CZYTANIE 3 EN [#43]

A ceasefire agreement has been reached a day after Azerbaijan launched a new military offensive against the local Armenian government in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, potentially averting a wider war but threatening the long-term existence of the ethnic Armenian enclave there. The agreement took effect at 1pm local time and includes provisions for the local Armenian government to disband its local military, in a capitulation to Azerbaijan.

1. The recent ceasefire agreement concerning Nagorno-Karabakh …

A major international conference on the Antarctic marine environment has failed to agree on new conservation areas despite hearing evidence the southern continent is facing a range of crises, including historically low sea ice levels, plummeting wildlife numbers and the first cases of bird flu. Longstanding proposals to create nearly 4 million square kilometres of marine protected areas did not receive consensus support largely due to opposition from the Russian government delegation. The representatives of Moscow arrived late owing to visa-related delays and then repeatedly stalled discussions, according to multiple sources at the meeting in Hobart.

2. New conservation areas failed to be established due to

It remains one of the UK’s most shocking gangland killings. In the early hours of 2 January 2003, best friends Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were gunned down as they stood outside a new year party in Aston, Birmingham. Mistakenly killed in an escalating feud between rival inner-city factions the Burger Bar Boys and the Johnson Crew, their double murder propelled both gangs to national notoriety. Now an investigation reveals that nearly two decades after the conviction of those responsible for the killings, individuals allied to the Burger Bar Boys continued to intimidate and target the families of the dead teenagers.

3. After the murder of the two best friends, …

The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp entered the eastern Mediterranean Sea this week as the U.S. positions warships to try to keep fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon from escalating into a wider war in the Middle East. While the Wasp has the capability to assist in the evacuation of civilians if full-scale war breaks out between Israel and Hezbollah along the Lebanon border, that’s not the primary reason it was rotated in, a U.S. official said. “It’s about deterrence,” the official said.

4. According to the U.S. official, the USS Wasp’s main task is to …

King Charles has spoken of Britain’s “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed against Kenyans during their fight for independence, but stopped short of an apology despite human rights groups demanding one. The monarch made the comments in a speech, delivered during a banquet in Kenya held in his honour, in which he referred to the “greatest sorrow” and “deepest remorse” for the “wrongdoings” of the past.

5. During the visit in Kenya, King Charles …

President Joe Biden's move last month to reclassify marijuana as a less risky and dangerous drug on the federal government's list of controlled substances could mark one of the most significant drug reforms in decades once finalized. But for veterans, the situation will be the same. For now, marijuana use still remains subject to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, and veterans are not able to obtain the drug from Department of Veterans Affairs doctors, despite rapid and widespread legalization of cannabis at the state level. And changing that will be a long road, even after reclassification.

6. President Biden's proposal to reclassify marijuana …

James Michael Fisher, a former employee at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia, was arrested on July 2, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Mississippi. The former propulsion engineer with the base's C-130 program is accused of hindering an investigation into a deadly 2017 aircraft crash in Mississippi that killed fifteen Marines and one sailor. He was living in Portugal at the time of the indictment, which was issued by a federal grand jury.

7. James Michael Fisher is charged with …

Shares in Siemens Energy, the owner of the turbine manufacturer Siemens Gamesa, plummeted after it emerged that the company was in rescue talks with the German government to secure €15bn of guarantees to shore up its balance sheet. The company expects heavy losses this year after faults were discovered in its newest turbine models.

8. Shares in Siemens Energy dropped after it turned out that the company …

Pavel Durov, the Russian billionaire CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was arrested in Paris over the weekend. Supposedly, Durov was detained on an arrest warrant alleging his platform had been used for illicit transactions, drug trafficking and fraud. However, he was not charged officially and few details were available on the investigation. Russian government officials expressed outrage at Durov’s detention, with some calling it politically motivated and proof of the West’s double standards on freedom of speech. The outcry has raised eyebrows among Kremlin critics since in 2018 Russian authorities themselves tried to block Telegram on similar grounds but failed, ultimately withdrawing the ban in 2020.

9. Pavel Durov’s detention in Paris …

Ghana is taking a bold step into the nuclear age, signing a deal for its first atomic power plant using cutting-edge small modular reactor technology. The agreement, inked at a U.S.-Africa summit in Nairobi, will see Ghana deploy a compact NuScale reactor. These innovative units, smaller than traditional nuclear plants, can be factory-built for easier installation. However, the path to nuclear power isn’t without challenges. The long-term management of radioactive waste remains a concern. Additionally, NuScale faced setbacks last year when rising costs forced the cancellation of its only U.S. project.

