#or Ireland with its two competing center right parties

[tanadrin]

If you were to ask me why I hope someday that all countries have free and democratic political systems, I would say it is because I think those systems produce better outcomes, are more likely to contribute to human flourishing, and reflect values like equality that I prize. But in my heart of hearts, there is another, secret reason: I love reading about the weird fucked up political parties in different countries on Wikipedia.

[underthewingsofthblackeagle]

After her marriage with Frank Randall has failed and Claire Beauchamp flees from her violent husband, she finds refuge in the house of the Fraser/Murray family in Berlin-Wilhelmshorst. But then tensions arise between Britain (which has since left the EU) and some EU member states. All holders of an English passport are required to leave EU territory within six weeks … and suddenly Claire’s fate looks more uncertain than ever.

This story was written for the #14DaysofOutlander event, hosted by @scotsmanandsassenach​

“Glencoe” by dowchrisr 

Chapter 2: 14 Men (1)

        James Alexander Malcolm MacKenzie Fraser was born and raised in the Scottish Highlands. But the development of world history made it impossible for him to spend the rest of his life in his beloved homeland.         Well-read in European history and as a keen observer of global political developments, he had guessed early on that the hard "Brexit" of Great Britain would lead the (until then) United Kingdom into an unprecedented chaos.

“Brexit” by  Foto-Rabe

         When the Corona Pandemic ebbed in Europe and the British Isles and travel restrictions were largely lifted, James Fraser, as head of his clan, decided it was high time to leave the country he and his family loved so much. Many people around him, especially the other 13 members of the "New Jacobites", felt the same way. Some of his friends emigrated to the Republic of Ireland, others to France or the Netherlands. For Jamie and his family another door had opened many years before.          Jared Fraser, one of Jamie's uncles, had gone to Paris in his youth and (starting from the French capital) had built up a flourishing, Europe-wide wine trade. He had also opened a branch in Berlin. From there the entire business for Germany and South-East Europe was coordinated. In order to save taxes and to invest the proceeds of his business profitably despite the European Central Bank's zero-interest policy at that time, Jared Fraser had bought real estate. Among the houses he had purchased in the state of Brandenburg was a well-preserved manor house just some kilometers outside of the German capital. After his death, this part of Jared's estate had fallen to Jamie and his sister Jenny. 

         So it came about that on the day it was decided at Westminster that the emergency laws passed because of the Corona Pandemic should remain in force, a container ship left the port of Edinburgh for the port of Rostock. The containers it was carrying contained most of the Fraser/Murray family's movable property. The family itself, Jamie, Ian, Jenny and the children, had boarded a Norwegian Airlines plane the night before, which took them to Berlin-Schönefeld Airport within four and a half hours with a stopover at Oslo-Gardermoen.          When they arrived at the airport, Felix Kloppstock, the vice manager of the Berlin headquarters, who had become a trusted employee of Jared Fraser, had picked them up in a minibus owned and used by one of the wine shops. When they arrived in Wilhelmshorst near Potsdam, the house was already prepared for them. The beds were made and the smell of roast venison came from the kitchen, letting them know that dinner was ready. They were then greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Ballin. The 55-year-old housekeeper Helene and her husband Frieder had also been hired by Jared Fraser and entrusted with the management of the house years ago.          When all the Frasers/Murrays fell into their beds late in that night, they did so with one laughing and one crying eye. Laughing because they knew they were safe now. Crying because they missed their home. And James Fraser was thinking about  something else entirely. He was grateful that his parents didn’t had to witness the political developments of the present day. At the same time, he was overcome with a feeling of great sadness when he thought that he would probably not be able to visit their graves in the cemetery near Lallybroch for a very long time.

“Brandenburg” by reinhardweisener

         Just a few days after their arrival at their new home at Wilhelmshorst, they were to learn from the media how right and decisive their step had been. They had put the children to bed after dinner and were now sitting together in the kitchen for a while. Jenny became as white as a sheet when the radio reported that the London government had announced that it would now explicitly use the emergency laws to take action against the Scottish independence movement, which was growing bigger and louder with every single day. Anyone suspected of being part of the "New Jacobites" or their followers should be arrested and charged with high treason. Ian, who was sitting next to Jenny at the kitchen table, looked up in horror. Jamie, who had just taken two bottles of beer from the fridge for himself and Ian, turned, looked at them and just sighed.

         "This is what I've always been afraid of. But don't worry, our naturalization papers. identity cards and passports are on their way. I spoke to Ernst last night."

         Ernst, more precisely Ernst Neuenburger, was Under State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics. Jamie had met the official in 2018, when his uncle Jared took him to the ministry's summer party, introducing his nephew to the network he had been building across Europe for many years. (More than anybody else outside Scotland, Jared Fraser had dedicated his life with great zeal to the service of the "New Jacobites". Wherever on the continent he could, he had used his influence and financial resources to promote an independent Scotland with good relations to the EU).          James Fraser and Ernst Neuenburger were immediately sympathetic to each other. And in the course of the day, Jamie discovered that Ernst Neuenburger was not only a competent interlocutor in economic matters, but that he had also a great affection for Scotland.

BMWi Goerckehof mit Brunnen by Fridolin freudenfett - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62265692

         "If we take the right of self-determination of peoples seriously, as laid down in Article 1(2) of the UN Charter, through the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of December 19, 1966, then Scotland must be given the right to be a State in its own right," the Under Secretary of State had said.    

         Jamie had nodded in agreement and then, more jokingly, asked:

         "Are you secretly a Jacobite, Mr. Neuenburger?"

         "No, Mr. Fraser," the politician had replied with a smile, but with a very serious undertone in his voice, "I don't think you have to belong to any special group to stand up for freedom and self-governemenrt. To be a democrat is, in my opinion, quite enough."

         Neuenburger, who obviously enjoyed talking to Jared Fraser's nephew, took a quick look around.

         "Why don't we take a few steps," he then said, pointing with one hand towards a path that would lead them away from the center of the festival.

         "Gladly," Jamie replied, and together they moved away from the crowd. Jamie well remembered seeing his uncle Jared as he walked away, talking to a man and a woman in the shade of a high hedge, also a little away from everyone else. Jared had smiled, nodded briefly to his nephew and then immediately returned to his conversation partners.  

         When they had moved about two hundred yards away, it was Jamie who resumed the conversation:

         "It's interesting that you say that as a German, we're only used to revolutionary sounds from French people. The French supported us in earlier centuries, but the Germans..."

         "If I may say so, Mr. Fraser," Neuenburger interjected, "the Germans didn't exist then. When the French supported the Scots, thanks to the political intrigues of the French, the Austrians and the Russians, there was only a patchwork of small and tiny German countries. It was Bismarck..."

         "I know, I know. But they were Germans, the King of Hanover..."

         "Oh, yes, of course. And no need you remind me that the Kingdom of Prussia was allied with the Kingdom of Hanover... But you know the saying: 'You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends'. As you may know, George August II was a cousin of Frederick William I, the father of Frederick the Great. Both George II and Frederick I were brought up by their common grandmother, the Electoress Sophie at the palace of Herrenhausen near Hanover. It has been historically recorded that the men already had an aversion to each other as children. This aversion continued later, when they became men or kings, respectively."

         Neuenburger paused with his remarks when a waitress appeared with a tray of glasses filled with champagne and offered them to the two men. Both men exchanged their empty glasses for full ones and continued their walk.

         "Twice it almost came to war between Hanover and Prussia. Did you know that?" asked Neuenburger.

         Jamie looked at him questioningly and shook his head slightly.   

         "In 1731 there was a dispute between the kingdoms and the royal families because Prussia was recruiting settlers wherever possible. George II issued an edict and assembled an army on the banks of the river Elbe. Friedrich Wilhelm I, on the other hand, had 40,000 soldiers stationed at Magdeburg to defend his territory if necessary. The dukes of Brunswick and Gotha mediated and were able to settle the dispute to a certain extent. A war was prevented.          But it was a cold peace. At the same time as the Scottish resistance was crushed at Culloden, another dispute between Hanover and Prussia was smouldering. After the death of the last prince from the house of Cirksena in 1744, it was disputed who would inherit the county of East Frisia. On the part of the Frisian princes there had been a contract of inheritance with Hanover since 1691, but Frederick I had received a “Letter of Expektanz”, meaning an actual entitlement, from Emperor Leopold on 10 December 1694, which said, that after the extinction of the princely house of East Frisia the county should fall to the kingdom of Prussia. The decisive factor in this conflict, however, was the city of Emden. At that time the town was politically isolated and economically weakened. The reason for this was the “War of Appelle” fought in 1726/27.          This war was actually a civil war and resulted from a conflict between Prince Georg Albrecht of East Frisia and the East Frisian Estates. It was, how could it be otherwise, about the tax sovereignty. But even after their defeat, the city leaders did not give up their goal of making Emden an important economic metropolis again.          Since the 'Emden Revolution' in 1595 the city had the status of a quasi-autonomous urban republic. In this - successful - revolution the city had already freed itself once from the rule of the Cirksena and, as a ‘satellite’ of the Netherlands, achieved de facto the status of a free imperial city. From then on, the representatives of the city signed all contracts and public publications according to the Roman model with ‘S.P.Q.E.’ (Senate and People of Emden). The title ‘Respublica Emdana’ and the abbreviation ‘S. P. Q. E.’ were from then on officially used by the city.          Understandable that the aldermen of the town wanted to return to this freedom and independence, which they had already once enjoyed. When the last Cirksena Prince took over his reign in 1734, the city had already refused to pay homage to him. But at least from 1740 on, the Emden councillors planned to achieve their goal with the help of the Prussian King. Secretly they negotiated the ‘Emden Convention’ with the Prussians. In this treaty, Prussia recognized the rights and privileges of the city of Emden and the East Frisian estates, and in return the East Frisian estates recognized the rule of Prussia after the death of the last prince from the house of Cirksena. It was a win-win situation. Prussia left the East Frisians and their estates the liberties they had enjoyed before and in return received a land with access to the North Sea. On 25 May 1744, two weeks after the Emden Convention had been ratified by both parties, the last prince of East Frisia died. Prussia immediately asserted its right of succession. The widowed Princess of East Frisia, a relative of Friedrich II, recognised the succession of Prussia on May 26th and recommended herself ‘to the protection and generosity of the King’. Frederick II had immediately instructed his representatives to make it known everywhere that the privileges and rights of the East Frisians would remain undiminished and that no enticement of East Frisian citizens was to be feared. With this reassuring message, the Prussian soldiers in Aurich and Leer were even positively received. The seizure of possession was already completed on June 2, just one week after the death of the Prince. Three weeks later, on June 23, 1744, the entire county paid homage to the Prussian Crown.

“Rathaus Emden” by fokkengerhard

         What do you think, Fraser? Did they rejoice at it in Hanover, or better, in  London? I don't think so. On June 3, the Hanoverian official Voigt arrived in East Frisia with papers demanding the rights of the Hanoverians. But there the whole thing was already finished. The speed with which the takeover of East Frisia took place, made possible by the careful and secret preparation, once again put the Hanoverian competitor in the shade. One cannot avoid the impression of dilettantism on the part of Hanover. It is true that they had also reacted immediately there by sending Voigt to East Frisia on June 3, with a corresponding power of attorney, but nobody wanted to accept him or his claims officially. On June 10, the Estates very aptly informed him that the contract which had been concluded between the House of Cirksena and the House of Hanover was neither known to them nor did it concern them, since neither they nor the Emperor had approved the document. East Frisia was also supposed to have a potential for conflict for some time to come. In 1748 the disputes over maritime trade became more intense, especially with the Netherlands, but also with England and Sweden. During the Seven Years' War, however, England then needed the support of Prussian soldiers and only in the course of this did it give up all claims in relation to East Frisia."

         The two men had stopped and emptied their glasses. 

         "Why are you telling me all of this?"

“Brunnen im Kanonenhof des Invalidenhauses, heute Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft, Berlin” by Dirk Sattler - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62311136

         "Well, you said it was unusual to hear 'revolutionary' sounds from a German. Surely, as Frederick Engels once said, ‘revolutions in Prussia are made from above’. We may not be as revolutionary as the French, but please remember that we are a very, very freedom-loving people. The history of the First and Second World Wars is well known. However, the history of the our war of libration, 1813 to 1815, against Napoleon is often overlooked. The support from the people was so great that some historians even speak of the Prussian People's War. Men and women exchanged their golden wedding rings for iron rings to support their country. The phrase ‘gold I gave for iron’ became something like a proverb. A well-known picture, which spread after the wars of liberation, shows a returning soldier. He does not call out to his wife, who welcomes him with open arms, ‘I am back’ but ‘The fatherland is free! Victoria!' And it wasn't just then. Remember that this country has been struggling for 40 years to be reunited and thus to be free. Not aggressively, but with endurance. And when the Germans in the East brought down the SED regime, it was a peaceful revolution that brought the dictatorship to its knees. What do you think, Fraser, the people here would feel for a people that is oppressed by its, shall we say, bigger neighbour?"

         Neuenburger slowly began to walk again. Jamie latched on.

         "Why exactly are you telling me all of this?" he asked.

         "Well, perhaps I wanted to remind you that revolutionary, i.e. cataclysmic, thoughts don't always have to unload themselves in a storm of the Bastille. Sometimes it is wiser to keep them to yourself and ... say, wait for the ratification of an Emden Convention. As far as I know, a freedom-loving people will always welcome and ... support the freedom, or rather the liberation, of another people.”

         Neuenburger smiled. Jamie shook his head slightly and smiled too.

         "Come Fraser," the newfound friend then said, "let's go. The buffet is open." 

         The conversation between the two men was not without consequences. Twice, once in autumn 2018 and once in summer 2019, Ernst Neuenburger had visited the Frasers' home estate in the Scottish Highlands as a holiday guest, before political events made these trips impossible for him. But the two men's confidence in each other had grown during these weeks of walking, horseback riding and hunting together, to the point that by the end of 2020 Jamie was able to make contact with his friend in Berlin unnoticed (through previously agreed 'private' channels). Everything that happened then, that had to happen to bring the Fraser/Murray family into safe exile, happened very quickly. It had to happen very quickly because the window of opportunity to do so was, as in any historical moment, only open for a very short time.

