Poland plans military training for every adult male amid growing European security fears
Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, has said his government is working on a plan to prepare large-scale military training for every adult male in response to the changing security situation in Europe. “Today we are talking about the need for a half-million army in Poland,” Tusk said. Poland already spends a higher proportion of GDP on defence than any other Nato member, including the US. Last year Poland’s defence spending reached 4.1% of GDP, according to Nato estimates, and it plans to hit 4.7% this year. Trump has suggested the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries don’t meet defence spending targets.
Source:The Guardian
March 09, 2025 01:50 UTC
Switzerland told it must do better on climate after older women’s ECHR win
The Swiss government has been told it must do more to show that its national climate plans are ambitious enough to comply with a landmark legal ruling. It was seen as a historic decision in Europe, where it was the court’s first ruling on climate, with direct ramifications for all 46 Council of Europe member states. However, there was resistance within Switzerland from the start, and by the summer the Swiss federal council had rebuffed the ruling. She called on the Swiss federal council and parliament “to take the dangers of global warming seriously and finally take decisive action against the climate crisis”. Sébastien Duyck, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law, said European governments had “reaffirmed the rule of law”.
Source:The Guardian
March 07, 2025 16:47 UTC
Surface tension: could the promised Aukus nuclear submarines simply never be handed over to Australia?
To fanfare and flags, the Aukus deal was presented as a sure bet, papering over an uncertainty that such an ambitious deal could ever be delivered. Then, by the “late 2030s”, according to Australia’s submarine industry strategy, the UK will deliver the first specifically designed and built Aukus submarine. View image in fullscreen President Biden (centre) announcing the Aukus deal with Scott Morrison (l) and Boris Johnson (r) in 2021. Turnbull argues pillar one of the Aukus deal was a “catastrophe” from conception, and its liabilities “are becoming more apparent every day”. The nuclear-powered submarines Australia wants to buy and then build “are both too big, too expensive to own and we can’t afford enough of them to make a difference”.
Source:The Guardian
March 07, 2025 02:41 UTC
Britain is now following a developing country economic model – and we know where that leads | Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah
Decades on, I am horrified that an approach that wreaked havoc in the global south is still being pursued in the UK. Britain was of course the trailblazer for privatising infrastructure in the Thatcher years, and subsequent UK governments went on to use public-private partnerships to fund new schools, hospitals, roads and prisons, with much of the capital being raised overseas. As the economist Angus Hanton argues, the UK has become a vassal state, paying economic tribute to the American owners of its assets. By asking regulators to prioritise economic growth over other important social and environmental priorities, the new UK government risks following the same dangerous path. But we need a coherent new strategy that doesn’t repeat the mistakes of the past and prevents us sleepwalking into economic disaster.
Source:The Guardian
March 07, 2025 02:30 UTC
‘That’s not me’: Blatter and Platini restate innocence in Swiss fraud case
Sepp Blatter, the former president of Fifa, and Michel Platini, the France great and former president of Uefa, have restated their innocence in relation to allegations of fraud when appearing on Monday in a Swiss court. The Swiss federal prosecutor has appealed against that decision, leading to a new hearing at the extraordinary appeals chamber of the Swiss criminal court in Muttenz, near Basel. Blatter told the court on Monday he was not guilty of fraud. “They falsely claimed that Fifa owed Platini, or that Platini was entitled to, the sum of two million Swiss francs for advisory work,” the indictment read. The Swiss federal prosecutor is seeking a sentence of 20 months, suspended for two years, against Blatter and Platini.
Source:The Guardian
March 05, 2025 01:32 UTC
Wall Street shrugs off Trump after he vows Mexico and Canada tariffs
Financial markets largely shrugged after Donald Trump outlined plans to impose punitive tariffs on Mexico and Canada as soon as next month while signing scores of executive orders on his first day in office. US markets were closed for Martin Luther King Day on Monday, so Asian markets were the first to respond. US stock futures pointed to modest gains on Wall Street when markets open for trading at 2.30pm GMT. Gold – seen as a safe haven asset – was back in favour, hitting a two-month high amid uncertainty over US tariffs. On Monday, Trump said he wanted to reverse the US trade deficit with the EU through tariffs or more US energy exports.
Source:The Guardian
January 21, 2025 21:17 UTC
‘We don’t want to be Americans,’ says Greenland prime minister – as it happened
Greenland’s future will be decided by Greenland,” prime minister Múte B. Egede told a press conference. Greenland's prime minister Mute Bourup Egede, here pictured at another press conference earlier this month. View image in fullscreen Slovak prime minister Robert Fico and deputy prime minister Denisa Sakova attend a no-confidence vote in Bratislava, Slovakia. Greenland’s future will be decided by Greenland,” prime minister Múte B. Egede told a press conference. View image in fullscreen Greenland's prime minister Mute Bourup Egede, here pictured at another press conference earlier this month.
Source:The Guardian
January 21, 2025 21:00 UTC
‘Sowing seeds for next pandemic’: Trump order for US to exit WHO prompts alarm
Lauterbach said the new US president’s announcement was “a serious blow to the international fight against global health crises”. Members of the global health community said that Trump’s decision could backfire on the US. Dr Pete Baker, deputy director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development thinktank, said the decision to withdraw was “highly regrettable”. “It undermines global health security and risks progress on critical issues like pandemic preparedness and antimicrobial resistance,” he said. “The political support of the US for the global health security architecture is irreplaceable.
