Unless the Catalan and Spanish governments immediately open a dialogue about the constitutional future of Catalonia, the violent scenes in the region may only be a precursor of things to come. But for this dialogue to take place, the EU must be involved.

With the instant, worldwide circulation of images of brutal police repression of defenceless, peaceful voters, the Catalan government won the battle for public sympathy. However, it is in fact isolated in its struggle.

Madrid has maintained its hard line, refusing to recognise the vote or its result. This strategy has been bolstered by King Felipe&rsquo;s intervention. Rather than appealing for national unity, he offered a one-sided condemnation of the conflict. The government is also supported by most other Spanish parties, as well as the editorial line of the main Spanish dailies such as El Pais and El Mundo. Catalonia&rsquo;s potential allies in other historic regions such as the Basque country have remained remarkably silent.

Beyond Spain, European leaders have either taken a neutral stance, relegating the conflict to an internal matter for Spain to resolve or have offered support to the Spanish government&rsquo;s defence of the rule of law.

Risky strategies

The Catalan government&rsquo;s current trajectory is fraught with risk. It hasn&rsquo;t, for one thing, acknowledged the real divisions that exist within Catalonia about the desirability of independence.

And its extreme position is only being met by more immovability from Madrid. The courts have already promised to suspend the parliamentary session in which the Catalan government could declare independence. The central government could go further. It could use its constitutional powers to impose direct rule. If police intervention were met with protest, it could lead to further clashes, replete with truncheons, rubber bullets, and bloodshed.

But this strategy is equally risky. It does nothing to address the growing sources of grievances in Catalonia. It only adds to the cycle of conflict. Nor is it clear that it could actually work. The 10,000 members of the Guardia Civil deployed across Catalonia could not prevent over 2m voters from casting their ballots. It is doubtful that the Spanish central government could credibly prevent Catalonia from declaring independence without taking brutally repressive measures. But this would have serious economic and political ramifications for the EU.

Already, two large Spanish banks &ndash; Sabadell and CaixaBank &ndash; are switching their main offices so as not to be based in Catalonia. With capital flying out of its largest economic region, the Spanish stock exchange took a tumble. This has the potential to seriously affect the value of the euro. The messy economics of a divorce could trigger a return to the volatility that the eurozone experienced in 2011-12.

The EU has remained shamefully powerless in the face of the illiberal measures deployed by right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary, towards their media and judiciary. Its reputation would be further tarnished if one of its more established members could curtail the rights of its national minorities.

For these reasons, the EU has the duty to facilitate a dialogue between the Catalan and Spanish governments and to bring them back from the brink.

The EU&rsquo;s reluctance to engage stems from the fact that these are uncharted waters. The violent territorial conflicts that have beset other countries such as Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina were mediated, to varying degrees of success, by national governments, the United Nations and third parties like the United States. The EU has few procedures for bringing parties in a territorial conflict to the negotiation table. Creativity will be needed.

What the EU could do

The first action is for the European Parliament to pass a resolution, endorsed by the Council of Ministers, condemning the situation. This should assign responsibility to both parties and recall the cardinal values of the rule of law, democracy and minority rights in the European constitutional order. This resolution should receive a full endorsement from Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, as well as the heads of governments, such as Germany&rsquo;s Angela Merkel and France&rsquo;s Emmanuel Macron.

Then the EU must offer to act as an impartial mediator in the dialogue. Given the heightened tensions and mutual recriminations, this dialogue cannot be left unmediated. The Catalan government will not accept that the Spanish government takes on the role of both an interlocutor and an arbiter.

The EU needs to offer a way out of the conflict. The basic condition for dialogue is a formal renunciation of the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan government, in exchange for the right to hold a new legally-sanctioned referendum on independence. In case of a NO vote, the Catalan government should then open negotiation for a revision of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, that offers symbolic recognition of Catalonia&rsquo;s nationhood and a better fiscal pact.

This deal needs to be accompanied by the promise that the EU will not recognise Catalan independence if is illegal and that the Spanish government will be suspended from the Council of Ministers if it violates civil rights in Catalonia.

Europe is not short of diplomatic talent that could be called upon to help foster dialogue: Ireland&rsquo;s former president Mary Robinson, Carld Bildt, who negotiated Sweden&rsquo;s EU accession, and Paddy Ashdown, who served as the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, are well-seasoned politicians who could play a constructive role in diffusing the crisis.

Failing to act

Inaction would have devastating repercussions for Catalonia, Spain and the EU.

To force a reluctant central government to the negotiation table, Catalan people could deploy their most successful strategy so far: mass protests, general strikes, and widespread civil disobedience that would bring the regional and national economy to a standstill and generate further political turmoil.

Or, realising that negotiation is not a forthcoming strategy, it could choose to declare independence unilaterally, with all the consequences that this could reap.

Both scenarios would result from the failure to act.

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com" rel="nofollow" target="blank">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/crisis-in-catalonia-what-the-eu-must-do-now-85377" rel="nofollow" target="blank">original article</a>.

The European Union should intervene to resolve standoff on Catalonia issue

Unless the Catalan and Spanish governments immediately open a dialogue about the constitutional future of Catalonia, the violent scenes in the region may only be a precursor of things to come. But for this dialogue to take place, the EU must be involved. With the instant, worldwide circulation of images of brutal police repression of defenceless, peaceful voters, the Catalan government won the battle for public sympathy. However, it is in fact isolated in its struggle. Madrid has maintained its hard line, refusing to recognise the vote or its result. This strategy has been bolstered by King Felipe’s intervention. Rather than appealing for national unity, he offered a one-sided condemnation of the conflict. The government is also supported by most other Spanish parties, as well as the editorial line of the main Spanish dailies such as El Pais and El Mundo. Catalonia’s potential allies in other historic regions such as the Basque country have remained remarkably silent. Beyond Spain, European leaders have either taken a neutral stance, relegating the conflict to an internal matter for Spain to resolve or have offered support to the Spanish government’s defence of the rule of law. Risky strategies The Catalan government’s current trajectory is fraught with risk. It hasn’t, for one thing, acknowledged the real divisions that exist within Catalonia about the desirability of independence. And its extreme position is only being met by more immovability from Madrid. The courts have already promised to suspend the parliamentary session in which the Catalan government could declare independence. The central government could go further. It could use its constitutional powers to impose direct rule. If police intervention were met with protest, it could lead to further clashes, replete with truncheons, rubber bullets, and bloodshed. But this strategy is equally risky. It does nothing to address the growing sources of grievances in Catalonia. It only adds to the cycle of conflict. Nor is it clear that it could actually work. The 10,000 members of the Guardia Civil deployed across Catalonia could not prevent over 2m voters from casting their ballots. It is doubtful that the Spanish central government could credibly prevent Catalonia from declaring independence without taking brutally repressive measures. But this would have serious economic and political ramifications for the EU. Already, two large Spanish banks – Sabadell and CaixaBank – are switching their main offices so as not to be based in Catalonia. With capital flying out of its largest economic region, the Spanish stock exchange took a tumble. This has the potential to seriously affect the value of the euro. The messy economics of a divorce could trigger a return to the volatility that the eurozone experienced in 2011-12. The EU has remained shamefully powerless in the face of the illiberal measures deployed by right-wing governments in Poland and Hungary, towards their media and judiciary. Its reputation would be further tarnished if one of its more established members could curtail the rights of its national minorities. For these reasons, the EU has the duty to facilitate a dialogue between the Catalan and Spanish governments and to bring them back from the brink. The EU’s reluctance to engage stems from the fact that these are uncharted waters. The violent territorial conflicts that have beset other countries such as Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Bosnia-Herzegovina were mediated, to varying degrees of success, by national governments, the United Nations and third parties like the United States. The EU has few procedures for bringing parties in a territorial conflict to the negotiation table. Creativity will be needed. What the EU could do The first action is for the European Parliament to pass a resolution, endorsed by the Council of Ministers, condemning the situation. This should assign responsibility to both parties and recall the cardinal values of the rule of law, democracy and minority rights in the European constitutional order. This resolution should receive a full endorsement from Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, as well as the heads of governments, such as Germany’s Angela Merkel and France’s Emmanuel Macron. Then the EU must offer to act as an impartial mediator in the dialogue. Given the heightened tensions and mutual recriminations, this dialogue cannot be left unmediated. The Catalan government will not accept that the Spanish government takes on the role of both an interlocutor and an arbiter. The EU needs to offer a way out of the conflict. The basic condition for dialogue is a formal renunciation of the unilateral declaration of independence by the Catalan government, in exchange for the right to hold a new legally-sanctioned referendum on independence. In case of a NO vote, the Catalan government should then open negotiation for a revision of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, that offers symbolic recognition of Catalonia’s nationhood and a better fiscal pact. This deal needs to be accompanied by the promise that the EU will not recognise Catalan independence if is illegal and that the Spanish government will be suspended from the Council of Ministers if it violates civil rights in Catalonia. Europe is not short of diplomatic talent that could be called upon to help foster dialogue: Ireland’s former president Mary Robinson, Carld Bildt, who negotiated Sweden’s EU accession, and Paddy Ashdown, who served as the high representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, are well-seasoned politicians who could play a constructive role in diffusing the crisis. Failing to act Inaction would have devastating repercussions for Catalonia, Spain and the EU. To force a reluctant central government to the negotiation table, Catalan people could deploy their most successful strategy so far: mass protests, general strikes, and widespread civil disobedience that would bring the regional and national economy to a standstill and generate further political turmoil. Or, realising that negotiation is not a forthcoming strategy, it could choose to declare independence unilaterally, with all the consequences that this could reap. Both scenarios would result from the failure to act. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Crisis in Catalonia: what the EU must do now

Companies need to make sure that employees are aware in advance of management monitoring of their work email accounts, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday in a landmark privacy case.

In a judgment in the case of a man fired 10 years ago for using a work messaging account to communicate with his family, the judges found that Romanian courts failed to protect Bogdan Barbulescu&#39;s private correspondence because his company had not given prior notice that it was monitoring his communications.

The company had presented him with printouts of his private messages to his brother and fianc&eacute;e on Yahoo Messenger as evidence of his breach of a company ban on such personal use.

The European court in Strasbourg ruled by an 11-6 majority that Romanian judges, in backing the employer, had failed to protect Barbulescu&#39;s right to private life and correspondence.

Romanian courts failed to protect Bogdan Barbulescu's private correspondence because his company had not given prior notice that it was monitoring his communications.

Companies need to make sure that employees are aware in advance of management monitoring of their work email accounts, the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday in a landmark privacy case. In a judgment in the case of a man fired 10 years ago for using a work messaging account to communicate with his family, the judges found that Romanian courts failed to protect Bogdan Barbulescu's private correspondence because his company had not given prior notice that it was monitoring his communications. The company had presented him with printouts of his private messages to his brother and fiancée on Yahoo Messenger as evidence of his breach of a company ban on such personal use. The European court in Strasbourg ruled by an 11-6 majority that Romanian judges, in backing the employer, had failed to protect Barbulescu's right to private life and correspondence.

European court rules firms must tell employees of email checks

By&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cesar-renduels-menendez-de-llano-365327">C&eacute;sar Renduels Menendez de Llano</a>&nbsp;and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/donatella-della-porta-366380">Donatella Della Porta</a>

&nbsp;

In 1980, the novelist Martin Amis attended a meeting in Texas with Ronald Reagan, then in the midst of the campaign that would put him in the White House. Reagan liked to end his electoral activities with some audience Q+A. The more personal the question, <a href="https://archive.org/stream/HeliganSecretsOfTheLostGardens/AmisMartin-TheMoronicInfernoAndOtherVisitsToAmerica_djvu.txt">Amis explained</a>, the more Reagan enjoyed answering.

Question: &ldquo;Of all the people in America, sir, why you for President?&rdquo;

Reagan grins.

Answer: &ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m not smart enough to tell a lie.&rdquo;

Laughter, applause.

Amis relays the exchange:

<blockquote>
&lsquo;But why do you want it, sir?&rsquo; Reagan flexes his worn, snipped, tucked, mottled face. &lsquo;This country needs a good Republican and I feel I can do the job. Why? I&rsquo;m happy. I&rsquo;m feeling good.&rsquo; Here he turns. &lsquo;And I have Nancy to tuck me up at night.&rsquo;
</blockquote>

Laughter, applause, hats in the air.

Anger, discontent and resentment

Imagine this anecdote today. Were Donald Trump had asked the same question in 2016, it seems like he may have responded: &ldquo;Because I&rsquo;m unhappy. I&rsquo;m feeling bad. And my relationship with my wife is catastrophic.&rdquo;

And surely his Republican audience would also have clapped, identifying now not with Reagan&rsquo;s optimism but with Trump&rsquo;s self-portrait of anger, discontent and resentment.

Ronald Reagan, that carefree actor-president, may have been the last US leader to channel Americans&rsquo; good feelings about the free market. As Robert Putnam outlines in his famous <a href="http://bowlingalone.com">investigation</a>, Bowling Alone, civil society and social bonds in the US strengthened from the early 20th century until the 1970s, when the era of neoliberal reforms began.

At that point, things quickly began to unravel. Historically speaking, the growth of mercantilism, en economic nationalism that seeks to enrich the state through trade and wealth accumulation, has always deteriorated social bonds, though that&rsquo;s not necessarily a bad thing. The market also <a href="http://www.rochelleterman.com/ComparativeExam/sites/default/files/Bibliography%20and%20Summaries/Comparative%20Politics_0.pdf">weakens relationships that are clientelistic</a>, toxic or patriarchal.

Problems arise when mercantilism becomes an expansive, generalised social dynamic, which is precisely what globalisation unleashed starting in the 1970s. After global economic crisis exposed the limits of the Fordist assembly line-style mass production model, the world veered sharply back toward the liberal, unregulated <a href="http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/series/manchester-capitalism/">Manchester capitalism</a> that had predominated before the second world war.

The rest of the story, which is the subject of our new book <a href="http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1509522352,subjectCd-SO20.html">The Great Regression</a>, you know well.

&lsquo;A catastrophic level of social corrosion&rsquo;

We often make the mistake of thinking that globalisation is a radical new phenomenon, both postmodern and futuristic.

In fact, in his 1944 book <a href="http://inctpped.ie.ufrj.br/spiderweb/pdf_4/Great_Transformation.pdf">The Great Transformation</a>, historian Karl Polanyi was already explaining the political and social crises of the inter-war period as a reaction to the failures of the free market.

<figure class="align-right "><img alt="" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/169363/width237/file-20170515-7024-fllol3.jpg" />
<figcaption>
<a class="source" href="https://www.amazon.com/Great-Regression-Heinrich-Geiselberger/dp/1509522360">Amazon</a>

&nbsp;
</figcaption>
</figure>

From his perspective, the whole utopian idea of a self-regulating market was nihilistic and self-destructive, materially incompatible with the variety of human social life of humans.

For the pragmatist Polanyi, the &ldquo;free market&rdquo; never existed and could never exist. To begin with, mercantilism as a financial system has always required aggressive state intervention, both to ease the pains of its flaws and to break people&rsquo;s natural resistance to being dragged along by the coattails of their economy.

Practically every government in the world has undertaken this process since the 1980s. In <a href="https://www.uow.edu.au/%7Esharonb/jape.html">privatising public services</a>, for example, they have created enormous business opportunities for local elites (<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/06/business/the-big-push-toward-privatization-in-argentina.html?pagewanted1">Argentina</a> being a prime example), stimulated rampant real estate speculation (just look at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/feb/06/made-london-property-speculation-industry-capital">the UK</a>) and used public resources to rescue the banking system from its own mistakes (remember <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/spain-banks-timeline-idUSL5E8H88YV20120608">Spain</a>?).

When mercantilistm reaches the catastrophic point at which it begins to corrupt all society, Polanyi says, then collective counter-movements emerge. These efforts to reestablish communal living can have radically different political orientations.

The 20th century had the fascists, waging what Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci dubbed &ldquo;<a href="https://quadernidelcarcere.wordpress.com/tag/teoria-della-rivoluzione-passiva/">passive revolutions</a>&rdquo; that aspired to alter the economic and social machinery to preserve elite privileges. It also saw Roosevelt&rsquo;s New Deal, Europe&rsquo;s 1940s democratic socialist movements and <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/attlee_clement.shtml">Clement Attlee&rsquo;s reformist Labour government</a> in the UK (1945-1951).

All these were anti-mercantlist projects inspired by democratisation, learning and egalitarianism.

Anti-neoliberal counter reactions

This history is a reminder that there is an old pattern to these shaky modern times.

In the 21st century, counter reactions to globalisation have also been taking radically different forms. Early in the century, <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13260219.2013.853353">Latin America&rsquo;s leftist governments</a> challenged the neoliberal order, rejecting the Washington Consensus and building regional solidarity.

Then, there were the <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-years-on-the-spirit-of-tahrir-square-has-been-all-but-crushed-53461">Arab Spring</a> uprisings of 2010 to 2013, which sought to deepen democracy in a region long dominated by dictators.

The former was crushed and the latter has <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-a-chilean-outsider-revive-latin-americas-ailing-left-71213">largely waned</a>. But the innovative ideas developed in the <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1644759/Understanding_European_movements_new_social_movements_global_justice_struggles_anti-austerity_protest">anti-austerity protests</a> of Iceland Greece, Spain and Portugal following the start of the European debt crisis in 2009 are still very much alive.

What has everyone talking are developments on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum: Brexit, Trump, the extreme right, Islamic fundamentalism &ndash; <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-brexit-to-colombias-no-vote-are-constitutional-democracies-in-crisis-66668">neoliberal backlashes</a> offering new solutions for global elites hoping to preserve their privileges in a turbulent international economy.

It is early yet for an in-depth analysis of the current regressive phenomenon. But we can at least start asking the right questions.

First, did economic discontent really fuel the rise of the modern right, as many claim? <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2016/jun/24/the-areas-and-demographics-where-the-brexit-vote-was-won">Data from the UK</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/white-voters-victory-donald-trump-exit-polls">the US</a> indicate exactly the opposite. Not only &ndash; not even mainly &ndash; blue collar workers supported Brexit and Donald Trump; <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-trump-voters-social-sciencing-the-s-t-out-of-yard-signs-66099">the rich and the educated did</a> too.

But it is misleading to blame the resentment of the declining middle class for the state of Western politics today.

Money played a crucial role in right-wing victories in the US. Big business and <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/opinion/29rich.html">well-funded think tanks</a>, including the <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brendan-demelle/study-confirms-tea-party-_b_2663125.html">tobacco lobby and the billionaire Koch brothers</a>, have funded the US Tea Party for years, and starting in 2015, they richly backed Trump.

