Question for written answer E-000839/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Ondřej Knotek (PfE), Klara Dostalova (PfE), Jaroslav Bžoch (PfE), Ondřej Kovařík (PfE), Tomáš Kubín (PfE), Jana Nagyová (PfE), Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (PfE)
According to reports from Il Fatto Quotidiano[1], Echo24[2] and Tichys Einblick[3] of 11 February 2025, the Commission allegedly distributed EUR 132.82 million to media outlets across Europe in a non-transparent manner. The allocation of these funds was reportedly decided upon by Parliament President Roberta Metsola, with the support of Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the European Council, the European Investment Bank and the European Economic and Social Committee. These grants are in addition to the millions awarded annually to the media, which have already been subject to past criticism. Instead of using public tenders for media funding, the Commission allegedly relied on a so-called ‘framework contract’ under which all funds were channelled through the advertising agency Havas Media France (Vivendi Group). The agency then determined the actual distribution of the funds in consultation with the EU’s leadership, without public scrutiny.
1.Which media outlets received these payments totalling EUR 132.82 million and for what specific purpose?
2.Were those funds intended to influence the outcome of the 2024 European elections?
3.In light of these revelations, how does the Commission intend to dispel concerns that it has interfered in independent, democratic elections?
Question for written answer E-000992/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Daniel Buda (PPE)
France is to invest EUR 109 billion in artificial intelligence and hence become a European leader in that field, with the caveat that over-regulation could stifle innovation in Europe. France’s plan targets the construction of data centres, developing the production of semiconductors and supporting start-ups. In the meantime, the USA and China continue to dominate the AI race, making huge investments and rapid advances in this sector.
1.Given the investments announced by France and the intensification of global competition in the field of artificial intelligence, what concrete measures will the Commission implement to boost investment and innovation in AI throughout the European Union in order to avoid our falling behind the rest of the world?
2.Is there a coordinated plan, similar to France’s initiative, for the development of infrastructure, the start-up ecosystem and semiconductor production across the EU?
Indian Railways’ financial condition is good, providing more subsidy to passengers: Union Railway Minister The cost of travel per kilometer by train is ₹1.38, but passengers are charged only 73 paise.
This year, 1,400 locomotives have been produced, which is more than the combined production of America and Europe.
By March 31, Indian Railways, with 1.6 billion tons of cargo carriage, will be among the world’s top 3 countries.
Important steps have been taken to prevent incidents like the New Delhi Railway Station accident in the future: Union Railway Minister
Posted On: 17 MAR 2025 8:28PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, today, during the discussion on the working of the Ministry of Railways in the Rajya Sabha, highlighted the achievements of Indian Railways and its future plans. He said that Indian Railways is not only providing safe and quality services to passengers at affordable fares but is also making a distinct identity at the global level. He also mentioned that in India, railway fares are lower compared to neighboring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, whereas in Western countries, they are 10 to 20 times higher than in India.
Regarding the subsidy being given to rail passengers, the Railway Minister said that currently, the cost of travel per kilometer by train is ₹1.38, but passengers are charged only 73 paise, meaning 47% subsidy is provided. In the financial year 2022-23, passengers were given a subsidy of ₹57,000 crore, which increased to approximately ₹60,000 crore in 2023-24 (provisional figure). Our goal is to provide safe and better services at minimal fares.
Highlighting the benefits of railway electrification, the Union Minister said that despite the increasing number of passengers and freight transport, energy costs have remained stable. Indian Railways is working on the target of achieving ‘Scope 1 Net Zero’ by 2025 and ‘Scope 2 Net Zero’ by 2030. He informed that the export of locomotives manufactured at the Madhepura factory in Bihar will soon begin. Currently, Indian Railways’ passenger coaches are being exported to Mozambique, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, while locomotives are being sent to Mozambique, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bangladesh. Apart from this, bogie underframes are being exported to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, France, and Australia, while propulsion parts are being sent to France, Mexico, Germany, Spain, Romania, and Italy.
This year, 1,400 locomotives have been produced in India, which is more than the combined production of America and Europe. Along with this, 2 lakh new wagons have been added to the fleet. The Minister stated that in the financial year ending March 31, Indian Railways will transport 1.6 billion tons of cargo, making India one of the top three countries in the world, including China and America. This reflects the increasing capacity of the railway and its significant role in the logistics sector.
Talking about railway safety, Union Minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw said that 41,000 LHB coaches have been prepared, and all ICF coaches will be converted into LHB coaches. Long rails, electronic interlocking, fog safety devices, and the ‘Kavach’ system are being implemented rapidly. Thanking Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, Shri Vaishnaw stated that earlier, the railway used to receive ₹25,000 crore in support, which has now increased to more than ₹2.5 lakh crore, leading to significant infrastructure improvements. Meanwhile, 50 Namo Bharat trains are being manufactured, offering both AC and non-AC options for short-distance travel.
Regarding the recent accident at New Delhi Railway Station, the Union Railway Minister informed the House that a high-level committee is investigating this tragic incident. CCTV footage and all data have been secured, and facts are being examined by talking to about 300 people. Important steps have been taken to prevent such incidents in the future.
The Minister said that our government is committed to the poorest of the poor. That is why the number of general coaches is being increased by 2.5 times compared to AC coaches. According to the current production plan, there is a program for the manufacturing of 17,000 non-AC coaches. Along with this, he stated that the financial condition of Indian Railways is good, and continuous efforts for improvement are ongoing. The railway has successfully overcome the challenges related to the COVID pandemic. The number of passengers is increasing, and freight transport is also rising. Now, railway revenue is about ₹2.78 lakh crore, and expenses are ₹2.75 lakh crore. Indian Railways is covering all major expenses from its own income, which has been made possible due to the better performance of the railway.
In his concluding remarks in the Rajya Sabha, Shri Vaishnaw assured that the railway would emerge as a more modern, safe, and environmentally friendly transportation system in the future.
If spy films have taught us anything, it’s that the people chosen for a career in espionage are special. They are the cream of the crop selected because they exhibit unique skills: high levels of intelligence and certain emotional traits that made them perfect for spying.
During the second world war, the Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a British agency tasked with training spies to conduct espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in German-occupied Europe and in east Asia. Active from 1940 to 1946, SOE was a pioneering British secret service. This is because it employed civilians, from all backgrounds, including women, which was unusual at a time where most spies were recruited from the army.
The women hired by the agency were the only ones allowed to take on a combatant role by the British Army during the second world war. However, many have been unjustly forgotten.
These women were active throughout Nazi-occupied Europe, but most women worked in France. They were not French, but French speakers who tried to pass for local. On paper, this might seem impossible, since being fluent in a language does not make you a spy.
SOE recruited prospective agents on the basis of their language skills, and trained most of them in England before sending them into the field. Despite their lack of experience, many SOE women successfully duped German soldiers. Here are some of the simple but effective ways they managed such deception.
Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.
Emotional control
First, women spies sometimes fooled people simply by appearing calm. Irish agent Maureen Patricia “Paddy” O’Sullivan had grown-up in Belgium and was renowned for her daring personality. In a post-war interview, she described how she avoided a thorough search while carrying compromising documents. O’Sullivan acted confident and friendly to divert the soldier’s attention from her bag:
As she laughed and joked with the German, he was distracted from making a closer examination.
The spies’ cool was frequently praised in post-war commendations. Remaining calm was no mean feat, especially since most SOE recruits had never worked undercover. In France, they could be questioned by Nazis at any time and nervousness made them look suspicious.
Agent Yvonne Cormeau joined SOE after losing her husband during a bombing at the beginning of the war. In a 1989 interview, she summarised the situation perfectly: “We learned to live with fear.”
Physical appearance
SOE spies did alter their appearance in order not to be recognised, but for most, this merely involved picking clothes which matched their cover. Yvonne Cormeau was sent to a farm in southern France, where the pro-Allied owners gave her new clothes and an apron. She was supposed to pass as their assistant and needed to look like one.
A few agents went a step further and dyed their hair. This was the case of Noor Inayat Khan (code name Madeleine), a Sufi Muslim of royal lineage born to Indian and American parents. Betrayed to the Germans, she was executed at Dachau concentration camp in 1944.
Inayat Khan’s contribution to SOE proved invaluable. For several months in 1943, she was the sole radio operator still active in Paris amid the growing Gestapo presence.
However, her constant hair dyeing was less effective. To try and escape the notice of the Gestapo, she regularly bleached her hair blonde, but this actually brought her to the attention of the Germans.
They questioned Alfred and Emilie Balachowsky, her contacts who lived near Paris and led a local resistance network, about the presence of a woman “sometimes blonde and sometimes brunette”. The agent was not arrested on that occasion, but her efforts had backfired.
Everyday habits
Locals like the Balachowskys provided crucial support for SOE women, who could be given away by any small gesture. Despite having grown up near Paris, Inayat Khan threatened her cover just by pouring tea.
Shortly after her arrival, Mrs Balachowsky invited neighbours to a tea party, during which the SOE agent poured the milk first into her cup, leading a neighbour to comment that she behaved like a Brit. Emilie Balachowsky quickly corrected Inayat Khan, who was not the only spy to make errors based on cultural differences.
