Author: Christine Schier

Italian State President Sergio Mattarella’s visit to China November 7-12 marked a shift away from the EU’s anti-China policy. It took place after the U.S. elections, undoubtedly in the expectation that Italy-U.S. relations would be different in the Trump 2.0 era. It was under the first Trump administration, in fact, that Washington did not interfere in Italy’s decision to join […]

In France, where some 5 million people regularly consume cannabis and over 600,000 cocaine, the drug trade has spiraled out of control. In 2023, 315 people, of which 49 in Marseilles alone, were shot in drug-related crimes and shootouts. Drug traffickers, thanks to the use of smartphones, as well as associates and corrupted officials, are able to keep organizing the […]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been working out of a bunker under the Prime Minister’s office for security reasons, but it can also be seen as a metaphor, since mounting legal troubles could soon send him to a secure room in an Israeli prison. More serious than the three cases of bribery, fraud and breach of trust already running […]

It is no exaggeration to say that the world is currently experiencing the most profound crisis in its entire history, if only because the escalation of any regional conflict into a global war, involving the all but certain use of nuclear weapons, would lead to the annihilation of the human species. The outcome of the U.S. Presidential election, whatever it […]

On Nov. 4, the Israeli Foreign Ministry officially informed the United Nations that Israel is withdrawing from the 1967 agreement recognizing the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, even though it is the sole agency providing assistance to the West Bank and Gaza, and beyond. Just one week before, the Knesset had passed legislation to severely limit the operations of the agency. […]

A powerful half-hour video has just been released of the briefing on Gaza given by Dr. Mark Perlmutter in New York City Nov. 1, based on his personal experience on the ground earlier this year (cf. SAS 39/24). Dr. Perlmutter, an orthopedic and hand surgeon, is President of the World Surgical Foundation. He spoke on the topic, “Health Care in […]

The report Safer Together – Strengthening Europe’s Civilian and Military Preparedness and Readiness, presented by EU Commission Special Advisor and former Finnish President Sauli Niinisto Oct. 30, is a blueprint to prepare Europeans for war, as the pro-EU outlet Euractiv candidly commented. But it’s more than that. It calls for creating a permanent state of emergency to complete the transformation […]

The rage of the Spanish population, shown in their assault on the visiting Royals and Prime Minister in Valencia four days after the flooding the caused the deaths of over 200 persons (with more than 1900 still missing as we are writing), is justified. Not only could the heavy toll of human lives have been avoided, had the authorities given […]

Hungary’s Viktor Orbán is not the only East European leader who refuses to accept policies dictated by the European Commission when they don’t correspond to what are perceived as national interests. The Prime Minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, is another, and the assassination attempt against him on last May 15, which nearly succeeded, has not intimidated him. On Oct. 31, […]

For the moment, no one is betting on the future of the three-party coalition now in power in Berlin. There’s good reason for that, given the internal strife. For example, an 18-page memorandum by Finance Minister Christian Lindner (of the FDP) proposing a stimulus for the economy met with strong opposition from the other two coalition partners (SPD and Greens). […]