5 d. ago Canada and EU sign defense pact amid strained US relations and global instability

Amid Trump’s disrespect of old allies, EU and Canada vow more support for Ukraine and joint work on climate crisisCanada has signed a wide-ranging defence pact with the EU, as Donald Trump and global instability prompt traditional US allies to deepen their alliances.Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, on Monday joined European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and head of the European Council, António Costa, in Brussels, where they signed a security and defence partnership, pledged more support for Ukraine, as well as joint work on issues from the climate crisis to artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Canada and EU sign defence pact amid strained US relations and global instability

Amid Trump’s disrespect of old allies, EU and Canada vow more support for Ukraine and joint work on climate crisisCanada has signed a wide-ranging defence pact with the EU, as Donald Trump and global instability prompt traditional US allies to deepen their alliances.Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, on Monday joined European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and head of the European Council, António Costa, in Brussels, where they signed a security and defence partnership, pledged more support for Ukraine, as well as joint work on issues from the climate crisis to artificial intelligence. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago EU foreign ministers meet to discuss Ukraine, Russia and worsening crisis in Middle East – Europe live

Foreign affairs council discusses Ukraine after another night of heavy Russian attacks as Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits UKGerman foreign minister Johann Wadephul said today’s meeting was kicking off “a crucial week for security in Europe and the world,” with talks to be continued at the Nato and the EU summits later this week.He says European negotiators told Iran last Friday in Geneva that “a real prerequisite for resolving the conflict is that Iran is willing to negotiate directly with the US.” Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago The Iranian people were starting to win their battle for liberty and prosperity. Then Israel attacked | Esfandyar Batmanghelidj

Something was shifting in Iran, but now missiles and the return of foreign interference may tear up the green shoots of progressMissiles follow trajectories. So do countries. And over the past few days, Israel’s attacks have dramatically changed Iran’s trajectory.Some believe that Iran was already on a downward spiral and that Israel’s actions will simply accelerate the descent. In an op-ed published on Monday, several of Iran’s most prominent civil society figures, including Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, declared that the “only credible path to safeguard [Iran] and its people is the resignation of the current leadership”. In this view, the war could be construed as a deliverance – Israeli officials are openly suggesting that their operations could lead to regime change in Iran. But if Iran’s decline was already precipitous, why are ordinary Iranians terrified by the outbreak of war? Why have they not welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu as the saviour he imagines himself to b...

Events

3 w. ago There is a terrifying new war brewing in Europe that'll make the Ukraine crisis look like a playground scuffle... and we are just one spark or mistake away from oblivion: BOB SEELY

As the world's attention is fixed on Ukraine, a far more dangerous crisis is brewing in the Baltic - one that could explode this summer.

Events

3 w. ago A moment that changed me: I saw my first wild water bear – and snapped out of my despair at the world

I was in anguish over the climate crisis, ecological devastation and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But this almost indestructible little creature gave me a lesson in resilienceLess than a millimetre in length, the squishy, transparent animal was completely unaware of my presence, my entire existence, while I watched it in awe. On my computer screen, where I gazed at the image generated by a cheap USB microscope, the water bear stumbled over grains of eroded rock and plant matter, an assemblage of soil, and I felt amused by its bumbling nature. Like someone trying to move through a field of beach balls, I thought.I had found this water bear, or tardigrade, in a clump of moss I collected during a wet and windy walk with our dog, Bernie, in late 2021. After changing into dry clothes, I rinsed the moss with water and removed the excess using coffee filter paper. Transferring the residue soil and stray moss leaves – known as phyllids – to a small glass bowl, I found the water bear within...

Politics