror groups

For nearly 40 years, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has tormented Iranian society. Using their status as the so-called Army of the Guardians of...
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ICI Washington
By Alec Mally

Mitsotakis government’s foreign policy inevitably points to Washington

In view of ongoing tension between Turkey, the EU and Washington, it was completely reasonable for the new Greek government of Prime Minister Kyriakos...
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Energy Insider
By Kostis Geropoulos

US-Greece-Cyprus-Israel want oil, gas as much East Med peace

ATHENS - Meeting in Athens, the energy ministers of Greece, Cyprus, and Israel - Kostas Hatzidakis, Georgios Lakkotrypis, and Yuval Steinitz, as well as...
Read more
Eurasia Watch
By Nicholas Waller

Fire on Russian nuclear sub kills 14

A fire onboard a top secret nuclear powered Russian Navy submarine killed 14 sailors after an unexplained accident occurred in one of the submersible’s...
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NOVA COMPETITIVIDADE
By Francisco Jaime Quesado

The Europe of Vasconcelos

Diogo Vasconcelos, one of the most dynamic entrepreneurs and thinkers when it comes to social innovation, died 8 years ago. Vasconcelos was linked to...
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WELLNESS

BACK TO SCHOOL: TIPS FOR A SMOOTH TRANSITION FROM HOLIDAY MODE

The time is almost here for children to go back to school. Are you ready? Christine Cornet, Academy manager at Aspria Brussels Royal La...
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Sauna in Heat

HOW A SUMMER SAUNA CAN ACTUALLY COOL YOU DOWN Sauna in the middle of the summer? It may seem like a strange idea, but in...

The perfect water workout

So, you’re heading off on holiday and you’ve decided to take a break from full-on gym workouts, but you’d still like to keep in...

In partnership with  Aspria Bruxelles

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