“Schottland” by Emphyrio 

         On the first Saturday evening that the Frasers/Murrays spent in their new home, Ernst Neuenburger came by to deliver the passports, identity cards and naturalisation papers for all family members. Jenny invited him for dinner and afterwards Jamie and the guest went to the library to talk in private.          After the two men had discussed the political situation in Europe for a while over a glass of whisky in front of the fireplace, Ernst Neubauer leaned over to his host..       

         "We have a question for you..."

         It had been clear to James Fraser that sooner or later Neuburger would approach him with a request. He didn't see it as extortion or payment. On the contrary, he was grateful if he could do something in return for the privileges granted. He would have been reluctant to remain a debtor to his friend.

         "You must believe me when I tell you I didn't plan this. I have and will continue to do everything I can to help you and your family with great joy ..."

         "Speak Ernst, straight forward."

         "Well, you have some skills that would be very useful to us. You speak English, perfect French, very good German. You are intelligent and a man who can keep quiet. You also have a thriving wine trade and as a businessman..."

         "... I can travel anywhere without raising suspicion?”

         "Right. But the most important thing is that I trust you."

         The men were silent for a moment. 

         "Would you be willing," Neuenburger then asked, "to act as an negotiator on our behalf and travel when necessary?"

         "Shall I conclude ‘Emden conventions’ for the country?" 

         "Maybe."

         Neuenburger had to smile. What a good memory Fraser owned!

         "And where would that lead me to?"

         "Well, first of all, to the African continent. 116 million Africans in 31 countries speak French. And counting. Your language skills predestine you for tasks in this field. However, we would ask you to learn Spanish and possibly Portuguese as well. Then we could also send you to  South America. Of course, we will provide you with a language teacher paid by us."

         Again the men were silent for a moment.

         "How dangerous could these 'missions' be for me?" Jamie then asked.

         "Not particularly," replied Neuenburger. "You are travelling as a businessman and that causes far less sensation than the travels of a politician or a political official. There are quite a number of, shall we say, colleagues of yours who do that for us. So far, every one of them has returned. We will, of course, prepare you thoroughly for your task."

         Jamie pondered for a moment, then nodded and answered:

         "Travailler pour le roi de Prusse? Jes suis prest! This country has provided me and my family with freedom and a new start here. If we were not here, I would probably be in an English prison by now. It's only fair that I give something back.”

         "Thanks," said Neuenburger and went on “It’s not the King of Prussia, but a democratic republic you serve. Just saying.”          Then he reached into the right inside pocket of his jacket and took out a fresh passport, which he handed to Jamie.

         Jamie reached for it and opened the little red book.

         "Well, well, well, you've thought up a nice alias for me."

         Neuenburger smiled.

“Reisepass” by  Edeltravel_

         Four weeks later, Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre, alias James Fraser, began his first trip as a well-camouflaged diplomatic negotiator.

         This and other journeys were to take him first to numerous states on the African continent. He negotiated political and economic contracts with other negotiators, lobbied for the release and repatriation of citizens in difficulty and delivered oral messages whose content was too secret to be transmitted by paper or electronic means. From 2023 on, when he became fluent in Spanish, he was also send to South America. One of his last trips took him to Buenos Aires, where he signed a trade agreement. Officially, however, he attended the "Conference of Argentine and Chilean Wine Merchants". In order to make his trip as unobtrusive as possible, he did not fly back to Berlin directly, but made a stopover in Boston. There, officially, he would meet a businessman, a friend, who was planning to include the wines which  Etienne Marcel de Provac Alexandre sold, in his range. But in reality, this stopover was to change his life fundamentally. But James Fraser knew nothing of this when his plane landed at Logan International Airport.

[charllieeldridge]

Life With Coronavirus: An Update From Isolation in Portugal

This isn’t the sort of update post I was planning to write at this point in our Europe trip. Since leaving Grenada in January, we had an incredible time travelling through some of Europe’s top romantic cities — Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Lisbon. 

Dining out at tasty restaurants, sipping on wine at funky bars, wandering through architecturally-blessed streets, and learning about the history and culture of these cities was pure bliss. 

Our first trip to Paris did not disappoint!

It was a stark contrast to our peaceful Caribbean island home. The shock of city life, complete with a buzzing nightlife, access to anything and everything we wanted, and amenities right on our doorstep, was just what we needed.

We were on a high! 

But… this would soon come to a halt.

Living in Rome – Our Happy Place

After 5 days in Paris and a week in Barcelona, we flew to Rome where we checked into our stunning apartment in the Trastevere neighbourhood — a favourite among students and younger travellers.

This picturesque neighbourhood with cobbled streets, narrow alleyways, and endless restaurants and bars would be our home for 3 weeks. 

Beautiful Trastevere neighbourhood

The city has always been our happy place, and when everything in our personal and business lives was spiraling at the end of 2019, we decided to go to Rome. Everything would be OK if we were in Rome! 

Luckily, it was everything we were looking for. 

The overwhelming sense of community, zest for life, and importance Italians place on food and happiness are what drew us back.

We embraced the Italian Dolce far Niente (the sweetness of doing nothing), and just enjoyed Rome this time around without needing to see all the main sights and be a total tourist — we did that last time. 

Can’t get enough gelato

This was all about simply experiencing the city.

We walked all over Rome every day — getting in 20,000 steps per day was the norm.

We walked alongside the river, explored numerous neighbourhoods, visited markets, dined at incredible restaurants, worked on our website, and overall, just enjoyed living (temporarily) in the Eternal City.

But, it was time to move on.

Our day trip from Rome to Naples – strictly to eat pizza!

Leaving Rome

As we checked out of our apartment and made our way to the airport, we were sad to say goodbye to Rome. It had been a wonderful 3 weeks.

However, we were definitely looking forward to learning about Lisbon and spending another 3 weeks staying still, while really getting under the skin of the city.

We had found a nice work/travel/life balance in Rome that we hoped to continue in Lisbon. 

During our time in Paris and Barcelona, we started to hear about the coronavirus in our Facebook feed and YouTube, but we pretty much tuned it out — it was in China, we were all the way in France and Spain, and we don’t typically get wrapped up in media.

The Marcello Theatre

When we were in Rome we didn’t really hear anything (plus, we were in a food coma most of the time) so naturally, the virus didn’t really concern us at this point.

At the Rome airport, we utilized our Priority Pass and headed into the lounge. There were just a handful of people there, with tables for working, food for eating and booze for drinking.

The TV was on and even though the news was in Italian, I did see people in hazmat suits and it was showing hospitals and doctors.

That’s strange, I thought. 

Our TAP Portugal flight was delayed 2 hours, which was annoying, but it just gave us more time to do work in the lounge. 

As we headed out to the boarding gate, the crowd of people was huge and probably 80% of them were wearing masks. 

Did we miss the memo?!

Unbenonsed to us, we left Rome when the virus in northern Italy really spiked. We boarded the plane, and after a very loud journey (it seemed like the whole plane was filled with high school students from Italy), we landed safe and sound in Lisbon. 

Enjoying the wine bars in Rome

Living It Up in Lisbon – Sort Of

This was our first time in Portugal and we were going to make the most of it!

At this point, we turned off our phones and Facebook apps again and really didn’t know the extent of what was going on in Italy for another week. And, there were no travel restrictions in place at this point. Everything was running as normal.

We joined a free walking tour with Sandeman (they have free tours all around Europe), and partook in a few Airbnb Experiences as well — a food and wine class, a food and cultural tour, and a street art walking tour.

We wandered up and down the hilly city while gawking at the impressive and ornate architecture.

The street art in Lisbon is incredible

The foodie scene is amazing with fresh seafood, traditional Portuguese dishes, and a wide variety of healthy foods and international cuisine as well.

There’s a large Indian, Bangladeshi, and Nepalese community here — naturally, we were eating a lot of Sub-Continent food!

The sunsets here are magical, with sailboats and ferries passing by. We sat along the water with a bottle of wine, and at one of the oceanfront cafes, while soaking in the vitamin D.

A great way to end the day

Evenings were spent at secret rooftop bars, in small restaurants with live music, or partying on the street.

We had plans to visit the nearby magical town of Sintra, and a day spent with local friends who we met when travelling in Raja Ampat. 

Everything was perfect. But, that all changed.

Today, the streets in Lisbon are empty. 

Schools, museums, galleries, restaurants, cafes, and bars are closed (or have restricted hours).

Gatherings of groups of people have all been cancelled — including sports, live music venues and visiting homes across the country.  

Shopping centers have limited hours, and limit the number of people.

Empty street in Lisbon, which is normally busy

The virus is well and truly in Europe — there’s no denying that. The bordering country with Portugal is Spain, which is putting its citizens on lockdown on Monday, having almost 8,000 confirmed cases.

Naturally, Portugal is trying to keep the numbers low here, so we completely understand the need to self-isolate at home and practice social distancing. 

Shifting Travel Plans

Based on the current situation here in Europe, we’ve decided to change our travel plans. 

Right now, we are supposed to be in Ireland exploring the beautiful country for a month. It would’ve been the first time we’d travelled there and we were really looking forward to celebrating St. Paddy’s Day in Dublin!

However, those celebrations have been cancelled, and much of the country is under restrictions like here in Portugal. 

We felt like it made sense from a health and logistical standpoint to just simply stay put. 

We look at the situation in three ways. 

One, we don’t want to end up contracting the virus while we’re at the airports.

Two, we may very well have it right now and not know it, but pass it along while we’re travelling. In fact, we self-quarantined ourselves for a week before the official lockdown just in case.

Three, if we have to be “stuck” somewhere in Europe, beautiful Lisbon seems like a good place to be.

Luckily, the Airbnb we are currently renting had a cancellation (not surprising) and we are able to stay in the same apartment. This was good news for both ourselves and our host who would’ve otherwise had an empty place.

Life outside of our apartment in Lisbon last week. And yes, Nick is having a Corona…

We know the city well, the weather is bright and cheerful, and Uber Eats and grocery delivery is available if necessary (for now). We feel more comfortable staying still in Lisbon and riding out this wave, rather than taking a flight at the moment. 

So, Now What?

Well, now we just wait and see!

With restricted movement and closures, there’s no point in trying to travel around right now. 

The situation is changing rapidly. Governments are advising citizens to not leave the country, and other countries aren’t allowing in any flights from Europe. Many countries in Europe which normally have open borders, currently do not. 

We’re just taking everything day by day, hour by hour. That’s all anyone can do at this point.

Us at one of the many lookout points here in Lisbon

Faith in Humanity

It’s not all doom and gloom out there!

While there are definitely some pretty crazy toilet paper hoarding and fight videos online, in general, people are good.

Here in Lisbon, the grocery stores are calm and quiet. People are purchasing a normal amount of goods — enough to get them through a couple of weeks at home. I haven’t seen any hoarding or shopping carts full of toilet paper.

During the UFC match the other night in Las Vegas, Chinese mixed martial artist Zhang Weili was competing. She received a round of applause from the crowd and there was a hashtag running during the fight: #ChinaStrong. 

In Italy, people were urged onto their balconies at a certain time of day to play music and sing together! This flash-mob was a great way for residents to not feel alone, and escape the monotony of the quarantine — especially in a culture where community is so important.

Yesterday in Italy, residents headed to their balconies once again. At 12:00 noon, across the city of Rome, everyone stood on their balconies and applauded at the same time to thank the doctors, nurses, and caregivers for their incredible efforts. That’s pretty amazing.

Don’t panic and spread fear, but be informed and prepared. Support and help one another, and we’ll all get through this together. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

The stunning mosaic tiles are all over Lisbon

Remote Work, Productivity and Goals

We have a lot of time on our hands at the moment. And, I’m sure many of you do as well. If your trip has been cancelled, you’re working from home, or you’re forced into quarantine or lockdown, we’re with you and want to give you some ideas on how to bide the time.

What Are We Doing?

Apart from binge-watching Netflix and drinking copious amounts of red wine, we’ve been taking this extra time to work on this website and our YouTube channel.

As you can imagine, with all the uncertainty regarding travel right now, not many people are searching this topic. And, if they are, it’s most likely “How to get a refund for my trip to ___!” or “Number of coronavirus cases in ____”. 

The travel traffic to our website has tanked right now, which is leaving us (and our fellow travel blogging colleagues) with some financial and creative uncertainty.

But, we’ve decided to still write about travel and create useful videos on our YouTube channel.

In fact, Nick has been pumping out some awesome videos lately! Like this one about sights to see in Paris, and this one about off-track things to do in Paris, with many more coming.

Travel planning and getting inspired about destinations is something that can happen right now — regardless of travel bans. If we can’t travel right now, we can still dream about and prepare for our next trip.

Exploring El Born neighbourhood in Barcelona

We also have another side to our site which is all about being a digital nomad. We’ve written a lot on Goats On The Road about this topic, including how to make money from home and work from anywhere in the world.

We hope that these articles can help you out and provide information on remote work. Click here for that section of our site.

With so many of us now in isolation at home, why not start a side hustle?!

With all this extra time on your hands right now and all the financial uncertainty in the world, it’s a good time to diversify. Start new projects, and finish up old ones.

Here are some suggestions.

Create a Website

This is one of the easiest things you could do right now. What are you interested in? What are you knowledgable about? You can start a website on any topic. 

Gardening

Art

Sports 

Business

Pets and Animals

Camping

Carpentry

Fashion

Beauty

Coaching

Travel

Finance

Living Abroad

Fitness

Healthy Living

Eco-Lifestyle

Hiking

Minimalism

Veganism

Food and Recipes

…the list goes on!

If you start a website through this link, you’ll receive our step-by-step course to help you set up a professional-looking website (correctly) in no time. Plus, you’ll receive our Absolute Best Blogging Tips ebook, and be added to our Beginner Blogger Facebook group. 

