Icelanders complicate their country’s bid to to join the EU.
The rejection by Iceland’s voters of a compensation agreement with the United Kingdom and the Netherlands is set to complicate the country’s bid to join the EU.
In a referendum on Saturday (9 April), 60% of voters rejected a bill to compensate the British and Dutch governments for losses incurred by their account-holders with Icesave, an online bank, when it collapsed in the autumn of 2008, together with Iceland’s financial system. When Iceland’s voters rejected an earlier agreement a year ago, the government succeeded in negotiating improved conditions with the British and Dutch. Saturday’s rejection, by contrast, is expected to lead to international litigation that could take years to run its course, destroying Iceland’s government’s hopes of swift membership negotiations.
The European Commission has described the matter as a “bilateral” issue and maintains that there is no formal, direct link between Icesave compensation and membership talks. But the UK and the Netherlands have made it clear that Iceland can hope to join the EU only if it resolves the matter.
The two sides are currently assessing the extent to which Iceland has implemented the EU’s body of law in each of the 33 policy areas into which accession talks are divided. Actual talks are expected to begin later this year.
‘Final’ warning
Following Saturday’s rejection of a negotiated settlement, litigation is now expected to commence at the Court of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The EFTA Surveillance Authority warned on Monday (11 April) that it will refer Iceland to the Court for its breach of the rules governing the European Economic Area (EEA), which gives EFTA members Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway access to the EU’s internal market. The Authority had found last May that Iceland’s refusal to reimburse Dutch and British accountholders with Icesave had breached EEA rules.
A diplomat said: “We will hold Iceland to its promises, also in the context of the accession negotiations.”
The EU’s misguided pragmatism is encouraging authoritarianism in Azerbaijan.
As Azerbaijan welcomes Eurovision to its Caspian shores this weekend, viewers and visitors should not be taken in by the government’s latest glitzy display. More importantly, Azerbaijan, a hydrocarbon-rich state, European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) partner, current member of the UN Security Council, and aspirant host of the 2020 Olympics, needs the EU more than officials in Baku – and Brussels – realise.
Insistence on energy dependence – at the cost of European values – has straitjacketed EU foreign policy in the Caspian. The EU has subordinated its broader ENP agenda to the goals of energy security and diversification. Five years on from Azerbaijan’s inclusion in the ENP, despite advances in energy co-operation, significant backsliding has occurred around the jointly agreed ENP values agenda, which includes democracy and respect for human rights.
International indexes characterise Azerbaijan as highly corrupt, authoritarian, and generally ‘not free’. While the EU spells out human-rights obligations on paper through its ENP, a parallel agenda is revealed by trips to Baku by José Manuel Barroso, the European Commission’s president, and by Günther Oettinger, the European energy commissioner, and a separate memorandum of understanding on energy policy. Amid quiet diplomacy and presidential handholding, the Caspian state’s crackdown on independent journalists, human-rights activists, and opposition forces have not been met with any EU censure – in stark contrast to the EU’s approach to energy-poor Belarus.
Much of the inconsistency between the EU’s ‘values’ rhetoric and its actions is driven by official insistence that the EU has ‘no leverage’ to push for change. This is both an excuse and a strategic blunder. With 500 million people in its borders, the EU has considerable clout as an energy consumer. Azerbaijan remains a largely undiversified economy, depending on the EU market for its oil (now passing its peak) and for its gas. In 2010, the EU accounted for over 50% of exports from Azerbaijan. Add to this Azerbaijan’s geopolitical woes – a still unresolved dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, increasingly poor relations with Iran, and a perceived imbalance (in Armenia’s favour) of Russia’s relations in the region – and it becomes clear why Brussels and other European capitals have been the targets of aggressive PR and lobbying by the Azeri government.
The Arab Spring brought into sharp relief how the pursuit of energy and commercial deals at the expense of human rights can cause enormous reputational and political damage to the EU. Although the government of Azerbaijan must take primary responsibility for its ‘nul points’ in the field of human rights and democracy, the EU is not without blame.