While at the farm, Yvonne Cormeau was asked to watch the owner’s cows. She was about to bring her knitting kit, until her contact explained that this would give her away: “I was forbidden from knitting, as we Englishwomen knit differently.”
These anecdotes are a testament to the importance of everyday habits and of the agents’ local contacts. For SOE women, espionage in France was very much about teamwork.
While Inayat Khan was compromised and executed, for the most part the SOE’s civilian programme for women was a success. The SOE paved the way for other agencies which gradually started to recruit civilians of all genders after the second world war.
Some of its methods are also used by modern secret services, such as the illegals programme, a Russian initiative which involves sending Russian operatives fluent in English undercover in the US.
Despite this success, the contribution of women like Patricia O’Sullivan, Yvonne Cormeau and Noor Inayat Khan has remained widely overlooked. They deserve to be remembered along with the period’s male spies.
Josephine Durant des Aulnois receives funding from the Clarendon Fund, managed by Oxford University.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Antonio Aranibar of Bolivia as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Equatorial Guinea, with the host Government’s approval, on 16 March.
Mr. Aranibar brings more than 20 years’ experience in sustainable development, governance and peacebuilding to the role. Prior to his appointment in Equatorial Guinea, he served as the UN Special Adviser to the Office of the Resident Coordinator in Venezuela from 2019 to 2024, where he supported the search for negotiated solutions to a protracted crisis, including through social and humanitarian agreements. He was Head of Office of the UN Verification Mission in Medellin, Colombia, from 2016 to 2018, where he supported the implementation of the peace process between the Colombian State and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
From 2013 to 2016, he was a researcher at the Central American Institute of Business Administration (INCAE) and Global Network Director of the Social Progress Index, a leading indicator to track progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
Mr. Aranibar served as the Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Political Analysis and Prospective Scenarios Project, an initiative promoted by the United Development Programme (UNDP) in Latin America with proven impact in conflict prevention, dialogue promotion and institutional reform. In this capacity, he served as Special Adviser to the United Nations in more than 20 countries from 2008 to 2013 using future studies for preventive diplomacy as well as for policy advocacy on development policies and institutional reforms.
He began his career in UNDP Bolivia as an economist of the Human Development Network and Senior Policy Adviser.
Mr. Aranibar holds a master’s degree in econometrics from the Autonomous University of Madrid in Spain and a bachelor’s degree in economic development from the University of Paris IX-Dauphine in France. He is fluent in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. He is married and the proud father of three children.
German anaesthesiologist Joachim Boldt has an unfortunate claim to fame. According to Retraction Watch, a public database of research retractions, he is the most retracted scientist of all time. To date, 220 of his roughly 400 published research papers have been retracted by academic journals.
Boldt may be a world leader, but he has plenty of competition. In 2023, more than 10,000 research papers were retracted globally – more than any previous year on record. According to a recent investigation by Nature, a disproportionate number of retracted papers over the past ten years have been written by authors affiliated with several hospitals, universities and research institutes in Asia.
Academic journals retract papers when they are concerned that the published data is faked, altered, or not “reproducible” (meaning it would yield the same results if analysed again).
Some errors are honest mistakes. However, the majority of retractions are associated with scientific misconduct.
But what exactly is scientific misconduct? And what can be done about it?
From fabrication to plagiarism
The National Health and Medical Research Council is Australia’s primary government agency for medical funding. It defines misconduct as breaches of the Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.
In Australia, there are broadly eight recognised types of breaches. Research misconduct is the most severe.
These breaches may include failure to obtain ethics approval, plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification and misrepresentation.
This is what was behind many of Boldt’s retractions. He made up data for a large number of studies, which ultimately led to his dismissal from the Klinikum Ludwigshafen, a teaching hospital in Germany, in 2010.
In another case, China’s He Jiankui was sentenced to three years in prison in 2019 for creating the world’s first genetically edited babies using the gene-editing technology known as CRISPR. His crime was that he falsified documents to recruit couples for his research.
But it still represented a case of image duplication and misrepresentation of data. This lead to the journal retracting the paper and launching an investigation. The investigation concluded the breach was unintentional and resulted from the pressures of academic research.
Fewer than 20% of all retractions are due to honest mistakes. Researchers usually contact the publisher to correct errors when they are detected, with no major consequences.
The need for a national oversight body
In many countries, an independent national body oversees research integrity.
In the United Kingdom, this body is known as the Committee on Research Integrity. It is responsible for improving research integrity and addressing misconduct cases. Similarly, in the United States, the Office of Research Integrity handles allegations of research misconduct.
In contrast, Australia lacks an independent body directly tasked with investigating research misconduct. There is a body known as the Australian Research Integrity Committee. But it only reviews the institutional procedures and governance of investigations to ensure they are conducted fairly and transparently – and with limited effectiveness. For example, last year it received 13 complaints, only five of which were investigated.
Instead Australia relies on a self-regulation model. This means each university and research institute aligns its own policy with the Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. Although this code originated in medical research, its principles apply across all disciplines.
For example, in archaeology, falsifying an image or deliberately reporting inaccurate carbon dating results constitutes data fabrication. Another common breach is plagiarism, which can also be applied to all fields.
But self-governance on integrity matters is fraught with problems.
Investigations often lack transparency and are carried out internally, creating a conflict of interest. Often the investigative teams are under immense pressure to safeguard their institution’s reputation rather than uphold accountability.
A 2023 report by the Australia Institute called for the urgent establishment of an independent, government-funded research integrity watchdog.
The report recommended the watchdog have direct investigatory powers and that academic institutions be bound by its findings.
The report also recommended the watchdog should release its findings publicly, create whistleblower protections, establish a proper appeals process and allow people to directly raise complaints with it.
Research credibility is on the line
The consequences of inadequate oversight are already evident.
One of the biggest research integrity scandals in Australian history involved Ali Nazari, an engineer from Swinburne University. In 2022 an anonymous whistleblower alleged Nazari was part of an international research fraud cartel involving multiple teams.
Investigations cast doubt on the validity of the 287 papers Nazari and the other researchers had collectively published. The investigations uncovered numerous violations, including 71 instances of falsified results, plagiarism and duplication, and 208 instances of self-plagiarism.
If Australia had a independent research integrity body, there would be a clear governance structure and an established and transparent pathway for reporting breaches at a much earlier stage.
Timely intervention would help reduce further breaches through swift investigation and corrective action. Importantly, consistent governance across Australian institutions would help ensure fairness. It would also reduce bias and uphold the same standards across all misconduct cases.
The call for an independent research integrity watchdog is long overdue.
Only through impartial oversight can we uphold the values of scientific excellence, protect public trust, and foster a culture of accountability that strengthens the integrity of research for all Australians.
Nham Tran has received funding from Australian Research Council.
ALBANY, NEW YORK – United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III made these remarks today upon his swearing-in at the James T. Foley U.S. Courthouse:
Thank you, Chief Judge Sannes. Thank you to the Judges of the Northern District of New York, to Clerk of the Court John Domurad, and to First Assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Hanlon, who has ably assisted me with the onboarding process.
I would like to first thank my family for the support and love throughout my life and career, My Wife Cecilia and Children who could not join us today, John Anthony (a Junior at Penn State) and Francesca (a freshman at the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina) and Juliet, a sophomore at Croton Harmon High School who is missing school to be here.
Also present are my Mom Deann, my sister Jennifer Genes, Aunt Jane Fiorito and cousins Bill and Janet Tuttle, Cousin Bruce Fiorito and his wife Lorraine, thank you for your steadfast support.
To my brothers Michael and Raymond and their families who could not join us today and extended Sarcone, Fiorito and Hickey families and my wife Cecilia’s family, thank you for your love and support.
Thanks, and a big shout out to my close confidante and friend Ola Hawatmeh.
My dear friends Father Douglas Crawford and Rabbi Abraham Klein. Thank you for joining me today.
Thank you, Governor George Pataki, for all your support throughout the years.
I would like to recognize Senate Leader Rob Ortt, Senator Bill Weber, Assembly Leader Will Barclay, Assemblyman Robert Smullen, my dear friends Chairman Douglas Colety and Chairman Don Minichino, who took time out of their busy schedules to join me today.
Thank you, Ambassador Elise Stefanik, for your support of my appointment.
Also joining me are my Dear friend, mentor and former law partner, NYS Appellate Division 2nd Department Justice Mark Dillon and his wife Michelle, my longtime friend and colleague Maury Heller, Al Buonamici, and mentor in everything election law John Ciampoli.
Thanks to some very special friends who believed in me and fought with me in the political trenches for the past 10 years, Former Congressman John Sweeney, White House Counsel David Warrington, First Deputy White House Counsel Gineen Bresso, Deputy White House Counsel Stuart McCommas.
And to all friends and colleagues who traveled to Albany today to witness my swearing-in on this most sacred and blessed day, THANK YOU.
Incidentally, the family bible that I swore my oath on was passed down from my great grandmother Jennie Curtis Hickey to my grandmother Dorothy “Dot” Hickey Fiorito and to my mom Deann Sarcone. I chose today to be sworn in to honor my late grandmother Dot! I was also spiritually moved when my brother Raymond pointed out the date Attorney General Bondi signed the Order appointing me to this most prestigious position, February 28. That day would have been my father’s 87th birthday, whom we lost 35 years ago.
