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Executive summary

The vast majority of Europeans continues to support action to combat climate change, but many are losing faith in governments to deliver a transition that is effective and fair. Based on a large-scale questionnaire answered by nearly 8000 people in five EU countries in 2024, with a comparison to responses from 2020, we find that Europeans continue to worry about climate change and want effective action to combat it, even though the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine significantly increased their concerns about economic and physical insecurity. Scepticism about the causes of climate change has risen a bit, and concern about adapting to its impact has grown. People across all income groups, particularly in France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, feel negative about the outlook for their economic future and their governments’ ability to improve it.

People who feel politically disaffected think that decisionmakers are not taking their views and interests into account when making economic and climate policies. Some people are now shifting their attention away from action against the climate crisis towards adaptation, but this does not mean they are less concerned about climate change. Instead, for some people, it is an expression of their disillusionment with state institutions – and this feeling is present among supporters of parties across the political spectrum.

Worry about climate change is equally spread across all socio-economic groups. Closer examination of attitudes in Germany, using evidence from focus groups, which we also discuss in this Policy Brief, reinforces the finding of increasing scepticism about the German government’s ability to manage the climate crisis.

If political leaders want the public to continue to support climate policies, they must engage proactively now to avoid even greater loss of confidence in government. If governments go soft on efforts to combat the climate crisis now or delay action, they will not meet voters’ demand for an effective and just transition. Moreover, hesitation and delay would boost populist and far-right actors’ efforts to sow doubt about the causes of climate change and whether policies will be effective.

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Representatives of the North Korean secret services are telling their soldiers in Russia's Kursk Oblast that they are fighting against South Korean troops as well as Ukrainians.

Source: Ri, a 26-year-old North Korean soldier who was captured by the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in an interview with the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

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The European Commission today approved funding under the European Chips Act for the Infineon Technologies AG Smart Power Fab in Dresden. The official funding approval from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), which is responsible for the disbursement of EU Chips Act funding, is still pending and is expected within the next few months.

Additionally, the Smart Power Fab is already receiving support under the European Commission’s IPCEI ME/CT ("Important Project of Common European Interest on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies") innovation program. The total funding for the Dresden site amounts to around one billion euros. Construction began in March 2023 and is progressing successfully. The Fab opening is planned for 2026.

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/18637737

> Archived > > TLDR: > > - China’s military has once again escalated tensions near Australia. A Chinese J-16 fighter dangerously engaged an Australian P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft, releasing flares just 30 meters away—the fifth such incident since 2022. > > - Meanwhile, a Chinese naval flotilla, including a Type 055 Renhai cruiser, sailed near Australia’s northeastern maritime approaches, marking Beijing’s growing naval presence beyond the First Island Chain. > > - While Canberra insists on respecting international law, China’s continued provocations raise serious concerns about regional stability. With China targeting smaller nations like Australia, how should Defence and the Albanese government respond to these growing threats? >

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The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) and Global Energy Monitor (GEM) have released their H2 2024 biannual review of China’s coal projects, which finds that coal is still holding strong despite skyrocketing clean energy additions in 2024.

Even as China’s clean energy surged in 2024 and became a key economic driver, solar and wind utilisation dropped sharply in Q4 2024, which was not expected or explained by weather conditions, and coal remains strong, which ultimately goes against President Xi’s 2021 pledge to phase down coal over the following five years.

China approved 66.7 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-fired power capacity in 2024, with approvals picking up in the second half after a slower start to the year. At the same time, 94.5 GW of new coal power projects started construction and 3.3 GW of suspended projects resumed construction in 2024, the highest level since 2015, signalling a substantial number of new plants will come online in the next 2-3 years, further solidifying coal’s role in the power system.