Azerbaijan has had little incentive to create a more open society in the face of an EU foreign energy policy premised on engagement without red lines or negative policy consequences. By contrast, it is the EU that is set to lose out – as a norms-based, soft-power actor – if it fails to live up to, and demand, governance and transparency in dealings between Europe, its companies, and the Azeri government.
Doing business now and dealing with human rights and governance standards later has an impact on more than EU values. It also makes poor financial sense. Companies opting to leave rentier states – as Azerbaijan’s is – due to corruption attest to this.
Principled negotiations by the EU rather than misguided pragmatism could help reverse this trend of casual authoritarianism in Azerbaijan.
The ENP review – with its emphasis on partnering societies and the ‘more for more’ approach – sets a much better tone. By awarding greater and broader EU support to committed reformers in the EU’s southern and eastern neighbourhood it addresses those groups from Tunisia to Azerbaijan that are looking to the EU to set standards. Newly empowered EU delegations and embassies are best placed to deliver this, through intensifying their networks and outreach. Crucial oil and mining transparency legislation due to be adopted in Brussels this summer will also offer a chance for Azerbaijan’s citizens to hold their government to account for the use of oil revenues.
As criticism of Azerbaijan increases ahead of Eurovision, it is clear that the government there is not impervious to censure. The EU retains the power to confer, and withdraw, what Azerbaijan craves most – international legitimacy. Now let this legitimacy be earned, not bought.
Jacqueline Hale is a senior policy analyst on EU external relations for the Open Society Institute in Brussels.
Senators are eyeing a higher price tag as they negotiate a massive coronavirus stimulus package.
The administration has asked for $1 trillion in its initial request to Congress for the third coronavirus aid package.
Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council, said on Saturday that negotiators were looking at a price tag of “around” $1.3 to $1.4 trillion and didn’t rule out that it could creep up further.
“More or less,” he added, when asked about the $1.3 trillion figure. “We’re not quite through negotiating yet.”
Kudlow and White House Director of Legislative Affairs Eric Ueland, who are on Capitol Hill as part of the negotiations happening with senators, said when the price tag for the bill is combined with money the Federal Reserve will spend to support the loans and other programs included in the legislation, it will have the total “impact” of more than $2 trillion.
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The $2 trillion figure reflects the “net impact of everything,” Ueland said. “There is a direct appropriations, which right now we’re talking over a trillion dollars … that in partnership with the Federal Reserve can bring much more significant fiscal heft.”
Kudlow added that the Federal Reserve would likely put up approximately $700 billion as part of grants and loans authorized under the bill.
The higher price tag comes as negotiators are trying to reach a deal “in principle” today on a massive stimulus package.
Part of the higher price tag, according to Kudlow, includes an offer Republicans have made to include expanded unemployment insurance in the forthcoming legislation.
Democrats want to beef up funding for the program amid concerns that jobless claims will soon spike as the spread of the coronavirus has forced businesses to restrict their activities or close altogether.
The GOP proposal is expected to be an “integrated package,” according to Ueland, that would combine expanded unemployment insurance with the rebate checks favored by the administration.
Lawmakers are under significant pressure to quickly pass massive legislation to try to reassure the markets and offer assistance to workers, small businesses and industries that have been impacted by the spread of the coronavirus.
In addition to unemployment insurance, Democrats are also pushing for funding to support hospitals and other pillars of the health care system over concerns that hospitals could be overwhelmed if coronavirus cases spike.
They also want stabilization funds that states could dip into as the economy worsens and want to fold in the administration’s $46 billion supplemental request.
A Defense Department contractor has died after contracting coronavirus, marking the first military-related death from the illness.
The Arlington, Va.-based contractor, who worked at the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), died on Saturday, the Pentagon said in a statement on Sunday.
The individual had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been under medical treatment at a local hospital.
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As of Friday, 67 service members, 15 civilian employees, 26 dependents and 16 contractors had tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Pentagon has scrambled to staunch the rising number of cases in the military, earlier this month suspending almost all nonessential travel for eight weeks for DOD personnel and families, limiting access to the Pentagon and other military installations and canceling or scaling back exercises.