During the first Trump Administration, I had the privilege and honor of serving as the 14th Regional Administrator for the United States General Services Administration, Northeast Caribbean Region. My jurisdiction included the Northern District of New York and this historic courthouse.
These federal courthouses mean something – they project the majesty and authority of our government. Everyone knows that important work is going on inside.
I am honored to be welcomed again into this building, this time as U.S. Attorney, to lead the men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, who are doing the important work of representing the United States in enforcing its laws both civil and criminal.
Since I was appointed U.S. Attorney two weeks ago, here are just some of the great results this office has achieved:
A Nigerian citizen, who has been illegally present in this country for decades and living under stolen identities, pled guilty to bank fraud and money laundering conspiracies that caused $1.7 million in losses;
A North Country woman pled guilty to her role in an alien smuggling conspiracy that left a Romanian family of four dead in the St. Lawrence River; and
A former music teacher was convicted after trial of transporting students across state lines, and raping and sexually abusing them.
These cases are each the result of close collaboration between AUSAs and our law enforcement partners. My goal is to continue this great work, and to implement the mandate by President Trump and task of Attorney General Pam Bondi to restore public confidence in our justice system. I am humbled and honored that President Trump and Attorney General Bondi have placed their faith and trust in me to carry forth that mandate as the chief federal law enforcement officer in this district.
Which leads me to this subject – what makes a good prosecutor? It’s not what college or law school you went to, or whether you have been a career prosecutor, as recent events show. What matters is judgment.
A good prosecutor has wisdom, common sense, a strong moral and ethical compass, a sense of fairness and empathy, coupled with legal skills and acumen honed over time and from a diversity of representations and matters. As recent events have also shown, there’s just no substitute for common sense. For instance, we recently witnessed the heads of Ivy League institutions equivocate on whether calling for the genocide of Jews by a minority of its students and others violates their own rules.
I believe the prosecutorial power, and discretion, is best entrusted to those with the full breath of professional and life experiences, from which common sense, wisdom and informed judgment emerge. With these values in mind, I look forward to working together with everyone at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with our dedicated Federal, State and Local law enforcement agencies, in pursuit of honest, transparent, non-political enforcement of federal laws and to restore public confidence in our federal government and our Justice Department.
As United States Attorney leading this office, I will prioritize our resources to keep our northern border secure; to work with federal, state and local authorities to maintain safe communities; root out public corruption; protect our seniors from being victimized by endless scams and consumer fraud; to end lawlessness and willful disregard for Federal laws; keep our kids safe from illegal drugs; and combat human trafficking.
I pledge to dedicate steadfast resources to root out hate crimes of all kinds and will not tolerate violations of college students’ rights to be free from harassment or threats because of their religious beliefs and I give fair warning to university leaders that our reach will not stop at prosecuting those who choose to violate our laws but also those who knowingly support any violations in any way, shape or form.
In conclusion, I am honored and humbled to be standing here before you, my family, friends, colleagues, distinguished guests and our amazing Judges of the Northern District of New York. Thank you all for honoring me with your presence.
The Prime Minister, Mark Carney, today met with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, during a visit to Paris to strengthen the economy and security of both of our countries.
Prime Minister Carney and President Macron discussed their intention to build stronger economies and defence and commercial ties between Canada and France – including in the areas of responsible and safe artificial intelligence, critical minerals, and clean energy – and to defend rules-based free trade.
The Prime Minister and the President highlighted the launch of a new bilateral partnership on intelligence and security. The partnership will focus on enhancing cybersecurity and intelligence sharing on significant threats. Key topics will include economic security, violent extremism, counter-proliferation, interference, espionage, sabotage, and threats associated with advanced technologies.
Prime Minister Carney and President Macron reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to resist Russia’s unjustifiable war of aggression. The Prime Minister thanked the President for his leadership in organizing several important meetings regarding Ukraine over the past few weeks.
The leaders emphasized the rich and strong relationship between Canada and France, rooted in a shared history and common language, strong ties between our cultures and our peoples, as well as shared values such as democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Aberystwyth University
Around 73% of Ukrainians now want their country to “restore” its nuclear weapons, according to a recent opinion poll. Most Ukrainians (58%) were in favour of their country owning nuclear weapons, even if it meant losing western allies.
This suggests an underlying regret that Ukraine agreed to relinquish the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal as part of the Budapest Memorandum around 30 years ago. This agreement, signed in December 1994, provided security guarantees for Ukraine from the US, the UK and Russia in return for giving up the weapons. Ukraine also agreed it would not acquire nuclear weapons in the future.
The focus on nuclear weapons is intensifying all over Europe. This week the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, called on the US to station its nuclear weapons in his country to deter Russian attacks. He cited Moscow’s decision to deploy nuclear weapons just across the border in Belarus during 2023 as part of his reasoning.
Trump’s apparent weakening commitment to Nato has also prompted the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to suggest that France could extend protection of its own nuclear weapons to its allies.
It’s clear that some Ukrainians now believe that their country would have been less likely to have experienced a Russian invasion if it had held on to its nuclear capacity. Ukrainians now question how much they can rely on other states after the failure of security guarantees that were central to the 1994 agreement.
The pledges by the US, UK and Russia to protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine were put to the test in 2014 when Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea and began providing financial and military backing for militia leaders in eastern Ukraine who claimed to lead pro-Russian separatist movements.
The US and UK imposed economic sanctions against Russia and provided training, equipment and non-lethal weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces. But these measures fell well short of ensuring Ukraine’s sovereignty and were insufficient to help Ukraine retake its territory.
Similarly, US and UK support for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, although valuable and much appreciated by the Ukrainians, has not been enough to allow Kyiv to completely expel Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
What was the Budapest Memorandum?
What if Ukraine still had nuclear weapons?
But what if Ukraine had never given up its nuclear weapons? The logic of deterrence suggests that Putin would have not have invaded and attacked a nuclear-armed Ukraine. But the argument that Ukraine should not have surrendered the Soviet nuclear weapons on its territory overlooks the specific circumstances. For while physical components of a nuclear weapons capability – delivery vehicles and nuclear warheads – were within Ukraine’s grasp, the launch codes remained in Moscow, and Russian leaders showed no willingness to relinquish them.
So, Kyiv would have had no control over whether, when or against whom those weapons might have been used. The risk to Ukraine of becoming the target of another state’s nuclear strike would have been considerable, and the Kyiv government would have been unable to do anything to reduce that risk. Retaining nuclear weapons left over from the Soviet period would have probably made Ukrainians less rather than more secure.
Ukraine also lacked the economic resources to maintain the nuclear weapons on its territory, or develop them into a credible deterrent force. In exchange for giving up nuclear weapons, Ukraine received much-needed economic assistance from the west.
In the 1990s Ukrainian views were shaped by the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This had a devastating and lasting impact on the land and the people in that part of Ukraine, highlighting the risks of the nuclear sector. In 1994, when the Budapest Memorandum was being negotiated, only 30% of Ukrainians were in favour of Ukraine possessing nuclear weapons.
What now?
Ukraine would face considerable technical challenges in developing nuclear weapons today, both in creating the necessary quantities of fissile material for warheads and manufacturing delivery vehicles.
Kyiv would also need to pay for an expensive nuclear weapons development programme at a time when the Ukrainian economy is struggling to supply its soldiers with conventional weapons and meet the needs of civilians.
And unless Ukraine’s international supporters were on board, Kyiv might face the withdrawal of economic and military aid at a crucial juncture. If Moscow detected any move on Ukraine’s part to develop nuclear weapons, there would be a strong motive for a preemptive Russian strike to put an end to that plan.
But even though it may not be feasible for Ukraine to develop an independent nuclear deterrent in the short term, Kyiv may feel compelled to pursue a nuclear weapons programme unless Ukraine is provided with serious and reliable security guarantees. With the Trump administration apparently ruling out Nato membership for Ukraine, the onus is on the country’s international supporters to come up with an alternative unless they want to see further nuclear proliferation in Europe.
Jennifer Mathers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
As nuclear activity grows, responsible waste management is more important than ever. Opened 8th Review Meeting of Joint Convention on Safety of Spent Fuel & Radioactive Waste Management. Waste comes from more than just nuclear power—universalizing the Convention benefits us all. pic.twitter.com/W1Uk4KQqQb
The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management – or Joint Convention – is a legally binding instrument that seeks to achieve and maintain a high level of worldwide safety in spent fuel and radioactive waste management. Over the next two weeks, from 17 to 28 March, Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention will present and discuss their National Reports on implementation of the Convention’s obligations.
Jean-Luc Lachaume, Acting President of the Eighth Review Meeting, from France, welcomed more than 1000 delegates from 77 Contracting Parties and a Signatory State, Lebanon.
“The challenges before us demand collective resolve. By achieving consensus we demonstrate to the public we serve and to the future generations that together we will continue to advance the principles and goals that bring us together under the banner of the safe management of nuclear waste for generations to come,” said Lachaume on behalf of President Ramzi Jammal.
