Europe
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Massive photo databases secretly gathered in US and Europe to develop facial recognition By Kevin Reed
A report in the New York Times on Sunday revealed that millions of facial photos have been scraped from online sources and taken by hidden surveillance cameras and then shared in databases for artificial intelligence (AI) research and development purposes for more than a decade. Created in secret by universities and tech companies, the photo data… Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 3 July 2019 (15/19)
3 July 2019 — Statewatch Also available as a pdf file: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/jul/email-3-7-19.pdf Please to support our work News 3 July 2019 (15/19) Home page: http://www.statewatch.org/ e-mail: office@statewatch.org STATEWATCH NEWS 1. Refugee crisis: latest news from across Europe (18-24.6.19) 2. EU: Working Paper: Guidelines on temporary arrangements for disembarkation 3. EU: Non paper – Increasing transparency and accountability of the… Continue reading
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From 9/11 to Shoplifting: Assange in the Context of the European Arrest Warrant By Nina Cross
It is astonishing to think that the many coordinated attacks leveled against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange by the governments of the Britain, Sweden, Ecuador and the US, have all been stacked, in their colossal forms, on the tiny European Arrest Warrant (EAW). This little manhunt-widget gifted the US and its allies the power to corner… Continue reading
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European Union rearms for World War III By Johannes Stern
The cost of FCAS, which is announced to be operational by 2040, is immense. Up to €8 billion will flow into joint development alone. Overall, costs are expected to be more than €100 billion. The Handelsblatt newspaper reports that “by the middle of the century” the FCAS project could devour “up to €500 billion.” The… Continue reading
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The Red Locomotive in Brussels? Interview with the Workers’ Party of Belgium
On 27 May, Europe woke up to what seemed like a new stage in the resurgence of the far-right and reactionary forces and a major retreat for left in the elections to the European parliament. But the story looked different in Belgium, which saw a political earthquake as the far-left Workers’ party (PTB/PDVA) won big… Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 17 June 2019 (14/19)
17 June 2019 — Statewatch e-mail: office@statewatch.org Also available as a pdf file: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/jun/email-17-6-19.pdf Please support our work ANALYSIS Analysis: The Commission and Italy tie themselves up in knots over Libya by Yasha Maccanico. Continue reading
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Europe Has No Freedom But to Choose “Freedom Gas” (Made in America) By Tony Cartalucci
The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently renamed US liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports “freedom gas.” But freedom for who? For Europe which already has a cheap and reliable source of natural gas, but is being forced to switch over to more expensive US gas under the threat of sanctions? Certainly not. Continue reading
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European parliament election: the far right stopped — for now By Dick Nichols
In the end, the European establishment parties’ almighty scare campaign about the threat of a far-right surge at the May 26 elections to the European parliament worked out quite nicely for them. True, guarding the power structures of the neoliberal European Union (EU) has become trickier now that the duopoly of the European People’s Party (EPP)… Continue reading
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North American, European Public: Finally Wake Up, Damn It! By Andre Vltchek
I see great cities like Homs in Syria, reduced to horrifying ruins. I see Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan, fragmented by enormous concrete walls intended to protect NATO occupation armies and their local puppets. I see monstrous environmental devastation in places such as Indonesian Borneo, Peruvian gold mining towns, or the by now almost uninhabitable… Continue reading
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Zizek: Only a pan-European left can defeat ‘populism’
There were some spectacular details, such as the crushing defeat of both main parties in the United Kingdom. However, these should not blind us to the basic fact that nothing really big and surprising happened. Yes, the populist new right did make progress, but it remains far from a prevailing trend. Continue reading
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The EU Votes and the CIA Wins Again By Aidan O’Brien
The European Union voted last month but not one of its 21st century war crimes and war criminals were a topic of conversation. The real possibility of a nuclear war between the EU and Russia wasn’t an issue either. The great European economic crime – bank bailouts and austerity – was brushed aside too. Instead… Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 30 May 2019 (13/19)
30 May 2019 — Statewatch Also available as a pdf file: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/may/email-30-march-19.pdf Please to support our work ANALYSIS Viewpoint: Why have the French police become the most violent in western Europe? by Salvatore Palidda: STATEWATCH NEWS 1. EU: Council of the EU wants data retention without cause – Germany joins in 2. EU: European elections: results and… Continue reading
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French bloggers feel like in Orwellian novel as Brussels teaches them to promote ‘EU angles’
French news and political bloggers were left unimpressed after the EU officials condemned “Russian disinformation” and encouraged online influencers to stick to a pro-EU narrative during a promo trip to the European Commission. Continue reading
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European election debacle for Conservatives and Labour By Robert Stevens
Coming fifth nationwide with just 9 percent of the vote and taking just three seats, the Tories were eviscerated, suffering the largest ever loss since the party was founded in 1834. Their previous worst national performance was in the 2014 European election when they received just 24 percent, more than double that just recorded. Continue reading
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Russia Grinds Out Wins In Europe By Tom Luongo
Europe is finally coming to its senses five years after the coup in Kiev started what is now the new Cold War between Russia and the West. Continue reading
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The ReCommonsEurope Manifesto: A Left-Wing Initiative in Europe
While the campaign for the European elections on 26 May (on the 23 May in the UK) draws very little interest outside of the UK, the initiative launched by ReCommonsEurope with its ‘Manifesto for a new popular internationalism in Europe’ is on to a promising start. Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 13 May 2019 (12/19)
13 May 2019 — Statewatch e-mail: office@statewatch.org Also available as a pdf file: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/may/email-may-13-19.pdf Please to support our work STATEWATCH NEWS 1. Mytilene, Greece: Peaceful demonstration and the human right to freedom of assembly prevails 2. EU: Frontex gets ready to deploy to the Balkans 3. EU: Construction of the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) 4. EU criminal… Continue reading
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Orientalism and the Myth of Independence By Shahzada Rahim
In the nineteenth century more half of the world was colonized by the European imperial powers and according to historians like Eric Hobsbawm, it was the peak century of western colonialism in Africa and Asia: the largest continents by population. Moreover, the very industrial heydays across Europe were the result of colonization, that provided cheap… Continue reading
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The European elections and the revival of class struggle By Ulrich Rippert
Four weeks before the European elections are due to take place in late May, there is very little of any campaign in many European countries. In Germany, the various parties represented in the German parliament are hanging up election posters that are virtually identical. The demands raised are largely interchangeable. Election meetings are not taking… Continue reading
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Statewatch News Online, 29 April 2019 (10/19)
29 April 2019 — Statewatch Also available as a pdf file: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2019/apr/email-29-april.pdf Please to support our work STATEWATCH NEWS 1. EU: Police press ahead with efforts to automate cross-border information-sharing 2. EU: National security and fundamental rights: problems with definitions and the rule of law 3. SPAIN: Ethnic profiling in Catalonia: for every police identity check on a… Continue reading
The New Dark Age 