10. We learn from the text that NuScale offers …

The United States military has completed its withdrawal from Air Base 201 in Niger, officials said on Monday, after Niger's ruling junta ordered nearly 1,000 U.S. military personnel to leave following a coup last year. Niger's decision to demand the removal of U.S. troops came after a meeting in Niamey when senior U.S. officials raised concerns about issues such as the expected arrival of Russian forces and reports of Iran seeking raw materials in the country, including uranium.

11. During a meeting in Niamey, …

Ties between Egypt and Somalia have grown this year over their shared mistrust of Ethiopia, after the countries signed a joint security pact in August. Ethiopia angered Somalia by agreeing a preliminary deal in January with the breakaway region of Somaliland to lease land for a port in exchange for possible recognition of its independence from Somalia. Egypt, at odds with Ethiopia for years over Addis Abeba's construction of a vast hydro dam on the headwaters of the Nile River, has condemned the Somaliland deal.

12. We learn from the news item that Egypt …

According to the doctors’ union, almost half of positions in emergency medicine in Italy are vacant and there is a shortage of approximately 30,000 doctors. Salary-cap legislation over the past two decades to curb public spending has kept salaries low, and work schedules are punishing. For many Italian medical staff, the Covid pandemic was the tipping point, accelerating an exodus abroad. Spending plans published by the current government envisage further healthcare cuts.

13. The current government is planning to …

Europe’s phoney enlargement

Today the European Union is going through a 'phoney enlargement'. On paper up to nine countries are making progress towards membership. Both in the capitals of the countries looking to join and in Brussels, officials say preparations are being made, reforms enacted, boxes ticked. But whether the mooted expansion will happen is still doubtful. A flush of enthusiasm in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has given way to the realization that the journey from 27 to 36 will be long and uncertain. A target of 2030 used to be seen as aspirational. It now looks delusional.



Events in recent days show why. A slew of EU applicants have demonstrated why they are not yet members. Georgians overwhelmingly want a European future but are governed by an oligarchic caste that favours closer relations with the Kremlin. In North Macedonia, a new nationalist president, Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, referred to her country merely as 'Macedonia', thus knowingly blowing up a deal with Greece, which worries that its neighbour's use of the name will one day degenerate into territorial claims on its region. This pact had been a prerequisite for it to become a candidate for EU accession. And Serbia will soon enact a free-trade agreement with China that is completely incompatible with EU membership.

Before 2022, enlargement had the make-believe dynamics of the old joke whereby 'they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work'. The EU acted interested in letting in new members, they pretended to make the reforms needed to gain access. Both sides knew it was going nowhere. However, in 2022, war on the continent jolted the EU out of this enlargement fatigue. Not only did Ukraine and Moldova apply to become members, but dormant requests in the Balkans took on a new appeal. The geopolitical imperative of snuffing out Russian influence meant the EU was willing – for a time – to look past the unpreparedness of the countries that had asked to join. Progress was made: Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina were cleared to start formal accession talks.

The challenge now is to keep the old fatigue at bay. The EU has been mindful that the reforms needed to join the club are painful for politicians. The rewards are far in the future, for their successors to enjoy. Now the EU wants the benefits to come alongside the pain. Many perks of joining the club, such as being part of its single market, could be offered before formal membership. A €6bn pot of loans and grants will soon be doled out to Balkan countries that can show they are making those painful reforms. The idea was that a new dynamic would overtake the cynical one of the yesteryear.

So far it has not worked. Far from reforming their way to membership, countries in the Balkans have made at least half a step back for every step forward. A region 'rich in history' has found it hard to bury old enmities. Relations between Serbia and Kosovo remain hostile. Albania has locked up the ethnic-Greek mayor of a small town, annoying its neighbour. Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine all have chunks of their territory controlled by Russia. Throughout the region, politics remain as messy as ever.

Even if the applicants were ready, would they be let in? France and Germany want the EU to undertake its own deep-seated reforms before it enlarges. This might include more decisions being made, a rewiring of the union for which little preparation has so far been done. Admitting Ukraine would require an overhaul of the common agricultural policy, which tends to bring out the pitchforks. The fact that any country can block the entry of a new member makes the process particularly tortuous. It took months to get Viktor Orban to lift his veto on Ukraine getting to the next stage of accession. Plenty of people in applicant countries still think they will end up being offered something short of full EU membership.

Enlargement cannot stay in this suspended state for long. To get the EU money on offer, Balkan countries will have to put up reform plans that will either pass muster with Brussels or not. Within a year or so the first draft of the EU budget running from 2028 to 2035 will be presented. Failure to reform key programs such as farming subsidies will indicate a lack of intent on the part of existing members to let new ones in. Both sides will thus be forced to show if they are serious about enlargement. The phoniness will not be able to last long.