Delegates will also share their experiences and lessons learned during a topical session on knowledge management in relation to long term management of disused sealed radioactive sources, radioactive waste and spent fuel. In addition, during open-ended working group sessions, delegates will discuss seven proposals submitted by Contracting Parties for improving the Joint Convention procedural mechanisms.
Small Modular Reactors (SMRs)
With growing interest from IAEA Member States in Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology, the Eighth Review Meeting also offers a timely and crucial opportunity to reflect on lessons learned from the past and reiterate the importance of early planning and implementation of policies and strategies for the safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel for the future.
“Joining and adhering to the Joint Convention acknowledges the importance of thinking early about the full lifecycle of a nuclear facility and planning early to ensure the necessary infrastructure, competence and capacity exists for the safe management of spent fuel, radioactive waste, and decommissioning of facilities,” said Nelli Aghajanyan, coordinator of the Joint Convention.
Review Meetings are held every three years, staring from the entry into force of the Joint Convention in 2001. More information, including meeting summary reports as well as the national reports of Contracting Parties from previous review cycles, are available on the Joint Convention public website.
COFACE SA: Disclosure of trading in own shares (excluding the liquidity agreement) made on March 10, 2025 to March 14, 2025
Paris, 17 March 2025 – 17.45
Pursuant to Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 of 16 April 2014 on market abuse1
The main features of the 2024-2025 Share Buyback Program have been published on the Company’s website (http://www.coface.com/Investors/Disclosure-requirements, under “Own share transactions”) and are also described in the 2023 Universal Registration Document.
Q1-2025 results: 5 May 2025 (after market close) Annual General Shareholders’ Meeting: 14 May 2025 H1-2025 results: 31 July 2025 (after market close) 9M-2025 results: 3 November 2025 (after market close)
FINANCIAL INFORMATION This press release, as well as COFACE SA’s integral regulatory information, can be found on the Group’s website: http://www.coface.com/Investors
For regulated information on Alternative Performance Measures (APM), please refer to our Interim Financial Report for H1-2024 and our 2023 Universal Registration Document (see part 3.7 “Key financial performance indicators”).
Regulated documents posted by COFACE SA have been secured and authenticated with the blockchain technology by Wiztrust. You can check the authenticity on the websitewww.wiztrust.com.
COFACE: FOR TRADE As a global leading player in trade credit risk management for more than 75 years, Coface helps companies grow and navigate in an uncertain and volatile environment. Whatever their size, location or sector, Coface provides 100,000 clients across some 200 markets. with a full range of solutions: Trade Credit Insurance, Business Information, Debt Collection, Single Risk insurance, Surety Bonds, Factoring. Every day, Coface leverages its unique expertise and cutting-edge technology to make trade happen, in both domestic and export markets. In 2024, Coface employed ~5,236 people and registered a turnover of €1.84 billion.
COFACE SA is listed in Compartment A of Euronext Paris ISIN: FR0010667147 / Ticker: COFA
1 Also in pursuant to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 of 8 March 2016 (and updates); Article L.225-209 and seq. of the French Commercial Code; Article L.221-3, Article L.241-1 and seq. of the General Regulation of the French Market Authority (AMF); AMF Recommendation DOC-2017-04 Guide for issuers on their own shares transactions and for stabilization measures.
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 2
Media Advisory Monday, March 17, 2025
Preclinical study in rodents suggests that uric acid is ready for human clinical testing. What In a preclinical study, rodents treated with uric acid showed improved long-term outcomes after acute ischemic stroke. The findings suggest that the treatment may work as an add-on therapy to standard stroke treatments in humans. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and published in Stroke. Led by Enrique Leira, M.D., and Anil Chauhan, Ph.D., at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, researchers used a well-established rodent model of stroke that closely simulates stroke in humans. They administered intravenous uric acid or saline control and monitored animals’ recovery over one month. Behavioral and neurological assessments, including MRI scans, were used to evaluate the treatment’s effects. Mice treated with uric acid had better sensorimotor function—the primary outcome measure—30 days after stroke. More animals in the uric acid group also survived their stroke compared to control animals. However, some secondary outcome measures, such as brain damage, were not reduced. The research teams used equal numbers of male and female animals and studied older, young, and obese mice, as well as rats with hypertension. Uric acid was efficacious across all groups, suggesting that the treatment could potentially perform well in human trials, including in people with stroke comorbidities. Ischemic stroke, a leading cause of disability and death in the United States, occurs when a blood clot or other blockage in an artery cuts off blood supply to the brain. Strokes are treated with medications or surgery aimed to break up clots and restore blood flow to affected brain areas. These therapies are highly effective, but not all people fully recover. Using additional treatments that protect brain tissue from damage, either immediately before or during clot removal, could boost the effects of standard treatments and greatly improve recovery in patients. The study was part of the NIH’s Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network (SPAN), a rigorous, transparent approach to preclinical research that mimics clinical trials. SPAN applies standard clinical practices, like randomization and blinded analysis, to animal studies, with the goal of finding agents that are likely to succeed in clinical trials. Recently, the network tested six promising stroke treatments and found one, uric acid, that showed efficacy. The current study described the results of this trial. The study was supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (U01NS113388, U24NS113452) and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (R35HL139926). Who Walter Koroshetz, M.D., director, NINDS; and Francesca Bosetti, Ph.D. program director, NINDS, are available for interviews. To arrange an interview, please contact: NINDSpressteam@ninds.nih.gov. Article Patel, R.B., and Kumskova, M., et al. “Uric acid stroke cerebroprotection transcended sex, age, and comorbidities in a multicenter preclinical trial.” Stroke. March 17, 2025. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.124.048748. About the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS): NINDS is the nation’s leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov. NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health® ###
March 17, 2025 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The National Film Board of Canada will be well represented at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (June 8–14) with a diverse selection of works, including the eagerly awaited return of filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. Three NFB shorts are featured in this year’s prestigious official competition:
Quick Facts
Short Films – Official Competition
The Girl Who Cried Pearls (La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles) by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski (16 min) An NFB production (Julie Roy, Marc Bertrand and Christine Noël) Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-girl-who-cried-pearls
The Girl Who Cried Pearls is a handmade, stop-motion animated short by the Oscar-nominated duo of Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. It was previously featured at Annecy in a Work in Progress session in 2023.
This breathtaking modern fable explores greed, wonder and the power of fiction, and features a stellar creative team: Patrick Watson (original score), Olivier Calvert (sound design), Colm Feore (voice, English version) and James Hyndman (voice, French version).
A devoted sister flees with her brother, a benevolent, bread-turned zombie. A mob pursues, mouths agape. Streets twist into mazes, reason dissolves, hunger reigns. Can love defy appetite? Bread Will Walk features paper and 2D hand-drawn animation with digital collage.
In the original English version of this socialsatire and timely, absurd dark comedy, every single character is brilliantly voiced by actor Jay Baruchel. The sound design is by Olivier Calvert and the score was composed by Martin Floyd Cesar.
Hairy Legs(Poil aux jambes) by Andrea Dorfman (17 min) An NFB production (Liz Cowie and Rohan Fernando) Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/hairy-legs
Deciding not to shave her legs at 13 led a young Andrea Dorfman to question and ultimately defy society’s expectations.
Blending 2D animation (ink, gouache and watercolour on paper) and stop-motion, Hairy Legs captures with charm, warmth and humour the universality of girls exploring gender, curiosity and freedom.
Source: The Conversation – France – By Pierre Micheletti, Responsable du diplôme «Santé — Solidarité — Précarité» à la Faculté de médecine de Grenoble, Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)
The collapse of western funding for international aid–for both emergency humanitarian operations and official development assistance (ODA)–is a major blow. The dramatic consequences for the neglected populations are the result of the structural weaknesses–evident for years [1]–of an economic model of international aid and development whose obsolescence is now plain for all to see. What is particularly dramatic, however, is the abrupt, non-negotiated manner in which the procedures and targets of the withdrawals have been determined.
The “four temptations” inherent to the financial system in force to date [2]–and now unashamedly embraced by the new US administration–are obvious: the “western-centrism” of the donor countries; the “neo-liberal approach” to international aid where each contributing state chooses which countries to help; the “security concerns” about payments which are governed by strict control procedures to prevent such payments falling into the hands of the enemies of donor countries in conflict areas; and the “temptation to withdraw” funding whenever donor countries experience a major upheaval (Covid-19, economic crises, the rise of nationalism and isolationism, etc.). These trends converge to generate a volumetric insufficiency and suspicions of political soft power in the countries contributing to the annual budgets [3].
Of course, this is a disaster for international aid and development actors themselves, both in terms of feeling responsible for abandoning the activities developed in the field, and in terms of the redundancy plans that have already hit some of the organisations. Some of these organisations will clearly not survive the current events: even those with little or no reliance on USAID (the US development agency whose aid was ordered frozen for 90 days) will potentially be affected by the knock-on effects of the withdrawal of the leading donor country.
Du lundi au vendredi + le dimanche, recevez gratuitement les analyses et décryptages de nos experts pour un autre regard sur l’actualité. Abonnez-vous dès aujourd’hui !