To mobilise the traditional conservative base of the Republican Party, <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-trump-and-sanders-rewriting-the-rules-on-money-in-politics-56891">cash was injected</a> into media blitzes that spread simple messages, often lies, appealing to American fear.

Money is not the whole story, but it is an important part of it and it has historic resonance. During Europe&rsquo;s fascist and Nazi movements, regressive counter movements feigned solidarity with the 99% while clearly enjoying the support of the 1%. The market&rsquo;s positive response to Trump&rsquo;s victory may be a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-can-learn-from-markets-reaction-to-a-president-trump-68116">clear indication that this is happening again</a>.

So far, the new regressive movements are adopting very different forms to their left-wing recent predecessors in Latin America and Europe. They diverge not only ideologically &ndash; with cosmopolitanism on the one side and xenophobia on the other &ndash; but also in their organisational models.

On the right, politics today is characterised by <a href="https://theconversation.com/trumps-inauguration-ushers-in-2017-the-year-of-the-strongman-70846">strong, personalised leadership</a>: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump being prime examples.

Recent progressive anti-neoliberal movements, on the other hand, have been mostly been <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-hate-neoliberalism-but-love-each-other-a-latin-american-grassroots-guide-68899">defined by citizen participation</a>.

There&rsquo;s no evidence (yet) that regressive movements are necessarily more successful than their progressive counterparts. Rather, in times of economic crisis, left-wing advances such as workers&rsquo; rights have been met with a powerful, well-funded resistance.

The near-constant protest of Trump, Erdogan or Orban confirm progressive counter-reactions <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-victory-comes-with-a-silver-lining-for-the-worlds-progressives-68523">are very much alive</a> indeed. But they seem unlikely to put regressive movements out of business any time soon.

<figure><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rmdiUoL-ZMk?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" width="440"></iframe></figure>

&nbsp;

One step forward, two steps back

The mainstream progressive response to this reactionary challenge has been, primarily, nostalgia for Keynesian economics: increase public spending to stimulate the economy, boost demand and create employment, redistribute wealth to grow the economy, among other things.

That&rsquo;s a bad alternative. Keynes is dead and he&rsquo;s not coming back. Everything about his era &ndash; from the post-second world war international relations system of Bretton Woods and the Soviet threat to the fast clip of <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/bookreviews/6251312/Keynes-the-Return-of-the-Master-by-Robert-Skidelsky-review.html">economic expansion</a> back then &ndash; is unthinkable today.

Only in a few places has the popular response to the failure of the self-regulating free-market been to push for greater freedom and deeper democracy, rather than to retrench or reminisce.

In addition to a timid normalisation of such activism around basic rights such as housing, a universal basic income, cooperativism and feminism, we have <a href="https://theconversation.com/austerity-portugal-is-on-a-different-path-to-greece-and-spain-heres-why-48121">Portugal&rsquo;s left-wing ruling coalition</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-podemos-the-party-revolutionising-spanish-politics-33802">Podemos</a> in Spain and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/syriza-sweeps-to-victory-in-greek-election-promising-an-end-to-humiliation-36680">Syriza government in Greece</a>.

Today, it is evident that Greece is not the European Union&rsquo;s burden to bear but rather part of its salvation. Syriza has proposed an alternative to European financial metastasis by <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/06/03/greece-eurozone/">reclaiming fiscal sovereignty</a>, battening down the markets, focusing on democratisation, and seeking continent-wide social solidarity.

It&rsquo;s noteworthy that virtually <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-hate-neoliberalism-but-love-each-other-a-latin-american-grassroots-guide-68899">all rights-based anti-neoliberalism</a> has come from peripheral or semi-peripheral nations: first Latin America a decade ago, and now southern Europe. All of them have faced fierce opposition from the rich West.

It may be time to start <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-hate-neoliberalism-but-love-each-other-a-latin-american-grassroots-guide-68899">thinking about the Global South not as a problem but as a solution</a> to the great regression.

*Llano is with the&nbsp;<a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/universidad-complutense-de-madrid-2383">Universidad Complutense de Madrid</a>

**&nbsp;<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/donatella-della-porta-366380">Porta</a>&nbsp;is with the&nbsp;<a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/institute-of-human-and-social-sciences-scuola-normale-superiore-florence-3060">Institute of Human and Social sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence</a>

The Great Regression, available in 13 languages, can be <a href="http://www.thegreatregression.eu/">found online</a>.

&nbsp;

This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-road-to-the-great-regression-76293">original article</a>.

On the right, politics today is characterised by strong, personalised leadership: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump being prime examples.

By César Renduels Menendez de Llano and Donatella Della Porta In 1980, the novelist Martin Amis attended a meeting in Texas with Ronald Reagan, then in the midst of the campaign that would put him in the White House. Reagan liked to end his electoral activities with some audience Q+A. The more personal the question, Amis explained, the more Reagan enjoyed answering. Question: “Of all the people in America, sir, why you for President?” Reagan grins. Answer: “Well, I’m not smart enough to tell a lie.” Laughter, applause. Amis relays the exchange: ‘But why do you want it, sir?’ Reagan flexes his worn, snipped, tucked, mottled face. ‘This country needs a good Republican and I feel I can do the job. Why? I’m happy. I’m feeling good.’ Here he turns. ‘And I have Nancy to tuck me up at night.’ Laughter, applause, hats in the air. Anger, discontent and resentment Imagine this anecdote today. Were Donald Trump had asked the same question in 2016, it seems like he may have responded: “Because I’m unhappy. I’m feeling bad. And my relationship with my wife is catastrophic.” And surely his Republican audience would also have clapped, identifying now not with Reagan’s optimism but with Trump’s self-portrait of anger, discontent and resentment. Ronald Reagan, that carefree actor-president, may have been the last US leader to channel Americans’ good feelings about the free market. As Robert Putnam outlines in his famous investigation, Bowling Alone, civil society and social bonds in the US strengthened from the early 20th century until the 1970s, when the era of neoliberal reforms began. At that point, things quickly began to unravel. Historically speaking, the growth of mercantilism, en economic nationalism that seeks to enrich the state through trade and wealth accumulation, has always deteriorated social bonds, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The market also weakens relationships that are clientelistic, toxic or patriarchal. Problems arise when mercantilism becomes an expansive, generalised social dynamic, which is precisely what globalisation unleashed starting in the 1970s. After global economic crisis exposed the limits of the Fordist assembly line-style mass production model, the world veered sharply back toward the liberal, unregulated Manchester capitalism that had predominated before the second world war. The rest of the story, which is the subject of our new book The Great Regression, you know well. ‘A catastrophic level of social corrosion’ We often make the mistake of thinking that globalisation is a radical new phenomenon, both postmodern and futuristic. In fact, in his 1944 book The Great Transformation, historian Karl Polanyi was already explaining the political and social crises of the inter-war period as a reaction to the failures of the free market. Amazon From his perspective, the whole utopian idea of a self-regulating market was nihilistic and self-destructive, materially incompatible with the variety of human social life of humans. For the pragmatist Polanyi, the “free market” never existed and could never exist. To begin with, mercantilism as a financial system has always required aggressive state intervention, both to ease the pains of its flaws and to break people’s natural resistance to being dragged along by the coattails of their economy. Practically every government in the world has undertaken this process since the 1980s. In privatising public services, for example, they have created enormous business opportunities for local elites (Argentina being a prime example), stimulated rampant real estate speculation (just look at the UK) and used public resources to rescue the banking system from its own mistakes (remember Spain?). When mercantilistm reaches the catastrophic point at which it begins to corrupt all society, Polanyi says, then collective counter-movements emerge. These efforts to reestablish communal living can have radically different political orientations. The 20th century had the fascists, waging what Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci dubbed “passive revolutions” that aspired to alter the economic and social machinery to preserve elite privileges. It also saw Roosevelt’s New Deal, Europe’s 1940s democratic socialist movements and Clement Attlee’s reformist Labour government in the UK (1945-1951). All these were anti-mercantlist projects inspired by democratisation, learning and egalitarianism. Anti-neoliberal counter reactions This history is a reminder that there is an old pattern to these shaky modern times. In the 21st century, counter reactions to globalisation have also been taking radically different forms. Early in the century, Latin America’s leftist governments challenged the neoliberal order, rejecting the Washington Consensus and building regional solidarity. Then, there were the Arab Spring uprisings of 2010 to 2013, which sought to deepen democracy in a region long dominated by dictators. The former was crushed and the latter has largely waned. But the innovative ideas developed in the anti-austerity protests of Iceland Greece, Spain and Portugal following the start of the European debt crisis in 2009 are still very much alive. What has everyone talking are developments on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum: Brexit, Trump, the extreme right, Islamic fundamentalism – neoliberal backlashes offering new solutions for global elites hoping to preserve their privileges in a turbulent international economy. It is early yet for an in-depth analysis of the current regressive phenomenon. But we can at least start asking the right questions. First, did economic discontent really fuel the rise of the modern right, as many claim? Data from the UK and the US indicate exactly the opposite. Not only – not even mainly – blue collar workers supported Brexit and Donald Trump; the rich and the educated did too. But it is misleading to blame the resentment of the declining middle class for the state of Western politics today. Money played a crucial role in right-wing victories in the US. Big business and well-funded think tanks, including the tobacco lobby and the billionaire Koch brothers, have funded the US Tea Party for years, and starting in 2015, they richly backed Trump. To mobilise the traditional conservative base of the Republican Party, cash was injected into media blitzes that spread simple messages, often lies, appealing to American fear. Money is not the whole story, but it is an important part of it and it has historic resonance. During Europe’s fascist and Nazi movements, regressive counter movements feigned solidarity with the 99% while clearly enjoying the support of the 1%. The market’s positive response to Trump’s victory may be a clear indication that this is happening again. So far, the new regressive movements are adopting very different forms to their left-wing recent predecessors in Latin America and Europe. They diverge not only ideologically – with cosmopolitanism on the one side and xenophobia on the other – but also in their organisational models. On the right, politics today is characterised by strong, personalised leadership: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump being prime examples. Recent progressive anti-neoliberal movements, on the other hand, have been mostly been defined by citizen participation. There’s no evidence (yet) that regressive movements are necessarily more successful than their progressive counterparts. Rather, in times of economic crisis, left-wing advances such as workers’ rights have been met with a powerful, well-funded resistance. The near-constant protest of Trump, Erdogan or Orban confirm progressive counter-reactions are very much alive indeed. But they seem unlikely to put regressive movements out of business any time soon. One step forward, two steps back The mainstream progressive response to this reactionary challenge has been, primarily, nostalgia for Keynesian economics: increase public spending to stimulate the economy, boost demand and create employment, redistribute wealth to grow the economy, among other things. That’s a bad alternative. Keynes is dead and he’s not coming back. Everything about his era – from the post-second world war international relations system of Bretton Woods and the Soviet threat to the fast clip of economic expansion back then – is unthinkable today. Only in a few places has the popular response to the failure of the self-regulating free-market been to push for greater freedom and deeper democracy, rather than to retrench or reminisce. In addition to a timid normalisation of such activism around basic rights such as housing, a universal basic income, cooperativism and feminism, we have Portugal’s left-wing ruling coalition, Podemos in Spain and the Syriza government in Greece. Today, it is evident that Greece is not the European Union’s burden to bear but rather part of its salvation. Syriza has proposed an alternative to European financial metastasis by reclaiming fiscal sovereignty, battening down the markets, focusing on democratisation, and seeking continent-wide social solidarity. It’s noteworthy that virtually all rights-based anti-neoliberalism has come from peripheral or semi-peripheral nations: first Latin America a decade ago, and now southern Europe. All of them have faced fierce opposition from the rich West. It may be time to start thinking about the Global South not as a problem but as a solution to the great regression. *Llano is with the Universidad Complutense de Madrid ** Porta is with the Institute of Human and Social sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence The Great Regression, available in 13 languages, can be found online. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

The road to the great regression

&nbsp;An audio message purporting to come from the spokesman of Islamic State called on followers to launch attacks in the United States, Europe, Russia, Australia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Philippines during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan, which began in late May.

The audio clip was distributed on Monday on Islamic State&#39;s channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging application. It was attributed to the militant group`s official spokesman, Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer.&nbsp;

The authenticity of the recording could not be independently verified, but the voice was the same as a previous audio message purported to be from the spokesman.

&quot;O lions of Mosul, Raqqa, and Tal Afar, God bless those pure arms and bright faces, charge against the rejectionists and the apostates and fight them with the strength of one man,&quot; said al-Muhajer. Rejectionist is a derogatory term used to refer to Shi&#39;ite Muslims.

&quot;To the brethren of faith and belief in Europe, America, Russia, Australia, and others. Your brothers in your land have done well so take them as role models and do as they have done.&quot;

&nbsp;

An unverified audio message distributed on?Islamic State's channel on Telegram called on followers to launch?attacks in the US, Europe, Russia, Australia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Philippines

An audio message purporting to come from the spokesman of Islamic State called on followers to launch attacks in the United States, Europe, Russia, Australia, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and the Philippines during the Islamic holy month of Ramzan, which began in late May. The audio clip was distributed on Monday on Islamic State's channel on Telegram, an encrypted messaging application. It was attributed to the militant group`s official spokesman, Abi al-Hassan al-Muhajer. The authenticity of the recording could not be independently verified, but the voice was the same as a previous audio message purported to be from the spokesman. "O lions of Mosul, Raqqa, and Tal Afar, God bless those pure arms and bright faces, charge against the rejectionists and the apostates and fight them with the strength of one man," said al-Muhajer. Rejectionist is a derogatory term used to refer to Shi'ite Muslims. "To the brethren of faith and belief in Europe, America, Russia, Australia, and others. Your brothers in your land have done well so take them as role models and do as they have done."

Islamic State calls for attacks in US, Europe, Middle East, Asia during Ramzan

UK Elections 2017 has been a tight race between the Conservatives and Labour party candidates. While PM Theresa May was sure of making it to the finished line with a majority, Jeremy Corbyn has managed to pull a masterstroke.&nbsp;

Jeremy Bernard Corbyn, 68, the grand old man of British politics had a different game plan from the beginning. His policies and the Labour party&#39;s manifesto stood its ground on local and domestic issues that made a connect with the British citizens. Corbyn was able to shave off Theresa May&#39;s lead in the popularity polls in the last two weeks. His focus on education, security, income tax and importantly his stance on Brexit clearly touched a chord while May and her party did not have a solid post-Brexit roadmap for UK citizens.&nbsp;

Corbyn has served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 12 September 2015. He was born in Chippenham and is the youngest of the four sons in the family.&nbsp;

Always a crusader, while still in&nbsp;school, he became active in The Wrekin constituency Young Socialists, his local Labour Party, and the League Against Cruel Sports.&nbsp; 
He joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1966 whilst at school and later became one of its three vice-chairs.

&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="twitter-block" draggable="false">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Whatever the final result, our positive campaign has changed politics for the better. <a href="https://t.co/EHLta2rnIW">pic.twitter.com/EHLta2rnIW</a>
&mdash; Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) <a href="https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/872975310249230336">June 9, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

&nbsp;

Brexit:

Corbyn has consistently spoken for Britain to remain as an EU member but after the referendum result, Corbyn over the last two weeks of campaigning has maintained that the &ldquo;result must be respected&rdquo; and a &quot;close new relationship with the EU&quot; should be targeted. He said that one of his first acts as Britain&#39;s prime minister would be to call German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron to chalk out a plan for Brexit. He also promised to guarantee the rights of EU citizens based in the UK while&nbsp;rejecting the idea of &#39;no deal&#39; in EU negotiations.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Education:

What also added&nbsp;to his popularity&nbsp;is his commitment to education and providing for the youth by announcing the scrapping of tuition fees for universities. He also announced&nbsp;the scrapping of upfront costs for colleges and further education courses while reintroducing maintenance grants for students. He also wooed&nbsp;new mothers by plugging the gap in childcare after maternity leave helping them to come back to work with the aid of National Education Service.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Terrorism:

In the wake of London Bridge terror attacks, both May and Corbyn differ on opinions. Corbyn chose to not support counter-terrorism legislation as a parliamentarian. He promised to reverse the cutting of around 20,000 police officers since 2010. He also vowed his support for Trident, that is&nbsp;UK&rsquo;s Vanguard fleet of submarines carrying nuclear missiles. Corbyn has however been a strong opponent of&nbsp;nuclear weapons.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Income Tax:

Motivated to ensure that the national debt is reduced, Corbyn in his party&rsquo;s manifesto looked&nbsp;to raise tax revenues from the top earners in the country. For those earning above &pound;80,000 ($103,544), income tax rate would increase 45 per cent for earnings above the amount and then to 50 pence in each pound for people with an income of more than &pound;123,000.