Creating a website is simple and easy. Plus, having a creative outlet and something that is yours is a great feeling. The income you can generate doesn’t hurt either. Blogging is our favourite digital nomad job for a reason. 

Start a website and earn money for travel (or whatever you want!). Photo taken during our stay in Barcelona

Teach Online

Whether you’re a native English speaker or a speaker of another language, you can earn a great living teaching online. Work from the comfort of home, and make your own schedule — all while working in your pajama pants!

There are numerous companies you can choose to work for. But, if you’re from Canada and the USA (apart from California), VIPKID is the best option, and if you’re from the UK, Education First is a good bet.

Check out our full list of 10 Online English Teaching Companies. Many of them pay $22 / hour or more.  

Learn more about VIPKID in this insider’s review, and learn how much an online English teacher salary is in this post.

Do Your TEFL Course

Speaking of teaching English online, most companies (whether online or in-country), will require you to have a TEFL certification, which you can complete online. 

Having a TEFL will help you be better prepared to teach classes, and give you a better chance of being hired. There are numerous companies to choose from, check out this list of the best TEFL companies. 

Write an Ebook, or Finish One

We all have that half-written ebook on our computer that we “never have time to finish” — or, is that just me?

Creating an ebook about a subject that you’re knowledgeable and passionate about is a great idea. Or, maybe you want to write more in the style of a biography, or a fiction novel. Either way, now’s the time. Programs like Canva are great for designing a book.

Get Fit

Have you been thinking you could lose a few extra pounds? Nick and I are definitely going to use some of this time for exercising. 

Take this time to pull up a Yoga channel on YouTube and stretch it out. Head to the basement and dust off your treadmill. Do sit-ups and push-ups in your living room. Open that workout app on your phone and actually do one of the routines!

Working out at home is a great way to get fit and pass the time. 

After eating our way through Paris, Barcelona, Rome and Lisbon, it’s time to get fit

Learn a New Skill

E-learning was already popular and now I’m pretty sure it’s going to surge.

Have you wanted to learn a language, rock at social media, cook new foods, renovate your kitchen, build a treehouse, learn how to paint, edit videos, etc.? 

Have a look on YouTube for tutorial videos, or check out platforms like Skillshare and Teachable. And, if you’re curious to learn more about SEO (search engine optimization), check out our free one-hour tutorial.

Nick’s already lined up a bunch of courses he wants to take online. With extra time, why not build your knowledge base? 

Other at Home Ideas

Regarding side hustles, many people are opting to do more freelance writing, become virtual assistants for companies, or taking paid online surveys. All of these jobs can be done remotely.

For more, there’s a great website called Flex Jobs which lists hundreds of remote jobs by category.

Another great way to spend time at home is to simply relax, watch a movie, enjoy time with your family, take a bath, or read a book!

In Conclusion

There you have it. An update from us Goats in isolation.

So far, we’ve been in our apartment for around 2 weeks. We have a fridge full of food and wine, online businesses to run, Netflix to watch, and exercise to do. 

We’re stocked up and ready!

We have each other, a roof over our heads and food available. That’s all we need for now. 

We know that there are people out there who have been affected much worse than us and our thoughts are with them. We hope that this passes sooner than later and that people can come together to get through this.

Boost your immune system, take care of your loved ones and support businesses where you still can — both online and in person. Safe, healthy and happy moments to you all. 

Where in the world are you at the moment? How have you been affected? Share with us in the comments.

The post Life With Coronavirus: An Update From Isolation in Portugal appeared first on Goats On The Road.

Life With Coronavirus: An Update From Isolation in Portugal published first on https://travelaspire.weebly.com/

[eurotickets20]

Denmark and Swiss book spots at Euro 2020

DUBLIN - Denmark was pushed to the limit but got the necessary point to seal a place at Euro 2020 as a Group D finalist with a 1-1 draw played Monday in Ireland, which sent the hosts to playoffs for the third-place successive tournament. For live-action, you can buy Denmark Euro Cup Tickets online.

A goal in the 73rd minute, Martin Braithwaite put the 1992 European champions on the verge of qualifying for the second consecutive tournament in Dublin after a 5-1 victory almost two years ago.

But they had to survive a late assault when Ireland, the best of the team, scored only his seventh goal in eight qualifying matches when Matt Doherty came home after 85 minutes without getting the win he needed to qualify automatically.

While no other team competing in the top 10 had hit the net so rarely, Ireland had one of the best records in defense, so chances were surprisingly rare in the first half.

It took 34 minutes to score and when the ball fell accidentally onto an open Conor Hourihane at the edge of the box, the Aston Villa midfielder should have done better than hitting the right ball at Schmeichel.

Denmark, who lost midfielder Thomas Delaney and striker Andreas Cornelius from his injuries in the first 30 minutes, was the shadow of the club that had rioted in Dublin two years earlier, but their opponents were much more disciplined.

After attracting four of Ireland's other five meetings in the last two years, the unbeaten Danes seemed to settle for another stalemate until Braithwaite returned behind Doherty to give his team a boost top of the ranking.

Doherty's first and most impressive international goal was a podium finish, but that was all the Danes could do, with the Danes finishing by three points in front of the Irish in second place to join the winners of the group Switzerland, in the final.

Ireland must wait for the March qualifiers to see if they can follow their lead on a route taken at the last two European Championships.

Switzerland qualified for Euro 2020 with an easy 6-1 victory in Gibraltar in their last Group D qualifying match with Cedric Itten scoring two goals.

The Swiss dominated the group with 17 points. Needing a draw to qualify, the Swiss took the lead after 10 minutes thanks to Itten, who scored in his debut on Friday to give them a 1-0 win against Georgia. The community who love their favorite team they are booking Switzerland Euro Cup Tickets.

Ruben Vargas arrived at the finish line and sent a low center that Gibraltar's defense failed to intercept and Itten tapped in. Vargas himself led center-center Loris Benito five minutes after half-time and Christian Fassnacht added the third seven minutes later after Gibraltar's defense failed to deal with Michael Lang's cross.

Gibraltar reduced the score in the 74th minute. A long throw from the middle of the post brought the ball home. Reece Styche took the ball. But the party did not last long start and Benito added a fourth.

Itten scored three goals out of two internationals when he led the fifth goal and gave the pass to Granit Xhaka to win the sixth goal while Gibraltar was tired.

Italy beat the unfortunate Armenia 9-1 to complete its Euro 2020 qualifying group with a perfect record and extend its record to 11 successive international victories in expectation of next year's tournament.

Nicolo Zaniolo, 20, scored twice, his first goals on the international scene, while Ciro Immobile also scored two goals. Italy, already qualified, completed Group J with 30 points in 10 games.

Nicolo Barella, Alessio Romagnoli, Jorginho, debutant Riccardo Orsolini, and Federico Chiesa shared the other goals. Armenia finished fifth with 10 points and was eliminated because they cannot qualify for the playoffs.

In other matches, Finland, which secured second place on Friday to qualify for its first major tournament, lost 2-1 in Greece, while Bosnia won 3-0 away from Liechtenstein. Bosnia could still qualify in the March playoffs.

Spain completed its qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 with a 5-0 home victory against Romania. Fabian Ruiz gave Spain the lead after eight minutes while striker Gerard Moreno scored twice, before forcing Romania's Adrian Rus to score before the break, before Mikel Oyarzabal scored the fifth goal in the second half.

Romanian coach Cosmin Contra confirmed after the match that he will leave his post when his contract expires in December.

Greece 2-1 Finland

Italy 9-1 Armenia

Bosnia 3-0 Liechtenstein

Ireland 1-1 Denmark

Spain 5-0 Romania

Sweden 3-0 Faroe Islands

We are offering Euro 2020 Tickets so, Football fans can get Euro Cup Tickets through our trusted online ticketing market place. EuroTickets2020.com is the most reliable source to book Euro Cup 2020 tickets.

[endenogatai]

Where is the EU going on tech and competition policy?

Huge technology policy questions are looming for whoever takes the top jobs at the European Union in the coming months. Decisions that could radically reshape tech business models, reconfigure the competitive landscape and change the relationship between Internet users and the content and services they consume.

In short, the entire future of the tech industry — and potentially not just in Europe but worldwide — is at stake.

The incoming European Commission will be faced with a lengthy list of pressing questions. How will they reboot competition law for the digital era? Should they rush in swinging a break-up hammer at monopolistic tech giants or take a scalpel to the competition-crushing problem of networked dominance by slicing up their data flows?

They will have to defend fundamental rights that call for privacy by design and data minimization against AI’s rapacious demand for data and the predictive powers of pattern-spotting algorithms.

They will have to evaluate how to make sure platforms play fair — and ensure that the initial embrace of sellers or service providers doesn’t evolve into crushing abuse. They will have to fashion rules that can wrap around digital giants, rather than getting bent out of shape by ‘winner takes all’ business models.

The power of tech giants to influence entire nations is now writ large in EU domestic politics. Europe knows it needs to hammer out an agreement on reforming digital taxation, with rising citizen anger over tax inequalities. The question is how to do it when certain states with low corporate tax rates have been colonised by tech giants which definitely don’t want tax reform to happen.

There’s also the tricky business of arbitrating between Europe’s traditional creative industries and the predominantly US sharing platforms that have gotten fat off of the back of others’ content — a battle so fraught it’s already yielded an EU copyright reform as polarising as Brexit.

How, too, to level the playing field between Internet giants and traditional telcos?

That requires winning agreement on an update to ePrivacy rules that’s been stalled for months. Because, again, new rules are urgently needed — to wrap around digital comms and address digital marketing’s weed-like sprawl, an outgrowth that’s spawned an entire shadowy industry of trackers, data brokers and people profilers which can be linked to many a data scandal and has driven EU consumers into the arms of ad blockers. How to find a way through all the competing interests to bring order to the unregulated mess that is modern adtech?

Then there’s hate speech and online disinformation. What’s to be done to shrink the democratic risks of political manipulation without trampling freedom of expression? And how can Europe best equip its citizens for the next waves of deepfaked information warfare while also getting platforms to accountably clean up their act?

Europe needs to shape a strategy to support AI too. It wants to do this in a way that reflects and bakes in European values. But how to ensure ethical guardrails to make AI development sensitive and “human-centric” don’t just end up kneecapping homegrown technologists versus whatever’s coming out of China?

Speaking of China, then of course there’s 5G. The Commission has to chart a delicate course between member states’ national security priorities and the fragmentation threat to its flagship digital single market policy if EU nations respond differently to Huawei. The whole project risks collapsing into mutual mistrust — which would reverse the intended gains to Europe’s digital economy.

On the legal front, an ongoing clash of priorities between US surveillance practices and EU fundamental rights also looks like trouble brewing.

A flagship EU-US data transfer mechanism launched by the Commission in 2016 is now facing serious legal questions. Does the next Commission have with a plan B to keep critical business data flowing for the thousands of companies signed up to its Privacy Shield framework if it gets struck down by a judge’s pen?

This is not a theoretical threat; the predecessor arrangement that had stood for fifteen years was invalidated in 2015, after a legal challenge which drew on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations of US mass surveillance programs. Trump’s ‘America First’ policy agenda clearly risks exacerbating this clash.

The US president is also of course continuing to rain down trade uncertainties that are rocking the stability of East-West technology supply chains. How should Europe respond to the wreaking ball potential of Trump’s trade war? What support can it offer its own tech industry to manage a level of uncertainty that makes brexit look like a picnic?

And, as the Internet splinters into increasingly localized flavors, how will Europe prepare and position itself?

The techie to-do list crossing the next Commission’s desk is packed with highly charged, pressing and politically fraught problems.

Over the past year the EU has dined out on making a name for itself on the world stage with a shiny new set of digital privacy rules — aka, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — at a time when US policymakers are just waking up to the rude incursions of homegrown data-mining tech giants. But attention now needs to be paid to ensuring it actually delivers what was promised or else the global spotlight will be pointing at policy failure.

So yet another task for the next Commission will be applying the right level of strategic pressure to make sure the regulation’s wheels are turning.

National data protection agencies are where GDPR enforcement will fly or fail. Te highest profile cases that will really test their mettle are of course attached to tech giants — including Facebook and Google. The latter’s handling of personal data for behavioral advertising is now under scrutiny in Ireland.

The Irish DPC also has more than ten open investigations into Facebook-owned businesses, covering a range of issues — from probes of specific security breaches to whether it is lawfully gaining consent to process the data of users of its platform being as it offers no opt-out from behavioural ads.

If Ireland fails to defend European values and rights against the commercial incursions of some of the world’s most powerful companies it would represent EU policy failure at the highest level.

It could also invite revolt from less conflicted parts of Europe. A dispute resolution mechanism is baked into GDPR, which allows the European Data Protection Board to step in if disagreement between DPAs om cross-border cases threatens to derail decisions. While this does look intended as a tool of last resort, the market denting power of tech giants is piling the pressure on — with record numbers of such complaints awaiting judgement.

Either way, battles are brewing. And the biggest fight looks to be for the future shape of the commercial Internet.

Ad-funded business models that have been allowed to grow like weeds are under regulatory scrutiny like never before — thanks, in large part, to European interventions. So too are the tech giants that have profited so handsomely by being able to use data how they like.

At the same time a new generation of privacy-conscious startups is thinking differently and doing what it can to gain footholds in markets where platform giants suck most of the oxygen out of the room.

Strong decisions by the next Commission to defend European rights and reboot digital markets with fairness and competition at the center have the potential to transform the digital economy so that there are far more winners, not just a few taking all.

The question is whether Europe’s leaders will rise to the challenge.

Who’s in the running to be the next EC president?

The center right’s preferred candidate — and therefore the technical favorite for the EU’s top job — is German conservative, Manfred Weber.

Manfred Weber. Photo by David Speier/NurPhoto via Getty Images

In Commission president candidate debates he has billed himself as offering “stability” for the European project, via a “pro-compromise approach” — and talked about strengthening “the innovation field” as the key to building a stronger EU economy, saying he also wants to upgrade the EU-US trade relationship to bolster Europe’s prospects.