Scaling back aid in an interdependent world
Even before the United States announced its cuts, other countries had begun to scale back their international aid and development budgets. These include France [4], the UK, Germany and Belgium, to name a few we already know of.
Organisations for which the “generosity of the public” (which accounts for around 20% of annual humanitarian aid funding) [5] is a major component of their resource structure will not escape the consequences either.
The economic rebalancing and political tensions resulting from some of the Trump administration’s decisions are indeed likely to have industrial and social repercussions in all the countries that were once privileged partners of the United States, particularly among the members of the European Union. Experience shows the effects that the erosion of certain national parameters can have on the donation processes of the individual donors who support non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Individual donors will have to prioritise a wide range of crises that are now being neglected by government funding, and compassion will then be a matter of personal choice.
The tension looming everywhere as a result of increasing trade restrictions may have economic and social repercussions, which in turn may lead to higher expectations among the general public and redirect donations toward local, national or family forms of aid and development.
Some political groups are starting to question the legitimacy and validity of ODA, which recently prompted the director of the Agence française de développement (AFD) to speak out specifically in defence of the actions of the organisation [6].
The richest countries are gradually developing a dynamic that shows an insane indifference to poverty, environmental degradation and the zoonoses that can result from the abuse of our primary forests. Yet no border can act as an illusory and impenetrable Maginot line to curb the worldwide dangers that define the interdependencies of today’s globalised world [7].
We cannot be indifferent–neither in Europe nor in North America–to all the forms of abuse inflicted on our planet (and soon to be compounded by the revival of a mutilating and predatory extractive industry), nor to the survival strategies underlying current and future massive population movements, nor to the conflicts that these different mechanisms can generate.
The danger of losing interest in equality of opportunity
Two figures immediately reveal the huge gap that already exists in terms of global inequality. The global ODA envelope, provided by OECD countries, amounted to $230 billion in 2023, when “migratory remittances”–sums transferred by migrants to their countries of origin–stood at $830 billion, of which $650 billion were sent to low- and middle-income countries [8]. These sums are a lifeline for the poorest populations. They reflect the inseparable balance of survival between here and there.
Yet we are being encouraged to accept the idea that, despite these border-free interdependencies, we, in the richest countries, could lose interest in the various mechanisms that are destroying equality of opportunity throughout the world; that an unabashed reaffirmation of “everyone for themselves”, in terms of both consumption and global solidarity, could henceforth serve as a new, unabashed political mantra; and that this would have no long-term consequences for lasting peace…
Therefore, in a world where, by 2100, the population of Africa could represent 40% of humankind, we risk major turmoil if we turn our backs on the reality that is unfolding [9]. On that continent (and in other places where major vulnerabilities exist), we cannot shy away from showing concern for others–out of a sense of realism if not generosity.
Together, we must resist the strategy of every man for himself and the law of the strongest promoted by the new leaders of the United States and their affiliates. We must also strive to invent a new model free of the four founding temptations of the existing system, which grew out of the Second World War and the process of decolonisation. This implies creating the conditions for a significant increase in the number of contributing countries for government funds, as well as a diversification of sources for private funds. A new distribution of creative and decision-making power within the governance of a system in need of rebuilding is thus essential. In the aftermath of the current crisis, new battles are emerging to radically overhaul the strategies and methods of international solidarity.
A version of this article originally appeared under a different headline in Alternatives Humanitaires. It was translated by Derek Scoins for that publication.
Pierre Micheletti ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d’une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n’a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: OSCE supports K9 handling masterplan to boost Moldovan law enforcement operations into 2028
Participants at the signing ceremony for the K9 masterplan, Chisinau, Moldova, 17 March 2025. (General Police Inspectorate) Photo details
The Moldovan General Police Inspectorate (GPI) introduced a canine (K9) handling masterplan developed with OSCE support in Chisinau, Moldova, on 17 March. Covering the years 2025 to 2028, this document sets a clear framework for enhancing the operational effectiveness of Moldova’s K9 police units.
From search and rescue to drug and explosives detection, the masterplan provides a structured approach to boosting K9 officers’ operational capabilities in law enforcement activities, as well as modernizing and improving K9 training standards. By adopting this plan, the GPI reaffirms its commitment to international good practices in policing and security.
“The adoption of this masterplan marks a significant step in strengthening the capacities of our law enforcement agency,” said Viorel Cernăuțeanu, Head of the GPI. “Through this partnership with the OSCE and our international partners, we are equipping our K9 units with the necessary skills and resources to address evolving security challenges more effectively.”
Senior officials from the GPI and international partners attending the signing ceremony addressed the OSCE’s key role in the development of the plan, including the technical expertise, training and resources provided, and its importance for Moldova’s law enforcement.
These activities are implemented as part of the extrabudgetary project “Support to the Law Enforcement Agencies in Moldova in Response to the Security Challenges in the Region”, funded by France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, that bolsters Moldova’s law enforcement capabilities in countering transnational threats.
A relative of two Syrians tortured and murdered by the Assad regime has spoken of the anguish caused by their enforced disappearance during the country’s civil war.
Obeida Dabbagh’s brother Mazen, and nephew Patrick – both Syrian-French nationals – were arrested by Air Force Intelligence officials in November 2013.
Held for years and tortured, there were falsely declared dead in 2018 “years after they disappeared,” Mr. Dabbagh told the Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which meets at the UN Office at Geneva (UNOG).
Arbitrary victims
He stressed that his uncle and nephew had not been involved in initially peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad that authorities attempted to crush by carrying out mass arrests, torture and widespread human rights abuses that have been widely condemned by UN senior officials.
“The Syrian regime, in addition to torture and executions, extorted money from our family, promising us information or release in exchange for exorbitant sums, before expelling [Mazen’s] wife and [his] daughter from our family home in Damascus,” Mr. Dabbagh told the panel, which is one of ten UN human rights Treaty Bodies independent of the Human Rights Council.
Fight against impunity
“This fight goes beyond my family,” Mr. Dabbagh continued.
“It is part of a universal quest for justice and against impunity for war crimes. Through this legal action, I wanted not only to obtain justice for Mazen and Patrick, but also to participate in the global fight against the atrocities committed by the Syrian regime.”
Before they were arrested, Mazen provided teaching support at a French college in the Syrian capital and his son Patrick was a psychology student at Damascus university.
Desperate to secure their release, their family approached the Syrian, French and international authorities, including the Red Cross and European Union.
In 2016, alongside the NGO International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the family filed a complaint with the Paris Prosecutor’s office for crimes against humanity.
Key French intervention
This legal action allowed the French justice system to open an investigation and collect key testimonies, particularly from Syrian deserters. This led to an indictment order in March 2023 for three senior Syrian regime officials to stand trial for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Ratifying countries are legally bound to its provisions, including the prohibition of secret detention, the obligation to search for disappeared persons, the criminalization of enforced disappearance and the commitment to prosecute those responsible.
For the Committee, independent rights expert Fidelis Kanyongolo highlighted the critical importance of extra-territorial jurisdiction in the Committee’s work, given that many States have yet to ratify the Convention – along with the fact that Syria has not ratified the Rome Statute, which would have allowed the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute serious human rights crimes there.
In addition, there has been no resolution from the UN Security Council referring grave rights abuses in Syria to the ICC and the domestic justice system remains neither independent nor accountable, Mr, Kanyongolo maintained.
It was preceded by the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1992.
With 77 State parties today, the Convention remains a key reference, with several of its provisions now reflecting customary international law.
Call for Justice
In a statement marking 14 years since the start of the Syrian civil war, the UN Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry on Syria called for urgent efforts to hold all perpetrators accountable, both from the Assad era and all warring parties since 2011.
“Evidence, including documents in prisons, courts and mass grave sites, must be preserved to support future truth and accountability initiatives led by the new Syrian authorities, with the support of key actors such as Syrian civil society,” the Commission stated.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Aberystwyth University
Around 73% of Ukrainians now want their country to “restore” its nuclear weapons, according to a recent opinion poll. A majority of Ukrainians (58%) were in favour of Ukraine owning nuclear weapons, even if this meant losing western allies.
This suggests an underlying regret that Ukraine agreed to relinquish the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal as part of the Budapest Memorandum around 30 years ago. This agreement, signed in December 1994, provided security guarantees for Ukraine from the US, the UK and Russia in return for giving up the weapons. Ukraine also agreed it would not acquire nuclear weapons in the future.
The focus on nuclear weapons is intensifying all over Europe. This week the Polish president, Andrzej Duda, called on the US to station its nuclear weapons in his country to deter Russian attacks. He cited Moscow’s decision to deploy nuclear weapons just across the border in Belarus during 2023 as part of his reasoning.
Trump’s apparent weakening commitment to Nato has also prompted the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to suggest that France could extend protection of its own nuclear weapons to its allies.
It’s clear that some Ukrainians now believe that their country would have been less likely to have experienced a Russian invasion if it had held on to its nuclear capacity. Ukrainians now question how much they can rely on other states after the failure of security guarantees that were central to the 1994 agreement.
The pledges by the US, UK and Russia to protect the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine were put to the test in 2014 when Russia invaded and then annexed Crimea and began providing financial and military backing for militia leaders in eastern Ukraine who claimed to lead pro-Russian separatist movements.
