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27/08/2022 ---- 05/09/2022

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05.09.2022
THEME: POLITICS

New UK Prime Minister Liz Truss takes office in a difficult historical moment

Across the United Kingdom, businesses and households are warning that they won't make it through the winter without help from the government. That sets up enormous challenges for the incoming prime minister Truss, elected today as successor to Boris Johnson. With inflation running above 10% yearly, soaring energy bills, and the ongoing Brexit consequences the UK is arguably the most impacted European state in the coming winter. During the electoral campaign the PM has defined China a threat - while the bilateral relationship has been growing in the past decade: a course inversion that could bring further economic turmoil. On other foreign matters such as pending issues with the EU and the will to see Russia defeated in Ukraine, new PM Truss is likely to continue the doing of her predecessor. With other nations already taking significant economic measures, PM Truss - already defined as the new Iron Lady - has the possibility to write history for her country in such a complex historical moment.

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05.09.2022
THEME: WORLD

Chile voted on the most progressive constitution in the world: 62% rejected the proposal

On September 4 2022 Chile voted on the proposal to adopt a new constitution where social inclusion, ecology, gender parity, indigenous rights are unmovable pillars. The text contains a number of articles designed to boost science, expand environmental protection and improve the nation’s education system. These stand in stark contrast to the contents of the text enacted more than four decades ago under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In the past years many Chileans protested economic inequalities and demanded a new constitution. In 2020 the nation voted overwhelmingly to replace the document. A democratically elected assembly, including scientists, teachers, students and Indigenous representatives, formed to draft it. It is the first time in Chile's history a constitution was drafted democratically. With protests in Chile being heavily supported by feminist movements, the draft contains several strong points on gender parity. State bodies and public companies, among other entities, would have gender parity. The state would take measures to eradicate and punish gender violence. The proposal said every person is entitled to sexual and reproductive rights, including the voluntary interruption of pregnancy - abortion in Chile is currently legal only in cases that involve rape, unviable pregnancies or when the mother's life is in danger. The constitution draft also had an entire chapter dedicated to environment, stating that "nature has rights" and that animals are "subjects of special protection." Fighting climate change would be a state duty as would be protecting biodiversity, native species and natural spaces. Wetlands and glaciers would be "excluded from any mining activity" - Chile is the world's largest producer of copper and one of the top lithium producers. Clearly impacting many strong powers (such as mining corporations) the political campaign has been intense and characterised by accusations of misinformation. Today 62% rejected the proposal. Chile remains now with the constitution written by the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

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05.09.2022
THEME: ECONOMY

Germany announces 65 billions package to curb soaring energy costs

Germany has announced a 65 billions package of measure to curb the rising energy costs due to scarce supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told journalists Germany would get through the winter, adding that Russia was "no longer a reliable energy partner".He said the government would make one-off payments to pensioners, people on benefits and students. There would also be caps on energy bills. Some 9,000 energy-intensive businesses would receive tax breaks to the tune of €1.7bn. Countries across Europe are considering similar measures. EU energy ministers are due to meet on 9 September to discuss how to ease the burden of energy prices across the bloc.

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02.09.2022
THEME: WORLD

G7 leaders agree on price cap for Russian oil while Kremlin promises hard reaction

Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told reporters that Russia will suspend supplies of oil and petroleum products to states which will decide to restrict the price of oil from the country. On the same day the chairman of the board of Russia’s largest private oil company LUKoil (Ravil Maganov, 67) died after falling from a Moscow hospital window plunging from the sixth-floor window of the Central Clinical Hospital - known as the “Kremlin Clinic”. It is with these premises that today September 2 the finance ministers of G7 nations gathered in Elmau (Germany) to decide on the restrictions on Russian oil. The outcome of such meeting shows a strong resolve by EU on this matter. A joint statement has been released: “ […] We will curtail Putin’s capacity to fund his war from oil exports by banning services, such as insurance and the provision of finance, to vessels carrying Russian oil above an agreed price cap. We are united against this barbaric aggression and will do all we can to support Ukraine as they fight for sovereignty, democracy and freedom”. With this the G7 Leaders reaffirmed a shared commitment to preventing Russia from profiting from its war of aggression, to supporting stability in global energy markets and to minimising negative economic spillovers, especially on low- and middle-income countries. To deliver on this commitment, today they confirm a joint political intention to finalise and implement a comprehensive prohibition of services which enable maritime transportation of Russian-origin crude oil and petroleum products globally – the provision of such services would only be allowed if the oil and petroleum products are purchased at or below a price (“the price cap”) determined by the broad coalition of countries adhering to and implementing the price cap. In the following days and weeks such measures will be implemented, with a reaction by Russia to be expected. A few hours later Gazprom announced the possibility of a prolonged halt of natural gas supply through a key pipeline to Germany (Nord Stream 1), citing the need for urgent maintenance work. Today the energy ministers of G20 nations had a parallel meeting in Bali to discuss energy security. The meeting was wrapped up without producing a joint statement toward a stable supply of energy. Differences between Russia and the West likely prevented their reaching an agreement.

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01.09.2022
THEME: WORLD

UN reports human rights violations against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China

The Uyghurs are recognised as native to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in Northwest China. They are one of China's 55 officially recognised ethnic minorities. Since 2014 the Chinese government created camps to ensure “adherence to to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideology, preventing separatism, fighting terrorism, and providing vocational training to Uyghurs”. A report published on Wednesday in the wake of the visit by UN High Commissioner of Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet in May, said that “allegations of patterns of torture, or ill-treatment, including forced medical treatment and adverse conditions of detention, are credible, as are allegations of individual incidents of sexual and gender-based violence.” The UN rights office said that Wednesday’s report was “based on a rigorous review of documentary material currently available to the Office, with its credibility assessed in accordance with standard human rights methodology. At the same time China firmly opposes the release of the so-called Xinjiang-related report by the UN Human Rights Office. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said China attaches importance to balanced promotion of all types of human rights, to dialogue and cooperation with member states, and opposes the wrong practice of politicising human rights and double standards.

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31.08.2022
THEME: POLITICS

EU decides to suspend the visa agreements with Russia

Today the European Union has decided to fully suspend a 2007 visa agreement with Russia and intensify scrutiny over the future applications submitted by Russian tourists. The suspension of the agreement is expected to significantly hinder the visa application process, making it much more expensive, burdensome and drawn-out for Russian nationals planning to visit the bloc. "It’s going to be more difficult and longer, and consequently the number of new visas will be substantially reduced," said Josep Borrell, the EU's foreign policy chief, at the end of an informal meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Prague. While this move demonstrates the EU resolve about the Ukraine matter, some argue that it may strengthen Putin’s regime.

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30.08.2022
THEME: POLITICS

EU struggle with gas pricing anticipates a hard winter energy crisis

EU has been struggling with a growing gas pricing since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis. With Gazprom - Russia’s state controlled energy giant - reducing the gas flux towards EU, and temporarily stopping them for alleged maintenances, prices at the Title Transfer Facility (TTF) - the continent's leading trading hub - reached €321 per megawatt-hour, a stratospheric figure compared to the €27 set a year ago. Some European countries, like Poland, Bulgaria and Finland, have already had their supplies cut off, while others (Germany, Austria, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, etc.) have seen their deliveries significantly reduced. Ministers and leaders in EU are now discussing measures: stocks are being cumulated and energy-saving measures are being implemented. Leaders will also meet to decide wether a gap to the energy price should be implemented. Despite such efforts, some are already announcing that companies may face energy ‘rationing’ this winter.