But Weber has a lack of executive experience and suffers from something of a charisma vacuum at a time when a big personality might well be required to sit in the chair and ‘sell’ the next Commission to a more fragmented European Parliament.

The kaleidoscope twist of European parliamentary politics may also have undermined Weber’s frontrunner chances by allowing critics to argue against him on the grounds that his party, the EPP, failed to grow its share of the votes. So it may be that another European People’s Party candidate comes through in the end. One who offers a finer-grained political compromise.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, looks to have potential — and is being tipped by some of the current political chatter — having played a high profile role in recent European politics, calmly handling the chaotic mess produced by the UK’s 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU.

More importantly, perhaps, Barnier is French. One of the EU’s powerful national leaders — France’s president, Emmanuel Macron — has been seeking to assert authority over the parliament by indicating he won’t be bound by a system of preferred candidates put forward by its political blocs.

That’s bad news for Weber, but it could lift Barnier out of the wider field if Macron prevails in stamping France’s mark on the Commission presidency.

Michel Barnier. Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

Although plenty of other establishment names are still being bandied around for the top job — including chair and MD of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde (also French); and Dutch PM, Mark Rutte, to name just two.

It’s certainly hard to imagine a more symbolically safe pair of hands for the EU to choose for its top job right now than Barnier: The man tasked with holding the EU together in the face of the threat posed by Brexit.

Brexit risks not just the UK’s stability but could very well scatter wider seeds of destruction if it erodes and destroys the cohesion required to keep the European project together. So Barnier’s proven ability to glue the 27 remaining Member States on a common negotiating path could be seen by EU leaders as having strategic appeal.

What his presidency might mean for wider EU policy is less clear, though, given his focus on Brexit has kept him out of the fray — and away from participating in public debates with some of the proposed candidates.

The center left’s pick for president, Dutch politician Frans Timmermans, would need to prevail against the dominant EPP bloc to succeed in getting the nomination. Which likely means persuading a strengthened liberal contingent to throw its backing behind a ‘progressive alliance’ of socialists and liberals.

While possible, it looks to be a challenge.

Frans Timmermans. Photo by Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images

Timmermans has made a public pitch as a change candidate, saying Europe needs more social justice and sustainable social policies — including putting taxing tech giants front and center of his talking points, and dubbing it “unacceptable” that some companies have gotten so big they can “arm twist” entire Member States to vanquish taxes.

Climate policy is another stated focus. He has called for stepped up efforts to enable a European-wide viable carbon tax plus quicker transformation of the energy sector as well as suggesting new ideas in agriculture — such as switching to more sustainable food production.

He has also said he wants to see a corporate tax rate floor across the EU, and called for every state to implement a minimum wage. An articulate and at times impassioned speaker, Timmermans posses at least some of the charisma Weber lacks — even while he faces plenty of political hurdles.

An outside bet — who has betted against big tech… 

For those who like an outside bet, the more fragmented European Parliament vote may have buoyed the chances of liberal candidate for Commission president, Margrethe Vestager — who could emerge as a compromise alternative since the liberals grew their presence in parliament (and her own party in Denmark did well in national elections).

Margrethe Vestager. Photo by Thierry Monasse/Getty Images

Although she is just one of a full slate of candidates fielded by the liberals, which also includes another prominent EU politician, MEP Guy Verhofstadt — who has also made his ire over big tech’s rights incursions felt when he heckled the Facebook founder last year, when Zuckerberg addressed some MEPs and failed to answer most of their questions.

Few can compete with Vestager’s profile on that front though.

The EC’s current competition commissioner has gained fame on both sides of the Atlantic for going after big tech, including issuing three high profile antitrust decisions against Google, such as a $5 billion fine for Android as well as action on EU illegal state aid that saw the Commission order Apple to pay $15 billion in back taxes to the Irish state, covering a decade of unpaid taxes. On her order, Amazon also got hit with a large illegal tax benefits bill, and may yet face antitrust action.

As a result of holding a key office and how forcefully she has spent her time as antitrust chief, she remains one of the most high-profile European commissioners.

Asked about what she would offer as Commission president she has said “you have to be forceful to serve people well.” Naturally, she is pro-regulation — a sentiment that chimes well with rising public concern over unfettered and even feckless Internet giants. But while demonstrably forceful, she is also thoughtful and methodical, and can’t be accused of jumping on the bandwagon of populist positions.

She’s also shown her steel in office, issuing competition decisions that have angered powerful heads of EU states — which might therefore have been politically disadvantageous to her prospects of further advancement in the Commission.

Towards the end of her time as commissioner, she instigated a review of competition policy to respond to the challenges posed by digital markets, signaling a reform agenda. She has also talked publicly about regulating data flows as a more intelligent route to regulate big tech versus swinging the hammer to break companies up.

A Commission headed by Vestager would surely have a strong appetite for stamping its mark on digital regulation. At very least it would drive discussion, even if winning consensus on pan-EU digital reforms may be more difficult to achieve (especially on a highly divisive issue like tax reform).

In public debates of Commission presidency candidates, Vestager has said that increasing diversity and managing climate change would be priorities if she took the top job, emphasizing too the need for an inclusive transition to a sustainable economy.

Given her high personal profile, it seems at least reasonable that should she miss out on the top job she will end up with another major post, such as vice president. It would also, of course, signal progressive change if European institutions were to appoint a woman to one of the top jobs for the very first time.

It’s also not inconceivable that she could be reappointed as competition commissioner, given how she has owned the office.

Either way, Vestager’s influence on competition policy looks very unlikely to fade — not least because similar ideas are catching fire across the Atlantic.

At this stage, though, all is still in play where the Commission presidency is concerned.

More clarity may emerge after the next meeting of EU leaders, on June 20 and 21, when the Council will convene to discuss nominations — and adopt a first draft of their strategic agenda for the next five years.

What’s on the EU Council’s strategic agenda?

An outline of discussion topics for this agenda last month included, among myriad talking points, Europe’s migration challenge; tackling online disinformation, bolstering cybersecurity and addressing hybrid security threats; deepening and strengthening the single market and developing an industrial strategy, as well as investing in skills and education, promoting innovation and research.

Ensuring fair competition was also on the list.

A section on “building a greener, fairer and more inclusive future” suggested accelerating the energy transition and investing in “mobility of the future” among its listed points.

While a section entitled “embracing the digital transition” cited developing AI, promoting “access, sharing and use of data,” and ensuring connectivity as key talking points.

Elsewhere the document talked about defending European people’s rights and freedoms, and indeed projecting European values on the rest of the world. But with so many power games still to play out, the shape of Europe’s future tech and competition policy remains just that: A draft, with priorities hard to predict.

“It’s most unlikely that there’s going to be any reversal of major policies,” suggests Dr. Alistair Jones, an expert on EU political policy at De Montfort University. “What we are likely to see — and this is pure conjecture — is assuming Brexit goes ahead (and that’s still an if) then what we’ll probably see is a Commission being a little bit more tentative on the integration process and wanting to go forward more gradually on integration to keep everyone on board.

“So things like the digital market will proceed, slowly and carefully. I don’t see a huge lunge forward in greater integration on any aspects. I think it’s going to be very tentative, very much small steps.”

Online disinformation is an issue where the EU does have serious concerns. The Commission has been paying close attention to how platforms are responding to increased pressure, via a (for now) voluntary code of practice — setting up a monthly monitoring requirement for them to deliver progress reports, and issuing sharp rebukes that progress hasn’t been good enough.

But a pan-Europe regulatory response to online muck spreading is complicated by whether it’s an EU or national competence.

“The problem is it probably lies with the national governments and they are loath to want to give greater responsibility to the EU in this area because they have their own ways of doing things,” says Jones.

The Germans, for example, haven’t been shy about passing a law to punitively punish platforms if they fail to swiftly remove hate speech, while the UK remains focused on devising a framework to control a broader range of online harms.

Where online content rules are concerned, Europe’s cultural differences suggest that this sort of policy patchwork will remain the norm.

Image via Getty Images / AdrianHancu

Similarly, Jones believes core decisions on regulating 5G will remain at a Member State level — with the Commission likely only moving to set a future floor for trans-national EU minimum standards, rather than seeking to impose hefty security restrictions on procurement decisions.

“As it moves forward, I can see the Commission — as it’s done in the past — taking over a broad brush big picture regulatory role,” he says. “So who can be involved in the delivery of 5G, which businesses are involved, things like that. I can see as it is rolled out the Commission and the EU collectively wanting a degree of consistency, and that links to single market rules, it links to competition rules, it links to commercial policy rules. Some of that’s already in place but at the same time there may be a need for greater policing that further down the line.”

One issue that does generally cut across the political spectrum is digital taxation, though achieving agreement on that front may be hampered by a political requirement for the EU to be more sensitive to concerns about increased integration — and not be seen blindly pushing on the accelerator.

Again, says Jones, Brexit complicates matters. He suggests a more broad-brush approach may win out in the near term, such as the Commission looking at the operation of the entire single market — “and how that can be done more effectively and efficiently” — rather than trying to tackle head-on national resistance if the EU pushes to get input on Member States’ tax systems.

“It’s something that may bubble along just below the surface,” he posits of digital tax reform. “Maybe in five years times, after the next elections, [there could be a] big package to possibly change the whole taxation system of the EU. And it may be that it gives the EU some input into national taxation policies but that is going to be resisted by some countries.”

Some Member States have voiced loud concern about digital tax inequality. Including France and the UK, which are pursuing their own flavors of reform. Though without a pan-EU approach there’s no real chance of addressing the problem.

Getting political agreement on that will be difficult, with smaller states having lucratively leveraged a low tax economy to pull in the tech giants. So the Commission may remain caught in the middle. 

“We often assume that the Commission sets the policies. The Commission don’t. The Commission tries to mold the agenda but it’s up to the Council’s ministers and also the European Parliament to take that forward,” says Jones. “So if we have a Commission that’s willing to say — ‘hey, digital economy, the EU needs to have greater involvement in all of this’. The national governments have got to buy in. And if they don’t buy in it doesn’t matter how good the commissioner is, it doesn’t matter how farseeing they are, they’re not going to get anywhere. So there’s got to be this ability to get buy-in from the Member States.”

That said, individual commissioners can be key to driving a particular reform agenda. So the personalities and expertise involved can make a big difference — if it helps them win the support of member states.

“There probably is going to be more appetite for big tech regulation but the problem they’ve got at the Commission is that at times, collectively, their head is stuck in the sand and they are loath to go forward on a number of issues,” says Jones. “It may be up to individual commissioners who have got that individual get up and go, that individual vigor, that knowledge of the area they are in charge of — it may be the individual commissioners who may actually drive things forward.”

“It may be there’s a commissioner in the digital economy who’s going to grow into the role, if they’re not already there,” he adds. “But what they will need is the support of the individual member states.”

Image via Getty Images / KatarzynaBialasiewicz

After the Commission president, the competition commissioner role stands out as a critical appointment, given its high degree of autonomy and power. Whoever lands the brief will certainly be one to watch, not least for how they respond to growing political appetite over the Atlantic to crack the back of tech giants’ platform power.

A future date to look out for on that front is when the nominee for the EU antitrust brief gets questioned by the European Parliament — both to see how they respond but also what kind of questions they face. That will offer a flavor of the new parliament’s priorities for regulating competition.

A parliament signalling it wants more action to rein in big tech could act as fuel for the next commissioner, says Jones.

The EU’s next antitrust chief will also have on their desk the review Vestager instigated of digital markets — so it will be up to them to make a call on how to take that work forward. A decisive commissioner could have a major impact on digital markets and business models. So it’s a critical appointment.

But again we’re still a long way off knowing who the person will be. Not least because individual commissioner appointments can depend upon how big a personality the Commission president is.

“If you’ve got a big personality who can drive things through with the support of the European Parliament they can get the national nominees into the places that they want,” says Jones.

“This is the problem that the president has — they do not know who the individual nominees are going to be from which Member States. So until they know who the nominees are from which Member State and then what portfolios they may be appropriate for — what portfolios they want to give them — it’s all up in the air.”

How is the next Commission president decided? 

Multiple candidates remain in the running to take over from Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission president come November 1. Though even that timeline is not 100% certain. If, for example, MEPs take a dislike to a Council pick for president they can reject the whole Commission, delaying the entire process.

The process for deciding the next Commission president involves a nomination, by a qualified majority, from the European Council that’s required to factor in the result of the most recent European elections.

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) then vote on the choice — with an absolute majority required for the Council’s nomination to prevail.

While the Commission’s top job is influential, as regards shaping pan-EU policy — with the president responsible for setting political direction and chairing their cabinet of commissioners atop the various policy areas — the office shouldn’t be thought of as the equivalent of the president of the United States. But is a key strategic role. Collectively, the Commission executes on a pan-EU legislative program. It’s responsible for drafting the budget and is the only EU institution that can propose legislation.

The European Council is the power behind this throne, feeding in whatever policy priorities can be agreed by a roomful of heads of government/state of the EU’s (currently) 28 members — in addition to playing kingmaker by nominating their choice for Commission president.

Image via Getty Images / Dado Daniela

There is also a president of the European Council, who works to seek consensus between Member States. This position is set to change shortly too, via election by Council members, albeit for an initial term that’s half as long as the Commission president.

Nominations for the various European commissioners typically involve large amounts of horse-trading and power playing for portfolios between the Member States.

The aim is for the Commission to contain representation across the bloc, factoring in regional differences in politics, nationality, north vs south, east vs west, diversity and so on. But it’s a political compromise, never a flawless mirror.

In practice, the selections of Commission nominees can be a surprising process in which little known figures can suddenly find themselves with the right combination of strategy, nationality and diplomacy to unlock the right support.

With so many balancing and compromise factors in play, the make-up of the next Commission is always complex and hard to predict, and arguably more so this time around, given wider shifts in the European political landscape — including ongoing ructions caused by the UK’s vote for Brexit — adding extra layers to the usual palimpsest.