The US and UK imposed economic sanctions against Russia and provided training, equipment and non-lethal weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces. But these measures fell well short of ensuring Ukraine’s sovereignty and were insufficient to help Ukraine retake its territory.
Similarly, US and UK support for Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, although valuable and much appreciated by the Ukrainians, has not been enough to allow Kyiv to completely expel Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.
What was the Budapest Memorandum?
What if Ukraine still had nuclear weapons?
But what if Ukraine had never given up its nuclear weapons? The logic of deterrence suggests that Putin would have not have invaded and attacked a nuclear-armed Ukraine. But the argument that Ukraine should not have surrendered the Soviet nuclear weapons on its territory overlooks the specific circumstances. For while physical components of a nuclear weapons capability – delivery vehicles and nuclear warheads – were within Ukraine’s grasp, the launch codes remained in Moscow, and Russian leaders showed no willingness to relinquish them.
So, Kyiv would have had no control over whether, when or against whom those weapons might have been used. The risk to Ukraine of becoming the target of another state’s nuclear strike would have been considerable, and the Kyiv government would have been unable to do anything to reduce that risk. Retaining nuclear weapons left over from the Soviet period would have probably made Ukrainians less rather than more secure.
Ukraine also lacked the economic resources to maintain the nuclear weapons on its territory, or develop them into a credible deterrent force. In exchange for giving up nuclear weapons, Ukraine received much-needed economic assistance from the west.
In the 1990s Ukrainian views were shaped by the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. This had a devastating and lasting impact on the land and the people in that part of Ukraine, highlighting the risks of the nuclear sector. In 1994, when the Budapest Memorandum was being negotiated, only 30% of Ukrainians were in favour of Ukraine possessing nuclear weapons.
What now?
Ukraine would face considerable technical challenges in developing nuclear weapons today, both in creating the necessary quantities of fissile material for warheads and manufacturing delivery vehicles.
Kyiv would also need to pay for an expensive nuclear weapons development programme at a time when the Ukrainian economy is struggling to supply its soldiers with conventional weapons and meet the needs of civilians.
And unless Ukraine’s international supporters were on board, Kyiv might face the withdrawal of economic and military aid at a crucial juncture. If Moscow detected any move on Ukraine’s part to develop nuclear weapons, there would be a strong motive for a preemptive Russian strike to put an end to that plan.
But even though it may not be feasible for Ukraine to develop an independent nuclear deterrent in the short term, Kyiv may feel compelled to pursue a nuclear weapons programme unless Ukraine is provided with serious and reliable security guarantees. With the Trump administration apparently ruling out Nato membership for Ukraine, the onus is on the country’s international supporters to come up with an alternative unless they want to see further nuclear proliferation in Europe.
Jennifer Mathers does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
When Bernard Berenson learned that Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa had been stolen from the Louvre Gallery in Paris, the art critic heaved an enormous sigh of relief. Finally, he reflected, he could remove himself once and all from the dangerous influence of the work. “She had simply become an incubus,” he recalled years later, “and I was glad to be rid of her.”
At long last, Berenson had freed himself from the vampiric face of the Mona Lisa.
Today Leonardo’s painting, happily recovered in 1913 for generations of visitors after its theft in 1911, still looms large as perhaps the definitive symbol of Italian Renaissance art.
French president Emmanuel Macron recently announced plans for a project titled Nouvelle Renaissance, which will see the artwork moved to its own exhibition room, relieving pressure on the main gallery space. One of the most visited artworks in the world, Berenson’s pronouncement of the enigmatically smiling figure as a male demon in female human form, sits oddly with her endless appearance on t-shirts and tea-towels.
But looking again at how the myth of the Mona Lisa emerged, I believe that her fame is due not just to the painting’s display of artistic ingenuity – but to the troubling vampirism and gender ambiguity that 19th-century critics saw in Leonardo’s work.
This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.
Unlike many of his artistic contemporaries, Leonardo’s reputation remained relatively stable following his death in 1519. But praise for his work was, for centuries, caveated with one apparently intractable problem: he seemed a better draughtsman, inventor and scientist than artist proper.
John Ruskin, England’s preeminent mid-Victorian critic, wrote off the Mona Lisa as a total mess. He lamented that the painting’s background was simply “grotesque” being all “blue and unfinished”.
But as the century progressed, the tide began to turn, particularly in France. Writers newly praised the strange feelings that Leonardo’s paintings provoked, interrogating the nervous smiles and ironic stares of their subjects. “You are fascinated and troubled,” the historian Jules Michelet imagined in his monumental book Histoire de France (1855), describing himself in the Louvre moving like hypnotised prey towards the sinister artworks.
The Mona Lisa was being slowly injected with a dose of eerie, haunted beauty. But it wasn’t until 1873, when the Oxford aesthete Walter Pater published his explosive book Studies in the History of the Renaissance that the character of the Mona Lisa took a decisively gothic turn. In it, Pater described her as one of the undead:
She is older than the rocks on which she sits; like the vampire, she has been dead many times and learned the secrets of the grave
“Lady Lisa”, as Pater memorably nicknamed her, turned from an Italian noblewoman into a dangerously deathly femme-fatale. Pater claimed that she carried all of time and history within her body, bearing the world’s experience from “the animalism of Greece” to “the sins of the Borgia”.
The passage caused shockwaves, and a generation of readers were hooked. The poet Richard Le Gallienne recalled in his memoir how his friends were “all going round quoting the famous description”, as wannabe aesthetes endlessly recited, copied and reworked Pater’s lines.
Pater scholar Michael Davis has explained how the book “queered the Renaissance”: he called on his readers to worship at the altar of a strange beauty, demanding that they “burn” with a “hard, gemlike flame” as they did so. Pater’s new reading of Mona Lisa was at the heart of an erotic revolution. The Mona Lisa had become a symbol of a new way of looking and feeling, charged with the aching pain of melancholic beauty.
By the early 20th century, an industry of criticism had developed that took increasingly outrageous stances against the Mona Lisa.
Stories circulated about virtuous mothers who refused to allow reproductions of the work to enter their home. Sigmund Freud reworked Pater’s interpretation of the Mona Lisa’s “unfathomable smile” to evidence his theory of Leonardo’s homosexuality, claiming that the Mona Lisa’s smile was in fact a painting of his dead mother’s smile. Pater’s passage, as the Irish writer W. B. Yeats summarised, had taken on a “revolutionary importance” and with it the Mona Lisa changed from a minor work to an icon of a decadent generation.
Beyond the canon
As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is Frankie Dytor’s suggestion:
The lesbian poet couple Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper, published the poem La Gioconda (the Italian name for the Mona Lisa) under the pseudonym “Michael Field” in 1892:
Historic, side-long, implicating eyes;
A smile of velvet’s lustre on the cheek;
Calm lips the smile leads upward; hand that lies
Glowing and soft, the patience in its rest
Of cruelty that waits and does not seek
For prey; a dusky forehead and a breast
Where twilight touches ripeness amorously:
Behind her, crystal rocks, a sea and skies
Of evanescent blue on cloud and creek;
Landscape that shines suppressive of its zest
For those vicissitudes by which men die.
The poets frequently turned to historical subjects and artworks to explore queer and same-sex desire. Here, they show themselves to be the disciples of Pater’s cult of beauty, openly incorporating his stress on the “cruelty” that surrounds the “historic” features of the figure.
But they also go beyond Pater, revelling in the desire that saturates the work, such as the twilight touching the Mona Lisa’s breast “amorously”.
Frankie Dytor receives funding from The British Academy.
Despite the phrase’s rich history, the fame of Jane Austen’s novel ended up drowning out all other associations.Suzy Hazelwood/Pexels
Most readers hear “pride and prejudice” and immediately think of Jane Austen’s most famous novel, that salty-sweet confection of romance and irony with a fairy-tale ending.
Like most Austen fans and scholars, I had read and loved her novels for years without learning much about the history of the title, which Austen chose after scrapping the original one, “First Impressions.”
By the 20th century, “pride and prejudice” became solely associated with Austen’s 1813 novel.
The phrase, which has religious origins, appeared in hundreds of works before Austen was born. From Britain it traveled to America, and from religious tomes it expanded to secular works. It even became a hallmark of abolitionist writing.
Fighting words for religious factions
While 2025 marks Austen’s 250th birthday, the phrase “pride and prejudice” first appeared more than 400 years ago, in religious writings by English Protestants. As the daughter, sister, cousin and granddaughter of Church of England ministers, Austen was certainly aware of the tradition.
If ministers wanted to reproach their parishioners or their opponents, they attributed criticism of their sermons to “pride and prejudice” – as coming from people too arrogant and narrow-minded to entertain their words in good faith.
One early takeaway is that, amid fervent religious conflicts, various denominations similarly used “pride and prejudice” as a criticism.
The unnamed minister himself complained that, owing to “the Pride and Prejudice of mens Spirits, the prevailing Interests of some Factions and Parties, the greatest part of the Nation are miserably wanting in their Duty.”
At the same time, the phrase could be invoked to support religious toleration and in pleas for inclusiveness.
