Tuesday

28th Mar 2023

Ticker

EU to slap China and others with human-rights sanctions

A dozen or so officials from China, Russia, North Korea, Eritrea, Libya, and South Sudan are to go on an EU blacklist of the world's worst human-rights abusers after a preliminary agreement between member states' ambassadors in Brussels on Thursday evening, diplomats told EUobserver. The visa-bans and asset-freezes will be formally signed off by foreign ministers on 22 March. Four Russians were already put on the list last month.

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Column

What does China really want? Perhaps we could try asking

Perhaps even more surprising to the West was the fact that the Iran-Saudi Arabia deal was not brokered by the United States, or the European Union, but by the People's Republic of China. Since when was China mediating peace agreements?

Opinion

Dear EU, the science is clear: burning wood for energy is bad

The EU and the bioenergy industry claim trees cut for energy will regrow, eventually removing extra CO2 from the atmosphere. But regrowth is not certain, and takes time, decades or longer. In the meantime, burning wood makes climate change worse.

Opinion

Biden's 'democracy summit' poses questions for EU identity

From the perspective of international relations, the EU is a rare bird indeed. Theoretically speaking it cannot even exist. The charter of the United Nations, which underlies the current system of global governance, distinguishes between states and organisations of states.

Opinion

EU's new critical raw materials act could be a recipe for conflict

Solar panels, wind-turbines, electric vehicle batteries and other green technologies require minerals including aluminium, cobalt and lithium — which are mined in some of the most conflict-riven nations on earth, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, and Kazakhstan.

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