A more fragmented European politics

Elections for the parliament were held last month and the vote returned a more fragmented hemicycle — weakening the traditional center-right and center-left blocs that have dominated for 40 years. Although they still remain the major political forces it’s the liberals, greens and nationalists that gained ground.

A more fragmented parliament suggests reaching consensus on both the shape of the next Commission and what legislation it will go on to propose could prove more difficult unless new political alliances can be forged. At this stage, it’s not clear what the new European parliament voting blocs will be.

There remains a risk that EU legislative processes could be stalled if compromise can’t be reached across a differently stripped spectrum of divergent political positions.

“We don’t really know what the groups are going to be in the European Parliament,” says Jones. “Those groupings are fluid. So if you look for example at the Brexit Party going in with the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy — when Britain leaves, that whole grouping disintegrates. Because they’d only have six countries represented. They’d need seven.

“If that’s the case it may be that some of those party groups may look elsewhere… We simply don’t know. So how the actual structures of the smaller parties are going to be — that is up in the air. Until that is resolved, the whole establishment of the Commission beyond the presidency is up in the air as well.”

“Everything’s up in the air at the minute,” he adds, noting just one certainty: That the two major parties still dominate, despite their vote shrinking.

“If they have organized things so that there’s an agreement that whichever party has the most seats their nominee for the presidency for the Commission would go forward,” Jones suggests. “If they stick with that, then the starting point of establishing the Commission presidency means that the EPP will keep their person in place.”

The full phalanx of Commission president and commissioner appointments has also got to be approved by the European Parliament, en masse — with MEPs getting a vote to either accept or reject.

“So what you’ve got therefore is a huge haggling process. And this is why when people say there’s a fragmented European parliament we don’t know what’s going to happen — they’re absolutely right. Until the groups are actually sorted in the European Parliament then we’ll get a better idea of the power structures, and then we’ll get a better idea in relation to with the presidency having been sorted how the rest of it will flow through.

“It could be — could be — really problematic in trying to get a Commission membership through if the smaller groups in the European Parliament work together to try to block appointees they could cause problems.”

So, again, much hangs on who will be the next Commission president, and how persuasive they prove across a more fragmented political landscape. As noted earlier, Barnier’s negotiating glue may look like a handy special power. Although, as a personality, he’s hardly overflowing in the force of character department — famed only for having an unnerving stare.

Image via Getty Images / robertiez

Jones takes the view that the policy agency of the next Commission isn’t likely to emerge until Brexit itself has happened — assuming, of course, that Brexit does actually go ahead. (And where Brexit is concerned there are still absolutely no guarantees at all.)

“When/if Britain leaves the entire power structure in the European Parliament could change. Because the Freedom and Direct Democracy Group could collapse with Brexit leaving that group [assuming the party follows the UKIP template and involves itself with the same group]. So everything is up in the air at the minute. That will get resolved, probably by if we’re lucky the middle of next month.

“Then you start on the commission appointments and it’s the summer — and some of the countries effectively shut down. So it may be that it’s September or possibly even early October that we’re going to see this entire process completed. That’s the nightmare scenario. So the EU basically flounders for the next three to four months.”

Meanwhile, if muscle-flexing Macron misses out on a French Commission presidency it’s conceivable he could push for the powerful antitrust portfolio as a consolation prize. Which perhaps lends some color to Facebook’s recent attempts to cozy up to the French government to work on ideas for Internet ‘co-regulation.’

Zuckerberg may be placing his own bets on the future shape of the Commission by seeking to make powerful French friends in the hopes of influencing pan-EU policy before the next commission has had chance to take shape.

But where EU politics is concerned, the phrase that’s been repeated ad nauseam of the Brexit negotiations applies here too in spades: ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’.

This time around Europe’s political dial the risk of disagreement appears to be zooming alarmingly into view. So the real test of the European project will be whether it can weather disruption to its usual philosophy of onwards and upwards — its political push for ‘more Europe’ — when some of its people are voting for less.

If the EU can’t carry all its people along there will be little hope of driving any major policy agenda — which means key questions of technology and competition going unaddressed, generating legal uncertainty and compliance risk for business with knock-on economic effects.

Tech giants have the resources to manage political uncertainty — indeed, they’ve shown themselves adept at exploiting political vacuums and blindspots — so it will be startups and the next generation of entrepreneurs that get failed.

Consensus works until it doesn’t, as the UK’s Brexit schism illustrates. So there’s a clear cautionary tale for the EU powers that be — if they can but put their heads together and listen.

“The issue is going to be how the rest of the European countries work together. Because although [the UK is] a reluctant European, and we’re never very keen, one of the roles that we played was as a break on some of the more excessive integrationist ideas that might have arisen from the Commission that some of the other big countries such as France and Germany bought into,” says Jones when asked whether he thinks the European project can survive Brexit. “With that role going, assuming we leave, it does give the EU the opportunity for the EU to drive forward for greater integration — and it may be that we see the development of a two-speed Europe. If that happens the whole project will disintegrate. Of that I am convinced.”

“They need to be taking on the more reluctant members,” he adds. “So the Hungarys, the Polands, the Czech Republics… as well as the more integrationist countries, such as Belgium, such as Luxembourg, such as Germany and France. They’ve got to be taking everybody along together… Everybody’s been dragged along a bit reluctantly. They’re going to have to be a little bit more considerate if Brexit goes ahead because otherwise the project could disintegrate.”

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8204425 https://tcrn.ch/2Kjiv28 via IFTTT

[alldatmatterzfan]

ICC Cricket World Cup 2019

Host of the 2019 Cricket World Cup

England and Wales will host cricket world cup 2019 after winning in more than a decade. The residency rights for 2011, 2015 and 2019 were granted globally simultaneously in 2006. Initially, England and Wales presented a joint bid for the 2015 World Cup. However, after Australia's defeat through a joint Asian bid in 2011, they were granted residency rights in 2015. The rights of England and Wales were guaranteed until 2019 if they agreed to withdraw their bid for 2015, which they did immediately. England also won the rights to the first T20 World Cup in 2007 at the same time. The cricket session was originally an invitation, but after full and temporary members accepted 12 invitations, the ICC gave them official status.

History of the Cricket World Cup

The first World Cup was held in 1975, only four years after the one-day cricket world took by storm. The official response of CCI was to the phenomenon of "Cricket World Series" which proved to be incredibly popular among fans. In the past forty years, the worldwide championship of cricket has been held and has been won by teams from all over the world. The 2019 tournament will be the 12th in the competition and the fifth in the UK. England and Wales were previously hosted in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999.

Qualification for the 2019 Cricket World Cup

Only 10 teams qualify for the cricket world cup 2019 after a decision to reduce the size of the tournament. In 2011 and 2015, the tournament had 14 teams, but the International Criminal Court decided that few countries would achieve better competition. England will qualify automatically as they host the tournament, as well as the seven major international nations in one day according to the latest arrangement of the International Criminal Court six months before the tournament.

However, this leaves only two places for other participating States and associate members of the International Criminal Court. Afghanistan and the West Indies occupied the places in a qualifying tournament held in Bangladesh in March 2018. The tournament included the remaining four teams that did not reach the top seven international centers in one day as well as the best four teams in the world cricket. League Championship.

Teams Qualified for the 2019 Cricket World CupAutomatically Qualifier

England

Current qualifiers based on current ICC One Day International rankings

Australia

South Africa

India

New Zealand

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Pakistan

Participants in the 2018 World Cup qualification tournament

West Indies

Zimbabwe

Afghanistan

Ireland

Papua New Guinea

Netherlands

Hong Kong

Scotland

Format

In the past, a variety of formats have been used, but the low number of teams this year means that the format will be much simpler than in previous years. In 2018, there will be only one central group consisting of 10 teams. In this group stage, all countries will play once, which means that there will be a total of 45 group matches before the finals. Due to this extended stage of the group, the quarter has been eliminated, and the four best teams will progress directly to the semi-finals with the exclusion of the remaining six. The winners in each game will submit a semi-final to the final and the winner will be announced in this world champion.

Also Visit: cricket world cup 2019 sponsors

Venues

Gentlemen, the spiritual home of cricket will host the final, while the Oval hosts the opening game. Rounding in the semi-finals according to the English Cricket Council will be played at Edgbaston and Old Trafford. The London stadium will host the opening ceremony and some group meetings. The rest of the matches will be played in England and Wales on the basis of meeting the size and efficiency requirements of the ICC. The following is a list of these stadiums.

Cricket World Cup 2019 Schedule

The opening match of the tournament will be held on 30/05/2019 between England and South Africa and the ending cricket world cup schedule 2019 match will be on 14/07/2019 at Lord’s.

Favorites to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup

After winning the last World Cup, Australia deserve the best teams with India and South Africa not far away. It will be interesting to know whether Steve Smith and David Warner will return to the World Cup at 11 pm after completing their one-year ban because of their participation in this year's football match against South Africa. Something surprising and disappointing for hosts, England is the fourth favorite despite the fact that its hostess historically has a great advantage. As expected, all countries that test the game are more favored than their affiliates, indicating that book makers believe they will not face qualification problems during the qualifying session. It should be noted that since the championship is still more than a year, the odds are likely to change.

Controversy

The reduced size of the tournament

It is understood that the countries of the International Criminal Court have protested the decision to reduce the size of the tournament because it would mean that it would be much more difficult for the smaller cricket countries to qualify. They argue that the quota system at the World Cup provides the experience and offer of their country that they do not get at any other time and that depriving them of the opportunity to compete can delay the game in their own countries. According to the affiliate, if the ICC wants to grow the game, it has to make the tournament bigger, not smaller. In addition, they argue that the victories of countries such as Ireland over England in the 2011 World Cup show they are competitive and that everything is possible when given the opportunity.

In response, the International Criminal Court defended its decision by saying that the action was necessary to ensure that the best quality products were delivered to fans in theaters and audiences around the world. They argue that the presence of smaller states involved leads to bombings that were boring to watch and hurt sports in those small countries. They believe that smaller countries benefit better by playing each other in competitive games until the time they can compete legitimately with the big cricket countries like Australia or India. They also argue that the new format is more just, because it allows each country to compete to play with any other competitive country. This means that the table in the end will be a more fair representation of the best teams.

Should London Stadium be used?

Another point of contention is whether the stadium in London, the stadium that hosted the London Olympics or not, to be used as a venue. One problem that has faced English cricket in the last 100 years is the size of their stadiums. The biggest land they own is Lords and they have only 28,000 spectators. This is less than a third of what keeps the Melbourne Cricket Ground up and sold quickly when it hosted the World Cup final in 2015. With a capacity of 60,000, London's stadium could mean big crowds and high profits for English cricket. The ECB also believes that its central location can make sport easier for a new generation of cricket lovers.

However, the use of the stadium has its problems. The pitch is now too small for cricket world cup schedule 2019, which makes the limits incredibly short. Time before the ICC granted exemptions for the World Cup, some fear that the size of the ground may damage the integrity of the tournament. What's more, the London stadium plan is opposed to other cricket camps because more games in London mean less games elsewhere. They argue that there are already enough stadiums to host the Games in the capital and that other parties should be spread across England and Wales.

Discarding all odds, the ECB finally decided to use two of the London cricket stadiums. Oval and Lords, for this prestigious tournament once in four years

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Dancing With The Stars 2009 Week 4: Aaron Carter Falls From Grace (Video)

Eleven celebs stay in the Dancing With the Stars competition, so who will go house throughout week 4? Is there any celeb correct on the edge, and who is rising to the leading following three weeks of dances? The night finished with Melissa and Mark tied for initial place with Mya and Dmitry. The scores were flip flopped all over the place. Followers and judges had been shocked when try this and his companion Karina Smirnoff landed themselves in the base two. But in the end, it was fan preferred Chuck Liddell who recieved the most affordable mixed judges and enthusiast votes. Chuck danced his final dance to the Texas Two Step.

I'd never really seen much of Mark outside of "Iron Chef," and he was actually a pretty enjoyable man to view. He aaron carter twitter might have experienced the cheesiest presentation of anyone I've noticed to start the show, but he could transfer pretty nicely. The biggest issue for him will be staying focused on the dance. Tonight's secret component is.dancing! (Alright, only kidding.) Mark ended up with a 21 and a second-place end in the group waltz.

Aaron Carter Rehab

Chuck Liddell is also versed in martial arts, he is nicely known as a former ultimate fighting winner. He produced a great work and confirmed his aggravation as he tried to glide with partner Anna Trebunskaya throughout the flooring. Total rating for the couple 22. Post-an additional break, Chuck Liddell and partner Anna Trebunskaya, Melissa Joan Hart and partner Mark Ballas, and Kelly Osbourne and Louie van Amstel had been proclaimed safe, while Louie Vito and Chelsie Hightower were relegated to the dreaded danger zone. Oh no, not my pup canine boy! By the by, the Danger Zone is my own terminology. I'm throwing myself a bone right here and creating my personal DWTS vernacular. Heck yeah. Hightower told him for the foxtrot "don't think snowboarder, think prince." Dressed in a darkish fit he has a boyish smile all through the dance to "It's My Life" by No Question, but he's not certain what to do with his hands and he sickles his feet.

Aaron Carter New Song

Do you want to remain in-the-know? Then signal up to get my articles individually delivered to your in-box. Just click on SUBSCRIBE, and you'll remain up-to-the-moment with your favorite reality shows and stars. Of course, your E-mail will by no means be shared with anybody else. It's clear that throughout Period nine of Dancing with the Stars, which starts on Sept. 21, the use of Twitter and Fb by the show's dancers has currently improved the way its 20 million fans get their info. Ashley Hamilton will be competing towards a great deal of gifted celebs, they are: Donny Osmond, browse around this web-site, Debbi Mazar, Chuck Liddell, Louie Vito, Macy Gray, Melissa Joan Hart, Mark Dacascos, Michael Irvin, Mya, Natalie Coughlin, Tom Delay, Joanna Krupa, Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Ireland.