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Trump:

Before Trump had withdrawn from the Paris climate accord and talks were still on, Corbyn spoke about calling US President Donald Trump and urging him to not withdraw from the accord. He continuously criticised May&rsquo;s approach in dealing with Trump calling it &quot;dereliction of duty&quot; when she failed to sign a joint statement with other EU leaders condemning the US administration.&nbsp;

<h3>&nbsp;</h3>

Iraq War:

Corbyn identifies himself as an anti-war activist. In October 2001, Corbyn was elected to the steering committee of the Stop the War Coalition, which was formed to oppose the Afghanistan War. He also opposed the Iraq War in 2003 and spoke at anti-war rallies in Britain and overseas. He helped organise the February anti-Iraq War protest which was claimed to be the largest such protest in British political history. In 2006, Corbyn was one of 12 Labour MPs to support Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party&#39;s call for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq War.&nbsp; 
 
(WION) 
&nbsp;

Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn almost singlehandedly chipped PM Theresa May's political capital

UK Elections 2017 has been a tight race between the Conservatives and Labour party candidates. While PM Theresa May was sure of making it to the finished line with a majority, Jeremy Corbyn has managed to pull a masterstroke. Jeremy Bernard Corbyn, 68, the grand old man of British politics had a different game plan from the beginning. His policies and the Labour party's manifesto stood its ground on local and domestic issues that made a connect with the British citizens. Corbyn was able to shave off Theresa May's lead in the popularity polls in the last two weeks. His focus on education, security, income tax and importantly his stance on Brexit clearly touched a chord while May and her party did not have a solid post-Brexit roadmap for UK citizens. Corbyn has served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since 12 September 2015. He was born in Chippenham and is the youngest of the four sons in the family. Always a crusader, while still in school, he became active in The Wrekin constituency Young Socialists, his local Labour Party, and the League Against Cruel Sports. He joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1966 whilst at school and later became one of its three vice-chairs. Whatever the final result, our positive campaign has changed politics for the better. pic.twitter.com/EHLta2rnIW — Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 9, 2017 × Brexit: Corbyn has consistently spoken for Britain to remain as an EU member but after the referendum result, Corbyn over the last two weeks of campaigning has maintained that the “result must be respected” and a "close new relationship with the EU" should be targeted. He said that one of his first acts as Britain's prime minister would be to call German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron to chalk out a plan for Brexit. He also promised to guarantee the rights of EU citizens based in the UK while rejecting the idea of 'no deal' in EU negotiations. Education: What also added to his popularity is his commitment to education and providing for the youth by announcing the scrapping of tuition fees for universities. He also announced the scrapping of upfront costs for colleges and further education courses while reintroducing maintenance grants for students. He also wooed new mothers by plugging the gap in childcare after maternity leave helping them to come back to work with the aid of National Education Service. Terrorism: In the wake of London Bridge terror attacks, both May and Corbyn differ on opinions. Corbyn chose to not support counter-terrorism legislation as a parliamentarian. He promised to reverse the cutting of around 20,000 police officers since 2010. He also vowed his support for Trident, that is UK’s Vanguard fleet of submarines carrying nuclear missiles. Corbyn has however been a strong opponent of nuclear weapons. Income Tax: Motivated to ensure that the national debt is reduced, Corbyn in his party’s manifesto looked to raise tax revenues from the top earners in the country. For those earning above £80,000 ($103,544), income tax rate would increase 45 per cent for earnings above the amount and then to 50 pence in each pound for people with an income of more than £123,000. Trump: Before Trump had withdrawn from the Paris climate accord and talks were still on, Corbyn spoke about calling US President Donald Trump and urging him to not withdraw from the accord. He continuously criticised May’s approach in dealing with Trump calling it "dereliction of duty" when she failed to sign a joint statement with other EU leaders condemning the US administration. Iraq War: Corbyn identifies himself as an anti-war activist. In October 2001, Corbyn was elected to the steering committee of the Stop the War Coalition, which was formed to oppose the Afghanistan War. He also opposed the Iraq War in 2003 and spoke at anti-war rallies in Britain and overseas. He helped organise the February anti-Iraq War protest which was claimed to be the largest such protest in British political history. In 2006, Corbyn was one of 12 Labour MPs to support Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's call for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq War. (WION)

How ?Corbyn strategy? stumped PM May

The southern German state of Bavaria has decided to ban full-face veils in public places like schools, universities, government workplaces and polling stations.

The regional government drafted a law to ban the full-face veil for civil servants, and in public places where there are concerns for public safety.&nbsp;

&quot;Communication happens not only via language but also via looks, facial expressions and gestures,&quot; Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said.

&quot;It&#39;s the foundation of our interactions with each other and it&#39;s the basis of our free and democratic order. Concealing your face is at odds with this culture of communication,&quot; he added.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="row">
<div class="article-blockquote">
<div class="col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1 blockquote-content quoteshare">
<blockquote>
<h5>The Bavarian conservatives that govern the region, the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s, are worried about the rise in popularity of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD)</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The Bavarian conservatives that govern the region, the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's, are worried about the rise in popularity of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD)" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqquoteclosemark">&times;</a></div>
</div>
</div>

He expects the regional parliament of Bavaria to approve&nbsp;the law.&nbsp;

Elections are due in Germany in seven months and immigration is expected to dominate campaigning.

The Bavarian conservatives that govern the region, the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel&#39;s, are worried about the rise in popularity of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD).

In December, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a ban on full-face Muslim veils &quot;wherever legally possible&quot;, after she suffered electoral setbacks in regional elections where the AfD managed to get a significant vote share.&nbsp;

France and Belgium have already banned burqas.&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

'Communication happens not only via language but also via looks, facial expressions and gestures,' the Bavarian interior minister said

The southern German state of Bavaria has decided to ban full-face veils in public places like schools, universities, government workplaces and polling stations. The regional government drafted a law to ban the full-face veil for civil servants, and in public places where there are concerns for public safety. "Communication happens not only via language but also via looks, facial expressions and gestures," Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said. "It's the foundation of our interactions with each other and it's the basis of our free and democratic order. Concealing your face is at odds with this culture of communication," he added. The Bavarian conservatives that govern the region, the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's, are worried about the rise in popularity of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) × He expects the regional parliament of Bavaria to approve the law. Elections are due in Germany in seven months and immigration is expected to dominate campaigning. The Bavarian conservatives that govern the region, the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's, are worried about the rise in popularity of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). In December, Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a ban on full-face Muslim veils "wherever legally possible", after she suffered electoral setbacks in regional elections where the AfD managed to get a significant vote share. France and Belgium have already banned burqas. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Bavaria drafts law to ban full-face veil months before German elections

American video sharing giant YouTube is experiencinng&nbsp;major problems in Europe with many users unable to access the website,&nbsp;The&nbsp;Independent reported.

A report in The&nbsp;Independent&nbsp;on Tuesday cited&nbsp;DownDetector as saying that the site went down for users in Europe at around 6pm GMT.

Many users&nbsp;are seeing a message which reads: &ldquo;500 Internal Server Error&rdquo;, Independent reported.&nbsp;

(WION)

A report in The?Independent?cited?DownDetector as saying that the site went down for users in Europe at around 6pm GMT

American video sharing giant YouTube is experiencinng major problems in Europe with many users unable to access the website, The Independent reported. A report in The Independent on Tuesday cited DownDetector as saying that the site went down for users in Europe at around 6pm GMT. Many users are seeing a message which reads: “500 Internal Server Error”, Independent reported. (WION)

YouTube experiencing major problems in Europe

US vice president Mike Pence told nervous Europeans on Monday that Donald Trump will remain committed to transatlantic ties, but warned NATO allies they must boost their defence spending in return.

Capping a European trip aimed at allaying fears about the new administration&#39;s support, Pence said Washington&#39;s backing for the EU remained &quot;steadfast and enduring&quot;.

&quot;Today it is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union,&quot; Pence said after talks with EU president Donald Tusk in Brussels.

European allies have been unnerved by Trump&#39;s criticism of the EU as a vehicle for Germany, his praise of Britains decision to leave the bloc and his dismissal of NATO as &quot;obsolete&quot; even as he praises Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But Pence pledged the United States would keep working with Europe to boost the world&#39;s two biggest economies, fight terrorism and defend eastern EU states against Russian encroachment.

Tusk, a former Polish premier, said that Europeans &quot;truly needed&quot; the meeting with Pence and that the 28-nation bloc counted on &quot;wholehearted and unequivocal&quot; US support.

&quot;Too much has happened over the past month in your country and in the EU... for us to pretend that everything is as it used to be,&quot; Tusk said.

Pence also met European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, a former Luxembourg premier, who stressed that the United States &quot;needs a strong united Europe.&quot;.Scores of protesters gathered in the EU quarter of the Belgian capital during Pence&#39;s visit, criticising the Trump administration&#39;s attitude towards women, gay people and climate change.

Two female protesters went topless and carried banners saying &quot;Pence get out of our pants,&quot; while another placard read &quot;Love Trumps Hate&quot;.

At NATO headquarters, Pence said Trump expects NATO allies to make &quot;real progress by the end of 2017&quot; towards meeting a goal they set in 2014 of raising defence spending to two percent of GDP over a decade.

&quot;If you don&#39;t yet have a plan -- these are my words, not his (Trump&#39;s) -- get one. It is time for actions, not words,&quot; Pence told a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

So far, of the 28 NATO members, only the United States, Britain, Poland, Greece and Estonia have met the two percent target.

&quot;America will do our part but Europe&#39;s defence requires Europe&#39;s commitment as much as ours,&quot; Pence said Monday.

US Defence Secretary James Mattis delivered a similar message at a NATO defence ministers meeting last week, saying Washington could &quot;moderate&quot; its commitment if allies fail to pay up.

Pence, Mattis and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have stuck close to established policy during their first foray into Europe despite Trump&#39;s previous pronouncements.

But they have also been left to cope with their president&#39;s unpredictable remarks, and by a growing scandal over the new White House&#39;s links to Russia.

The vice president admitted on Monday he was &quot;disappointed&quot; that former US national security adviser Michael Flynn had given him &quot;inaccurate&quot; information about his contacts with Russia over US sanctions before he resigned last week.

However he said he fully backed Trump&#39;s decision to accept Flynn&#39;s resignation.

Pence also defended Trump&#39;s criticisms of the media, whom the president has called &quot;the enemy of the American people&quot;.

&quot;Rest assured, both the president and I strongly support a free and independent press,&quot; he said.

&quot;But you can anticipate that the president and all of us will continue to call out the media when they play fast and loose with the facts.&quot;Pence&#39;s visit came two days after Trump referred, during a rally in Florida, to a non-existent Swedish terror incident and urged people to &quot;look at what&#39;s happening in Brussels&quot; as he listed a series of European cities struck by deadly terror attacks.

Pence said the United States would remain &quot;full partners&quot; with the EU in fighting terrorism, a Trump priority.

He also pledged it would defend Europe&#39;s &quot;territorial integrity&quot; and said the Trump administration will &quot;continue to hold Russia accountable&quot; for the violence in eastern Ukraine and demand that Moscow honour the Minsk agreements for a ceasefire due to begin Monday.

Trump is expected to attend a NATO summit in Brussels at the end of May and he has also been invited to meet EU leaders.

An EU source told AFP that Pence&#39;s meeting with Tusk was &quot;very positive&quot;.

&quot;Will it allay all Europeans fears about Trump? No but it was the best we could have hoped for,&quot; the source added.

(AFP)

&nbsp;

Pence said Washington's backing for the EU remained 'steadfast and enduring'

US vice president Mike Pence told nervous Europeans on Monday that Donald Trump will remain committed to transatlantic ties, but warned NATO allies they must boost their defence spending in return. Capping a European trip aimed at allaying fears about the new administration's support, Pence said Washington's backing for the EU remained "steadfast and enduring". "Today it is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union," Pence said after talks with EU president Donald Tusk in Brussels. European allies have been unnerved by Trump's criticism of the EU as a vehicle for Germany, his praise of Britains decision to leave the bloc and his dismissal of NATO as "obsolete" even as he praises Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Pence pledged the United States would keep working with Europe to boost the world's two biggest economies, fight terrorism and defend eastern EU states against Russian encroachment. Tusk, a former Polish premier, said that Europeans "truly needed" the meeting with Pence and that the 28-nation bloc counted on "wholehearted and unequivocal" US support. "Too much has happened over the past month in your country and in the EU... for us to pretend that everything is as it used to be," Tusk said. Pence also met European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, a former Luxembourg premier, who stressed that the United States "needs a strong united Europe.".Scores of protesters gathered in the EU quarter of the Belgian capital during Pence's visit, criticising the Trump administration's attitude towards women, gay people and climate change. Two female protesters went topless and carried banners saying "Pence get out of our pants," while another placard read "Love Trumps Hate". At NATO headquarters, Pence said Trump expects NATO allies to make "real progress by the end of 2017" towards meeting a goal they set in 2014 of raising defence spending to two percent of GDP over a decade. "If you don't yet have a plan -- these are my words, not his (Trump's) -- get one. It is time for actions, not words," Pence told a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. So far, of the 28 NATO members, only the United States, Britain, Poland, Greece and Estonia have met the two percent target. "America will do our part but Europe's defence requires Europe's commitment as much as ours," Pence said Monday. US Defence Secretary James Mattis delivered a similar message at a NATO defence ministers meeting last week, saying Washington could "moderate" its commitment if allies fail to pay up. Pence, Mattis and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have stuck close to established policy during their first foray into Europe despite Trump's previous pronouncements. But they have also been left to cope with their president's unpredictable remarks, and by a growing scandal over the new White House's links to Russia. The vice president admitted on Monday he was "disappointed" that former US national security adviser Michael Flynn had given him "inaccurate" information about his contacts with Russia over US sanctions before he resigned last week. However he said he fully backed Trump's decision to accept Flynn's resignation. Pence also defended Trump's criticisms of the media, whom the president has called "the enemy of the American people". "Rest assured, both the president and I strongly support a free and independent press," he said. "But you can anticipate that the president and all of us will continue to call out the media when they play fast and loose with the facts."Pence's visit came two days after Trump referred, during a rally in Florida, to a non-existent Swedish terror incident and urged people to "look at what's happening in Brussels" as he listed a series of European cities struck by deadly terror attacks. Pence said the United States would remain "full partners" with the EU in fighting terrorism, a Trump priority. He also pledged it would defend Europe's "territorial integrity" and said the Trump administration will "continue to hold Russia accountable" for the violence in eastern Ukraine and demand that Moscow honour the Minsk agreements for a ceasefire due to begin Monday. Trump is expected to attend a NATO summit in Brussels at the end of May and he has also been invited to meet EU leaders. An EU source told AFP that Pence's meeting with Tusk was "very positive". "Will it allay all Europeans fears about Trump? No but it was the best we could have hoped for," the source added. (AFP)

Mike Pence reassures Europe, demands NATO pay up

Investigators said they suspect the driver of a truck that ploughed into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, did so in a deliberate terrorist attack, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said he may have been an asylum-seeker.

The truck crashed into people gathered on Monday evening around wooden huts serving mulled wine and sausages at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church - left as a ruin after World War Two - in the heart of former West Berlin.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false">
<div class="row">
<div class="article-blockquote">
<div class="col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1 blockquote-content quoteshare">
<blockquote>
<h5>I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that the person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum,&#39; said Merkel</h5>
</blockquote>
</div>

<div class="col-sm-1 blockquote-content">
<div class="share-blockquote"><a class="twitter popup" href="http://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that the person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum,' said Merkel" target="_blank">&nbsp;</a></div>
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="#" id="jqquoteclosemark">&times;</a></div>
</div>
</div>

A German security source said the suspect was a 23-year-old migrant from Pakistan known to police for committing minor offences. The source said the man had been staying at a refugee accommodation centre in the now defunct Tempelhof airport.

Merkel told reporters: &quot;There is much we still do not know with sufficient certainty but we must, as things stand now, assume it was a terrorist attack.&quot;

She added: &quot;I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that the person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum.&quot;

The incident evoked memories of an attack in Nice, France in July when a Tunisian-born man drove a 19-tonne truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, killing 86 people. That was claimed by Islamic State.

If a migrant link is confirmed, it could further sour sentiment towards asylum-seekers in Germany, where more than a million people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere have arrived this year and last.

The record influx has hit Merkel&#39;s popularity ratings and boosted support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). Senior AfD member Marcus Pretzell blamed Merkel for the attack on Twitter.

AfD leader Frauke Petry said Germany was no longer safe and &quot;radical Islamic terrorism has struck in the heart of Germany&quot;.

Slovakia&#39;s Prime Minister Robert Fico said the attack would change European Union member states&#39; perception of migration.

&quot;The facts are simple: a migrant who arrived to Germany in February 2016 and got refugee status ... is now interrogated as a suspect responsible for this heinous, repugnant crime,&quot; Fico said, without specifying the source of his information.

&quot;This attack will undoubtedly again significantly change the attitude of a number of EU member states towards migration as such,&quot; he said. &quot;I think that the cup of patience is beginning to spill over and Europe&#39;s public will rightfully expect rather stronger measures.&quot;

Driver chased down

Police said the man suspected of steering the truck had fled the crash scene and was later arrested.

Newspaper Die Welt said he had jumped out of the driver&#39;s cab and run down the street towards the Tiergarten, a vast park in central Berlin. It said several witnesses phoned police to inform them, including one who chased the suspect while on the phone, constantly updating officials on his whereabouts.

On Tuesday morning, investigators removed the black truck from the site for a forensic examination. People left flowers at the scene and notes, one of which read: &quot;Keep on living, Berliners!&quot; One woman was crying as she stopped by the flowers.

Berlin police are investigating leads that the truck had been stolen from a construction site in Poland. They said a Polish man was found dead inside the vehicle but added he was not in control of it.

German magazine Focus cited Karl-Heinz Schroeter, interior minister of the state of Brandenburg, as saying one of people found dead at the scene was shot, and that was probably the Pole.

Bild newspaper cited security sources as saying the suspect was named Naved B. and had arrived in Germany a year ago. In legal cases German officials routinely withhold the full name of suspects, using only an initial.

Local broadcaster rbb cited security sources as saying the man came to Germany via Passau, a city on the Austrian border, on Dec. 31, 2015.

Die Welt said police special forces stormed a hangar at Berlin&#39;s defunct Tempelhof airport at around 4 a.m. (0300 GMT). It said, without citing its sources, that the arrested man was registered there.

A refugee there who gave his name only as Ahmed told Reuters security guards had told him there was a raid at around 4 a.m.

Prosecutors declined to immediately comment on the report.

Stephan Mayer, a senior member of the Christian Social Union - the Bavarian sister party to Merkel&#39;s Christian Democrats, told broadcaster ZDF it was necessary to ensure that there were no copycat attacks.

Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on ORF radio he had told the heads of Austria&#39;s regional police forces to intensify surveillance measures.

He called for biometric and fingerprint checks to be introduced along the Balkan route travelled by many migrants arriving in Europe, in order to better control foreign jihadist fighters&#39; movements.

London police said they were reviewing their plans for protecting public events over the festive period after the Berlin attack and the assassination of Russia&#39;s ambassador to Turkey on Monday.

Flags will be hung at half-mast around Germany on Tuesday and Berlin Christmas markets were closed for the day out of respect.

Dresden tourist information service said authorities had erected concrete blocks around the Striezelmarkt, one of Germany&#39;s oldest Christmas Markets, to increase security.

Christmas markets selling ornate, often hand-crafted decorations, seasonal foods and hot wine are a beloved tradition in Germany.