Other measures include closing all Army recruiting stations and moving only to “virtual recruiting,”and requiring Navy ships to stay out at sea for at least 14 days once they leave a port.
Still, on Friday the Air Force announced that an active-duty airman and an Air Force contractor who both visited the Pentagon in recent weeks have tested positive for the coronavirus, the first cases inside the building.
The Pentagon also said Friday it is monitoring 2,600 military personnel in Europe for possible exposure to the coronavirus. Of the 72,000 U.S. forces in Europe, at least 35 have tested positive for the illness.
The latest statement noted that spaces in DSCA where the individual worked have been cleaned in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance when he tested positive, and the person’s co-workers have been teleworking.
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“Our condolences go out to his family, friends and co-workers and we thank the medical professionals who worked to save his life in the face of this virus,” the release said.
“The Department remains committed to protecting our service members, their families, and our civilian co-workers.”
All 54 states, territories and the District of Columbia have declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, which has infected more than 30,000 people and killed more than 380 in the United States.
Roughly 7,300 National Guardsmen have been activated to aid states and territories in the coronavirus response, with that number expected to increase.
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said that the U.S. unemployment rate could reach 30 percent in the second quarter because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg News reported Sunday.
Bullard also said a 50 percent reduction in gross domestic product is possible in the second quarter given the shutdown of business throughout much of the country, which is only expected to increase.
He suggested this would all result in a $2.5 trillion loss in income, and that a huge stimulus would be needed to make up for it.
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Bullard’s outlook is more dire than other estimates, though Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told GOP senators during a private meeting this week that it was possible unemployment could reach 20 percent. He later clarified that he was not making an estimate and that he though actions being taken by the government could help the situation.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate are struggling to reach a deal on a huge economic stimulus package. Democrats have raised objection about the measure largely drafted by Republicans, arguing not enough of the benefits would reach workers and families most in need.
Bullard said the Federal Reserve was considering a number of actions to help the economy.
“Everything is on the table,” he said, referring to the Fed’s potential actions for additional lending programs.
Bullard encouraged an aggressive government response, which could lead to the third quarter being a “transitional quarter” and the fourth quarter and first quarter of next year as potential “boom quarters.”
He added that the government’s priority should be to help American workers and businesses across industries, so companies and industries don’t fall into the cracks.
“It is totally stupid to lose a major industry because of a virus,” he said, according to the news outlet. “Why would you want to do that?”
Bullard’s comments follow the worst stocks week since 2008, with massive drops in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad WolfChad WolfDHS chief: False reports of national shutdown may be part of Russian disinformation campaign Sunday shows preview: State governors and top medical officials prepare for next week of COVID-19 response US announces travel restrictions with Mexico, citing coronavirus MORE said Sunday that false reports that the U.S. is imposing a national quarantine because of the novel coronavirus are part of a “disinformation campaign” possibly stemming from Russia.
Speaking on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” Wolf acknowledged that he’s been contacted several times about text messages circulating that say “we’re going to have a national lockdown or a national quarantine.”
“I would just say, that’s absolutely false. It’s not true,” he said. “And it is part of a disinformation campaign.”
“What we know, whether it’s Russia, or whether it’s other cyber actors… [is] they like to sow discord on any controversial issue,” he added. “So, it doesn’t just have to be elections. It can be any issue. And we’re seeing that now with the coronavirus.”
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from The Hill.
Dozens of conspiracy theories about the coronavirus, its origins and ways to treat it have proliferated in recent months, causing what the World Health Organization has described as an “infodemic.”
Text messages and emails including messages about an impending national shutdown began spreading around the country earlier this month, causing the White House’s National Security Council to share a statement on Twitter calling them “absolutely false.” The administration has contended that “those wanting to cause fear and confusion in our country” are behind the disinformation.
Wolf urged Americans to be more careful with the information they’re reading and sharing about the virus, noting that it should mainly come from federal and state officials.