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Key findings:

• Coal power permits and new project activity remain high despite some signs of slowing. In 2024, 66.7 GW of new coal power capacity was permitted – lower than previous years but still well above the levels seen in the first half of the year. Meanwhile, new and revived coal power proposals totalled 68.9 GW, down from 117 GW in 2023 and 146 GW in 2022, suggesting a potential cooling in project initiation.
• Coal power construction starts reached their highest level since 2015. 94.5 GW of new coal capacity began construction, the most since 2015, highlighting continued momentum in project development despite President Xi Jinping’s pledge in 2021 to ‘strictly control coal power projects’. However, actual commissioning has slowed, with 30.5 GW coming online so far, down from 49.8 GW last year but in line with 2021 and 2022 levels.
• China’s coal power expansion contrasts with global trends. While China continues to add new capacity, the global coal fleet outside China shrank by 9.2 GW in 2024, reinforcing China’s dominant role in shaping the future of coal power. China now accounts for 93% of global construction starts for coal power in 2024.
• Long-term coal power contracts are reinforcing coal’s dominance at the expense of renewables. Electricity buyers locked into long-term coal power contracts face penalties if they fail to purchase contracted volumes, discouraging them from prioritising clean energy. With new coal capacity coming online, guaranteed operating hours under pre-signed agreements further limit grid space for renewables, delaying the transition to a cleaner energy mix.
• Coal mining companies are playing a dominant role in financing new coal power projects. In 2024, more than 75% of newly approved coal power capacity was backed by coal mining companies or energy groups with coal mining operations, artificially driving up coal demand even when market fundamentals do not justify it. This not only reinforces reliance on coal but also risks undermining central government policy targets for curbing coal consumption and accelerating the energy transition.
• Despite policy intentions for coal power to support renewable integration, 2024 approvals show a shift away from this role, with many projects justified by local governments based on economic development and local energy security instead. While some policies promote coal power flexibility retrofits, long-term contracts and the inherent limitations of coal plants regarding low-load operation and intra-day cycling discourage coal plants from performing a true regulating function.

Romania, alongside other European states, was targeted by acts of "sabotage" characteristic of Russian tactics throughout 2024, according to a recent report from DIICOT. The goal of these hybrid attacks was to test NATO countries' defense preparedness and identify weaknesses in infrastructure, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism said.

"Since 2022, at least 50 incidents have occurred in 13 European countries that could be Russian hybrid operations. These include cases of espionage, diversion, vandalism, cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, and three attacks on underwater infrastructure in the Baltic Sea," DIICOT stated.

Romanian prosecutors indicate that Russia has changed its tactics in launching hybrid attacks, no longer sending its agents into NATO states but instead recruiting random contractors via chat groups on the Telegram app in exchange for money.

"Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Sweden have been affected by hybrid attacks. In most cases, there were no casualties, although avoiding casualties is not a priority for Russian intelligence services," DIICOT explained.

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[This is a comment by Andi Hoxhaj Lecturer in Law, King's College London, UK.]

On November 1 2024, the roof of a newly €55 million renovated railway station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second biggest city, collapsed and killed 15 people. The deaths sparked Serbia’s largest wave of student-led anti-government protests since Yugoslavia’s disintegration in 2000.

The protests pose the most serious threat to Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić’s power since he became prime minister in 2014, and president in 2017. The protest movement has highlighted Vučić’s growing authoritarian rule and widespread corruption in Serbia.

Serbians believe that the deadly roof collapse was caused by government corruption. The station was renovated by a Chinese-led consortium as part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative investments and growing political ties with Serbia. The Chinese consortium and Vučić refused to publish the railway station restoration procurement contract after protesters demanded it.

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The protesters have four demands: the publication of all procurement documents concerning the renovation of the station, a stop to the prosecution of students arrested during the protests, the prosecution of police and security forces involved in attacking students during the protests and a 20% increase in the budget for higher education.

However, the Serbian government and media — most of which Vučić controls through a network of political patronage and cronyism – are downplaying the protests and threatening students.

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Russia and China have fully supported Vučić’s claims that Serbia is the target of a western plot to orchestrate the protesters and overthrow Vučić.

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The EU must also publicly support student protesters who want Serbia to become more democratic and accountable. After all, the students are fighting for the very ideals on which the EU was founded.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni accused Russia of "offending the entire Italian nation" on Friday as she stood by comments by the Italian president that compared modern-day Russia to Nazi Germany.

In a speech last week, President Sergio Mattarella criticised the "wars of aggression" that led to World War Two. "This was the project of the Third Reich in Europe. The current Russian aggression against Ukraine is of this nature," he said.

Reacting to those statements with some delay, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday lambasted Mattarella's remarks as "blasphemous inventions".

Meloni said in a strongly-worded statement: "The insults of the spokeswoman (...) offend the entire Italian nation, which the head of state represents."