Manfred Weber, head of the centre-right European People&#39;s Party, said: &quot;It&#39;s not an attack on a country; it&#39;s an attack on our way of life, on the free society in which we are allowed to live.&quot;

(Reuters)

The source added that he was known to police from earlier minor offences

Investigators said they suspect the driver of a truck that ploughed into a crowd at a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring 48, did so in a deliberate terrorist attack, and Chancellor Angela Merkel said he may have been an asylum-seeker. The truck crashed into people gathered on Monday evening around wooden huts serving mulled wine and sausages at the foot of the Kaiser Wilhelm memorial church - left as a ruin after World War Two - in the heart of former West Berlin. I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that the person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum,' said Merkel × A German security source said the suspect was a 23-year-old migrant from Pakistan known to police for committing minor offences. The source said the man had been staying at a refugee accommodation centre in the now defunct Tempelhof airport. Merkel told reporters: "There is much we still do not know with sufficient certainty but we must, as things stand now, assume it was a terrorist attack." She added: "I know it would be especially hard for us all to bear if it were confirmed that the person who committed this act was someone who sought protection and asylum." The incident evoked memories of an attack in Nice, France in July when a Tunisian-born man drove a 19-tonne truck along the beach front, mowing down people who had gathered to watch the fireworks on Bastille Day, killing 86 people. That was claimed by Islamic State. If a migrant link is confirmed, it could further sour sentiment towards asylum-seekers in Germany, where more than a million people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere have arrived this year and last. The record influx has hit Merkel's popularity ratings and boosted support for the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD). Senior AfD member Marcus Pretzell blamed Merkel for the attack on Twitter. AfD leader Frauke Petry said Germany was no longer safe and "radical Islamic terrorism has struck in the heart of Germany". Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico said the attack would change European Union member states' perception of migration. "The facts are simple: a migrant who arrived to Germany in February 2016 and got refugee status ... is now interrogated as a suspect responsible for this heinous, repugnant crime," Fico said, without specifying the source of his information. "This attack will undoubtedly again significantly change the attitude of a number of EU member states towards migration as such," he said. "I think that the cup of patience is beginning to spill over and Europe's public will rightfully expect rather stronger measures." Driver chased down Police said the man suspected of steering the truck had fled the crash scene and was later arrested. Newspaper Die Welt said he had jumped out of the driver's cab and run down the street towards the Tiergarten, a vast park in central Berlin. It said several witnesses phoned police to inform them, including one who chased the suspect while on the phone, constantly updating officials on his whereabouts. On Tuesday morning, investigators removed the black truck from the site for a forensic examination. People left flowers at the scene and notes, one of which read: "Keep on living, Berliners!" One woman was crying as she stopped by the flowers. Berlin police are investigating leads that the truck had been stolen from a construction site in Poland. They said a Polish man was found dead inside the vehicle but added he was not in control of it. German magazine Focus cited Karl-Heinz Schroeter, interior minister of the state of Brandenburg, as saying one of people found dead at the scene was shot, and that was probably the Pole. Bild newspaper cited security sources as saying the suspect was named Naved B. and had arrived in Germany a year ago. In legal cases German officials routinely withhold the full name of suspects, using only an initial. Local broadcaster rbb cited security sources as saying the man came to Germany via Passau, a city on the Austrian border, on Dec. 31, 2015. Die Welt said police special forces stormed a hangar at Berlin's defunct Tempelhof airport at around 4 a.m. (0300 GMT). It said, without citing its sources, that the arrested man was registered there. A refugee there who gave his name only as Ahmed told Reuters security guards had told him there was a raid at around 4 a.m. Prosecutors declined to immediately comment on the report. Stephan Mayer, a senior member of the Christian Social Union - the Bavarian sister party to Merkel's Christian Democrats, told broadcaster ZDF it was necessary to ensure that there were no copycat attacks. Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka said on ORF radio he had told the heads of Austria's regional police forces to intensify surveillance measures. He called for biometric and fingerprint checks to be introduced along the Balkan route travelled by many migrants arriving in Europe, in order to better control foreign jihadist fighters' movements. London police said they were reviewing their plans for protecting public events over the festive period after the Berlin attack and the assassination of Russia's ambassador to Turkey on Monday. Flags will be hung at half-mast around Germany on Tuesday and Berlin Christmas markets were closed for the day out of respect. Dresden tourist information service said authorities had erected concrete blocks around the Striezelmarkt, one of Germany's oldest Christmas Markets, to increase security. Christmas markets selling ornate, often hand-crafted decorations, seasonal foods and hot wine are a beloved tradition in Germany. Manfred Weber, head of the centre-right European People's Party, said: "It's not an attack on a country; it's an attack on our way of life, on the free society in which we are allowed to live." (Reuters)

Germany truck attack: Driver was 23-yr-old migrant from Pakistan, says source

The EU police agency, Europol on Friday warned against more Islamic State attacks in the 28-nation bloc, with several dozen militants already in place and more possibly arriving.&nbsp;

Europol said the most likely forms of attack would be mass shootings and suicide bombings, like those seen in Paris and Brussels.&nbsp;

&quot;If IS is defeated or severely weakened in Syria/Iraq by the coalition forces, there may be an increased rate in the return of foreign fighters and their families from the region to the EU or to other conflict areas,&quot; Europol said in a statement.

The report said that car bombs and kidnappings, common in Syria, could also emerge as tactics in Europe. While protected sites such as power grids and nuclear power stations were not seen as top targets.&nbsp;

Europol director Rob Wainwright said EU states had stepped up their security cooperation in the wake of IS attacks in the last couple of years, allowing more plots to be thwarted.

&quot;Nevertheless,&quot; he said, &quot;Today&#39;s report shows that the threat is still high and includes diverse components which can be only tackled by even better collaboration.&quot;

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

The EU police agency said several dozen Islamic State militants were in Europe, raising the threat of militant attacks

The EU police agency, Europol on Friday warned against more Islamic State attacks in the 28-nation bloc, with several dozen militants already in place and more possibly arriving. Europol said the most likely forms of attack would be mass shootings and suicide bombings, like those seen in Paris and Brussels. "If IS is defeated or severely weakened in Syria/Iraq by the coalition forces, there may be an increased rate in the return of foreign fighters and their families from the region to the EU or to other conflict areas," Europol said in a statement. The report said that car bombs and kidnappings, common in Syria, could also emerge as tactics in Europe. While protected sites such as power grids and nuclear power stations were not seen as top targets. Europol director Rob Wainwright said EU states had stepped up their security cooperation in the wake of IS attacks in the last couple of years, allowing more plots to be thwarted. "Nevertheless," he said, "Today's report shows that the threat is still high and includes diverse components which can be only tackled by even better collaboration." (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Europol warns of IS attacks, says dozens of militants may be in Europe

European air travel giant Lufthansa has been battling its own pilots over pay and conditions for more than two years.

Tuesday saw a renewed walkout of pilots, bringing the number of passengers affected by strikes over the past week to more than half a million. 
&nbsp; 
What do the pilots want?

Lufthansa&#39;s 5,400 pilots have been called out on strike some 15 times since spring 2014 by union Vereinigung Cockpit.

The dispute was sparked by disagreements over manager&#39;s plans to change costly early retirement provisions for the pilots as they looked for savings in the face of stiff competition from low-cost rivals like Ryanair and Easyjet as well as higher-end competitors from the Gulf.

Cockpit is also concerned about the board&#39;s plans to reform pensions and hire more pilots on lower pay as Lufthansa builds its own low-cost subsidiary Eurowings.

The most recent series of strikes launched last Wednesday is the latest skirmish in the battle over salaries.

Cockpit says pilots have had no salary increase over the past five years, even as Lufthansa has been making billions in profits.

The union wants a pay rise of 3.66 percent per year. But manager&#39;s position remains far removed from Cockpit`s, with the last offer from the board a bonus equivalent to almost two months salary plus a 4.4-percent pay increase spread over two years -- roundly rejected by the pilots.

Lufthansa says that its pilots are among the best-paid in the sector, with co-pilots at the start of their career earning 6,500 euros ($6,890) gross per month, while a late-career captain earns more than 22,000 euros.

Why is the conflict dragging on?&nbsp;

Pilots are not the only group to have hit Lufthansa with work stoppages in recent years.

November 2015 saw the group face its longest-ever strike as cabin crew staged a seven-day walkout at the urging of their own union -- forcing the cancellation of more than 4,600 flights.

Lufthansa has managed to strike deals in several labour disputes, notably with cabin crew and ground crew on its flagship airline.

But other battles are still to be fought -- as a walkout by some cabin crew at Eurowings showed just last week.

An end to the trial of strength with Cockpit appears distant for now.

&quot;The damage is already so great that it`s increasingly difficult for the two sides to reach a compromise without losing face,&quot; said Guido Hoymann, an air travel sector analyst at Metzler bank.

&quot;They should bring in a mediator, the conflict could run on for a long time yet,&quot; he went on.

Cockpit rebuffed Lufthansa`s latest offer of a mediation process, while the group has failed in its attempts to prevent walkouts with legal action.

What does this mean for Lufthansa`s business?&nbsp;

Repeated strikes at Lufthansa have caused &quot;long-term&quot; damage to the group`s reputation, analyst Hoymann said.

&quot;Lufthansa`s reliability has been called into question,&quot; he said, adding that the group could lose customers -- especially from its sizeable business segment.

In purely financial terms, the impact has so far been smaller.

One strike day costs the group between 10 and 15 million euros, Lufthansa says.

In 2015, the group lost around 100 million euros to strikes -- a large figure but one that remained dwarfed by its record profit of 1.7 billion euros.

(IANS) 
&nbsp;

Lufthansa has been battling its own pilots over pay and conditions for more than two years.

European air travel giant Lufthansa has been battling its own pilots over pay and conditions for more than two years. Tuesday saw a renewed walkout of pilots, bringing the number of passengers affected by strikes over the past week to more than half a million. What do the pilots want? Lufthansa's 5,400 pilots have been called out on strike some 15 times since spring 2014 by union Vereinigung Cockpit. The dispute was sparked by disagreements over manager's plans to change costly early retirement provisions for the pilots as they looked for savings in the face of stiff competition from low-cost rivals like Ryanair and Easyjet as well as higher-end competitors from the Gulf. Cockpit is also concerned about the board's plans to reform pensions and hire more pilots on lower pay as Lufthansa builds its own low-cost subsidiary Eurowings. The most recent series of strikes launched last Wednesday is the latest skirmish in the battle over salaries. Cockpit says pilots have had no salary increase over the past five years, even as Lufthansa has been making billions in profits. The union wants a pay rise of 3.66 percent per year. But manager's position remains far removed from Cockpit`s, with the last offer from the board a bonus equivalent to almost two months salary plus a 4.4-percent pay increase spread over two years -- roundly rejected by the pilots. Lufthansa says that its pilots are among the best-paid in the sector, with co-pilots at the start of their career earning 6,500 euros ($6,890) gross per month, while a late-career captain earns more than 22,000 euros. Why is the conflict dragging on? Pilots are not the only group to have hit Lufthansa with work stoppages in recent years. November 2015 saw the group face its longest-ever strike as cabin crew staged a seven-day walkout at the urging of their own union -- forcing the cancellation of more than 4,600 flights. Lufthansa has managed to strike deals in several labour disputes, notably with cabin crew and ground crew on its flagship airline. But other battles are still to be fought -- as a walkout by some cabin crew at Eurowings showed just last week. An end to the trial of strength with Cockpit appears distant for now. "The damage is already so great that it`s increasingly difficult for the two sides to reach a compromise without losing face," said Guido Hoymann, an air travel sector analyst at Metzler bank. "They should bring in a mediator, the conflict could run on for a long time yet," he went on. Cockpit rebuffed Lufthansa`s latest offer of a mediation process, while the group has failed in its attempts to prevent walkouts with legal action. What does this mean for Lufthansa`s business? Repeated strikes at Lufthansa have caused "long-term" damage to the group`s reputation, analyst Hoymann said. "Lufthansa`s reliability has been called into question," he said, adding that the group could lose customers -- especially from its sizeable business segment. In purely financial terms, the impact has so far been smaller. One strike day costs the group between 10 and 15 million euros, Lufthansa says. In 2015, the group lost around 100 million euros to strikes -- a large figure but one that remained dwarfed by its record profit of 1.7 billion euros. (IANS)

Some 1,700 flights cancelled as Lufthansa pilots strike

Ukraine was on Tuesday due to unveil the world&#39;s largest moveable metal structure over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant&#39;s doomed fourth reactor to ensure the safety of future generations across Europe.

The giant arch&#39;s height of 108 metres (355 feet) makes it taller than New York&#39;s Statue of Liberty while its weight of 36,000 tons is three times heavier that the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The 1.5-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) structure has been edged into place over an existing crumbling dome that the Soviets built in haste when disaster struck three decades ago on April 26.

Radioactive fallout from the site of the world&#39;s worst civil nuclear accident spread across three-quarters of Europe and promoted a global rethink about the safety of atomic fuel.

Work on the previous dome began after a 10-day fire caused by the explosion was contained but as radiation still spewed.

&quot;It was done through the super-human efforts of thousands of ordinary people,&quot; the Chernobyl museum&#39;s deputy chief Anna Korolevska told AFP.

&quot;What kind of protective gear could they have possibly had? They worked in regular construction clothes.&quot;

About 30 cleanup workers known as liquidators were killed on site or died from overwhelming radiation poisoning in the following weeks.&nbsp;

The toll from the accident caused by errors during an experimental safety check remains under dispute because the Soviet authorities did their best to cover up the tragedy.

A United Nations estimate in 2005 said around 4,000 people had either been killed or were left dying from cancer and other related disease.

But the Greenpeace environmental protection group believes the figure may be closer to 100,000.

Authorities maintain a 30-kilometre-wide (19-mile-wide) exclusion zone around the plant in which only a few dozen elderly people live.

Concerns over the safety of the disintegrating concrete shelter -- built by 90,000 people in just 206 days -- prompted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to spearhead a 2.1-billion-euro ($2.2-billion) project to install a new safety dome.

The numerous problems with the Soviet-era solution included the fact that it only had a 30-year lifespan.

Yet its deterioration began much sooner than that.

&quot;Radioactive dust inside the structure is being blown out through the cracks,&quot; Sergiy Paskevych of Ukraine&#39;s Institute of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Problems told AFP.

Paskevych added that the existing structure could &nbsp;also crumble under extreme weather.

The new arch should be able to withstand tremors of 6.0 magnitude -- a strength rarely seen in eastern Europe -- and tornados that strike the region only once every million years.

Chernobyl&#39;s dangers are real but Kiev complains Europe&#39;s help took a long time coming.

The EBRD found 40 state sponsors to fund a competition in 2007 to choose who should build the massive moveable dome.

A French consortium of two companies known as Novarka finished the designs in 2010 and began construction two years later.

The shelter was edged towards the fourth reactor in just under three weeks of delicate work this month that was interrupted by inclement weather and other potential dangers.

It will later be fitted with radiation control equipment as well as air vents and fire protective measures.

That equipment inside the arch is due to start working by the end of 2017.

&quot;And only then will we begin to disassemble the old, unstable structure,&quot; the head of Ukraine&#39;s State Nuclear Regulation Inspections agency Sergiy Bozhko told AFP.

But he said no timeframe had yet been set for the truly hazardous work of removing all the remaining nuclear fuel from inside the plant or taking apart the old dome.

Novarka believes that its arch will keep the continent safe from nuclear fallout for the next 100 years.

(AFP)

The new arch, the old one is crumbling, will be taller than the Statue of Liberty

Ukraine was on Tuesday due to unveil the world's largest moveable metal structure over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant's doomed fourth reactor to ensure the safety of future generations across Europe. The giant arch's height of 108 metres (355 feet) makes it taller than New York's Statue of Liberty while its weight of 36,000 tons is three times heavier that the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The 1.5-billion-euro ($1.6-billion) structure has been edged into place over an existing crumbling dome that the Soviets built in haste when disaster struck three decades ago on April 26. Radioactive fallout from the site of the world's worst civil nuclear accident spread across three-quarters of Europe and promoted a global rethink about the safety of atomic fuel. Work on the previous dome began after a 10-day fire caused by the explosion was contained but as radiation still spewed. "It was done through the super-human efforts of thousands of ordinary people," the Chernobyl museum's deputy chief Anna Korolevska told AFP. "What kind of protective gear could they have possibly had? They worked in regular construction clothes." About 30 cleanup workers known as liquidators were killed on site or died from overwhelming radiation poisoning in the following weeks. The toll from the accident caused by errors during an experimental safety check remains under dispute because the Soviet authorities did their best to cover up the tragedy. A United Nations estimate in 2005 said around 4,000 people had either been killed or were left dying from cancer and other related disease. But the Greenpeace environmental protection group believes the figure may be closer to 100,000. Authorities maintain a 30-kilometre-wide (19-mile-wide) exclusion zone around the plant in which only a few dozen elderly people live. Concerns over the safety of the disintegrating concrete shelter -- built by 90,000 people in just 206 days -- prompted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to spearhead a 2.1-billion-euro ($2.2-billion) project to install a new safety dome. The numerous problems with the Soviet-era solution included the fact that it only had a 30-year lifespan. Yet its deterioration began much sooner than that. "Radioactive dust inside the structure is being blown out through the cracks," Sergiy Paskevych of Ukraine's Institute of Nuclear Power Plant Safety Problems told AFP. Paskevych added that the existing structure could also crumble under extreme weather. The new arch should be able to withstand tremors of 6.0 magnitude -- a strength rarely seen in eastern Europe -- and tornados that strike the region only once every million years. Chernobyl's dangers are real but Kiev complains Europe's help took a long time coming. The EBRD found 40 state sponsors to fund a competition in 2007 to choose who should build the massive moveable dome. A French consortium of two companies known as Novarka finished the designs in 2010 and began construction two years later. The shelter was edged towards the fourth reactor in just under three weeks of delicate work this month that was interrupted by inclement weather and other potential dangers. It will later be fitted with radiation control equipment as well as air vents and fire protective measures. That equipment inside the arch is due to start working by the end of 2017. "And only then will we begin to disassemble the old, unstable structure," the head of Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulation Inspections agency Sergiy Bozhko told AFP. But he said no timeframe had yet been set for the truly hazardous work of removing all the remaining nuclear fuel from inside the plant or taking apart the old dome. Novarka believes that its arch will keep the continent safe from nuclear fallout for the next 100 years. (AFP)

Ukraine to unveil giant new safety dome over Chernobyl

<table border="0" width="100%">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td colspan="2">Europe&#39;s Rosetta spacecraft, due to switch off on Friday (September 30) after a 12-year odyssey, carried eleven scientific instruments to sniff, smell and photograph a comet from all angles. 
			 
			After arriving in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it launched Philae, a separate lander, which had another ten hi-tech gadgets, including a drill that never deployed, but also cameras, X-ray scans and radio wave probes. 
			 
			Together, the robot explorers have advanced our understanding of comets, of which there are billions, believed to be leftovers from the birth of our Solar System some 4.6 billion years ago. 
			 
			&quot;Nobody had any idea comets can be so weird until Rosetta got there,&quot; said Fabio Favata of the European Space Agency`s (ESA) robotic exploration directorate. 
			 
			67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is currently 710 million kilometres (440 million miles) from Earth. 
			What the mission found:&nbsp; 
			 
			Expecting to encounter something roughly the shape of an American football, scientists were flabbergasted to observe through Rosetta`s cameras that 67P resembled a rubber bath duck with a distinct &quot;body&quot; and &quot;head&quot;, and a crack through its &quot;neck&quot;. 
			 