What Happened To Aaron Carter

The first results display will air on Wednesday, September 23rd and will feature a Patrick Swayze tribute, a performance by Sean Kingston, award-successful Lion King dancers and the first Macy's "Stars of Dance" performance of the period. Co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha opened the hour of the initial Dancing with the Stars fall 2009 outcomes show by turning to head judge Len Goodman and requesting the judges' pick for the encore dance. Final evening's surprise graceful swan of the ballroom Kelly Osbourne and Louie van Amstel delighted the crowd with their Viennese Waltz once again. I'm nonetheless so amazed with Kelly. I experienced, fairly literally, nearly no anticipations for Kelly Osbourne on DWTS season 9. I thought she'd suck and I felt terribly for poor Louie. But she's incredible and was amazing however once more tonight.

Aaron Carter Aaron'S Party (Come Get It)

Q: You are a songwriter; you've worked with some incredible artists like Robbie Williams and Hilary Duff, who do you like pay attention to when you're not coaching? The stage is, there appears to be no center guy, no community relations device churning out push releases. No official push conferences right here. Just a direct line to your favorite celeb. Who will be this period's worst dancer that inexplicably lasts until the finals? Who will go home first? Who will fluster the judges by talking back the most? Who will be the first to pull out thanks to a sequin-related damage? Share your predictions beneath.

[deniscollins]

Google Fined $1.7 Billion by E.U. for Unfair Advertising Rules

If you were a Google executive, would you stipulate in contracts that license the use of Google’s search bar on websites run by newspapers, blogs, travel services and other companies that they display a disproportionate number of text ads from Google’s own advertising services over competing digital advertising companies: (1) Yes, (2) No? Why? What are the ethics underlying your decision?

European authorities on Wednesday fined Google 1.5 billion euros for antitrust violations in the online advertising market, continuing its efforts to rein in the world’s biggest technology companies.

The fine, worth about $1.7 billion, is the third against Google by the European Union since 2017, reinforcing the region’s position as the world’s most aggressive watchdog of an industry with an increasingly powerful role in society and the global economy. The regulators said Google had violated antitrust rules by imposing unfair terms on companies that used its search bar on their websites in Europe.

Europe’s regulatory approach was once criticized as unfairly focusing on technology companies from the United States, but is now viewed as a potential global model as governments question the influence of Silicon Valley. Europe is at the forefront of a broad debate about the role of tech platforms like Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google, and whether their size and power hurt competition.

With the announcement on Wednesday, the European fines against Google total roughly 8.2 billion euros, or $9.3 billion. But the bloc has not received any of the money yet; Google is appealing the earlier decisions, and is mulling whether to appeal the most recent ruling.

“Google has cemented its dominance in online search adverts and shielded itself from competitive pressure by imposing anticompetitive contractual restrictions on third-party websites,” Margrethe Vestager, Europe’s top antitrust watchdog, said in a statement. “This is illegal under E.U. antitrust rules.”

The fine centers on contracts that license the use of Google’s search bar on websites run by newspapers, blogs, travel services and other companies. European regulators said the operators of the third-party websites using Google’s search bar had been required to display a disproportionate number of text ads from Google’s own advertising services over competing digital advertising companies.

The practice, regulators said, undercut competitors, such as Microsoft and Yahoo, that were trying to challenge Google in search.

“There was no reason for Google to include these restrictive clauses in its contracts, except to keep its rivals out of the market,” Ms. Vestager said at a news conference in Brussels. She said the ruling covered 2006 to 2016, when Google stopped the practices.

Europe’s actions against Silicon Valley are influencing policy debates around the world, but some critics question the overall effectiveness of the penalties.

The European Union spent a decade investigating Google, a slow and deliberate process, during which the company’s business and power continued to grow. Annual revenue at Google’s parent company, Alphabet, reached $137 billion last year, compared with $22 billion a decade earlier. On Wednesday, Google shares rose 2 percent.

The Google cases highlight a larger question policymakers face in overseeing the digital economy.

“As it becomes increasingly clear that antitrust fines or after-the-fact remedies are not enough to bring vibrant competition to the market, governments will need to move to deeper tech sector regulation to remedy problems,” said Gene Kimmelman, a former antitrust official in the Justice Department who is now president of Public Knowledge, a consumer advocacy group. He suggested rules preventing tech platforms like Google from favoring their own services.

In the United States, where there has been limited regulation of tech companies, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, has made breaking up Google and other tech giants a priority in her presidential campaign. This week, Representative David Cicilline, Democrat of Rhode Island and chairman of the House Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law, called for a federal antitrust investigation of Facebook.

In response to the ruling on Wednesday, Google said, “Healthy, thriving markets are in everyone’s interest.”

“We’ve already made a wide range of changes to our products to address the commission’s concerns,” Kent Walker, Google’s senior vice president for global affairs, said in a statement. “Over the next few months, we’ll be making further updates to give more visibility to rivals in Europe.”

The case is the last of three investigations the European Commission has pursued against Google, which has headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.

Last year, Ms. Vestager fined Google a record €4.34 billion for using its ownership of the Android mobile operating system to unfairly undercut rivals in the mobile phone market, a decision that also forced the company to change how it bundled its apps on smartphones. In 2017, the company was fined 2.4 billion euros for unfairly favoring its own shopping services over those of rivals.

The two previous rulings have not had a big impact on Google’s financial health, but they have forced the tech giant to adjust some business practices.

After the Android ruling last year, Google for the first time began charging handset makers to pre-install Gmail, Google Maps and other popular applications for Android devices in the European Union.

Perhaps in an attempt to head off additional inquiries, Google announced a number of further changes to services across Europe on Wednesday, after rivals complained that it continued to benefit from anticompetitive business practices.

For the first time, the company said, it will ask Android phone users in Europe if they want to switch to a web browser and search engine not owned by Google. To allow more competition when customers shop with Google, it will give other shopping sites more prominence in its search results, the company also said. Google said it would do the same with local search queries in Europe, such as when a person searches for a restaurant, a move that could help companies like TripAdvisor and OpenTable.

Outside of its review of practices by Google and others, the European Union has adopted tough new privacy rules that many countries outside Europe now view as a template. Regulators here have also investigated tech companies’ tax practices and called for more scrutiny of artificial intelligence.

The decision on Wednesday against Google will be one of the final major antitrust rulings in the five-year term of Ms. Vestager, whose crackdown on Silicon Valley while competition commissioner has made her a minor celebrity in the often-staid world of European politics.

Ms. Vestager has expressed openness to serving another term as the bloc’s top antitrust watchdog, but she is also considered a contender to become president of the European Commission, the most powerful executive position in the European Union. Her future will depend in part on the outcome of European parliamentary elections in May.

Even with her possible departure, pressure on the technology industry is not easing.

The European Union is expected to adopt new copyright regulations as early as next week that would impose restrictions to stop unlicensed content, like music and videos, from being shared on tech platforms like Google and Facebook. Another proposal tries to block the sharing of hate speech and extremist content, a policy that some critics say could lead to censorship.

At the same time, regulators across Europe are pursuing several lines of inquiry.

Ms. Vestager’s office announced last year that Amazon was under investigation for its treatment of independent sellers who use its website to reach customers.

Apple, which in 2016 was ordered to pay Ireland $14.5 billion in back taxes, is now under scrutiny for its App Store policies. Facebook is facing separate inquiries related to its business practices and handling of user data. Google’s advertising practices are also being monitored by privacy advocates who are urging regulators to begin a new investigation for violating privacy rights.

“Businesses and consumers, they depend on platforms to get the best out of digitization,” Ms. Vestager said. “Illegal behavior in these cases is a very serious affair.”

[hollywoodjuliorivas]

Advertisement SundayReview | OP-ED COLUMNIST Trump, Neo-Nazis and the Klan Maureen Dowd AUG. 19, 2017 Continue reading the main storyShare This Page Share Tweet Email More Save 298 Photo A Ku Klux Klan protest last month in Charlottesville, Va., five weeks before a rally there by Klansmen, neo-Nazis and other white nationalists turned violent. Credit Chet Strange/Getty Images WASHINGTON — One lazy, sultry afternoon in 1947, two years after America helped trounce the Nazis, my father arrived at our family’s modest summer house on the Severn River near the Naval Academy. He had come from his job as a police detective in D.C., still wearing his suit and his service revolver. “Get your shoes on and come with me,” he told my 10-year-old brother, Martin, his Irish lilt edged with a steel that caused his son to scramble. “I have something to do and I want you to see it.” The town, Herald Harbor, Md., had its share of “old country hicks,” as Martin called them. It had been founded in 1924 by The Washington Herald, a newspaper owned by William Randolph Hearst. The Herald gave one of the first cottages to Margaret Gorman, a vivacious curly-haired 5-foot-1 Washington teenager who had gone to Atlantic City in 1921, sponsored by the paper, and won a beauty pageant. She was crowned “The Most Beautiful Bathing Girl in America” and awarded the Golden Mermaid trophy. The next year, she competed again and won a new title. She became the first Miss America. My father liked Herald Harbor because, with its woods and water, it reminded him of his native Ireland. He planted potatoes in the garden and nailed up a sign naming the property Fanore, after the tiny village in County Clare where he was born. Continue reading the main story ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story He had a couple extra houses for relatives, but when they married and stopped coming, he sold them. Word quickly spread through the cloistered town that Mike Dowd had sold to Jewish families. Crosses began appearing on the new neighbors’ yards. At night, men skulked around in their Ku Klux Klan sheets, or what my sister, then 8, called “ghost outfits.” The head of the local Klan, a man who delivered ice in the town, began mouthing off about how he didn’t want Jews in the neighborhood. My father explained to Martin that his best friend in the town, a boy a year younger, was the son of the Klan leader. He told Martin that they were going to talk to the man. They walked to the top of the road, took a left and went to the third house. “I was sort of excited and paralyzed at the same time,” Martin recalled when I talked to him about it on Friday. (I was not yet born.) “I thought what the hell do we do if the guy comes out with a shotgun?” My father had his jacket open so his holster was showing. “I hear you’re looking for me,” he coolly told the scrawny man who answered the door. Newsletter Sign UpContinue reading the main story Sign Up for the Opinion Today Newsletter Every weekday, get thought-provoking commentary from Op-Ed columnists, the Times editorial board and contributing writers from around the world. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. SEE SAMPLE MANAGE EMAIL PREFERENCES PRIVACY POLICY OPT OUT OR CONTACT US ANYTIME “I’m not looking for you,” the man replied. “These are wonderful people, wonderful people,” my dad said of our neighbors. “And I don’t want you to think that you can get in their way coming in here. I just want to pass that along. I’m going to be keeping an eye on you.” ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story My brother knew, and the Klan leader found out, that my father was not one to be trifled with. He had already tangled with the Klan once on police business in West Virginia, when they overturned his partner’s car because it had a sticker supporting Al Smith, the first Catholic to run for president on a major party ticket. The Jewish families never had a problem again. “He was totally unafraid of everyone and everything,” Martin marveled. “He was just a spectacular person.” I was thinking of that story the day Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009 because it was the first time I had seen my hometown seem truly integrated. How amazing that within my brother’s lifetime we had vanquished all those hideous ghouls in ghost costumes. How magical and modern our future would be. The next day, I roused my reluctant houseguests for a dawn trip to the Lincoln Memorial, with croissants and Champagne, to celebrate the spectacular odyssey from Lincoln to Obama. But we were naïve. We should have known it would not be that easy. There were ugly things rumbling beneath the surface and, fueled by that bigotry, Democratic incompetence and Republican longing for a conservative Supreme Court, Donald Trump found a narrow portal to crawl through to get to the Oval Office. He did not come to the White House with any moral authority. And unlike some other presidents, such as J.F.K. and Ronald Reagan, he did not embody our aspirations. He was simply a rough instrument to smash the capital. Republican nihilism and Democratic neglect and arrogance had bred a virulent strain of nihilism in the electorate. Many voters wanted to tear down the house. There will be a lot of pain while this president is in office and the clock will turn back on many things. But we will come out stronger, once this last shriek of white supremacy and grievance and fear of the future is out of the system. Every day, President Trump teaches us what values we cherish — and they’re the opposite of his. ADVERTISEMENT Continue reading the main story My dad, a war veteran and decorated police hero, used to divide men into men and “weasels.” When Trump buoyed the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazis who had marched in Charlottesville with Tiki torches, Confederate flags, Nazi slogans, swastikas and banners reading “Jews will not replace us” — even as one of their leaders told a Vice News reporter how disgusting it was that Trump’s “beautiful” blond daughter was married to a Jewish man — the president made it clear which category he is in. For all the things he thinks make him a tough guy — his macho posturing, his Twitter bullying, his swaggering and leering talk, his vulgar references to his anatomy — he’s no tough guy if he can’t stand up to the scum of the earth. He followed the roar of the crowd to dark, violent places, becoming ever more crazed and isolated and self-destructive, egged on by the egotist and erstwhile White House strategist Steve Bannon but really led by his own puerile and insatiable ego. 298 COMMENTS Donald Trump has shown a fatal inability to listen to his better angels and stay on the side of the angels. Or, as my father would say, he’s a weasel. Ross Douthat and Nicholas Kristof are off today. I invite you to follow me on Twitter (@MaureenDowd) and join me on Facebook. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. A version of this op-ed appears in print on August 20, 2017, on Page SR11 of the New York edition with the headline: Trump, Neo-Nazis and the Klan. Today's Paper|Subscribe Continue reading the main story TRENDING Protesters Flood Streets, and Trump Offers a Measure of Praise Op-Ed Columnist: The Week When President Trump Resigned How to Get Away With Murder in Small-Town India Op-Ed Columnist: Trump, Neo-Nazis and the Klan Dick Gregory, 84, Dies; Found Humor in the Civil Rights Struggle Opinion: What White Nationalism Gets Right About American History A Deal Breaker for Trump’s Supporters? Nope. Not This Time, Either. Editorial: The Failing Trump Presidency The Ethicist: Mom Left Me the House. What Do I Owe My Brothers? News Analysis: With Bannon’s Ouster, Question Remains Whether His Agenda Will Be Erased, Too View More Trending Stories » Maureen Dowd American politics, popular culture and international affairs. Will the Blowhard Blow Us Up? Stumbling toward Armageddon: Can two belligerent leaders living in deranged fantasy worlds tweet and taunt us into a nuclear war? Bobby Sticks It to Trump In a capital consumed with crime and punishment, Robert Mueller, a.k.a. Bobby Three Sticks, keeps the president in his sights. More in Opinion OPINION What White Nationalism Gets Right About American History FRANK BRUNI The Week When President Trump Resigned CONTRIBUTING OP-ED WRITER Hate That Doesn’t Hide OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR How to Make Fun of Nazis Recommended for You Sharing Secrets to a Successful Marriage EDITORIAL The Failing Trump Presidency Go to Home Page » SITE INDEX THE NEW YORK TIMES Site Index Navigation NEWS World U.S. Politics N.Y. Business Tech Science Health Sports Education Obituaries Today's Paper Corrections OPINION Today's Opinion Op-Ed Columnists Editorials Contributing Writers Op-Ed Contributors Opinionator Letters Sunday Review Taking Note Room for Debate Video: Opinion ARTS Today's Arts Art & Design Books Dance Movies Music N.Y.C. 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Part 2, Tuesday, March 14th, 2017

