Nordstream 2 (and Ukraine) divide US and Russia
The direct confrontation between Biden and Putin failed to lower tensions on the Ukrainian "front": Russia wants to keep NATO at a distance; the US is trying to create a division between Russia and Europe, starting with the boycott of the Russian-German gas pipeline Nordstream 2.
Gibraltar’s case confutes health emergencyism
In Gibraltar everyone is vaccinated but the curve of contagions is increasing and the government is launching new social restrictions. Gibraltar is the extreme case that shows the dead-end towards which all countries that have not adopted a realistic and proportionate approach to the issue are heading.
Zhang Zhan and the Wuhan witnesses are role models
In the same year that two dissident journalists were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of freedom of expression, an independent Chinese journalist, Christian, Zhang Zhan, risks to die in prison. She, like all the other ‘citizen reporters’, had tried to document the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in Wuhan. They have been either been arrested or have gone missing.
French Catholics put hope in Jewish writer, Zemmour
Éric Zemmour, a journalist and essayist of Algerian Jewish origin, could really become the new reference point for French Catholics if he runs in the next presidential election. Macron is the first 'post-Christian' president who considered the national religion of France as one of many cults. While the France of the institutions and the media has slipped to the left, the people are becoming increasingly conservative Catholic. Zemmour, though not a Christian, is well aware that without the Church France would be lost.
Poland is right, democracy in Europe is at stake
The clash over national sovereignty between Poland and the European Union raises the fundamental question: Should the process of European integration result in the creation of a supranational entity that is above the individual Member States, or should these states retain their sovereignty and transfer only part of it to Brussels? This is the statement made by the former president of the Czech Republic Václav Klaus on the subject.
Taiwan and China on a knife-edge. Xi Jinping moderates his tone
International talks are taking place between China and the EU and between China and the US. The bone of contention is Taiwan. The country, de facto independent, is not officially recognised by any state. But, due to Beijing‘s worsening international relations, Taiwan has more informal contacts with the EU and the US. As the crisis grows, Xi Jinping softens his tone. He also has to tend to China’s internal crisis.
Central Europe builds walls, sends EU into crisis
Not only the Visegrád countries, former European members of the Warsaw Pact, but also the Baltic countries, Austria, Greece, Cyprus and Denmark: when twelve EU countries ask to erect physical barriers against illegal immigration, Brussels doesn't know how to respond. Yet the Western countries most affected by the phenomenon, are still aiming for inclusion
The anti-malaria vaccine, success after failure
The new vaccine against malaria was approved by the WHO on 6 October. In Africa, where the disease still claims the highest number of victims, everyone is hoping its distribution will be immediate. It could save tens of millions of lives. But ironically, this renowned success is proof of defeat: the policies aimed at eradicating malaria in Africa have failed so far.
China’s war games against Taiwan, test the West
The repetitive air strikes that China has conducted in recent days in Taiwan's airspace, are the signal of a dangerous military escalation which involves all countries in the region and the United States. While an all out war between China and Taiwan is unlikely at the moment, the risk of the Chinese conducting lightning operations against Taiwan-controlled islands is instead a real danger to test whether the US and the West intend to fight for Taiwan.
Who lost the war in Afghanistan? The blame game proceeds
Top American military brass has admitted defeat in Afghanistan. According to General Milley, the Biden administration bears political responsibility, while General McKenzie blames Trump for signing agreements with the Taliban in Doha. But it was Obama who first announced U.S. plans for withdrawal.
Whipping at the border, Catholic Biden's welcome
The first striking images of the latest migration crisis on the US-Mexico border are those of horse-mounted officers using lassos as whips to drive masses of migrants away from the US side of the Rio Grande. Wasn't Biden the Catholic president who opposed the man 'of the wall'? Serious reflection is needed on the voting criteria. And on the morality of migration policies.
Guinea: Cardinal Sarah's letter to coup plotters
Hoping and wishing that a military coup would bring peace, justice and prosperity may seem unbelievable, but not in Guinea. After more than half a century of disappointment, poverty, corruption and two other past coups, Cardinal Robert Sarah, former Archbishop of Conakry, wrote a letter to the military junta leaders, begging them to show respect for the country.