			Some scientists have since postulated that this shape was not created by erosion, but a low-velocity impact billions of years ago between two objects which fused. 
			 
			This all suggests the comet was formed in a young, outer part of our Solar System that was much less densely packed with bodies than previously thought.&nbsp; 
			 
			If not, 67P &quot;is so fragile it should have been clobbered by something else and broken apart,&quot; ESA senior science advisor Mark McCaughrean told AFP. 
			 
			This affects our understanding of planetary formation, thought to have happened when ice and dust debris, swirling around in a proto-planetary disk around an infant Sun, collided and stuck together, growing bigger and bigger over time.&nbsp; 
			 
			The comet&#39;s surface was another surprise. 
			 
			It was less &quot;fluffy&quot; and much harder than expected, which contributed to Philae bouncing several times after its harpoons failed to fire on landing. 
			 
			The comet had much less water ice than thought, was littered with pebbles and rocks ranging in size from a few centimetres (inches) across to five metres (18 feet), and pocked with deep craters. The surface is rendered super-dark and non-reflective by a thin layer of dust. 
			 
			Scientists were astonished to find oxygen molecules in the gassy halo around the comet, and said they appeared to be older than our Solar System.&nbsp; 
			 
			Scientific models had previously calculated that oxygen as a molecular compound on its own would not have existed at the time the comet was formed, as it would have bound with other elements like hydrogen. 
			 
			So, how the comet got its oxygen remains a mystery. 
			 
			67P has organic molecules, many different ones -- including amino acids which are the building blocks of life as we know it.&nbsp; 
			 
			This discovery supports the hypothesis that comets may very well have helped spark life on Earth by delivering organic materials when they slammed into a young planet that was basically molten iron. 
			 
			Water, on the other hand, is unlikely to have come from comets of 67P&#39;s type, the mission found. 
			 
			The water on Rosetta is of a very different &quot;flavour&quot; than that on our planet, with three times more deuterium, a heavy hydrogen isotope. 
			 
			Analysing the comet&#39;s chemical signature, Rosetta scientists concluded it probably smells like a noxious mix of rotten eggs, horse urine, alcohol and bitter almonds. 
			 
			&quot;If you could smell the comet, you would probably wish that you hadn&#39;t,&quot; the ESA team said at the time. 
			 
			Philae&#39;s magnetometer found that, surprisingly, 67P has no measurable magnetic field -- throwing into question another key theory on the formation of solar system bodies.&nbsp; 
			 
			It implied that magnetism played no part in debris in the early Solar System clumping together to form planets, comets, asteroids and moons. 
			Scientists expect that the data extracted by Philae and Rosetta will keep them busy for decades to come. 
			 
			&quot;The metaphor I used at the beginning, was Rosetta would be the key that would unlock the treasure chest to the secrets of the Solar System. I think... we found the key, it&#39;s on the floor and it&#39;s in pieces. We need to assemble the key first before we can unlock the treasure chest,&quot; said McCaughrean. 
			 
			(AFP)</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

Rosetta's findings were a breakthrough in the understanding of planetary formation

Europe's Rosetta spacecraft, due to switch off on Friday (September 30) after a 12-year odyssey, carried eleven scientific instruments to sniff, smell and photograph a comet from all angles. After arriving in orbit around comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, it launched Philae, a separate lander, which had another ten hi-tech gadgets, including a drill that never deployed, but also cameras, X-ray scans and radio wave probes. Together, the robot explorers have advanced our understanding of comets, of which there are billions, believed to be leftovers from the birth of our Solar System some 4.6 billion years ago. "Nobody had any idea comets can be so weird until Rosetta got there," said Fabio Favata of the European Space Agency`s (ESA) robotic exploration directorate. 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is currently 710 million kilometres (440 million miles) from Earth. What the mission found: Expecting to encounter something roughly the shape of an American football, scientists were flabbergasted to observe through Rosetta`s cameras that 67P resembled a rubber bath duck with a distinct "body" and "head", and a crack through its "neck". Some scientists have since postulated that this shape was not created by erosion, but a low-velocity impact billions of years ago between two objects which fused. This all suggests the comet was formed in a young, outer part of our Solar System that was much less densely packed with bodies than previously thought. If not, 67P "is so fragile it should have been clobbered by something else and broken apart," ESA senior science advisor Mark McCaughrean told AFP. This affects our understanding of planetary formation, thought to have happened when ice and dust debris, swirling around in a proto-planetary disk around an infant Sun, collided and stuck together, growing bigger and bigger over time. The comet's surface was another surprise. It was less "fluffy" and much harder than expected, which contributed to Philae bouncing several times after its harpoons failed to fire on landing. The comet had much less water ice than thought, was littered with pebbles and rocks ranging in size from a few centimetres (inches) across to five metres (18 feet), and pocked with deep craters. The surface is rendered super-dark and non-reflective by a thin layer of dust. Scientists were astonished to find oxygen molecules in the gassy halo around the comet, and said they appeared to be older than our Solar System. Scientific models had previously calculated that oxygen as a molecular compound on its own would not have existed at the time the comet was formed, as it would have bound with other elements like hydrogen. So, how the comet got its oxygen remains a mystery. 67P has organic molecules, many different ones -- including amino acids which are the building blocks of life as we know it. This discovery supports the hypothesis that comets may very well have helped spark life on Earth by delivering organic materials when they slammed into a young planet that was basically molten iron. Water, on the other hand, is unlikely to have come from comets of 67P's type, the mission found. The water on Rosetta is of a very different "flavour" than that on our planet, with three times more deuterium, a heavy hydrogen isotope. Analysing the comet's chemical signature, Rosetta scientists concluded it probably smells like a noxious mix of rotten eggs, horse urine, alcohol and bitter almonds. "If you could smell the comet, you would probably wish that you hadn't," the ESA team said at the time. Philae's magnetometer found that, surprisingly, 67P has no measurable magnetic field -- throwing into question another key theory on the formation of solar system bodies. It implied that magnetism played no part in debris in the early Solar System clumping together to form planets, comets, asteroids and moons. Scientists expect that the data extracted by Philae and Rosetta will keep them busy for decades to come. "The metaphor I used at the beginning, was Rosetta would be the key that would unlock the treasure chest to the secrets of the Solar System. I think... we found the key, it's on the floor and it's in pieces. We need to assemble the key first before we can unlock the treasure chest," said McCaughrean. (AFP)

Rosetta's 12-year odyssey: What did it find?

In a bid to mark their protest against the controversial transatlantic trade deal, thousands of protesters are likely to take to the streets across Germany today ahead of the next round of negotiations slated for October 3 in New York, according to ABC news.&nbsp; 
 
The European Union (EU) and the United States had begun negotiating the&nbsp;Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013 &nbsp;with an aim to create the world&#39;s biggest free trade &nbsp;market comprising of&nbsp;850 million consumers. 
 
While exporters are in favour of the deal that promises lower tariffs and a wider base of consumers, the consumers in Europe fear it would it would &nbsp;lead to more outsourcing and consequently job losses. According to a Reuters report, several rights group fear that the deal would provide easier access to European market without creating more jobs.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We hope that more than 250,000 participants will join in the march nationwide,&quot; Roland Suess from the anti-globalisation group Attac, one of the organisers of the demonstrations in seven German cities including the capital Berlin and Frankfurt, told AFP.&nbsp; 
 
In Germany, there is widepread skepticism about the accords in Germany. &nbsp;According to AFP, a survey has highlighted that 28 per cent its respondents doubted free trade bringing in any benefits and 52 per cent say it would result in weakening of standards and increasingly inferior products.&nbsp; 
 
Proponents say that EU&#39;s most ambitious trade impact could increase trade between the two areas by some 20 per cent, adding some 11.6 billion euros a year to the EU economy. However, prominent rights groups in Germany argued that the deal undermines democracy because citizens would be excluded from decision-making.&nbsp; 
 
Vice-Chancellor and economy minister Sigmar Gabriel last month declared that talks on TTIP have &quot;de facto failed&quot; while&nbsp;Peter Gauweiler, who had quit his CDU post and MP mandate to protest against Merkel&#39;s stand on the the euro crisis, called the proposed treaties &quot;a danger for democracy&quot;. 
 
Gabriel had also insisted that &quot;Europeans must not give in to (the Americans&#39;) demands&quot;. 
 
However, a hopeful German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week said EU should keep negotiating with US over the free trade deal.&nbsp; 
 
A new round of talks will start in October and US President Barack Obama wants the deal concluded before his term ends in January. 
 
A smaller version of TTIP is also in the works with Canada. The deal called CETA, will be signed in October. 
 
There are also &nbsp;plans for setting up a special court to hear cases by companies against governments over breaching of regulatory issues, which the opponents see as giving firms a veto over public policy. 
 
(WION with inputs from AFP) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

While exporters are in favour of the deal as it promises lower tariffs , consumers fear job losses

In a bid to mark their protest against the controversial transatlantic trade deal, thousands of protesters are likely to take to the streets across Germany today ahead of the next round of negotiations slated for October 3 in New York, according to ABC news. The European Union (EU) and the United States had begun negotiating the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013 with an aim to create the world's biggest free trade market comprising of 850 million consumers. While exporters are in favour of the deal that promises lower tariffs and a wider base of consumers, the consumers in Europe fear it would it would lead to more outsourcing and consequently job losses. According to a Reuters report, several rights group fear that the deal would provide easier access to European market without creating more jobs. "We hope that more than 250,000 participants will join in the march nationwide," Roland Suess from the anti-globalisation group Attac, one of the organisers of the demonstrations in seven German cities including the capital Berlin and Frankfurt, told AFP. In Germany, there is widepread skepticism about the accords in Germany. According to AFP, a survey has highlighted that 28 per cent its respondents doubted free trade bringing in any benefits and 52 per cent say it would result in weakening of standards and increasingly inferior products. Proponents say that EU's most ambitious trade impact could increase trade between the two areas by some 20 per cent, adding some 11.6 billion euros a year to the EU economy. However, prominent rights groups in Germany argued that the deal undermines democracy because citizens would be excluded from decision-making. Vice-Chancellor and economy minister Sigmar Gabriel last month declared that talks on TTIP have "de facto failed" while Peter Gauweiler, who had quit his CDU post and MP mandate to protest against Merkel's stand on the the euro crisis, called the proposed treaties "a danger for democracy". Gabriel had also insisted that "Europeans must not give in to (the Americans') demands". However, a hopeful German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week said EU should keep negotiating with US over the free trade deal. A new round of talks will start in October and US President Barack Obama wants the deal concluded before his term ends in January. A smaller version of TTIP is also in the works with Canada. The deal called CETA, will be signed in October. There are also plans for setting up a special court to hear cases by companies against governments over breaching of regulatory issues, which the opponents see as giving firms a veto over public policy. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Germany likely to witness mass protests today against transatlantic trade deal

The Italian coastguard on Monday rescued around 6,500 migrants off the coast of Libya in an operation that had as many as 700 people crammed onto one fishing boat. 
 
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which was part of the operations, informed that a five-day-old baby was among those rescued and was airlifted to an Italian hospital. 
 
Vessels from Italy&rsquo;s humanitarian organisations as well as EU&#39;s border agency Frontex were involved in the operations. 
 
More than 1,100 migrants were rescued in the same area on Sunday.&nbsp; 
 
According to the UN&rsquo;s refugee agency and the coastguard, a total of 112,500 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year against last year&rsquo;s 116,000 up to August. 
 
Most of these are from West Africa and the Horn of Africa, often departing from Libya.&nbsp; 
 
The Italian coastguard is expecting more migrant boats soon, given the favourable weather conditions. 
 
Vessels run by humanitarian groups often patrol the waters off the Libyan coast, but rival factions are now trying to control migrant trafficking. 
 
More than 3,000 migrants have died at sea while trying to reach either Greece or Italy&nbsp; 
this year, 50 per cent more than that in 2015. 
 
Europe recorded the arrival of 204,000 in the first six months of 2016, the UN refugee agency informed, with the continent calling it its worst migration crisis since World War II. 
 
More than a million migrants had landed in Europe last year, most fleeing war in Syria and the Middle East. 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies)

Vessels from Italy?s humanitarian organisations and EU's border agency Frontex were involved in the rescue operations

The Italian coastguard on Monday rescued around 6,500 migrants off the coast of Libya in an operation that had as many as 700 people crammed onto one fishing boat. Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which was part of the operations, informed that a five-day-old baby was among those rescued and was airlifted to an Italian hospital. Vessels from Italy’s humanitarian organisations as well as EU's border agency Frontex were involved in the operations. More than 1,100 migrants were rescued in the same area on Sunday. According to the UN’s refugee agency and the coastguard, a total of 112,500 migrants have arrived in Italy so far this year against last year’s 116,000 up to August. Most of these are from West Africa and the Horn of Africa, often departing from Libya. The Italian coastguard is expecting more migrant boats soon, given the favourable weather conditions. Vessels run by humanitarian groups often patrol the waters off the Libyan coast, but rival factions are now trying to control migrant trafficking. More than 3,000 migrants have died at sea while trying to reach either Greece or Italy this year, 50 per cent more than that in 2015. Europe recorded the arrival of 204,000 in the first six months of 2016, the UN refugee agency informed, with the continent calling it its worst migration crisis since World War II. More than a million migrants had landed in Europe last year, most fleeing war in Syria and the Middle East. (WION with inputs from agencies)

6,500 migrants rescued off Libya coast

A man set a train carriage in Switzerland on fire using a flammable liquid and stabbed passengers today, injuring six people, including a six-year-old child, police said. 
 
The man, a 27-year-old Swiss citizen, carried out the attack on a train travelling in Switzerland&#39;s far east, along its border with Liechtenstein, and was also injured, regional police in Saint Gallen said in a statement. 
 
Police said the attack had taken place at around 2:20 pm (local time) near the Salez station on a train running between Buchs and Sennwald and that some of the injuries were serious. 
 
&quot;According to the information we have for the time being, the 27-year-old Swiss man poured out a flammable liquid ... (which) caught fire,&quot; police said, adding that the man &quot;was also armed with at least one knife&quot;. 
 
Seven people including the suspected attacker were admitted to various hospitals with burn and stab wounds, the statement said. 
Contacted by AFP, police said the motive for the attack was unknown. 
 
The victims included two men aged 17 and 50, and three women aged 17, 34 and 43. Dozens of people were on the train at the time of the attack, the police statement said. 
 
A massive contingent of rescue workers rushed to the scene, including police, firefighters, ambulances and three rescue helicopters. 
The Salez station remains closed, and police said replacement buses had been set up. 
 
Saint Gallen prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the attack.&nbsp;Police said the train had suffered damages upwards of 100,000 Swiss francs. 
 
(AFP)

The 27-year-old Swiss citizen, who was also injured, carried out the attack on a train travelling in Switzerland's far east, said police

A man set a train carriage in Switzerland on fire using a flammable liquid and stabbed passengers today, injuring six people, including a six-year-old child, police said. The man, a 27-year-old Swiss citizen, carried out the attack on a train travelling in Switzerland's far east, along its border with Liechtenstein, and was also injured, regional police in Saint Gallen said in a statement. Police said the attack had taken place at around 2:20 pm (local time) near the Salez station on a train running between Buchs and Sennwald and that some of the injuries were serious. "According to the information we have for the time being, the 27-year-old Swiss man poured out a flammable liquid ... (which) caught fire," police said, adding that the man "was also armed with at least one knife". Seven people including the suspected attacker were admitted to various hospitals with burn and stab wounds, the statement said. Contacted by AFP, police said the motive for the attack was unknown. The victims included two men aged 17 and 50, and three women aged 17, 34 and 43. Dozens of people were on the train at the time of the attack, the police statement said. A massive contingent of rescue workers rushed to the scene, including police, firefighters, ambulances and three rescue helicopters. The Salez station remains closed, and police said replacement buses had been set up. Saint Gallen prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the attack. Police said the train had suffered damages upwards of 100,000 Swiss francs. (AFP)

Man sets Swiss train on fire, injures six in knife rampage

Russia&#39;s sports minister Vitaly Mutko said today he was pleased with European Olympic Committee (EOC) president Pat Hickey&#39;s opposition to a North American-led campaign to ban Russia from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. 
 
&quot;The statement by Hickey is very important,&quot; TASS news agency quoted Mutko as saying. 
 
Earlier today Hickey said he was &quot;shocked&quot; by a move led by the United States and Canada&#39;s anti-doping agencies to have Russia completely banned from the Summer Games, which start in Rio on August 5. 
 
The move pre-empted the release on Monday of a report into allegations of Russian doping carried out for World-Anti Doping Agency (WADA) by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren. 
 
Mutko said that Hickey &quot;is quite right when he says that the move by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) puts in question the independence and the confidentiality of the investigation by the WADA commission.&quot; 
 
&quot;Now it&#39;s clear what will happen after the report by McLaren: a news conference and pressure on Russia.&quot; 
 
Hickey said he was alerted to the move when the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency&#39;s athletes commission sent out an appeal for backing for the campaign. 
 
McLaren is expected to report on Monday on his investigation into allegations that the Russian government manipulated doping samples taken at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to protect Russian competitors. 
 
McLaren has investigated allegations made by former Moscow doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov that even Russian secret services took part in an operation to manipulate Russian doping samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. 
 
Russia is already barred from international athletics by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). 
 
But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) could rule as early as Tuesday on an appeal by 68 Russian athletes who say they should be allowed to compete in Rio. 
 
Pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva is among the 68 hoping for a last-minute ticket to Rio from CAS. 
 
Russia&#39;s sports minister also condemned the situation around the Monday&#39;s report by McLaren as &quot;just a farce and political pressure,&quot; speaking to R-Sport news agency. 
 
&quot;A public commission makes an accusation against a country. But what kind of powers or ability does it have to do that? An accusation against a country is a serious thing. You need to observe some proprieties.&quot; 
 
Mutko added that both Russia Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and Moscow&#39;s anti-doping laboratory are &quot;currently part of WADA&#39;s internal structure,&quot; saying: 
 
&quot;It&#39;s necessary to understand that by blaming us you also blame yourself.&quot; 
 
&quot;Russia is open. We&#39;re ready to do everything at the top level. That&#39;s our philosophy,&quot; Mutko said. 
 