“When all Pride and Prejudice, all Interests and Designs, being submitted to the Honour of God, and the Discharge of our Duty,” an anonymous clergyman wrote in 1734, “the Holy Scriptures shall again triumph over the vain Traditions of Men; and Religion no longer take its Denomination from little Sects and Factions.”
From politics to prose
In the 18th century, advances in publishing led to an explosion of secular writing. For the first time, regular people could buy books about history, politics and philosophy. These popular texts spread the phrase “pride and prejudice” to even more distant shores.
One fan was American founding father Thomas Paine.
In his 47-page pamphlet “Common Sense,” Paine argued that kings could not be trusted to protect democracy: “laying aside all national pride and prejudice in favour of modes and forms, the plain truth is, that it is wholly owing to the constitution of the people, and not to the constitution of the government[,] that the crown is not as repressive in England as in Turkey.”
Others included Daniel Defoe, author of “Robinson Crusoe.” In his 1708 essay “Review of the State of the British Nation,” Defoe satirically exhorted the public to vote Tory rather than electing men of sense, to “dispell the Poisons” that “Sloth, Envy, Pride and Prejudice may have contracted, and bring the Blood of the Party into a true circulation.”
After the philosophers, the historians and the political commentators came the novelists. And among the novelists, female writers were especially important. My annotated list in “Jane Austen, Abolitionist” includes more than a dozen female writers using the phrase between 1758 and 1812, the year Austen finished revising “Pride and Prejudice.”
Among them was Frances Burney. Scholars have often attributed Austen’s famous title to Burney, who used the phrase “pride and prejudice” in her novel “Cecilia.”
As the critique embodied in the phrase progressed beyond religious and partisan conflict, it became increasingly used in the context of ethics and social reform.
My most striking discovery in this research is the long-standing association of the phrase “pride and prejudice” with abolitionism, the movement to eradicate enslavement and the slave trade.
The leaders of transnational antislavery organizations used it at their conventions and in the books and periodicals they published. In 1843, 30 years after the publication of Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” British Quaker Thomas Clarkson wrote to the General Antislavery Convention, which was meeting in London.
He exhorted the faithful to repudiate slavery “at once and forever” if there were any among them “whose eyes may be so far blinded, or their consciences so far seared by interest or ignorance, pride or prejudice, as still to sanction or uphold this unjust and sinful system.”
He even used the phrase twice. Acknowledging that some violent abolitionists had aroused reaction, he warned his audience that “this state of feeling arises as much from pride and prejudice on the one hand, as from indiscretion or impropriety on the other.”
At the funeral for abolitionist John Brown, the minister prayed over his body, “Oh, God, cause the oppressed to go free; break any yoke, and prostrate the pride and prejudice that dare to lift themselves up.”
Use of the phrase did not end with Emancipation or the end of the U.S. Civil War.
In fact, it was one of Frederick Douglass’ favorite phrases. On Oct. 22, 1883, in his “Address at Lincoln Hall,” Douglass excoriated the Supreme Court’s decision rendering the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional.
As was typical of Douglass, the speech ranged beyond racial inequities: “Color prejudice is not the only prejudice against which a Republic like ours should guard. The spirit of caste is malignant and dangerous everywhere. There is the prejudice of the rich against the poor, the pride and prejudice of the idle dandy against the hard-handed workingman.”
Austen’s independent women
Early on in “Pride and Prejudice,” the conceited Caroline Bingley snipes that Elizabeth Bennet shows “an abominable sort of conceited independence.” Later, the snobbish Lady Catherine accuses Bennet of being “headstrong.” But near the ending, Mr. Darcy tells Bennet that he loves her for “the liveliness” of her “mind.”
In this respect, Bennet reflects a quality that all of Austen’s heroines possess. While they try to adhere to standards of courtesy and respect, none are guilty of saying only what the leading man wants to hear.
Given that Austen chose her title to honor the phrase and its history, it is ironic that her own fame ended up drowning out the abolitionist associations of “pride and prejudice” after the Civil War.
If there is any work of fiction that successfully makes self-sufficiency, independent thinking and open-mindedness look good – and makes sycophants, rigidity and hysterical devotion to rank and status look bad – it is “Pride and Prejudice.”
Yet the lasting popularity of Austen’s novel demonstrates that the ethics contained in the phrase continue to resonate today, even if its context has been lost.
Margie Burns does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe – OSCE
Headline: Enhancing Ammunition Safety: OSCE Fosters Regional Co-operation in Central Asia
Participants of the regional seminar on methods for testing ammunition propellants, Bishkek, 12 March 2025. (OSCE) Photo details
On 12 March 2025, a regional seminar on methods for testing ammunition propellants, aimed at enhancing ammunition safety and strengthening regional co-operation, took place in Bishkek. Organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek in partnership with the Ministry of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic and with support from the Ministry of Defence of Austria, the event brought together officers from the Ministries of Defence of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Participants discussed best practices for conducting stability testing of ammunition using the Qualitative Propellant Analysis Kit (QPAK), a Level 1 mobile laboratory. Experts from the Ministry of Defence of Austria shared their expertise on assessing propellant stability and mitigating the risks of accidental explosions at ammunition storage sites.
Konstantin Bedarev, Head of the Politico-Military Department of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, highlighted the importance of regional co-operation: “Strengthening co-operation between our countries will help develop effective solutions that contribute to increased security and sustainable ammunition management in the region.”
This initiative is part of an ongoing series of activities within the extra-budgetary project “Improvement of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) and Conventional Ammunition (CA) Life-Cycle Management Capacity of the Ministry of Defence of the Kyrgyz Republic,” supported by Austria, France, Germany, Norway, and Switzerland.
The Commission is aware of the challenges facing the EU’s outermost regions and French Guyana in terms of food security and farming and is fully committed to supporting the development of these regions.
The outermost regions can receive support under the Single Market Programme[1] for the implementation of phytosanitary programmes for the control of pests. However, Ceratobasidium sp. does not feature among the pests eligible for funding in the phytosanitary programme 2025-2027[2].
The outermost regions can also benefit from support through the Horizon Europe programme for plant health research and innovation.
This area is a priority under cluster 6 ‘Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment’ of the Horizon Europe Programme[3], and will remain a key focus in future work programmes[4].
Under Horizon 2020[5] and Horizon Europe, numerous projects in plant health were funded, including initiatives addressing emerging threats from plant pests.
The outermost regions benefit from further support for agriculture and food autonomy under the Common Agricultural Policy and the Programme of options specifically relating to remoteness and insularity.
The French Common Agricultural Policy Strategic Plan supports research projects for agriculture through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development[6], enabling outermost regions to address plant health challenges.
The LIFE[7] programme under which the outermost regions benefit from bonus points for their applications, also supports biodiversity protection and projects relating to invasive alien species.
Outermost regions also benefit from the ‘BESTLIFE2030: Grant scheme for biodiversity in EU Overseas’[8] that finances small biodiversity projects with 95% financing.
[1] Regulation (EU) 2021/690 of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme for the internal market, competitiveness of enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, the area of plants, animals, food and feed, and European statistics (Single Market Programme).
[2] Commission Implementing Decision of 8.4.2024 on adoption of the multiannual work programme for 2025-2027 for the implementation of veterinary programmes for animal diseases and zoonoses and phytosanitary programmes for plant pests.
Question for written answer E-000976/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Alexandre Varaut (PfE), Gerolf Annemans (PfE), Nikola Bartůšek (PfE), Angéline Furet (PfE), Filip Turek (PfE), Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain (PfE), Christophe Bay (PfE)
In the run-up to the German federal elections on 23 February 2025, fears of foreign interference were on the rise[1] and the Commission was urged to take measures to safeguard the integrity of the ballot[2].
These fears were targeted against Russia, but also the United States, and in particular Elon Musk, owner of the social media network X (formerly Twitter). In response, the Commission stated[3] that Elon Musk’s attitude would form part of its investigation into X, which it is currently conducting in the context of the Digital Services Regulation.
Given their potential impact on the democratic debate in Europe, these circumstances give rise to the following questions:
1.At the time of its reply, does the Commission have any evidence or indications of foreign interference in the German federal elections?
2.If so, can the Commission identify the perpetrators and state the specific elements on which these suspicions are based, indicating the corresponding legal classification for each?
3.Can the Commission distinguish the nature of these acts from other incidents which occurred during the recent European elections[4] and which were not classified as interference, which may give rise to fears that the accusations of interference are in fact being used as a political means to eliminate certain candidates?
[4] For example, the call by three European leaders to vote for a candidate in the French presidential election of 2022 (https://www.francetvinfo.fr/elections/presidentielle/presidentielle-2022-trois-dirigeants-europeens-appellent-a-choisir-le-candidat-democrate-au-second-tour_5093920.html) or the visit by the President of the Commission to Moldova on 10 October 2024, ten days before the referendum on membership of the European Union, to encourage Moldovans to move ever closer to the Union (https://enlargement.ec.europa.eu/news/press-statement-president-von-der-leyen-moldovan-president-sandu-2024-10-10_en).