Social media companies have said that they’ve seen no coordinated disinformation campaigns on their platforms targeting the coronavirus pandemic. Companies such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Reddit said last week they are working jointly to combat the spread of fraudulent claims about the virus.
Tech giant Google on Saturday rolled out an anticipated website aimed at educating the public about the coronavirus outbreak.
According to a blog post by the company, the website is “focused on education, prevention and local resources.”
“People can find state-based information, safety and prevention tips, search trends related to COVID-19, and further resources for individuals, educators and businesses,” the post continued.
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The website was released in the U.S. on Saturday and the company said that it would be rolled out around the world in multiple languages in the coming days.
Additionally, Google will soon be introducing a new search function when it comes to COVID-19.
“As we continue to see people’s information needs expanding, we’re introducing a more comprehensive experience for COVID-19 in Search, providing easy access to authoritative information from health authorities alongside new data and visualizations,” the company said in its blog post.
“This new format organizes the search results page to help people easily navigate information and resources, and it will also make it possible to add more information over time as it becomes available.”
There have been more than 19,600 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. and at least 260 deaths, according to John Hopkins University. California, where Google is headquartered, is currently under a “shelter in place” order.
A Djerba, la Ghriba attire chaque année des milliers de visiteurs, un moment de rassemblement avec la communauté juive en Tunisie qui ne compte plus que 1500 personnes…dans un pays longtemps miné par le terrorisme. Eva Kief, 83 ans, n’était pas revenue depuis la révolution : « On ne venait pas parce qu’on avait peur, il faut dire la vérité et maintenant, tout est ouvert, Trabelsi est ministre et on a le cœur ouvert avec lui. La Ghriba, c’était une très grande histoire, des années et des années. Mes parents venaient tous les ans, moi j’avais 15 ans quand j’ai connu la Ghriba » Le pèlerinage se déroule cette année en même temps que le mois du ramadan, pour la première fois depuis 32 ans, une invitation à la cohabitation entre les religions, selon le ministre du tourisme de confession juive, ex organisateur du pèlerinage : « Djerba est connue pour le vivre-ensemble, pour la paix et je pense que c’est l’endroit idéal, et l’endroit unique au monde où toutes les communautés vivent ensemble en paix » Et pour symboliser ce message de paix, le premier jour des célébrations s’est terminé par une rupture de jeûne interreligieuse, avec musulmans, juifs et chrétiens.
Cela faisait deux et demi qu’il luttait contre un méchant cancer du pancréas, qu’il avait annoncé en mars 2008 : Patrick Swayze s’est éteint lundi des suites de cette maladie. Rendu célèbre pour ses rôles dans Dirty Dancing, puis dans Ghost, il avait continué à tourner The Beast, une série dans lequel il incarne un agent du FBI chargé de former son jeune partenaire. Ptrick Swayze avait 57 ans.
Au mois de mai dernier, la porte-parole de Patrick Swayze avait dû démentir d’indécentes rumeurs qui annonçaient la mort de l’acteur. Ce lundi, pourtant, le héros de Dirty Dancing a succombé à un cancer du pancréas qui le rongeait depuis de longs mois.
Patrick Swayze n’avait pas fait mystère de son état de santé préoccupant. En janvier 2008, il s’était confié à la journaliste américaine Barbara Walters: devant des milliers de téléspectateurs, il avait raconté avoir vécu un véritable enfer, et rendu hommage à Lisa, son épouse depuis 30 ans. A l’époque, Patrick Swayze savait qu’il ne pourrait guère vivre plus de deux ans. Et même s’il a mis toute son énergie dans sa chimiothérapie, l’acteur avait trouvé la force de continuer à tourner, et gardé l’espoir.
Né en 1952 au Texas d’une mère prof de danse et d’un père champion de rodéo, Patrick Swayze, élevé avec ses quatre frères et sœurs, a grandi en dansant dans le studio de sa maman puis étudié la danse avant de débuter dans des séries et téléfilms. Le rôle de Johnny dans Dirty Dancing était fait pour lui: repéré en 1983 dans Outsiders, de Coppola, il crève l’écran en 1987 dans ce qui deviendra une comédie musicale aussi mythique que Fame. D’autant qu’il est l’auteur de la non moins légendaire chanson She’s Like The Wind.