(AFP)

European Olympic Committee president Pat Hickey shocked by US and Canada's anti-doping agencies move to ban Russia from the summer Games

Russia's sports minister Vitaly Mutko said today he was pleased with European Olympic Committee (EOC) president Pat Hickey's opposition to a North American-led campaign to ban Russia from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. "The statement by Hickey is very important," TASS news agency quoted Mutko as saying. Earlier today Hickey said he was "shocked" by a move led by the United States and Canada's anti-doping agencies to have Russia completely banned from the Summer Games, which start in Rio on August 5. The move pre-empted the release on Monday of a report into allegations of Russian doping carried out for World-Anti Doping Agency (WADA) by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren. Mutko said that Hickey "is quite right when he says that the move by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) puts in question the independence and the confidentiality of the investigation by the WADA commission." "Now it's clear what will happen after the report by McLaren: a news conference and pressure on Russia." Hickey said he was alerted to the move when the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency's athletes commission sent out an appeal for backing for the campaign. McLaren is expected to report on Monday on his investigation into allegations that the Russian government manipulated doping samples taken at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to protect Russian competitors. McLaren has investigated allegations made by former Moscow doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov that even Russian secret services took part in an operation to manipulate Russian doping samples at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. Russia is already barred from international athletics by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) could rule as early as Tuesday on an appeal by 68 Russian athletes who say they should be allowed to compete in Rio. Pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva is among the 68 hoping for a last-minute ticket to Rio from CAS. Russia's sports minister also condemned the situation around the Monday's report by McLaren as "just a farce and political pressure," speaking to R-Sport news agency. "A public commission makes an accusation against a country. But what kind of powers or ability does it have to do that? An accusation against a country is a serious thing. You need to observe some proprieties." Mutko added that both Russia Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and Moscow's anti-doping laboratory are "currently part of WADA's internal structure," saying: "It's necessary to understand that by blaming us you also blame yourself." "Russia is open. We're ready to do everything at the top level. That's our philosophy," Mutko said. (AFP)

Rio Olympics: European Olympic Committee's president opposes Russia ban

A week after England and Russia supporters clashed, and while flare-throwing and fighting have marred games elsewhere, fans of Iceland say they prefer hugs to hooliganism at Euro 2016. 
 
Having the time of their lives, Icelanders told AFP in Marseille they have come to their first ever European Championships to have fun and feel part of Europe. 
 
&quot;I&#39;m not sure life can get any better, it&#39;s historic, great to be here,&quot; Louise Ragnarsdottir told AFP on the seafront of the southern city.&nbsp;&quot;All my life I watched the tournaments on TV, now we are part of Europe&#39;s party!&quot; said the 28-year-old accountant from Reykjavik. 
 
Some 27,000 Iceland fans have travelled to France, almost 10 per cent of the Nordic island&#39;s 330,000-strong population. No smaller country has ever featured at a Euro finals. 
 
&quot;We live on a faraway island, just to go abroad at all is an experience,&quot; said Ragnarsdottir. 
 
After the Group F tie with Hungary on Saturday pockets of Iceland fans gathered in Marseille&#39;s Vieux Port district to chant &quot;Boom-Boom-Hoooo!&quot;, leaping in unison on the &quot;Hoooo!&quot;. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s our Viking song, synchronised and terrifying,&quot; laughed Arni Gardar, an IT consultant from Reykjavik. 
 
&quot;But we don&#39;t mean to be scary, we are good Vikings not marauders, actually very nice, we come in peace,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;Iceland is N-Iceland!&quot; cried another fan, Jonina Unnur Gunnarsdottir. 
 
&nbsp;&#39;Best fans yet&#39; 
 
&quot;They are the best fans we have seen yet,&quot; said Karim, a cafe owner watching the revelry on the Quai des Belges. &quot;It was different last week,&quot; he recalled. 
 
Nearly a week ago England and Russia fans conducted pitched battles in the worst violence at a football tournament since the 1998 World Cup, prompting police to respond with tear gas and baton charges. 
 
For fans of the Nordic minnows the Euro 2016 violence has been an eye-opening experience. 
 
&quot;We are a peaceful nation, we have no army, no guns, we&#39;re just not into fighting,&quot; Atli Gudmundsson told AFP. &quot;At home families go to football, no-one dreams of ever causing trouble.&quot; 
 
The 29-year-old attended the Croatia-Czech Republic tie in Saint Etienne on Friday where Croatian fans fought among themselves and lit flares, forcing a temporary stoppage in play. 
 
&quot;Torches on the pitch, fighting in the stands, that kind of thing is new to us, it was quite shocking to see,&quot; he said. 
 
&#39;Share the love&#39;&nbsp; 
 
&quot;We just want to hug people, I mean come on, just share the love,&quot; said his friend Daniel Ma&#39;sson. 
 
Hungary brought some 20,000 fans to the game in Marseille. Some scuffled with security guards before the game and threw flares on the pitch. 
 
All the tension was on the other side of the pitch,&quot; Elisabet Thorisdottir told AFP. 
 
&quot;The Hungarians were a little bit aggressive, but very passionate. We had no problem with them or anyone else.&quot; 
 
Around 10,000 Iceland fans were also in the Stade Velodrome and the two sets of fans produced a raucous atmosphere, the Scandinavians holding their own with renditions of &quot;Boom-Boom-Hoooo&quot;. 
 
And leading 1-0 with two minutes to go Iceland were on the brink of a fairytale win to follow the 1-1 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo&#39;s Portugal on their European Championships debut. 
 
Then two minutes from the end an own goal by Birkir Savarsson crushed their dreams. 
 
&quot;The Portugal 1-1 draw was like a win, but the Hungary 1-1 felt like a defeat,&quot; said Iceland fan Bjarni Mak Johanntsson. 
 
But for a country that just four years ago was ranked 131st in the world, their fans will enjoy the rest of Euro 2016 no matter whatever happens in the final group game against Austria in the Stade de France on Wednesday. 
 
&quot;We&#39;re the small guys, always overlooked,&quot; said Hdortur Bjarnason. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s just good to be noticed for once. Europe, we will be back!&quot; he said, punching the air. 
(AFP)

Almost 10% of all Icelanders have come to their first-ever European Championships to have fun

A week after England and Russia supporters clashed, and while flare-throwing and fighting have marred games elsewhere, fans of Iceland say they prefer hugs to hooliganism at Euro 2016. Having the time of their lives, Icelanders told AFP in Marseille they have come to their first ever European Championships to have fun and feel part of Europe. "I'm not sure life can get any better, it's historic, great to be here," Louise Ragnarsdottir told AFP on the seafront of the southern city. "All my life I watched the tournaments on TV, now we are part of Europe's party!" said the 28-year-old accountant from Reykjavik. Some 27,000 Iceland fans have travelled to France, almost 10 per cent of the Nordic island's 330,000-strong population. No smaller country has ever featured at a Euro finals. "We live on a faraway island, just to go abroad at all is an experience," said Ragnarsdottir. After the Group F tie with Hungary on Saturday pockets of Iceland fans gathered in Marseille's Vieux Port district to chant "Boom-Boom-Hoooo!", leaping in unison on the "Hoooo!". "It's our Viking song, synchronised and terrifying," laughed Arni Gardar, an IT consultant from Reykjavik. "But we don't mean to be scary, we are good Vikings not marauders, actually very nice, we come in peace," he said. "Iceland is N-Iceland!" cried another fan, Jonina Unnur Gunnarsdottir. 'Best fans yet' "They are the best fans we have seen yet," said Karim, a cafe owner watching the revelry on the Quai des Belges. "It was different last week," he recalled. Nearly a week ago England and Russia fans conducted pitched battles in the worst violence at a football tournament since the 1998 World Cup, prompting police to respond with tear gas and baton charges. For fans of the Nordic minnows the Euro 2016 violence has been an eye-opening experience. "We are a peaceful nation, we have no army, no guns, we're just not into fighting," Atli Gudmundsson told AFP. "At home families go to football, no-one dreams of ever causing trouble." The 29-year-old attended the Croatia-Czech Republic tie in Saint Etienne on Friday where Croatian fans fought among themselves and lit flares, forcing a temporary stoppage in play. "Torches on the pitch, fighting in the stands, that kind of thing is new to us, it was quite shocking to see," he said. 'Share the love' "We just want to hug people, I mean come on, just share the love," said his friend Daniel Ma'sson. Hungary brought some 20,000 fans to the game in Marseille. Some scuffled with security guards before the game and threw flares on the pitch. All the tension was on the other side of the pitch," Elisabet Thorisdottir told AFP. "The Hungarians were a little bit aggressive, but very passionate. We had no problem with them or anyone else." Around 10,000 Iceland fans were also in the Stade Velodrome and the two sets of fans produced a raucous atmosphere, the Scandinavians holding their own with renditions of "Boom-Boom-Hoooo". And leading 1-0 with two minutes to go Iceland were on the brink of a fairytale win to follow the 1-1 draw against Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal on their European Championships debut. Then two minutes from the end an own goal by Birkir Savarsson crushed their dreams. "The Portugal 1-1 draw was like a win, but the Hungary 1-1 felt like a defeat," said Iceland fan Bjarni Mak Johanntsson. But for a country that just four years ago was ranked 131st in the world, their fans will enjoy the rest of Euro 2016 no matter whatever happens in the final group game against Austria in the Stade de France on Wednesday. "We're the small guys, always overlooked," said Hdortur Bjarnason. "It's just good to be noticed for once. Europe, we will be back!" he said, punching the air. (AFP)

'Nice' Iceland fans prefer hugs to hooliganism

FIFA&#39;s ethics committee today recommended a ban of at least four years from all football activities for former Thailand federation president Worawi Makudi. Worawi, a FIFA exective committee member until last year, is in the dock for violating the sports ruling body&#39;s &quot;general rules&quot; and &quot;forgery and falsification&quot;, FIFA&#39;s adjudicatory chamber revealed in a statement. 
 
The suspension was called for after a final report on Worawi was submitted by the investigatory arm of FIFA&#39;s ethics committee. &quot;The investigatory chamber recommends a ban from all football-related activity for no less than four years and a fine of CHF 25,000 ($25,000),&quot; the judging body announced. 
 
&quot;For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish further details at the moment,&quot; its statement added.&nbsp; 
 
Thai football has been mired in division and controversy after a cascade of scandals linked to the deposed Football Association of Thailand (FAT) chief. Worawi was found guilty in July 2015 by a Thai court of forgery in his re-election as head of FAT. He has denied all wrongdoing. 
 
Worawi was for years a staunch ally of disgraced ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has been banned from football for six years over ethics violation. 
 
(AFP)

Worawi was found guilty in July 2015 by a Thai court of forgery in his re-election as head of Football Association of Thailand

FIFA's ethics committee today recommended a ban of at least four years from all football activities for former Thailand federation president Worawi Makudi. Worawi, a FIFA exective committee member until last year, is in the dock for violating the sports ruling body's "general rules" and "forgery and falsification", FIFA's adjudicatory chamber revealed in a statement. The suspension was called for after a final report on Worawi was submitted by the investigatory arm of FIFA's ethics committee. "The investigatory chamber recommends a ban from all football-related activity for no less than four years and a fine of CHF 25,000 ($25,000)," the judging body announced. "For reasons linked to privacy rights and the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, the adjudicatory chamber will not publish further details at the moment," its statement added. Thai football has been mired in division and controversy after a cascade of scandals linked to the deposed Football Association of Thailand (FAT) chief. Worawi was found guilty in July 2015 by a Thai court of forgery in his re-election as head of FAT. He has denied all wrongdoing. Worawi was for years a staunch ally of disgraced ex-FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who has been banned from football for six years over ethics violation. (AFP)

FIFA recommends four-year ban for ex-federation boss Worawi Makudi

Now, spend a night in this incredible prison turned hostel in Slovenia.

Slovenia's Prison Hostel

Cristiano Ronaldo has vowed to come back stronger for the coming season after suffering a knee injury in Portugal&#39;s triumphant Euro 2016 final earlier this month. 
 
The Real Madrid forward, who is in this year&#39;s Best Player in Europe shortlist, was carried off the pitch on a stretcher after 25 minutes in the final against hosts France. 
 
&quot;I just wanted to thank all my fans,&quot; Ronaldo said in a video on his Instagram account. 
 
&quot;I wanted to tell them that all is well and that I will come back much stronger. Thank you, long live Portugal.&quot; 
 
The thirty-one-year-old, who racked up 51 goals in 48 games last season, scored the decisive penalty to seal Real&#39;s second Champions League final success over local rivals Atletico Madrid in three years. 
 
La Liga runners-up Real begin their 2016-17 campaign, in what will be manager Zinedine Zidane&#39;s first full season in charge, away to Real Sociedad on August 21. 
 
(Reuters)

The Portuguese forward was forced to leave the field due to an injury after 25 minutes in the 2016 Euro final

Cristiano Ronaldo has vowed to come back stronger for the coming season after suffering a knee injury in Portugal's triumphant Euro 2016 final earlier this month. The Real Madrid forward, who is in this year's Best Player in Europe shortlist, was carried off the pitch on a stretcher after 25 minutes in the final against hosts France. "I just wanted to thank all my fans," Ronaldo said in a video on his Instagram account. "I wanted to tell them that all is well and that I will come back much stronger. Thank you, long live Portugal." The thirty-one-year-old, who racked up 51 goals in 48 games last season, scored the decisive penalty to seal Real's second Champions League final success over local rivals Atletico Madrid in three years. La Liga runners-up Real begin their 2016-17 campaign, in what will be manager Zinedine Zidane's first full season in charge, away to Real Sociedad on August 21. (Reuters)

Cristiano Ronaldo pledges to come back stronger after knee injury

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Islam could not be equated with terrorism and warned Europe was pushing its young into the hands of extremists. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s not true and it&#39;s not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism,&quot; he told journalists aboard the papal plane during the return journey from a trip to Poland. 
 
&quot;I don&#39;t think it is right to equate Islam with violence&quot;. 
 
Francis defended his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal jihadist murder of a Catholic priest in France in the latest of a string of recent attacks in Europe claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. 
 
&quot;In almost every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. We have them too.&quot; 
 
&quot;If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics.&quot; 
 
The pontiff was speaking after Muslims attended Catholic mass in churches around France on Sunday in solidarity and sorrow following the murder of the priest, whose throat was slit at the altar of his church. 
 
In an echo of remarks made during his five-day trip to Poland for a Catholic youth festival, Francis said religion was not the driving force behind the violence. 
 
&quot;You can kill with the tongue as well as the knife,&quot; he said, in an apparent reference to a rise in populist parties fuelling racism and xenophobia. 
 
He said Europe should look closer to home, saying &quot;terrorism... grows where the God of money is put first&quot; and &quot;where there are no other options&quot;. 
 
&quot;How many of our European young have we left empty of ideals, with no work, so they turn to drugs, to alcohol, and sign up with fundamentalist groups?&quot; he asked. 
 
(AFP)

Pope defended his decision not to name Islam while condemning brutal jihadist murder of Catholic priest in recent church attack in France

Pope Francis said on Sunday that Islam could not be equated with terrorism and warned Europe was pushing its young into the hands of extremists. "It's not true and it's not correct (to say) Islam is terrorism," he told journalists aboard the papal plane during the return journey from a trip to Poland. "I don't think it is right to equate Islam with violence". Francis defended his decision not to name Islam when condemning the brutal jihadist murder of a Catholic priest in France in the latest of a string of recent attacks in Europe claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. "In almost every religion there is always a small group of fundamentalists. We have them too." "If I have to talk about Islamic violence I have to talk about Christian violence. Every day in the newspapers I see violence in Italy, someone kills his girlfriend, another kills his mother-in-law, and these are baptised Catholics." The pontiff was speaking after Muslims attended Catholic mass in churches around France on Sunday in solidarity and sorrow following the murder of the priest, whose throat was slit at the altar of his church. In an echo of remarks made during his five-day trip to Poland for a Catholic youth festival, Francis said religion was not the driving force behind the violence. "You can kill with the tongue as well as the knife," he said, in an apparent reference to a rise in populist parties fuelling racism and xenophobia. He said Europe should look closer to home, saying "terrorism... grows where the God of money is put first" and "where there are no other options". "How many of our European young have we left empty of ideals, with no work, so they turn to drugs, to alcohol, and sign up with fundamentalist groups?" he asked. (AFP)

Islam is not terrorism: Pope

The danger of attacks in Germany remains high, an interior ministry spokesman said today after a spate of four attacks over the last week that have left 10 people dead and 34 injured. 
 
&quot;The danger of attack has been high for a long time and remains high,&quot; interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told a regular government news conference. 
 
Meanwhile, a local newspaper has reported today that Germany&#39;s federal criminal police have 410 leads on possible terrorists among refugees there. The Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper said so, compared with 369 leads in mid-May since the beginning of the migrant crisis last year. 
 
Investigations have been launched in 60 cases, the newspaper said. It cited federal BKA police as saying they did not currently have any concrete indications of attack plans. 
 
&quot;In view of continuing migration to Germany we must assume that there could be active and former members, supporters and sympathisers of terrorist organisations or Islamist-motivated war criminals among the refugees,&quot; the newspaper quoted federal police as saying. 
 
(Reuters)

A local newspaper has reported today that Germany's federal criminal police have 410 leads on possible terrorists among refugees there

The danger of attacks in Germany remains high, an interior ministry spokesman said today after a spate of four attacks over the last week that have left 10 people dead and 34 injured. "The danger of attack has been high for a long time and remains high," interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told a regular government news conference. Meanwhile, a local newspaper has reported today that Germany's federal criminal police have 410 leads on possible terrorists among refugees there. The Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper said so, compared with 369 leads in mid-May since the beginning of the migrant crisis last year. Investigations have been launched in 60 cases, the newspaper said. It cited federal BKA police as saying they did not currently have any concrete indications of attack plans. "In view of continuing migration to Germany we must assume that there could be active and former members, supporters and sympathisers of terrorist organisations or Islamist-motivated war criminals among the refugees," the newspaper quoted federal police as saying. (Reuters)

Danger of attack in Germany remains high, says interior ministry

The danger of attacks in Germany remains high, an interior ministry spokesman said today after a spate of four attacks over the last week that have left 10 people dead and 34 injured. 
 
&quot;The danger of attack has been high for a long time and remains high,&quot; interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told a regular government news conference. 
 
Germany&#39;s federal criminal police have 410 leads on possible terrorists among refugees there, a local newspaper reported today. The Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper said so, compared with 369 leads in mid-May since the beginning of the migrant crisis last year. 
 
Investigations have been launched in 60 cases, the newspaper said. It cited federal BKA police as saying they did not currently have any concrete indications of attack plans. 
 
&quot;In view of continuing migration to Germany, we must assume that there could be active and former members, supporters and sympathisers of terrorist organisations or Islamist-motivated war criminals among the refugees,&quot; the newspaper quoted federal police as saying. 
 