[5] This question is supported by Members other than the authors: Jean-Paul Garraud (PfE), Julie Rechagneux (PfE)
Priority question for written answer P-001086/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Gilles Pennelle (PfE), Valérie Deloge (PfE), Fabrice Leggeri (PfE), Marie-Luce Brasier-Clain (PfE), Julie Rechagneux (PfE), France Jamet (PfE), Angéline Furet (PfE), Philippe Olivier (PfE), Pascale Piera (PfE), Mélanie Disdier (PfE), Aleksandar Nikolic (PfE), Séverine Werbrouck (PfE)
On Wednesday 19 February, Commissioner Christophe Hansen unveiled the Commission’s ‘vision’ for agriculture and food. This roadmap was accompanied by several interviews with the Commissioner on the subject of the Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, on which some clarification is needed.
Does the Commission intend to maintain the following objectives:
– a 50% reduction in plant protection products by 2030,
– a 20% reduction in fertilisers by 2030,
– 25% of agricultural land under organic farming by 2030,
– a 50% reduction in sales of antimicrobials used for farmed animals and in aquaculture,
ATLANTA and LONDON, March 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Descartes Systems Group (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG), the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, released findings from its study Top Three Traits of Companies with a Successful Approach to Trade Compliance. The study showed that 39% of fast-growing companies (those expecting greater than 15% growth over the next two years) consider trade compliance to be a competitive advantage and not only a regulatory requirement, compared to 22% of slower-growing companies (those with less than 5% growth expectations).
Furthermore, 57% of companies surveyed believe technology is also very or extremely important for competitive advantage in trade compliance strategies (see Figure 1). This view is even more pronounced in growth businesses versus non-growth companies: 72%, or almost three quarters, of fast-growing companies believe technology is a valuable competitive differentiator, compared to just 41% of businesses predicting shrinking, limited, or no growth.
Figure 1: Importance of technology for competitive advantage in trade compliance strategies
Source: Descartes/SAPIO
The study also revealed that 86% of fast-growing companies indicated technology is fundamental or highly important to growth strategies. Underscoring a strong link between technology, business expansion and trade compliance, 47% of fast-growing companies confirm investing in technology is the top approach to tackling international trade challenges—compared to just 18% of those expecting shrinking, limited, or no growth.
In addition to gaining competitive advantage by leveraging trade compliance and investing in technology, higher-growth companies are focused on building a well-resourced compliance team. The study found that companies with greater than 15% expected growth in the next two years allocate an average of eight people to trade compliance activities, compared to six people in companies anticipating shrinking, limited, or no growth.
“Given the volatility of the current trade landscape, rife with evolving tariffs, trade barriers, sanctions and regulations, effective and efficient global trade compliance is a distinct competitive differentiator,” said Jackson Wood, Director, Industry Strategy at Descartes. “Companies that invest in building their compliance teams view compliance as a strategic advantage. They leverage leading technologies to turn compliance into an engine for growth while creating more resilient supply chain operations.”
Descartes and SAPIO Research surveyed 887 corporate decision makers in international trade compliance and/or supply chain intelligence across Argentina, Benelux, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, UK and USA. The goal was to understand the strategies, tactics and technologies used by companies involved in international trade to help gain a competitive advantage and ensure continued business growth, and to identify if these varied by factors such as country, industry, company size and business growth. Respondents are members of company leadership teams, from management level to Chief Executive Officer or Owner. To learn more, read the study Top Three Traits of Companies with a Successful Approach to Trade Compliance.
Descartes (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG) is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, security and sustainability of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use our modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, track and help improve the safety, performance and compliance of delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world’s largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Our headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and we have offices and partners around the world. Learn more at www.descartes.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
This release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws (“forward-looking statements”) that relate to Descartes’ global trade intelligence solution offerings and potential benefits derived therefrom; and other matters. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements or developments expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, the factors and assumptions discussed in the section entitled, “Certain Factors That May Affect Future Results” in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ontario Securities Commission and other securities commissions across Canada including Descartes’ most recently filed management’s discussion and analysis. If any such risks actually occur, they could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In that case, the trading price of our common shares could decline, perhaps materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Forward-looking statements are provided for the purposes of providing information about management’s current expectations and plans relating to the future. Readers are cautioned that such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. We do not undertake or accept any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect any change in our expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based, except as required by law.
Source: ASEAN – Association of SouthEast Asian Nations
Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, this morning met with Ambassador of the French Republic to ASEAN, H.E. Fabien Penone, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. Both sides exchanged ideas on ways and means to strengthen the ASEAN-France Development Partnership through meaningful activities on mutually beneficial cooperation areas, as well as discussed on the preparations for the State visit of the President of the French Republic, H.E. Emmanuel Macron, to the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat in the coming months.
The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with Ambassador of the French Republic to ASEAN appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.
Source: ASEAN – Association of SouthEast Asian Nations
Secretary-General of ASEAN, H.E. Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, this morning met with Ambassador of the French Republic to ASEAN, H.E. Fabien Penone, at the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat. Both sides exchanged ideas on ways and means to strengthen the ASEAN-France Development Partnership through meaningful activities on mutually beneficial cooperation areas, as well as discussed on the preparations for the State visit of the President of the French Republic, H.E. Emmanuel Macron, to the ASEAN Headquarters/ASEAN Secretariat in the coming months.
The post Secretary-General of ASEAN meets with Ambassador of the French Republic to ASEAN appeared first on ASEAN Main Portal.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
First meeting of Great British Energy board members
Inaugural meeting of the Great British Energy start-up board takes place in Aberdeen to drive the UK’s clean energy future.
Great British Energy start-up board meet for the first time in Aberdeen
Publicly owned company will drive forward the government’s Plan for Change and clean energy superpower mission, backed by £8.3 billion
Great British Energy’s start-up board members will meet in Aberdeen today (Monday 17 March) to discuss scaling up the company and kickstarting investments, to deliver the government’s Plan for Change and clean energy superpower mission.
Great British Energy is owned by the British people, for the British people, and will own and invest in clean energy projects across the UK to create good, skilled jobs and growth.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks will convene the meeting alongside Start-up Chair Juergen Maier and interim CEO Dan McGrail to discuss next steps for the organisation and building up an investment portfolio that will return a profit for the British people.
Great British Energy has already begun engaging with the market on potential collaborations to ensure it can quickly start delivering for the British taxpayer once it is fully established, backed by £8.3 billion over this Parliament.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks said:
We now have a fantastic team in place to lead Great British Energy and establish the company in Aberdeen.
By unlocking homegrown clean power projects, Great British Energy will support thousands of well-paid jobs in Scotland and across the country, and deliver energy security for the British people.
Today’s meeting of the new board members marks another step forward for the company as it gears up to make its first investments.
Great British Energy Start-up Chair Juergen Maier said:
We are working on a plan to invest in and deliver homegrown clean power, supporting the next generation of energy jobs.
We are already engaging with industry on exciting investment opportunities so we can hit the ground running once Great British Energy is fully established.
Together we will back British innovation and support the creation of thousands of jobs in clean energy projects and their supply chains in the North East of Scotland alone.
Interim Great British Energy CEO Dan McGrail said:
Great British Energy is perfectly placed to take advantage of the clean energy revolution for the benefit of the British people. As I take up post as interim CEO today, I’m pleased to bring our new board members together in Aberdeen to discuss our plans to invest in secure, homegrown clean power – unleashing jobs and crowding in private investment.
It follows the appointment of the interim CEO, five non-executive directors, and chair to the company’s start-up board. On Tuesday 18 March, Juergen Maier will convene a skills roundtable to work with industry to help oil and gas workers in north-east Scotland access opportunities in clean energy jobs. The roundtable is due to be attended by organisations including Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Trades Union Congress, Green Free Ports Cromarty and Leith, ETZ Ltd and Aberdeen & Grampian Chambers of Commerce.
Background
Great British Energy start-up board members include:
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Paul Nguyen Quang Dinh, until now vicar general of the diocese of Hung Hoá, Vietnam, responsible for Son Loc Cathedral and the diocesan liturgical Commission, as auxiliary bishop of the same diocese, assigning him the titular see of Voncaria.Msgr. Paul Nguyen Quang Dinh was born on 18 May 1973 in Son Thuy, in the diocese of Hung Hoá. He studied philosophy and theology at Saint Joseph Major Seminary in Hanoi.He was ordained a priest on 29 November 2005 for the diocese of Hung Hoá.After ordination, he first served as parish vicar of Du Ba in Hung Hoá (2006) and parish priest of Ngo Xa in Hung Hoá (2006-2009). He studied for a master’s degree in liturgy and sacramental theology at the Institut Catholique de Paris, France (2009-2016), and went on to hold the offices of parish priest of Yen Tap in Hung Hoá (2016-2019), and parish priest of Tuyên Quang in Hung Hoá (2019-2022).Since 2022 he has been vicar general and responsible for the Son Loc Cathedral and the liturgical Commission of the diocese of Hung Hoá. (Agenzia Fides, 15/3/2025)
Share:
The number of cinema admissions in Switzerland fell in 2024 compared with 2023 (‒2%). However, there were variations depending on language region (‒4% in German-speaking Switzerland, but +2% in French-speaking and Italian-speaking Switzerland) and production country (‒12% for American films and +11% for European films). These are some of the final results from the 2024 Swiss Film and Cinema Statistics compiled by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