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29.08.2022
THEME: TECHNOLOGY

China space station continues its assembly and makes steps towards deep space exploration

Today NASA announced postponing Artemis I flight due to engine issues. At the same time the Chinese space program continues towards a fully functional space station and receives good news from botanic experiments onboard. China's Wentian lab module successfully arrived at the China Space Station in the early hours on July 25 and docked with the Tianhe core cabin. Wentian is the second section of the three module Chinese Space Station. Before China, only the former Soviet Union and the US were capable of assembling ultra-large spacecraft in orbit. Today, August 29, good news come from the Wentian’s ecology experimental module as rice seeds have sprouted into tall plants and growing. The experiment is expected to complete a full life cycle "from seeds to seeds”, and during the process astronauts will collect samples and then freeze and preserve them, before finally returning them to the ground for analysis. If completed, this will be the world's first to complete the whole life cycle of rice cultivation under space microgravity conditions. The long term goal of such developments being deep space exploration, a new highly competitive race may have started between US and China in space.

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28.08.2022
THEME: TECHNOLOGY

Towards long-term permanence on the Moon: NASA historic Artemis mission to set off on August 29

Almost 50 years after the last Apollo mission ventured to the lunar surface, NASA has established the Artemis program, which has the ultimate goal of establishing a long-term presence on the Moon’s surface. With a long-term presence established on or around the Moon, it would then be used for future missions further afield, including to Mars - and it all begins with Artemis I. All of the objectives for the inaugural Artemis flight will demonstrate capabilities necessary for when the Orion spacecraft carries humans to deep space. The list includes an overall safe flight, the performance of the rocket, testing the heat shield and retrieving the spacecraft. Artemis I is officially a test flight where new technologies will be tested without crew onboard. After Artemis I comes Artemis 2 and 3, NASA’s first manned lunar missions in five decades. Artemis 3 will be the first crewed lunar landing since Apollo 17 in 1972. It is also intended to be the first mission to land a woman on the Moon. After the discovery in 2009 of Lunar pits and caves that could provide Earth-like temperatures (17 degrees Celsius, 63 Fahrenheit) long term permanence on the Moon’s surface may not be too far away. These pit craters, and the caves to which they may potentially lead, would make safer, more thermally stable base camps for lunar exploration and long-term habitation than the rest of the Moon’s surface, which heats up to 260 degrees (126.6 Celsius) during the day and drops to 280 degrees below zero at night (-173.3 Celsius).

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27.08.2022
THEME: ENVIRONMENT

15 years of negotiations not enough for UN international treaty to preserve Earth’s oceans biodiversity

It is a scientific fact that human life depends on oceans and their biodiversity. In the last decades an incredible number of species in the sea have reduced in number so much that they are now at risk of extinction. A study published in Science found that under business-as-usual global temperature increases, marine systems are likely to experience mass extinctions on par with past great extinctions. Protecting the biodiversity that has been created in the seas in the last 50 million years is now a critical and urgent global matter. Yet, a fifth round of negotiations for a UN ocean treaty to protect and manage the high seas failed to reach an agreement on Friday in New York. The negotiations focused on four key areas: (1) Establishing marine protected areas for more than 30% of the earth’s surface; (2) Improving environmental impact assessments; (3) Providing finance and capacity building to developing countries; (4) Sharing of marine genetic resources - biological material from plants and animals in the ocean that can have benefits for society, such as pharmaceuticals, industrial processes and food. Laura Meller, who leads Greenpeace’s ocean protection campaign, accused rich countries such as the United States of being too slow to compromise. “Russia has also been a key blocker in negotiations, refusing to engage in the treaty process itself, or attempting to compromise with the European Union and many other states on a wide range of issues,” Meller said. The talks will resume next year unless a special emergency session is called before the end of 2022. One of the most sensitive issues revolves around the sharing of possible profits gained from developing genetic resources in international waters, where pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic companies hope to find miracle drugs, products or cures. Such costly research at sea is largely the prerogative of rich nations, but developing countries do not want to be left out of potential windfall profits drawn from marine resources that belong to no one. Similar issues of equity between the Global North and South arise in other international negotiations, such as on climate change, where developing nations feel outsized harms from global warming and try in vain to get wealthier nations to help pay to offset those impacts. Economic differences between nations are hindering developments that are more and more urgent for our species’ future survival.

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