"I express my full solidarity, as well as that of the entire government, to President Mattarella, who has always firmly condemned the aggression perpetrated against Ukraine," she added.

Italy has traditionally been one of the countries in Europe with the closest political and economic ties to Russia, but under Meloni it has firmly stood by Ukraine, including with military aid.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/18434833

> The new UK Government’s plan to decarbonise the electricity system brings with it the lofty aim of tripling total solar capacity by the end of the decade. Although much of this will be driven by large-scale installations, ministers are also hoping for a “rooftop revolution” that could see millions more homes topped with solar panels by 2030. > > As well as providing carbon-free electricity, domestic solar can deliver significant reductions in energy spending – an average of £440 per year – to the households that get them. This means policy makers should think about rooftop solar like other ways of permanently reducing household energy spending, such as improving insulation. So in this briefing note we take a closer look at the case for installing more solar panels, discuss progress so far, and consider what, if any, policy might be needed to maximise the benefits. > > The study's main points: > > - While rooftop solar can make a small contribution to Clean Power, it can cut household bills by an estimated £440 a year on average, equivalent to almost a quarter of energy spending for the poorest fifth of households. > - Measured by savings per pound spent, solar panels compare well with other bill-cutting measures, yielding 7p-a-year per pound spent, a third more than cavity-wall insulation. Importantly, solar panels have had relatively low uptake compared to many other measures, having been installed on only 8 per cent of roofs. > - Poorer households have the most to gain from lower bills but are least able to access solar panels without policy support, due to prohibitive up-front costs. Changes to policy support in the past decade has shifted the distribution of solar panels towards richer areas – in 2015 there were more solar panels installed in the poorest third of LSOAs than the richest (35 to 31 per cent), but by 2023 more than twice as many went to the richest places (45 to 21 per cent). > - With a well-target package of support, solar panels could help to significantly reduce fuel poverty. We estimate that up to one-in-three fuel-poor households could be taken out of fuel poverty by typical solar savings, subject to the suitability of their homes. > - Though most consumers seem to be paid relatively well for the electricity they generate, the Smart Export Guarantee isn’t doing enough to prevent some solar panel owners being paid very little for their generation, with 20 per cent of Smart Export Guarantee tariffs being “unbundled” tariffs that pay just 4p/kwh on average. > - The government should consider more means-tested support with up-front costs, including both grants and subsidised loans targeted at low-to-middle income households. > >

The new UK Government’s plan to decarbonise the electricity system brings with it the lofty aim of tripling total solar capacity by the end of the decade. Although much of this will be driven by large-scale installations, ministers are also hoping for a “rooftop revolution” that could see millions more homes topped with solar panels by 2030.

As well as providing carbon-free electricity, domestic solar can deliver significant reductions in energy spending – an average of £440 per year – to the households that get them. This means policy makers should think about rooftop solar like other ways of permanently reducing household energy spending, such as improving insulation. So in this briefing note we take a closer look at the case for installing more solar panels, discuss progress so far, and consider what, if any, policy might be needed to maximise the benefits.

The study's main points:

• While rooftop solar can make a small contribution to Clean Power, it can cut household bills by an estimated £440 a year on average, equivalent to almost a quarter of energy spending for the poorest fifth of households.
• Measured by savings per pound spent, solar panels compare well with other bill-cutting measures, yielding 7p-a-year per pound spent, a third more than cavity-wall insulation. Importantly, solar panels have had relatively low uptake compared to many other measures, having been installed on only 8 per cent of roofs.
• Poorer households have the most to gain from lower bills but are least able to access solar panels without policy support, due to prohibitive up-front costs. Changes to policy support in the past decade has shifted the distribution of solar panels towards richer areas – in 2015 there were more solar panels installed in the poorest third of LSOAs than the richest (35 to 31 per cent), but by 2023 more than twice as many went to the richest places (45 to 21 per cent).
• With a well-target package of support, solar panels could help to significantly reduce fuel poverty. We estimate that up to one-in-three fuel-poor households could be taken out of fuel poverty by typical solar savings, subject to the suitability of their homes.
• Though most consumers seem to be paid relatively well for the electricity they generate, the Smart Export Guarantee isn’t doing enough to prevent some solar panel owners being paid very little for their generation, with 20 per cent of Smart Export Guarantee tariffs being “unbundled” tariffs that pay just 4p/kwh on average.
• The government should consider more means-tested support with up-front costs, including both grants and subsidised loans targeted at low-to-middle income households.