En 1990, il est l’amant revenu de chez les morts de Demi Moore, dans quelques scènes également inoubliables. Au sommet de la gloire, il est élu en 1991 «l’homme le plus sexy du monde» au célèbre classement du magazine People.
La même année, il joue dans Point Break, Extrême Limite, avec un Keanu Reeves tout juste débutant à l’époque, et continue à tourner jusqu’à aujourd’hui, sans jamais connaître à nouveau l’immense succès de Dirty Dancing. Parrick Swayze apparaît par exemple dans La Cité de La Joie (1992), Lettres A Un Tueur (1999), Donnie Darko (2002) ou Secrets de Famille en 2006. Jusqu’à ses derniers jours, Patrick Swayze avait tenu à poursuivre le tournage de The Beast, série américaine dans lequel il incarne un agent du FBI qui forme une jeune recrue.
Des électeurs surpris et parfois déboussolés : c’est la conséquence, jeudi 30 mai, de la dissolution du Parlement israélien, mercredi. Près de deux mois après les élections législatives, les députés de la Knesset ont pris cette décision parce que Benyamin Nétanyahou a échoué à former une coalition. Le Premier ministre préfère renvoyer les électeurs aux urnes plutôt que de laisser un autre élu tenter sa chance. Celui qui en est à son cinquième mandat de Premier ministre en sort sérieusement fragilisé car les électeurs de son parti, le Likoud, sont stupéfaits et parfois dubitatifs. Entre confiance et agacementSur le marché de Mahané Yehuda, haut-lieu du commerce mais également bastion des électeurs du parti de Nétanyahou, la nouvelle de la dissolution du Parlement a produit un choc. Les Israéliens doivent se préparer à revoter mais pour Shemtov Shitrit, personne ne peut remplacer “Bibi”. “Le Likoud va monter jusqu’à 50% !”, prédit-il avec une confiance absolue en Benyamin Nétanyahou, qui est “le seul” d’après lui. “Montrez-moi un autre candidat ! Il n’ y a personne d’autre. Seulement Nétanyahou.”Mais l’usure du pouvoir du Premier ministre se ressent aussi dans allées du marché. “J’ai toujours voté Nétanyahou parce qu’on sait qu’il est parmi les meilleurs mais quand quelqu’un est élu, il oublie tous les autres ! Il se fiche de tout le monde et ne s’intéresse qu’à lui”, s’agace Maurice Biton, un électeur historique du Likoud passé mercredi soir dans le camp des déçus. “Maintenant, je ne sais plus pour quoi ou qui voter…” La stratégie de la victime a ses limites Benyamin Nétanyahou prend le risque d’user son système politique avec ses campagnes à répétition. Pendant longtemps, le Premier ministre a soudé autour de lui en se positionnant contre les autres. Ainsi, en avril dernier, il s’en est pris aux arabes israéliens et à la gauche, accusés de comploter pour tenter de déloger la droite. “Ça fait tellement longtemps que cette dynamique fonctionne avec Nétanyahou”, confirme Dahlia Scheindlin, politologue. “Il se trouve en grande difficulté, il échoue, transgresse les normes légales de la société et ses électeurs en face disent : ‘mais c’est une conspiration contre lui ! Il faut le soutenir !’.”Cependant, ce ressort pourrait s’user et la stratégie de la victime ne plus fonctionner, prévient Dahlia Scheindlin. “Cette dynamique a forcément une fin naturelle quelque part.” La nouvelle élection qui se profile sera donc un vrai test sur la capacité du Premier ministre à renouveler ses sources de mobilisation ou sur l’abnégation d’un éléctorat qui lui passe tout, au nom du talent politique. En avril dernier, il avait fait campagne seul, en contournant les médias traditionnels et en siphonnant les voix des partis d’extrême droite.Click Here: gws giants guernsey 2019