(Reuters)

The danger of attacks in Germany remains high, an interior ministry spokesman said today after a spate of four attacks over the last week that have left 10 people dead and 34 injured. "The danger of attack has been high for a long time and remains high," interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate told a regular government news conference. Germany's federal criminal police have 410 leads on possible terrorists among refugees there, a local newspaper reported today. The Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung newspaper said so, compared with 369 leads in mid-May since the beginning of the migrant crisis last year. Investigations have been launched in 60 cases, the newspaper said. It cited federal BKA police as saying they did not currently have any concrete indications of attack plans. "In view of continuing migration to Germany, we must assume that there could be active and former members, supporters and sympathisers of terrorist organisations or Islamist-motivated war criminals among the refugees," the newspaper quoted federal police as saying. (Reuters)

Danger of attack in Germany remains high: Interior ministry

British police said today there had been almost 6,200 hate crimes reported in the last month following the vote to leave the European Union in a referendum where immigration had been a key issue. In the four weeks from June 16, police forces across the country said 6,193 offences had been reported, with the most common crimes being harassment, assault and other violence such as verbal abuse or spitting. 
 
Britons voted on June 23 to exit the EU following bitter and deeply divisive campaigning in which the control of immigration was one of the main arguments of those who supported leaving the bloc. 
 
Since the result was declared, Muslims and Eastern Europeans say they have been particularly targeted. The latest figures showed there were 3001 offences in the first two weeks of July, down six per cent compared to the previous fortnight, but still 20 per cent higher than the same period last year.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Following increases in hate crime seen after the EU referendum, police forces have been taking a robust approach to these crimes and we are pleased to see the numbers of incidents have begun to fall,&quot; said Mark Hamilton, the National Police Chiefs&#39; Council spokesman on hate crimes. &quot;Clearly any hate crime is unacceptable and these numbers are still far too high.&quot; 
 
Critics of the &quot;Leave&quot; campaign say its focus on immigration helped stoke xenophobia and racism, an accusation its leaders reject. A week before the vote, opposition Labour lawmaker Jo Cox, a strong supporter of remaining in the EU, was shot and stabbed to death in her constituency in northern England. 
 
(Reuters)

Since the result was declared, Muslims and Eastern Europeans say they have been particularly targeted

British police said today there had been almost 6,200 hate crimes reported in the last month following the vote to leave the European Union in a referendum where immigration had been a key issue. In the four weeks from June 16, police forces across the country said 6,193 offences had been reported, with the most common crimes being harassment, assault and other violence such as verbal abuse or spitting. Britons voted on June 23 to exit the EU following bitter and deeply divisive campaigning in which the control of immigration was one of the main arguments of those who supported leaving the bloc. Since the result was declared, Muslims and Eastern Europeans say they have been particularly targeted. The latest figures showed there were 3001 offences in the first two weeks of July, down six per cent compared to the previous fortnight, but still 20 per cent higher than the same period last year. "Following increases in hate crime seen after the EU referendum, police forces have been taking a robust approach to these crimes and we are pleased to see the numbers of incidents have begun to fall," said Mark Hamilton, the National Police Chiefs' Council spokesman on hate crimes. "Clearly any hate crime is unacceptable and these numbers are still far too high." Critics of the "Leave" campaign say its focus on immigration helped stoke xenophobia and racism, an accusation its leaders reject. A week before the vote, opposition Labour lawmaker Jo Cox, a strong supporter of remaining in the EU, was shot and stabbed to death in her constituency in northern England. (Reuters)

UK police report almost 6,200 hate crimes in month after Brexit vote

Europe is at major risk of &quot;lone wolf&quot; terror attacks, its policing agency said today, with the latest incidents showing &quot;how difficult it is to detect and disrupt suspects&quot;. 
 
Recent incidents including Monday&#39;s attack on a German train and last week&#39;s carnage in Nice which left 84 people dead &quot;remain a favoured tactic by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda,&quot; Europol said in a statement. 
 
&quot;Both groups have repeatedly called on Muslims living in western countries to perpetrate lone actor attacks in their countries of residence,&quot; it said. 
 
In the latest incident, the Islamic State group on Tuesday released a video purportedly featuring a 17-year-old migrant who went on an axe rampage on a train at Wuerzburg in southern Germany, injuring five people, two critically. 
 
&quot;Although IS has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, none seem to have been planned, logistically supported or executed directly by IS,&quot; Europol said, 
 
Despite the attackers&#39; pledges of allegiance to the IS group, &quot;their actual involvement cannot be established,&quot; Europol said. 
 
The Hague-based policing organisation also released its 2015 &quot;EU Terrorism and Trend Report&quot; saying 151 people died and more than 350 others were injured in terror attacks last year in the 28-member bloc. 
 
The 55-page report only looked at 2015 and did not take into account the Nice attack or the attacks on the Brussels airport and metro stations in March in which 32 people died. 
 
&quot;In 2015 the EU (European Union) experienced a massive number of casualties caused by terrorist attacks,&quot; Europol chief Rob Wainwright said. 
 
&quot;The carefully planned attacks demonstrate the elevated threat to the EU from a fanatical minority based in the Middle East, combined with a network of people born and raised in the EU,&quot; he said. 
 
These people are &quot;often radicalised within a short space of time, (and) proven willing to act as facilitators and active accomplices in terrorism,&quot; Wainwright said. 
 
A significant number of all foreign terrorist travellers in Syria and Iraq are now female, the report said, and women have also &quot;proven to be very successful in facilitating and recruiting while still in the EU&quot;. 
 
These women are trained in the use of weapons though are probably not currently taking part in active combat, Europol added. 
 
&quot;Their roles may change in the future, which may have an effect on the nature and impact&quot; of Islamic State group operations in Europe, the policing agency warned. 
 
Last year, 687 suspects were arrested, of whom 198 were convicted of jihadist activities. 
 
Europol warned: &quot;It is a highly challenging task for the security services and law enforcement to prevent every terrorist attack by keeping track of the ever-increasing numbers of people suspected of being, in one way, or another sympathetic to IS ideology.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

The Islamic State group yesterday released a video purportedly featuring a 17-year-old migrant who went on an axe rampage on a train

Europe is at major risk of "lone wolf" terror attacks, its policing agency said today, with the latest incidents showing "how difficult it is to detect and disrupt suspects". Recent incidents including Monday's attack on a German train and last week's carnage in Nice which left 84 people dead "remain a favoured tactic by the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda," Europol said in a statement. "Both groups have repeatedly called on Muslims living in western countries to perpetrate lone actor attacks in their countries of residence," it said. In the latest incident, the Islamic State group on Tuesday released a video purportedly featuring a 17-year-old migrant who went on an axe rampage on a train at Wuerzburg in southern Germany, injuring five people, two critically. "Although IS has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks, none seem to have been planned, logistically supported or executed directly by IS," Europol said, Despite the attackers' pledges of allegiance to the IS group, "their actual involvement cannot be established," Europol said. The Hague-based policing organisation also released its 2015 "EU Terrorism and Trend Report" saying 151 people died and more than 350 others were injured in terror attacks last year in the 28-member bloc. The 55-page report only looked at 2015 and did not take into account the Nice attack or the attacks on the Brussels airport and metro stations in March in which 32 people died. "In 2015 the EU (European Union) experienced a massive number of casualties caused by terrorist attacks," Europol chief Rob Wainwright said. "The carefully planned attacks demonstrate the elevated threat to the EU from a fanatical minority based in the Middle East, combined with a network of people born and raised in the EU," he said. These people are "often radicalised within a short space of time, (and) proven willing to act as facilitators and active accomplices in terrorism," Wainwright said. A significant number of all foreign terrorist travellers in Syria and Iraq are now female, the report said, and women have also "proven to be very successful in facilitating and recruiting while still in the EU". These women are trained in the use of weapons though are probably not currently taking part in active combat, Europol added. "Their roles may change in the future, which may have an effect on the nature and impact" of Islamic State group operations in Europe, the policing agency warned. Last year, 687 suspects were arrested, of whom 198 were convicted of jihadist activities. Europol warned: "It is a highly challenging task for the security services and law enforcement to prevent every terrorist attack by keeping track of the ever-increasing numbers of people suspected of being, in one way, or another sympathetic to IS ideology." (AFP)

Europol warns it is difficult to predict lone wolf attacks

Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and virus-carriers live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said today. 
 
New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said the authors of a comprehensive analysis in The Lancet HIV journal. 
 
It was published to coincide with the International AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa to assess progress in stemming an outbreak that has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s. 
 
The report paints &quot;a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections,&quot; according to lead author Haidong Wang from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle. 
 
This could be worsened by &quot;stagnating&quot; funding for HIV/AIDS programmes and medicines. 
 
&quot;Therefore, a massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the estimated $36 billion (33 billion euros) needed every year to realise the goal of ending AIDS by 2030,&quot; IHME director Christopher Murray said in a statement. 
 
Over the past 15 years, countries have contributed $110 billion in &quot;development assistance&quot; for HIV/AIDS programmes. 
 
Today, there are some 38.8 million people living with the AIDS-causing virus, a steady increase from 28 million in 2000 thanks to the advent in 1996 of life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). 
 
Annual AIDS deaths have declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2015. 
 
There is no AIDS cure or vaccine. 
 
ART cocktails suppress the virus, enabling people to live long lives, though the drugs are expensive and can have side effects. 
 
 
Dramatic change required 
 
Use of antiretrovirals, for long the preserve of the rich, grew from 6.4 percent of infected men in 2005 to 38.6 percent ten years later, and from 3.3 percent to 42.4 percent for women over the same period, the study found. 
 
Another factor that has helped cut the death rate was education and medicines to prevent infected women passing the virus onto their unborn children, said the report. 
 
The study saw researchers collate HIV data recorded from 1980 to 2015 for 195 countries. 
 
In spite of advances, most countries are still far from achieving the UNAIDS goal of ensuring that by 2020, 90 percent of infected people will know their status, and 90 percent of those will receive ART. 
 
In 2015, 41 percent of HIV-infected people received ART, said the report. 
 
The picture varied vastly between countries and regions. 
 
In 2015, 1.8 million new HIV infections, some 75 percent, were in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 212,500 (8.5 percent) in south Asia. 
 
&quot;The highest rates of infection were in southern Africa, with more than one percent of the population per year becoming infected in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland,&quot; said the report. 
 
In Europe, the highest rate of new infections was in Russia (57,340) and Ukraine (13,490). 
 
&quot;Global efforts have had less impact on the incidence of new infections than on HIV mortality,&quot; concluded the report. 
 
&quot;Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require a dramatic change in how HIV prevention is pursued.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997

Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and virus-carriers live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said today. New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said the authors of a comprehensive analysis in The Lancet HIV journal. It was published to coincide with the International AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa to assess progress in stemming an outbreak that has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s. The report paints "a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections," according to lead author Haidong Wang from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle. This could be worsened by "stagnating" funding for HIV/AIDS programmes and medicines. "Therefore, a massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the estimated $36 billion (33 billion euros) needed every year to realise the goal of ending AIDS by 2030," IHME director Christopher Murray said in a statement. Over the past 15 years, countries have contributed $110 billion in "development assistance" for HIV/AIDS programmes. Today, there are some 38.8 million people living with the AIDS-causing virus, a steady increase from 28 million in 2000 thanks to the advent in 1996 of life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). Annual AIDS deaths have declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2015. There is no AIDS cure or vaccine. ART cocktails suppress the virus, enabling people to live long lives, though the drugs are expensive and can have side effects. Dramatic change required Use of antiretrovirals, for long the preserve of the rich, grew from 6.4 percent of infected men in 2005 to 38.6 percent ten years later, and from 3.3 percent to 42.4 percent for women over the same period, the study found. Another factor that has helped cut the death rate was education and medicines to prevent infected women passing the virus onto their unborn children, said the report. The study saw researchers collate HIV data recorded from 1980 to 2015 for 195 countries. In spite of advances, most countries are still far from achieving the UNAIDS goal of ensuring that by 2020, 90 percent of infected people will know their status, and 90 percent of those will receive ART. In 2015, 41 percent of HIV-infected people received ART, said the report. The picture varied vastly between countries and regions. In 2015, 1.8 million new HIV infections, some 75 percent, were in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 212,500 (8.5 percent) in south Asia. "The highest rates of infection were in southern Africa, with more than one percent of the population per year becoming infected in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland," said the report. In Europe, the highest rate of new infections was in Russia (57,340) and Ukraine (13,490). "Global efforts have had less impact on the incidence of new infections than on HIV mortality," concluded the report. "Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require a dramatic change in how HIV prevention is pursued." (AFP)

2.5 million people suffer from HIV every year

Interior minister Theresa May opened up a strong lead on Tuesday in what is now a three-horse race to become Britain&#39;s next Prime Minister, but the first stage of voting was overshadowed by post-Brexit carnage for property investors and the Pound. 
 
In symptoms of market concern about the economic impact of leaving the European Union, sterling hit new 31-year lows and three funds investing in British property said they were suspending trading because too many people were rushing to withdraw their money at once. 
 
May won 165 votes in a first ballot of Conservative members of parliament and Andrea Leadsom, a junior energy minister, won 66, increasing the likelihood that Britain will get only its second woman Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher. Justice secretary Michael Gove was third on 48. 
 
Former defence minister Liam Fox won the fewest votes, 16, and was eliminated from the battle to replace David Cameron, who has said he will step down after Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to break away from the EU. 
 
Soon afterwards, work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb, who placed fourth with 34 votes, said he was pulling out and throwing his &quot;wholehearted support&quot; behind May. Fox said he would also back her.&nbsp; 
 
May, 59, said: &quot;There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone.&nbsp;I am the only candidate capable of delivering these three things as Prime Minister, and tonight it is clear that I am also the only one capable of drawing support from the whole of the Conservative Party.&quot; 
 
&#39;No coronation&#39; 
 
The drawn-out selection process will ultimately be decided by about 150,000 Conservative Party members in September, once MPs have whittled the field down to two candidates. 
 
Given strong eurosceptic sentiment among grassroots Conservatives, Leadsom, 53, and Gove, 48, remain in contention. Both were leading voices in the victorious Leave campaign, while May favoured remaining inside the 28-nation EU. 
 
Leadsom backer Stewart Jackson told Sky News: &quot;This shows she&#39;s ready to go all the way, there isn&#39;t going to be a coronation&quot; of May. 
 
In the meantime, signs are multiplying that concern about the impact of Brexit on trade, investment and business confidence is starting to hit the economy. 
 
The 4.4-billion-Pound ($5.7 billion) Property Portfolio run by M&amp;G Investments, the fund arm of insurer Prudential, was the latest to suspend business on Tuesday afternoon. Insurer Aviva&#39;s fund arm had earlier stopped trading in its 1.8-billion-Pound UK Property Trust, while Standard Life Investments suspended a 2.9-billion-Pound fund late on Monday. 
 
Shares plunged in other property-related funds, and asset managers and insurers were also hit. 
 
The Pound, which has borne the brunt of market concern about potential damage to the economy, plumbed new 31-year lows and is now down more than 12 per cent since the referendum.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;There is evidence that some risks have begun to crystallise. The current outlook for UK financial stability is challenging,&quot; the Bank of England said, announcing measures to encourage banks to keep lending. 
 
In a possible blow to London&#39;s financial centre, Germany&#39;s Deutsche Boerse signalled on Tuesday that the headquarters of a European giant to be created from its merger with the London Stock Exchange Group may now have to be outside the United Kingdom. 
 
Voters were bombarded in the run-up to the referendum with warnings from Cameron and a host of financial institutions and think tanks that Brexit would plunge Britain into a self-inflicted recession by jeopardising its access to the EU&#39;s tariff-free single market. 
 
The Leave campaign derided such arguments as &#39;Project Fear&#39;, arguing Britain would prosper by regaining &#39;independence&#39; from Brussels and freeing itself to set its own laws, clinch its own trade deals and set a cap on immigration - something it cannot do under EU rules allowing free movement throughout the bloc. 
 
&#39;Bloody difficult woman&#39; 
 
Whoever wins the Conservative leadership and the keys to 10 Downing Street will have to stabilise the economy and unify a party that was deeply split by the referendum campaign. 
 
The victor will also need to decide when to initiate divorce proceedings with the EU, and how to extricate Britain from 43 years of membership while trying to negotiate favourable terms of trade. 
 
The most seasoned candidates in the field are May and Gove, who stunned colleagues and commentators alike when he abruptly withdrew his support for former London mayor Boris Johnson last week, effectively forcing him from the race. Leadsom entered parliament only six years ago after a long career in financial services, and has never served in the cabinet. 
 
Gove and Leadsom have both argued forcefully that the next prime minister should come from the winning side in the referendum, which would disqualify May. 
 
&quot;I&#39;ve managed to bring people together across the Conservative Party behind a hopeful and optimistic message of change, and I hope that I&#39;ll be able to take that message to the country,&quot; Gove said. 
 
In unguarded comments earlier on Tuesday, caught on camera and broadcast by Sky News, former Conservative minister Ken Clarke made disparaging remarks about all three contenders, saying that with Gove as Prime Minister &quot;we would go to war with at least three countries at once&quot;. 
 
He described May as &quot;a bloody difficult woman&quot;, but no more difficult than Thatcher, in whose cabinet he served. He added that she was &quot;good&quot;, but lacking in foreign policy experience. 
 