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/18400799

> Archived > > The European Union’s top diplomat slammed U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for sidelining Ukraine and engaging with Russia’s Vladimir Putin without consulting Kyiv or Europe. > > U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told allies in Brussels on Wednesday that Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO and reclaim its 1991 borders as part of a peace settlement were “unrealistic.” He also said the U.S. would “no longer tolerate” European NATO members relying on Washington for security. > > The remarks, followed by a surprise phone call between Trump and Putin in which the two agreed to enter peace talks, have stunned European officials and raised concerns that Kyiv may be sidelined in discussions about its own future. > > “They [the U.S.] say that it’s not going to be NATO membership, but some other security guarantees. Then the questions need to be answered by everybody — what are these security guarantees, really?” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, ahead of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting. > > “Being in NATO, where we have these structures, is actually the best security guarantee,” she added. > > [...] > > “We shouldn’t take anything off the table before negotiations start. It plays into Russia’s hands. And it is exactly what they want,” she said. “Why are we giving them everything they want even before negotiations begin? Appeasement has never worked.” > > German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius echoed her concerns, warning against making public concessions ahead of talks. > > “In my view, it would have been better to discuss Ukraine’s possible NATO membership or the country’s possible loss of territory only at the negotiating table, not to rule it out beforehand,” Pistorius said in Brussels. > > Kallas stressed that any peace deal imposed without the consent of Ukraine and European allies was doomed to fail. > > [...]

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The European Union’s top diplomat slammed U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration for sidelining Ukraine and engaging with Russia’s Vladimir Putin without consulting Kyiv or Europe.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told allies in Brussels on Wednesday that Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO and reclaim its 1991 borders as part of a peace settlement were “unrealistic.” He also said the U.S. would “no longer tolerate” European NATO members relying on Washington for security.

The remarks, followed by a surprise phone call between Trump and Putin in which the two agreed to enter peace talks, have stunned European officials and raised concerns that Kyiv may be sidelined in discussions about its own future.

“They [the U.S.] say that it’s not going to be NATO membership, but some other security guarantees. Then the questions need to be answered by everybody — what are these security guarantees, really?” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, ahead of a NATO defense ministers’ meeting.

“Being in NATO, where we have these structures, is actually the best security guarantee,” she added.

[...]

“We shouldn’t take anything off the table before negotiations start. It plays into Russia’s hands. And it is exactly what they want,” she said. “Why are we giving them everything they want even before negotiations begin? Appeasement has never worked.”

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius echoed her concerns, warning against making public concessions ahead of talks.

“In my view, it would have been better to discuss Ukraine’s possible NATO membership or the country’s possible loss of territory only at the negotiating table, not to rule it out beforehand,” Pistorius said in Brussels.

Kallas stressed that any peace deal imposed without the consent of Ukraine and European allies was doomed to fail.

[...]

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Moldova summoned the Russian ambassador, laid on the table in front of him the debris of Russian drones that attacked Moldovan territory. Here is a video (40 sec.) about it.

The Russian diplomat was summoned to the MFA regarding recent violations of Moldova's airspace by several Russian drones, two of which exploded on Moldovan territory. The Ministry presented the Russian ambassador with fragments of the fallen drones as concrete evidence of these violations of airspace.

The Moldovan side issued a strong protest, emphasizing that such incidents seriously threaten national security and the safety of Moldovan citizens. Authorities in Chișinău stated that such actions violate national sovereignty and represent an unfriendly act by the Russian Federation.

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Diplomatic tensions between Moldova and the Russian Federation have intensified after several Russian drones crossed the country’s airspace on the night of February 12-13, during an attack on the port of Reni, Ukraine.

Moldova is not the only country where the Russian Cultural Center has been closed. In March 2022, the government of Slovenia also annulled an agreement with Russia regarding scientific and cultural centers following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As a result, the Russian Scientific and Cultural Center in Ljubljana was closed, according to culture.si.

In February 2023, the activity of the Russian Center for Culture and Science in Bucharest was also suspended. According to a statement from the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "The center had completely deviated from its original goals of fostering cultural ties and had unfortunately become an instrument of propaganda, disinformation, and justification for Russia's war crimes in Ukraine."