International News:

--- "A self-confessed assassin who testified to being in a "death squad" under Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte will soon file a case at the International Criminal Court accusing the president of crimes against humanity, his lawyer said on Tuesday. More than 8,000 people have died since Duterte took office in June and unleashed a bloody war on drugs, a third in raids and sting operations by police who say they acted in self-defense. Duterte and the police have denied links to the other killings, many of which rights groups say bear the same hallmarks as hundreds of suspicious deaths of criminals in Davao City during the 22 years Duterte was its mayor. Two men have testified before the Senate saying they were part of an alleged hit squad in Davao they said killed at Duterte's behest. Legislators found no proof of their testimony, which the president's aides dismiss as fabrication. The ICC case will come from Edgar Matobato, who came out of hiding last week and testified in September to have killed more than 50 people in the Davao area. In a television interview, his lawyer, Jude Sabio, said Matobato would file a case with the court in The Hague this month or in early April. "Murder is a serious crime. If it is committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against the civilian population, it constitutes a crime against humanity," Sabio said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-drugs-duterte-idUSKBN16L0ML?il=0

--- "A front-runner in the race to lead Finland's second-biggest political party told national media on Tuesday that he would actively seek an exit from the euro zone as well as the European Union, if elected. Jussi Halla-aho, a member of the European Parliament and an anti-immigration hardliner, is one of two front-runners to replace foreign minister Timo Soini who is stepping down as leader of the euroskeptic party in June. "Political reasons for quitting, especially the euro, are very clear, and economical reasons are pretty clear too. I think this should be actively urged in the party," Halla-aho said in an interview with Finnish news agency STT. Analysts say Halla-aho's nomination could bring down the country's three-party government and steer the party deeper into right-wing populism."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-finland-government-finnsparty-hallaah-idUSKBN16L2DE?il=0

--- "The top U.N. human rights official called on Tuesday for tens of thousands of detainees to be released from Syria's prisons and for torturers and executioners to be brought to justice as part of a lasting peace. Former Syrian detainees also testified before the U.N. Human Rights Council about their suffering and concern for men, women and children still in custody of the government or of extremist groups including al-Nusra and Islamic State. "Today in a sense the entire country has become a torture-chamber; a place of savage horror and absolute injustice," said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-un-idUSKBN16L0SF?il=0

--- "Syria needs a "proxy peace" supported by the international community instead of the proxy war that has raged for six years and killed some 320,000 people, top European Union diplomat Federica Mogherini said on Tuesday. The war has displaced millions and continues unabated, largely due to the international community's failure to agree on how to end it, with the United States and Russia, and their respective regional allies, backing rival sides. EU capital Brussels will host an international conference on Syria on April 5, hoping to create a new momentum. It has, however, long played only a marginal role in international efforts to resolve the conflict. Mogherini has for months been talking to Middle East players including Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Lebanon, seeking to find a minimum common ground between them on what the future peace could look like."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-eu-idUSKBN16L276?il=0

--- "The U.S. and South Korean military chiefs warned on Tuesday that North Korea could "conduct provocative actions" in response to large-scale joint drills between the two countries, as China's premier also said tensions could lead to conflict...The statement said the two military leaders "discussed response options" during a call that lasted about 30 minutes."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-southkorea-military-idUSKBN16M08F?il=0

--- "Ireland has complained to the European Commission that it is being undercut by rival centers competing to host financial firms looking for a European Union base outside London after Brexit. Last week, U.S. insurer AIG became the biggest group so far to pick Luxembourg as its EU base, alarming Irish officials who fear others may follow after British Prime Minister Theresa May won the right to begin the potentially long process of separation from the EU. While the final terms for doing business with the EU from Britain are uncertain, finance executives say privately they expect Brexit to isolate London and want to establish bases inside the bloc from where they can access its single market, prompting them to look at Frankfurt, Paris, Dublin and Luxembourg as alternatives."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-ireland-split-exclusive-idUSKBN16L1RY?il=0

--- "Ministers and officials representing the 12 countries of the failed Trans-Pacific Partnership, plus China and South Korea, began talks in Chile on Tuesday, but any concrete decision on how a new trade pact might look seemed far off. The TPP, which would have included about 40 percent of the world's gross domestic product, was effectively torpedoed after U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the agreement in January. Chile, a keen free-trade enthusiast and one of the signatories of the original agreement, invited TPP representatives to its Pacific-facing coastal city of Vina del Mar to try to thrash out a way forward."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-tpp-idUSKBN16L2O0?il=0

--- "The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday called on the Group of 20 major economies to work together to preserve the benefits of trade and avoid protectionism, while also urging them to reduce external imbalances and halt policies that distort global trade. Under pressure from rising protectionist sentiment in many advanced economies, including the United States, the IMF said that international cooperation was needed to maintain trade as an engine of growth that has lifted millions out of poverty worldwide. In a "surveillance note" outlining its view of prospects and risks to the global economy issued ahead of a G20 finance ministers meeting this week in Baden-Baden, Germany, the IMF appeared to try to balance stronger demands for fairer trade with its traditional calls for more globalization."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-imf-idUSKBN16L21U?il=0

--- "The international community must do more to protect healthcare in Syria as medical services become targets of war, according to a study published in The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday. Samer Jabbour, an associate professor at the American University of Beirut's Faculty of Health Sciences who co-led the study, said 2016 was the most dangerous year for health workers in Syria, with multiple attacks including killings, imprisonment, abduction and torture. "The international community has left these violations of international humanitarian and human rights law largely unanswered, despite their enormous consequences," he said. "There have been repudiated denunciations, but little action." Published to mark the sixth anniversary of the Syrian crisis, the study used data from multiple sources to assess the conflict’s impact on health care and health workers. It found a "weaponisation" of health care in Syria in which people's need for it was used against them by denying access."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-syria-healthcare-idUSKBN16L2UA?il=0

--- "Companies may ban staff from wearing Islamic headscarves and other visible religious symbols under certain conditions, the European Union's top court ruled on Tuesday, setting off a storm of complaint from rights groups and religious leaders. In its first ruling on an issue that has become highly charged across Europe, the Court of Justice (ECJ) found a Belgian firm which had a rule that employees who dealt with customers should not wear visible religious or political symbols may not have discriminated against a Muslim receptionist it dismissed for wearing a headscarf. The judgment on that and a French case came on the eve of a Dutch election in which Muslim immigration is a key issue and weeks before a similarly charged presidential vote in France, where headscarves are banned in public service jobs. French conservative candidate Francois Fillon hailed the ECJ ruling as "an immense relief" to companies and workers that would contribute to "social peace". But a group backing the fired employees said the ruling may shut many Muslim women out of the workforce. European rabbis said the Court had added to rising incidences of hate crime to send a message that "faith communities are no longer welcome"."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-court-headscarf-idUSKBN16L0UD?il=0

Further reactions: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-eu-court-headscarf-factbox-idUSKBN16L1JA?il=0

Domestic & International News:

--- "A UK spy agency did not eavesdrop on Donald Trump during and after last year's U.S. presidential election, a British security official said on Tuesday, denying an allegation by a U.S. television analyst. The official, who is familiar with British government policy and security operations, told Reuters that the charge made on Tuesday by Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano, was "totally untrue and quite frankly absurd."...On the "Fox & Friends" program, Napolitano, a political commentator and former New Jersey judge, said that rather than ordering U.S. agencies to spy on Trump, Obama obtained transcripts of Trump's conversations from Britain's Government Communications Headquarters, or GCHQ, the equivalent of the U.S. National Security Agency, which monitors overseas electronic communications. "Three intelligence sources have informed Fox News that President Obama went outside the chain of command - he didn't use the NSA, he didn't use the CIA, he didn't use the FBI and he didn't use the Department of Justice," Napolitano said, adding that the former president "used GCHQ." GCHQ has a close relationship with the NSA, as well as with the eavesdropping agencies of Australia, Canada and New Zealand in a consortium called "Five Eyes."The British official said that under British law, GCHQ "can only gather intelligence for national security purposes" and noted that the U.S. election "clearly doesn't meet that criteria.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-wiretapping-idUSKBN16L2UV?il=0

--- "Saudi Arabia's Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a meeting on Tuesday that Iran represents a regional security threat, a senior adviser to the deputy crown prince said. The adviser also said the talks marked a "historical turning point" in U.S.-Saudi relations. Saudi Arabia had viewed with unease the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, whom they felt considered Riyadh's alliance with Washington less important than negotiating a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015. It has been encouraged by the Trump administration's hardline stance on Iran and its nuclear program. "The meeting today restored issues to their right path and form a big change in relations between both countries in political, military, security and economic issues," the senior adviser said in a statement."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-usa-advisor-idUSKBN16M099?il=0

--- "China's Anbang Insurance Group [ANBANG.UL] said it is not investing in a flagship Manhattan office tower owned by the family of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser. Anbang Insurance Group was named in a Bloomberg report on Monday as a possible investor in a $4 billion deal to buy the 41-floor building located at 666 Fifth Avenue, according to a copy of the agreement that was being circulated to attract additional investors. "The information about Anbang investment in 666 Fifth Avenue is not correct, there is no investment from Anbang for this deal," a spokesman for Anbang said in a statement on Tuesday."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-anbang-group-kushner-idUSKBN16L2TS?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump's choice for the top U.S. trade negotiator on Tuesday pledged an "America First" strategy to aggressively enforce U.S. laws and trade deals to stop unfair imports and push China to scrap excess factory capacity. Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative nominee, told senators at his confirmation hearing that Trump chose him because of his trade enforcement background. "I expect that we're going to have a very rigorous enforcement policy," Lighthizer told the Senate Finance Committee. "This will be the point of emphasis." Lighthizer said he would bring as many trade enforcement actions as can be justified under World Trade Organization rules, bilateral trade agreements and U.S. trade remedy laws."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-lighthizer-idUSKBN16L2EZ?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "The White House said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump does not agree with a controversial tweet on immigration and birth rates by Republican Representative Steve King. "The president believes that this is not a point of view that he shares. He believes he's the president for all Americans," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a news briefing. The Iowa lawmaker drew condemnation from Democrats and fellow Republicans after his tweet on Sunday praising Geert Wilders, a nationalist, anti-Islam politician vying to become the Netherlands' prime minister in a national election on Wednesday. "Wilders understands that culture and demographics are our destiny. We can't restore our civilization with somebody else's babies," King wrote in a post that drew thousands of "likes.""

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-king-idUSKBN16L2L9?il=0

--- "Boeing Co and about 90 other aerospace companies are urging Congress to overhaul the U.S. tax system, saying a set of changes Republicans proposed last year - including a big cut in the corporate tax rate - will make them more competitive globally and help create U.S. jobs. Boeing Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg was among those who signed a letter to Republican and Democratic leaders in the U.S. House and Senate that was dated Friday and due to be released publicly on Tuesday, according to the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA). The support comes as congressional Republicans are developing measures to alter the U.S. tax system, a task they plan to tackle after addressing healthcare, according to several people familiar with the matter. "We urge you to enact legislation that modernizes our tax system, allows America's businesses to better compete in the global marketplace and encourages job creation and innovation in the United States," said the AIA letter, also signed by the group's CEO, David Melcher.The changes are based on a blueprint released in June by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, a Texas Republican. Among its key elements, Brady's proposal would cut the U.S. corporate tax rate to 20 percent from 35 percent, permit immediate deductions for capital investment and introduce a border adjustment tax system that would tax imports into the United States but not tax revenue generated by exports out of the country."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-boeing-tax-idUSKBN16L0XT?il=0

--- "Veteran U.S. diplomat Anne Patterson is out of the running to under secretary of defense for policy, U.S. officials said on Tuesday, depriving Defense Secretary Jim Mattis of his choice for his top policy adviser. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the officials said Patterson ran into resistance on Capitol Hill that might have made it hard for her to win confirmation by the U.S. Senate...The newspaper reported that Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, both Republicans and members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that would have reviewed her candidacy, opposed her selection...It was not immediately clear whether Patterson also faced opposition from the White House, though one Trump administration official said there has been a tug-of-war between Mattis and the White House over who should fill the top slots at the Pentagon."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pentagon-idUSKBN16L2QP?il=0

--- "The chairman of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee said on Tuesday he plans to hold public hearings on possible links between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russia, although he did not say when they would take place. "It will happen," Republican Senator Richard Burr told reporters after a closed committee meeting. Asked if he knew when, he said, "I don't yet, but soon." The House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, which, like the Senate panel, is conducting its own investigation of the possible Russia ties, will hold its first public hearing on Monday. Congressional Democrats have called for a special prosecutor or non-partisan select committee to investigate the matter. But Trump's fellow Republicans, who control majorities in both the Senate and House, say the various probes by congressional committees are sufficient."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-congress-idUSKBN16L2V6?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer, said on Tuesday he is "awaiting instructions" from Trump on whether to support a restoration of the Export-Import Bank's full lending powers. The U.S. government trade bank's loans have been capped at $10 million for more than a year because it has too few board members, with Republican opponents to the bank blocking recent nominees. The cap means that EXIM cannot finance the largest export U.S. products such as Boeing Co aircraft or Westinghouse nuclear reactors. Asked by Senator Maria Cantwell at his confirmation hearing whether he supports nominating new board members at the bank as part of a broad trade strategy aimed at reducing U.S. trade deficits and boosting exports, Lighthizer said that decision would ultimately be up to Trump."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-exim-idUSKBN16L2MQ?il=0