Of Leadsom, Clarke said: &quot;She does have experience in the city...She is not one of the tiny band of lunatics who think we can have a sort of glorious economic future outside the (EU) single market. So long as she understands that she&#39;s not to deliver on some of the extremely stupid things she&#39;s been saying.&quot;&nbsp; 
 
(Reuters)

The victor will need to decide when to pull out of the EU, and how to favourably extricate Britain after 43 years of membership

Interior minister Theresa May opened up a strong lead on Tuesday in what is now a three-horse race to become Britain's next Prime Minister, but the first stage of voting was overshadowed by post-Brexit carnage for property investors and the Pound. In symptoms of market concern about the economic impact of leaving the European Union, sterling hit new 31-year lows and three funds investing in British property said they were suspending trading because too many people were rushing to withdraw their money at once. May won 165 votes in a first ballot of Conservative members of parliament and Andrea Leadsom, a junior energy minister, won 66, increasing the likelihood that Britain will get only its second woman Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher. Justice secretary Michael Gove was third on 48. Former defence minister Liam Fox won the fewest votes, 16, and was eliminated from the battle to replace David Cameron, who has said he will step down after Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to break away from the EU. Soon afterwards, work and pensions minister Stephen Crabb, who placed fourth with 34 votes, said he was pulling out and throwing his "wholehearted support" behind May. Fox said he would also back her. May, 59, said: "There is a big job before us: to unite our party and the country, to negotiate the best possible deal as we leave the EU, and to make Britain work for everyone. I am the only candidate capable of delivering these three things as Prime Minister, and tonight it is clear that I am also the only one capable of drawing support from the whole of the Conservative Party." 'No coronation' The drawn-out selection process will ultimately be decided by about 150,000 Conservative Party members in September, once MPs have whittled the field down to two candidates. Given strong eurosceptic sentiment among grassroots Conservatives, Leadsom, 53, and Gove, 48, remain in contention. Both were leading voices in the victorious Leave campaign, while May favoured remaining inside the 28-nation EU. Leadsom backer Stewart Jackson told Sky News: "This shows she's ready to go all the way, there isn't going to be a coronation" of May. In the meantime, signs are multiplying that concern about the impact of Brexit on trade, investment and business confidence is starting to hit the economy. The 4.4-billion-Pound ($5.7 billion) Property Portfolio run by M&G Investments, the fund arm of insurer Prudential, was the latest to suspend business on Tuesday afternoon. Insurer Aviva's fund arm had earlier stopped trading in its 1.8-billion-Pound UK Property Trust, while Standard Life Investments suspended a 2.9-billion-Pound fund late on Monday. Shares plunged in other property-related funds, and asset managers and insurers were also hit. The Pound, which has borne the brunt of market concern about potential damage to the economy, plumbed new 31-year lows and is now down more than 12 per cent since the referendum. "There is evidence that some risks have begun to crystallise. The current outlook for UK financial stability is challenging," the Bank of England said, announcing measures to encourage banks to keep lending. In a possible blow to London's financial centre, Germany's Deutsche Boerse signalled on Tuesday that the headquarters of a European giant to be created from its merger with the London Stock Exchange Group may now have to be outside the United Kingdom. Voters were bombarded in the run-up to the referendum with warnings from Cameron and a host of financial institutions and think tanks that Brexit would plunge Britain into a self-inflicted recession by jeopardising its access to the EU's tariff-free single market. The Leave campaign derided such arguments as 'Project Fear', arguing Britain would prosper by regaining 'independence' from Brussels and freeing itself to set its own laws, clinch its own trade deals and set a cap on immigration - something it cannot do under EU rules allowing free movement throughout the bloc. 'Bloody difficult woman' Whoever wins the Conservative leadership and the keys to 10 Downing Street will have to stabilise the economy and unify a party that was deeply split by the referendum campaign. The victor will also need to decide when to initiate divorce proceedings with the EU, and how to extricate Britain from 43 years of membership while trying to negotiate favourable terms of trade. The most seasoned candidates in the field are May and Gove, who stunned colleagues and commentators alike when he abruptly withdrew his support for former London mayor Boris Johnson last week, effectively forcing him from the race. Leadsom entered parliament only six years ago after a long career in financial services, and has never served in the cabinet. Gove and Leadsom have both argued forcefully that the next prime minister should come from the winning side in the referendum, which would disqualify May. "I've managed to bring people together across the Conservative Party behind a hopeful and optimistic message of change, and I hope that I'll be able to take that message to the country," Gove said. In unguarded comments earlier on Tuesday, caught on camera and broadcast by Sky News, former Conservative minister Ken Clarke made disparaging remarks about all three contenders, saying that with Gove as Prime Minister "we would go to war with at least three countries at once". He described May as "a bloody difficult woman", but no more difficult than Thatcher, in whose cabinet he served. He added that she was "good", but lacking in foreign policy experience. Of Leadsom, Clarke said: "She does have experience in the city...She is not one of the tiny band of lunatics who think we can have a sort of glorious economic future outside the (EU) single market. So long as she understands that she's not to deliver on some of the extremely stupid things she's been saying." (Reuters)

May leads three-horse PM race as Brexit hits Pound and property

European Union leaders on Monday sought to reassure Balkan nations that talks on their becoming members of the bloc will continue despite Britain&#39;s vote to leave the union. 
 
French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held a meeting with Balkan leaders in Paris during which they underlined their determination to continue the accession talks. 
 
On the sidelines of the meeting Balkan leaders from Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo spoke with the media outside the Elysee Palace. 
 
&quot;I think there were three main topics we discussed; one obviously the migration crisis, we share common threats or challenges. Clearly, the migration challenges are something we are dealing through or dealing with both in terms of the western Balkans and Europe in general. And then terrorism obviously... And the third topic which probably was also the most relevant in light of the recent Brexit announcement is to make sure that further integration of the Western Balkans proceeds. And I think that was the key message that we wanted to deliver today, that the process is moving forward and that as a result of Brexit, it will not stop,&quot; said Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic. 
 
The six countries are all at different stages in joining the EU. Serbia aims to complete accession talks by 2019. Croatia and Slovenia are already EU members. 
 
Balkans leaders told journalists the negotiation talks should continue and they did not fear that would be stopped by Brexit. 
 
In Serbia, another aspiring EU member, support for the bloc is less clear-cut. 
 
&quot;I think that this is a good indication that all countries of the western Balkans are welcome to the European Union. I don&#39;t like pledges like we are pledging to you. We don&#39;t have a subservient relationship to the union. But that is the place where the future is the best for our people and our countries. And I&#39;m happy about that and I want to congratulate the citizens of Serbia I will congratulate them on the 19th. We have a lot of work and efforts to make in front of us and obligations. But it seems to me that we have a clear and unequivocal European prospects,&quot; said Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. 
 
Backing for the EU in Kosovo and Albania is between 80 and 90 per cent, levels that British supporters of EU membership could only have dreamt of. 
 
&quot;For many European Prime Ministers, the problem is the euroscepticism but for me it is the &#39;europtimism&#39;. Albanians whether they come from Albania or Kosovo are very optimistic about the european integration. We are probably the most willing to join the EU at this stage,&quot; said Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama. 
 
During the summit German Chancellor Angela told leaders of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, which endured war and upheaval in the 1990s, that Britain&#39;s decision to leave the bloc had changed nothing in terms of their accession ambitions. 
 
France&#39;s Francois Hollande also sought to reassure Balkan hopefuls that the accession process will remain underway. 
 
(Reuters)

EU leaders assured Balkan nations that talks on their becoming members of the bloc will continue despite Britain's vote to leave the union

European Union leaders on Monday sought to reassure Balkan nations that talks on their becoming members of the bloc will continue despite Britain's vote to leave the union. French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini held a meeting with Balkan leaders in Paris during which they underlined their determination to continue the accession talks. On the sidelines of the meeting Balkan leaders from Croatia, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro and Kosovo spoke with the media outside the Elysee Palace. "I think there were three main topics we discussed; one obviously the migration crisis, we share common threats or challenges. Clearly, the migration challenges are something we are dealing through or dealing with both in terms of the western Balkans and Europe in general. And then terrorism obviously... And the third topic which probably was also the most relevant in light of the recent Brexit announcement is to make sure that further integration of the Western Balkans proceeds. And I think that was the key message that we wanted to deliver today, that the process is moving forward and that as a result of Brexit, it will not stop," said Croatian Prime Minister Tihomir Oreskovic. The six countries are all at different stages in joining the EU. Serbia aims to complete accession talks by 2019. Croatia and Slovenia are already EU members. Balkans leaders told journalists the negotiation talks should continue and they did not fear that would be stopped by Brexit. In Serbia, another aspiring EU member, support for the bloc is less clear-cut. "I think that this is a good indication that all countries of the western Balkans are welcome to the European Union. I don't like pledges like we are pledging to you. We don't have a subservient relationship to the union. But that is the place where the future is the best for our people and our countries. And I'm happy about that and I want to congratulate the citizens of Serbia I will congratulate them on the 19th. We have a lot of work and efforts to make in front of us and obligations. But it seems to me that we have a clear and unequivocal European prospects," said Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic. Backing for the EU in Kosovo and Albania is between 80 and 90 per cent, levels that British supporters of EU membership could only have dreamt of. "For many European Prime Ministers, the problem is the euroscepticism but for me it is the 'europtimism'. Albanians whether they come from Albania or Kosovo are very optimistic about the european integration. We are probably the most willing to join the EU at this stage," said Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama. During the summit German Chancellor Angela told leaders of Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, which endured war and upheaval in the 1990s, that Britain's decision to leave the bloc had changed nothing in terms of their accession ambitions. France's Francois Hollande also sought to reassure Balkan hopefuls that the accession process will remain underway. (Reuters)

Balkan leaders discuss migrant crisis, terror with European leaders at summit

Two decades after Scotland&#39;s Dolly, the sheep, became the first cloned mammal, consumers may well wonder whether they are drinking milk or eating meat from cookie-cutter cows or their offspring. 
 
The simple answer: &quot;probably&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
The fact is, there is no way to know for sure, say experts, even in Europe, which has come closer to banning livestock cloning than anywhere else in the world. 
 
With the possible exception of the ram sacrificed by Abraham in the Bible, Dolly must be the world&#39;s most famous sheep.&nbsp;The ewe&#39;s birth in an Edinburgh laboratory on July 5, 1996 was front-page news, provoking hype and hand-wringing in equal parts.&nbsp; 
 
For the most part, cloning turned out to be a dead end. 
 
But there is one sector in which Dolly&#39;s legacy is alive and well: the duplication of prize breeding animals. 
 
How aggressively the private sector has developed this niche market has depended in a large part on national or regional regulations, with key differences between the United States, China and the European Union.&quot;The most dramatic impact of the cloning of Dolly has been on animal cloning in the United States,&quot; said Aaron Levine, an expert in bioethics and cloning at Georgia Tech. 
 
In 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration concluded that &quot;food from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as food from any other cattle, swine or goat&quot;.&nbsp; 
 
&#39;Cloned animals are not intended to enter food supply directly&#39; 
 
Not even scientists can distinguish a healthy clone from a conventionally bred animal, the regulatory agency said. 
 
There are no requirements to label meat or milk from a cloned animal or its offspring, whether sold domestically or abroad. 
 
For the industry, the aim was never to set up assembly-line production -- cloning is difficult and expensive at more than 10,000 Euros ($11,000) a pop, and the success rate low, with few clones surviving to birth. 
 
So the focus, instead, is on copying genetically outstanding specimens so they may naturally sire exceptional progeny. 
 
&quot;It&#39;s fairly widespread in US to use cloning to produce breeding stock,&quot; said Levine. &quot;Cloned animals are not intended to enter the food supply directly.&quot; 
 
&quot;I suspect some may have,&quot; he added. 
 
US companies typically produce hundreds or few thousand clones per year&nbsp; 
 
Among the leaders in commercial livestock cloning in the US are Cyagra, based in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and ViaGen, in Austin, Texas. 
 
At least one company, ViaGen, also provides services for copying cherished cats and dogs. US companies typically produce hundreds or a few thousand clones per year. 
 
The Boyalife Group&#39;s cloning new factory near the northern coastal city of Tianjin in China, however, is aiming for an annual output of 100,000 cows this year, scaling up to a million by 2020. 
 
Also in the pipeline are thoroughbred racehorses, pets and police dogs specialised in searching and sniffing. 
 
Boyalife has said it is working with South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning technology, to create better test animals for human disease research. 
 
And in December, Boyalife&#39;s lead scientist and chief executive Xu Xiaochun, said he would not shy away from cloning humans if regulations allowed it. Faced with strong public opinion against cloning of any kind, the European Union does not allow the practice in animal husbandry. 
 
But officials acknowledge that meat or milk derived from cows with a cloned ancestor may very well have made its way into the market, whether directly imported, obtained from a live imported animal, or one bred domestically from genetic material brought into the EU. 
 
&quot;Without knowing it, Europeans are probably eating meat from the descendents of clones that cannot be traced,&quot; said Pauline Constant, spokeswoman for the European Office of consumer associations, based in Brussels. 
 
Officials say they are not concerned about any impact on human health. 
 
In September, the European Parliament called, by a large majority, not only for a ban on cloned animals, but also on products derived from them.&nbsp; 
 
The final decision rests with the European Commission, which has taken a less hard-line position.&nbsp; 
 
Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Australia are among the other countries which clone livestock. 
 
(AFP)

'Not even scientists can distinguish a healthy clone from a conventionally bred animal'

Two decades after Scotland's Dolly, the sheep, became the first cloned mammal, consumers may well wonder whether they are drinking milk or eating meat from cookie-cutter cows or their offspring. The simple answer: "probably". The fact is, there is no way to know for sure, say experts, even in Europe, which has come closer to banning livestock cloning than anywhere else in the world. With the possible exception of the ram sacrificed by Abraham in the Bible, Dolly must be the world's most famous sheep. The ewe's birth in an Edinburgh laboratory on July 5, 1996 was front-page news, provoking hype and hand-wringing in equal parts. For the most part, cloning turned out to be a dead end. But there is one sector in which Dolly's legacy is alive and well: the duplication of prize breeding animals. How aggressively the private sector has developed this niche market has depended in a large part on national or regional regulations, with key differences between the United States, China and the European Union."The most dramatic impact of the cloning of Dolly has been on animal cloning in the United States," said Aaron Levine, an expert in bioethics and cloning at Georgia Tech. In 2008, the US Food and Drug Administration concluded that "food from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as food from any other cattle, swine or goat". 'Cloned animals are not intended to enter food supply directly' Not even scientists can distinguish a healthy clone from a conventionally bred animal, the regulatory agency said. There are no requirements to label meat or milk from a cloned animal or its offspring, whether sold domestically or abroad. For the industry, the aim was never to set up assembly-line production -- cloning is difficult and expensive at more than 10,000 Euros ($11,000) a pop, and the success rate low, with few clones surviving to birth. So the focus, instead, is on copying genetically outstanding specimens so they may naturally sire exceptional progeny. "It's fairly widespread in US to use cloning to produce breeding stock," said Levine. "Cloned animals are not intended to enter the food supply directly." "I suspect some may have," he added. US companies typically produce hundreds or few thousand clones per year Among the leaders in commercial livestock cloning in the US are Cyagra, based in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, and ViaGen, in Austin, Texas. At least one company, ViaGen, also provides services for copying cherished cats and dogs. US companies typically produce hundreds or a few thousand clones per year. The Boyalife Group's cloning new factory near the northern coastal city of Tianjin in China, however, is aiming for an annual output of 100,000 cows this year, scaling up to a million by 2020. Also in the pipeline are thoroughbred racehorses, pets and police dogs specialised in searching and sniffing. Boyalife has said it is working with South Korean partner Sooam and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to improve primate cloning technology, to create better test animals for human disease research. And in December, Boyalife's lead scientist and chief executive Xu Xiaochun, said he would not shy away from cloning humans if regulations allowed it. Faced with strong public opinion against cloning of any kind, the European Union does not allow the practice in animal husbandry. But officials acknowledge that meat or milk derived from cows with a cloned ancestor may very well have made its way into the market, whether directly imported, obtained from a live imported animal, or one bred domestically from genetic material brought into the EU. "Without knowing it, Europeans are probably eating meat from the descendents of clones that cannot be traced," said Pauline Constant, spokeswoman for the European Office of consumer associations, based in Brussels. Officials say they are not concerned about any impact on human health. In September, the European Parliament called, by a large majority, not only for a ban on cloned animals, but also on products derived from them. The final decision rests with the European Commission, which has taken a less hard-line position. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, and Australia are among the other countries which clone livestock. (AFP)

The Dolly legacy: Are you eating cloned meat?

If US Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected president, it would be have a dangerous outcome and &quot;complicate&quot; relations between Europe and the United States, French President Francois Hollande has warned. 
 
&quot;Those who say that Donald Trump could not possibly become the next president of the United States are the same ones who thought that Brexit would never be voted in,&quot; Hollande said, referring to last week&#39;s British referendum which backed withdrawal from the European Union. 
 
Trump has been running on the kind of slogans peddled by the extreme right in France and elsewhere in Europe - fear of the wave of migration, stigmatisation of Islam, questioning representative democracy, denouncing elites - the French leader said in an interview to be published on Thursday in the French financial daily Les Echos. 
 
When asked whether a Trump presidency would be a dangerous thing, he answered &quot;yes&quot;. 
 
Trump&#39;s presence in the White House &quot;would complicate relations between Europe and the United States,&quot; Hollande added. 
 
A new opinion poll in the US showed that the race for the White House is set to be a close call. 
 
Respondents to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll put Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump by just 42 per cent to 40 per cent, a narrowing from Clinton&#39;s four-point margin in the organisation&#39;s June 1 survey. 
 
Trump, the New York celebrity tycoon, has caused alarm in Europe with his abrasive style and pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the border with Mexico. 
 
His proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States drew ire of Britain&#39;s Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the idea &quot;stupid, divisive and wrong&quot;. 
 
Trump has criticised the continent&#39;s leaders as &quot;weak&quot; and accused them of taking inadequate measures to combat terrorism, following the Islamist attacks on Brussels in March.&nbsp; 
 
Last month French Prime Minister Manuel Valls accused the presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Trump of being a &quot;bad man&quot;. 
 
(AFP)

The French President denounced US Republican candidate Donald Trump's prejudicial stance against immigration, democracy and Muslims

If US Republican candidate Donald Trump is elected president, it would be have a dangerous outcome and "complicate" relations between Europe and the United States, French President Francois Hollande has warned. "Those who say that Donald Trump could not possibly become the next president of the United States are the same ones who thought that Brexit would never be voted in," Hollande said, referring to last week's British referendum which backed withdrawal from the European Union. Trump has been running on the kind of slogans peddled by the extreme right in France and elsewhere in Europe - fear of the wave of migration, stigmatisation of Islam, questioning representative democracy, denouncing elites - the French leader said in an interview to be published on Thursday in the French financial daily Les Echos. When asked whether a Trump presidency would be a dangerous thing, he answered "yes". Trump's presence in the White House "would complicate relations between Europe and the United States," Hollande added. A new opinion poll in the US showed that the race for the White House is set to be a close call. Respondents to the latest Quinnipiac University national poll put Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton ahead of Trump by just 42 per cent to 40 per cent, a narrowing from Clinton's four-point margin in the organisation's June 1 survey. Trump, the New York celebrity tycoon, has caused alarm in Europe with his abrasive style and pledges to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and build a wall on the border with Mexico. His proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States drew ire of Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, who called the idea "stupid, divisive and wrong". Trump has criticised the continent's leaders as "weak" and accused them of taking inadequate measures to combat terrorism, following the Islamist attacks on Brussels in March. Last month French Prime Minister Manuel Valls accused the presumptive US Republican presidential nominee Trump of being a "bad man". (AFP)

A President Trump would 'complicate' US-Europe ties: Hollande

europe-0

Europe, News on Europe, stories on Europe, articles on Europe, Europe stories at Wion, Europe news, Europe latest news

europe 0