Source:The Guardian
January 21, 2025 05:43 UTC
Wealth of world’s billionaires grew by $2tn in 2024, report finds
The wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by $2tn (£1.64tn) in 2024, three times faster than in 2023, amounting to $5.7bn a day, according to a report by Oxfam. The latest inequality report from the charity reveals that the world is now on track to have five trillionaires within a decade, a change from last year’s forecast of one trillionaire within 10 years. In the UK, wealth climbed by £35m a day to £182bn in 2024, it said. The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men grew on average by almost $100m a day and even if they lost 99% of their wealth overnight, they would remain billionaires. The report argues that most of the wealth is taken, not earned, as 60% comes from either inheritance, “cronyism and corruption” or monopoly power.
Source:The Guardian
January 21, 2025 03:24 UTC
William Tell review – Claes Bang misses the target in action-packed portrayal of the Swiss folk hero
Presumably intended to capture the same audience as recent French literary adaptations such as The Count of Monte Cristo, this wildly uneven English-language action adventure taps into the legend of the apple-skewering archer William Tell and celebrates the feisty, radical spirit of those well-known political subversives – checks notes – the Swiss. The famous apple incident is a taut centrepiece for Nick Hamm’s picture, and the action sequences are propulsive. The casting, however, is questionable. As William Tell, Claes Bang aims for stirring oration but ends up with something that sounds more like half-stirred word porridge.
Source:The Guardian
January 19, 2025 17:30 UTC
Shettima departs for World Economic Forum in Switzerland
Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent Nigeria at the 2025 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) scheduled for Davos, Switzerland. The Vice President will join world leaders, top business executives, and representatives of development partners at the meeting to discuss the state of the world economy with a view to improving its conditions. Among the events slated for Vice President Shettima is a workshop entitled, “Roadmap to Co-create Investment Opportunities for Africa’s Frontier Markets,” organized by the African Development Bank in collaboration with the World Economic Forum. Senator Shettima will also co-chair a forum on “Turning Digital Trade into a Catalyst for Growth in Africa,” scheduled for the Pischa Congress Centre. Vice President Shettima will attend, as a panellist, a Stakeholder Dialogue entitled “Global Risks 2025.” The Global Risks Report highlights an increasingly volatile global landscape, marked by accelerating geopolitical, technological, and environmental challenges.
Source:The Guardian
January 19, 2025 17:09 UTC
Chloe Kim, Maddie Mastro make history with double cork 1080s at Laax Open
Chloe Kim and Maddie Mastro became the first women to land a double cork 1080 in snowboard halfpipe competition during a US one-two finish at the Laax Open on Saturday in Switzerland. Kim, the first woman to win two Olympic golds in halfpipe, secured her fifth Laax Open title with a standout performance, earning a score of 96.50 on her first run that included a cab double cork 1080. Mastro followed with an impressive score of 94.50 for a second-place finish, landing a frontside double cork 1080 to join Kim in the record books. “It’s rewarding to just ride for fun.”In the men’s event, Australia’s Scotty James captured his fourth Laax Open title. The Laax Open also marked the first US one-two finish in a World Cup snowboard halfpipe since Kim and Mastro achieved it at the 2018 Copper Mountain Grand Prix.
Source:The Guardian
January 19, 2025 05:26 UTC
Uncharted territory for the WHO if Trump withdraws US membership
The World Health Organization (WHO) could see lean years ahead if the US withdraws membership under the new Trump administration. Photograph: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty ImagesThe same day, the WHO made an “emergency appeal” for funds, citing the threats of climate breakdown and conflict to world health. A US funding withdrawal would also put pressure on the WHO Foundation to make up the shortfall. after newsletter promotionTrump’s renewed efforts to withdraw funding and support from the WHO were first reported in December – one of many potential day-one actions. Trump argued WHO was overly deferential to the Chinese government during the pandemic, and announced he would withdraw the US in May 2020.
Source:The Guardian
January 19, 2025 04:26 UTC
Lost Ella Fitzgerald recordings to be released – including her take on 60s pop
Lost recordings of a 1967 Ella Fitzgerald concert, including her spin on the era’s pop songs such as Alfie and Music to Watch Girls By, have been rediscovered and prepared for release. That label is now releasing them for the first time, under the title The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum. Fitzgerald performs a series of jazz song standards, including Mack the Knife, Bye Bye Blackbird, Cole Porter’s Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall in Love) and You’ve Changed (made famous a decade earlier by Billie Holiday). A different live rendition has been previously heard – albeit as a muffled bootleg – but this is the first time a Fitzgerald version appears on record. Unlike some unearthed live recordings that suffer from muddy sound or distant vocals, The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum is remarkably clean, having been mixed and mastered from multitracked analogue tapes.
Source:The Guardian
January 17, 2025 19:00 UTC
At Davos, Trump will face a less friendly brand of billionaire – but their dominance is waning | Larry Elliott
On Monday, as Donald Trump returns to the White House, the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual talk fest kicks off in Davos. The Davos elite have a love-hate relationship with Trump: they despise him, but when he showed up at the WEF as president he was the hottest ticket in town. Most of the WEF attenders have grown up believing that trade barriers should be torn down, not erected. Yet a quick look around the world shows that Trump is not a lone voice. Nor is Trump the first occupant of the White House to be a staunch protectionist: Abraham Lincoln held similar views.
Source:The Guardian
January 17, 2025 04:14 UTC