--- "A group advising U.S. President Donald Trump on infrastructure has proposed an arbitration-style pilot program to slash the current 10 years it often takes to break ground on projects, without short-changing environmental standards. The group, led by billionaire New York real estate developers Richard LeFrak and Steve Roth, made the suggestion to Trump and others in the White House last week, LeFrak told Reuters on Monday. Builders, unions and others often rue a permitting processes that can last a decade or more – a potential snag in Trump’s plan to launch a 10-year, $1 trillion infrastructure building program to create jobs and bolster the world’s biggest economy. LeFrak said the advisory council is looking at a pilot program comparable to the arbitration process used in bankruptcy court to speed up proposals, reduce red tape and halt litigation that can tie up infrastructure projects in court for years...The council is not empowered to pick projects or make decisions about how to streamline the project permitting process for projects, he said. Any pilot program would be up to state and federal officials and Congress, he said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-infrastructure-idUSKBN16L2VE?il=0

--- "President Donald Trump plans to nominate J. Christopher Giancarlo to lead the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the regulator tasked with policing the massive over-the-counter derivatives market, the White House said on Tuesday. Giancarlo, a Republican, has been acting chairman of the CFTC since Jan. 20 and was widely expected to be tapped for the permanent position of chairman. He became a CFTC commissioner in 2014. The nomination comes just one day before Giancarlo is expected to give a major policy address at the annual Futures Industry Association conference in Boca Raton, Florida, where he plans to lay out his regulatory vision for the agency. The CFTC won broad new powers from the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law to regulate the swaps market, which until then had been largely unpoliced."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-cftc-idUSKBN16M01E?il=0

[alldatmatterzfan]

Cricket World Cup 2019

The host of the 2019 Cricket World Cup

England and Wales will host cricket world cup 2019 after winning in more than a decade. The residency rights for 2011, 2015 and 2019 were granted globally simultaneously in 2006. Initially, England and Wales presented a joint bid for the 2015 World Cup. However, after Australia’s defeat through a joint Asian bid in 2011, they were granted residency rights in 2015. The rights of England and Wales were guaranteed until 2019 if they agreed to withdraw their bid for 2015, which they did immediately. England also won the rights to the first T20 World Cup in 2007 at the same time. The cricket session was originally an invitation, but after full and temporary members accepted 12 invitations, the ICC gave them official status.

History of the Cricket World Cup

The first World Cup was held in 1975, only four years after the one-day cricket world took by storm. The official response of CCI was to the phenomenon of “Cricket World Series” which proved to be incredibly popular among fans. In the past forty years, the worldwide championship of cricket has been held and has been won by teams from all over the world. The 2019 tournament will be the 12th in the competition and the fifth in the UK. England and Wales were previously hosted in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999.

Qualification for the 2019 Cricket World Cup

Only 10 teams qualify for the cricket world cup 2019 after a decision to reduce the size of the tournament. In 2011 and 2015, the tournament had 14 teams, but the International Criminal Court decided that few countries would achieve better competition. England will qualify automatically as they host the tournament, as well as the seven major international nations in one day according to the latest arrangement of the International Criminal Court six months before the tournament.

However, this leaves only two places for other participating States and associate members of the International Criminal Court. Afghanistan and the West Indies occupied the places in a qualifying tournament held in Bangladesh in March 2018. The tournament included the remaining four teams that did not reach the top seven international centers in one day as well as the best four teams in the world cricket. League Championship.

Teams Qualified for the 2019 Cricket World CupAutomatically Qualifier

England

Current qualifiers based on current ICC One Day International rankings

Australia

South Africa

India

New Zealand

Sri Lanka

Bangladesh

Pakistan

Participants in the 2018 World Cup qualification tournament

West Indies

Zimbabwe

Afghanistan

Ireland

Papua New Guinea

Netherlands

Hong Kong

Scotland

Format

In the past, a variety of formats have been used, but the low number of teams this year means that the format will be much simpler than in previous years. In 2018, there will be only one central group consisting of 10 teams. In this group stage, all countries will play once, which means that there will be a total of 45 group matches before the finals. Due to this extended stage of the group, the quarter has been eliminated, and the four best teams will progress directly to the semi-finals with the exclusion of the remaining six. The winners in each game will submit a semi-final to the final and the winner will be announced in this world champion.

Also Visit: cricket world cup 2019 sponsors

Venues

Gentlemen, the spiritual home of cricket will host the final, while the Oval hosts the opening game. Rounding in the semi-finals according to the English Cricket Council will be played at Edgbaston and Old Trafford. The London stadium will host the opening ceremony and some group meetings. The rest of the matches will be played in England and Wales on the basis of meeting the size and efficiency requirements of the ICC. The following is a list of these stadiums.

Cricket World Cup 2019 Schedule

The opening match of the tournament will be held on 30/05/2019 between England and South Africa and the ending cricket world cup schedule 2019 match will be on 14/07/2019 at Lord’s.

Favorites to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup

After winning the last World Cup, Australia deserve the best teams with India and South Africa not far away. It will be interesting to know whether Steve Smith and David Warner will return to the World Cup at 11 pm after completing their one-year ban because of their participation in this year’s football match against South Africa. Something surprising and disappointing for hosts, England is the fourth favorite despite the fact that its hostess historically has a great advantage. As expected, all countries that test the game are more favored than their affiliates, indicating that book makers believe they will not face qualification problems during the qualifying session. It should be noted that since the championship is still more than a year, the odds are likely to change.

Controversy

The reduced size of the tournament

It is understood that the countries of the International Criminal Court have protested the decision to reduce the size of the tournament because it would mean that it would be much more difficult for the smaller cricket countries to qualify. They argue that the quota system at the World Cup provides the experience and offer of their country that they do not get at any other time and that depriving them of the opportunity to compete can delay the game in their own countries. According to the affiliate, if the ICC wants to grow the game, it has to make the tournament bigger, not smaller. In addition, they argue that the victories of countries such as Ireland over England in the 2011 World Cup show they are competitive and that everything is possible when given the opportunity.

In response, the International Criminal Court defended its decision by saying that the action was necessary to ensure that the best quality products were delivered to fans in theaters and audiences around the world. They argue that the presence of smaller states involved leads to bombings that were boring to watch and hurt sports in those small countries. They believe that smaller countries benefit better by playing each other in competitive games until the time they can compete legitimately with the big cricket countries like Australia or India. They also argue that the new format is more just, because it allows each country to compete to play with any other competitive country. This means that the table in the end will be a more fair representation of the best teams.

Should London Stadium be used?

Another point of contention is whether the stadium in London, the stadium that hosted the London Olympics or not, to be used as a venue. One problem that has faced English cricket in the last 100 years is the size of their stadiums. The biggest land they own is Lords and they have only 28,000 spectators. This is less than a third of what keeps the Melbourne Cricket Ground up and sold quickly when it hosted the World Cup final in 2015. With a capacity of 60,000, London’s stadium could mean big crowds and high profits for English cricket. The ECB also believes that its central location can make sport easier for a new generation of cricket lovers.

However, the use of the stadium has its problems. The pitch is now too small for cricket world cup schedule 2019, which makes the limits incredibly short. Time before the ICC granted exemptions for the World Cup, some fear that the size of the ground may damage the integrity of the tournament. What’s more, the London stadium plan is opposed to other cricket camps because more games in London mean less games elsewhere. They argue that there are already enough stadiums to host the Games in the capital and that other parties should be spread across England and Wales.

Discarding all odds, the ECB finally decided to use two of the London cricket stadiums. Oval and Lords, for this prestigious tournament once in four years

[alldatmatterzfan]

Cricket World Cup 2019

A host of the 2019 Cricket World Cup

England and Wales will host cricket world cup 2019 after winning in more than a decade. The residency rights for 2011, 2015 and 2019 were granted globally simultaneously in 2006. Initially, England and Wales presented a joint bid for the 2015 World Cup. However, after Australia's defeat through a joint Asian bid in 2011, they were granted residency rights in 2015. The rights of England and Wales were guaranteed until 2019 if they agreed to withdraw their bid for 2015, which they did immediately. England also won the rights to the first T20 World Cup in 2007 at the same time. The cricket session was originally an invitation, but after full and temporary members accepted 12 invitations, the ICC gave them official status.

History of the Cricket World Cup

The first World Cup was held in 1975, only four years after the one-day cricket world took by storm. The official response of CCI was to the phenomenon of "Cricket World Series" which proved to be incredibly popular among fans. In the past forty years, the worldwide championship of cricket has been held and has been won by teams from all over the world. The 2019 tournament will be the 12th in the competition and the fifth in the UK. England and Wales were previously hosted in 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999.

Qualification for the 2019 Cricket World Cup

Only 10 teams qualify for the cricket world cup 2019 after a decision to reduce the size of the tournament. In 2011 and 2015, the tournament had 14 teams, but the International Criminal Court decided that few countries would achieve better competition. England will qualify automatically as they host the tournament, as well as the seven major international nations in one day according to the latest arrangement of the International Criminal Court six months before the tournament.

However, this leaves only two places for other participating States and associate members of the International Criminal Court. Afghanistan and the West Indies occupied the places in a qualifying tournament held in Bangladesh in March 2018. The tournament included the remaining four teams that did not reach the top seven international centers in one day as well as the best four teams in the world cricket. League Championship.

Teams Qualified for the 2019 Cricket World Cup

Automatically Qualifier

·         England

 Current qualifiers based on current ICC One Day International rankings

·         Australia

·         South Africa

·         India

·         New Zealand

·         Sri Lanka

·         Bangladesh

·         Pakistan

 Participants in the 2018 World Cup qualification tournament

·         West Indies

·         Zimbabwe

·         Afghanistan

·         Ireland

·         Papua New Guinea

·         Netherlands

·         Hong Kong

·         Scotland

Format

In the past, a variety of formats have been used, but the low number of teams this year means that the format will be much simpler than in previous years. In 2018, there will be only one central group consisting of 10 teams. In this group stage, all countries will play once, which means that there will be a total of 45 group matches before the finals. Due to this extended stage of the group, the quarter has been eliminated, and the four best teams will progress directly to the semi-finals with the exclusion of the remaining six. The winners in each game will submit a semi-final to the final and the winner will be announced in this world champion.

Also Visit: cricket world cup 2019 sponsors

Venues

Gentlemen, the spiritual home of cricket will host the final, while the Oval hosts the opening game. Rounding in the semi-finals according to the English Cricket Council will be played at Edgbaston and Old Trafford. The London stadium will host the opening ceremony and some group meetings. The rest of the matches will be played in England and Wales on the basis of meeting the size and efficiency requirements of the ICC. The following is a list of these stadiums.

Cricket World Cup 2019 Schedule

The opening match of the tournament will be held on 30/05/2019 between England and South Africa and the ending cricket world cup schedule 2019 match will be on 14/07/2019 at Lord’s.

Favorites to win the 2019 Cricket World Cup

After winning the last World Cup, Australia deserve the best teams with India and South Africa not far away. It will be interesting to know whether Steve Smith and David Warner will return to the World Cup at 11 pm after completing their one-year ban because of their participation in this year's football match against South Africa. Something surprising and disappointing for hosts, England is the fourth favorite despite the fact that its hostess historically has a great advantage. As expected, all countries that test the game are more favored than their affiliates, indicating that book makers believe they will not face qualification problems during the qualifying session. It should be noted that since the championship is still more than a year, the odds are likely to change.

Controversy

The reduced size of the tournament

It is understood that the countries of the International Criminal Court have protested the decision to reduce the size of the tournament because it would mean that it would be much more difficult for the smaller cricket countries to qualify. They argue that the quota system at the World Cup provides the experience and offer of their country that they do not get at any other time and that depriving them of the opportunity to compete can delay the game in their own countries. According to the affiliate, if the ICC wants to grow the game, it has to make the tournament bigger, not smaller. In addition, they argue that the victories of countries such as Ireland over England in the 2011 World Cup show they are competitive and that everything is possible when given the opportunity.

In response, the International Criminal Court defended its decision by saying that the action was necessary to ensure that the best quality products were delivered to fans in theaters and audiences around the world. They argue that the presence of smaller states involved leads to bombings that were boring to watch and hurt sports in those small countries. They believe that smaller countries benefit better by playing each other in competitive games until the time they can compete legitimately with the big cricket countries like Australia or India. They also argue that the new format is more just, because it allows each country to compete to play with any other competitive country. This means that the table in the end will be a more fair representation of the best teams.

Should London Stadium be used?

Another point of contention is whether the stadium in London, the stadium that hosted the London Olympics or not, to be used as a venue. One problem that has faced English cricket in the last 100 years is the size of their stadiums. The biggest land they own is Lords and they have only 28,000 spectators. This is less than a third of what keeps the Melbourne Cricket Ground up and sold quickly when it hosted the World Cup final in 2015. With a capacity of 60,000, London's stadium could mean big crowds and high profits for English cricket. The ECB also believes that its central location can make sport easier for a new generation of cricket lovers.

However, the use of the stadium has its problems. The pitch is now too small for cricket world cup schedule 2019, which makes the limits incredibly short. Time before the ICC granted exemptions for the World Cup, some fear that the size of the ground may damage the integrity of the tournament. What's more, the London stadium plan is opposed to other cricket camps because more games in London mean less games elsewhere. They argue that there are already enough stadiums to host the Games in the capital and that other parties should be spread across England and Wales.

Discarding all odds, the ECB finally decided to use two of the London cricket stadiums. Oval and Lords, for this prestigious tournament once in four years