Security cooperation uk eu

Wildfires have torched a record amount of EU land this year, according to European Commission data, as one of its senior fire researchers warns that climate change is spreading the danger to more countries. As of 17 August, more than 6,800 fires have together burned almost 750,000 hectares of land in the European Union, more than a third of the size of Wales, sending homes, crops, and livelihoods up in flames. Both the number of fires and area burned exceed those from the same period in 2017, the most devastating year on record, when fires tore through more than one million hectares of land and more than 130 people lost their lives. But in 2017 the most dramatic and deadly fires struck in October, so "we need to wait until the end of the year to see how the year evolves", said Dr Jesus San-Miguel-Ayanz, senior researcher at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and coordinator of the EFFIS wildfire monitoring system. Persistent dry weather since winter, and … [Read more...] about ‘Unprecedented’ wildfires torch record area of EU land to date

A new 21st century foreign policy is being written in the background of the battle lines being drawn in the Indo-Pacific. The ‘Great Game’ now stretches from Afghanistan to this vast area of immense geopolitical significance. The Indo-Pacific is marked by a precarious geometry of fault-lines and historic strategic mistrust. It has become the centre of China’s efforts to establish its pre-eminence as the dominant, indeed, sole superpower. What is the geographic scope of the Indo-Pacific? It is generally agreed that it extends from the east coast of Africa to the west coast of the Americas. Drawing precise geographic borderlines is not important since the Indo-Pacific is primarily a geostrategic concept. It is the core and nerve centre of international geopolitics and a new global power game. It is encircled by major population centres. Eight of the top twenty economies are situated here, giving it immense geo-economic importance. New threats and challenges to the existing world … [Read more...] about The New Great Game: Free World Needs Quad-Like Alliances to Confront Chinese Threats

A Leeds University student and human rights activist has been sentenced to 34 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for following activists and dissidents on Twitter. Salma al-Shehab, 34, was given the sentence in a ruling which campaigners said "sets a dangerous precedent for women activists" and was the "longest issued against female or male activists". She had initially been sentenced to three years in prison for using the internet to "cause public unrest and destabilise civil and national security" - but was handed the new sentence on Monday after an appeals court was asked to consider other alleged crimes. The married mother of two children, who was also given a 34-year travel ban, was arrested in January 2021 while on holiday in Saudi Arabia . She is said to be a specialist in oral and dental medicine and a lecturer at Princess Nourah University in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. European Saudi Organisation for Human Rights (ESOHR) said: "Although not all levels of … [Read more...] about Leeds student sentenced to 34 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for using Twitter

Any time the leaders of India and Pakistan (or China) are slated to attend a regional or multilateral event, the media and strategy community dive headlong into a high-decibel speculation about the possibility of a bilateral meeting. Though not formally confirmed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to participate in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit at Samarkand, Uzbekistan in mid-September 2022, when India inter alia is to assume presidency of the organisation as well as host the 2023 summit. The newly minted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is also expected to attend, triggering another round of ‘talkathon’. A similar speculation had ensued before the SCO summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (June 13-14 2019) which was attended by Modi and Sharif’s predecessor Imran Khan. No meeting eventually materialised, except for a brief exchange of pleasantries in the delegates’ lounge. That too was disclosed not by India but the Pakistani foreign minister. … [Read more...] about Will PM Modi and Shehbaz Sharif Meet on SCO Sidelines in Samarkand?

China’s state-run Global Times took a victory lap on Monday, the one-year anniversary of President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, hailing the debacle as the death of American “hegemony” and a humiliation the United States will never overcome. One editorial from the Global Times excitedly claimed the “international community” was permanently turned off by “the U.S.’ irresponsible hasty withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan,” leaving the unfortunate residents of that country to suffer “endless trauma” caused by the botched American occupation. The Global Times and its stable of “Chinese experts” argued the “Kabul moment” showed that America’s playbook of “democratic transformation” will never work anywhere, the American “strategy of hegemony” is a bust, and while Biden might have thought he was escaping from a quagmire, he instead made the United States perpetually responsible for the misery of the Afghan people. The Chinese paper … [Read more...] about ‘Superpower in Its Downfall’: China Celebrates Anniversary of Biden Afghanistan Disaster

The offshore wind industry witnessed a three-fold increase in grid connections worldwide from 2020 to 2021, led by 21.1 GW of new installations, recording one of its best year-on-year growth yet, according to the Global Offshore Wind Report released by the Belgium-based Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC). The offshore wind now represents 7% of total global cumulative installations with the current global cumulative capacity of 56 GW. This is good news for the fast evolving renewable energy sector which is most critical for the fight against climate change, and looming energy crisis. The global report also recognises India’s ambitious goal of achieving 30 GW offshore wind capacity by 2030, despite being relatively new to offshore wind. The target was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow where he committed to installing 500 GW of non-fossil fuels-based power generation capacity by 2030. Setting the plan in motion, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy … [Read more...] about New Connections Triple, 2021 Best Year for Offshore Wind Industry: Report