In October 2024, Finnish authorities began seizing properties owned by the Russian state after a court in The Hague ordered Moscow to compensate the Ukrainian national gas supplier for assets lost during the annexation of Crimea, according to The Moscow Times.

Additionally, authorities in Azerbaijan closed a Russian cultural center in Baku in early February 2024, amid deteriorating relations with Moscow following accusations that Russian air defense systems shot down an Azerbaijani aircraft, killing 38 people, as reported by AFP.

Other countries where Russian Cultural Centers have been closed include the Czech Republic and Germany.

[This is an opinionated article by Gabrielius Landsbergis, former minister of foreign affairs of Lithuania.]

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Hungary blocks more than half of the EU’s foreign policy decisions. It continues to obstruct the European Peace Facility, a fund designed to support Ukraine’s defense. Whatever is proposed, EU diplomats have learned to brace themselves for a Hungarian veto.

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The principle of unity that underpinned the European project has been twisted and weaponized. In today’s world, this means paralysis in the face of rapidly unfolding geopolitical and technological developments.

History offers a chilling parallel. In the eighteenth century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, once a major European power, was crippled by the liberum veto—a system that allowed any single noble to block all parliamentary decisions. This eventually led to legislative paralysis.

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Recently the geopolitical stakes rose even higher. It is not inconceivable that Hungary would, for example, block retaliatory tariffs against the United States, or disagree with increasing common borrowing for defense if the United States begins to withdraw. Also, the need to regularly renew sanctions against Russia gives Hungary, or any other wannabe disruptor, a very effective way to twist the European Commission’s arm.

Thankfully, the EU is not powerless to stop all this. The Treaty on European Union’s includes Article 7 is, a mechanism designed for this very situation—a member state systematically ignoring European values. The process is complex, but it exists.

Under Article 7(1), proceedings can be initiated if there is a "clear risk" of a serious breach of European values. This must be confirmed by a majority vote in the European Parliament. If the risk is confirmed, Article 7(2) allows for the European Council to find the accused member in breach. If that happens, Article 7(3) enables the imposition of sanctions, including the suspension of voting rights.

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China’s emissions of key super-polluting hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants now represent more than 20 per cent of the global total.

In a newly published study, Xiaoyi Hu and colleagues reported on new observations of three of the main HFCs in use today – HFC-125, HFC-134a and HFC-143a – showing that emissions had increased to 206.4 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) in 2022.

This is equivalent to the emissions from more than 500 natural gas-fired power plants in a single year.

And the threat this poses to the planet’s climate could worsen as China’s requirement to cap its HFC use under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol actually gives it room to increase its emissions.

The Kigali Amendment requires a gradual phase-down of the production and consumption of HFCs, highly potent greenhouse gases used primarily in refrigeration and air-conditioning. As a developing country, China was required to cap its HFC use in 2024 at a baseline level and reduce it by 10 per cent by 2029.

However, China’s 2023 consumption of HFCs was 769.4 million tonnes, which amounts to only 85 per cent of the actual baseline cap – meaning that under the current rules, the country can actually increase its consumption (and therefore emissions) by 15 per cent.

EIA UK Climate Campaign Lead Clare Perry said: “The baseline calculation under the Kigali Amendment provides too much room for growth and takes away some of the ambition from this important global agreement.

“Even in four years from now, when a 10 per cent reduction from the baseline is required, China can actually increase HFC use from current levels by some 45.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – and the next reduction step does not occur until 2035.

“This is untenable given we are facing a global climate crisis and urgently need to cut all greenhouse gas emissions this decade.

“China is the world’s leading producer of these gases and also the leading manufacturer of the equipment that uses them. It’s in a prime position to take ambitious steps to move away from reliance on these dangerous polluting fluorochemicals, which have not only punched a huge hole in the ozone layer causing hundreds of millions of skin cancer cases and untold environmental damage, but are responsible for 12 per cent of global warming to date.”

The study utilised observations from a station in Changdao, China, giving researchers access to more accurate monitoring of emissions from northern China, where most of the fluorochemical industry is based.

Perry welcomed the study and highlighted the importance of accurate regional and global monitoring data, but warned that the current global regulation of HFCs under the Montreal Protocol was insufficient to ensure the rapid emissions reductions needed to secure a safe climate.

EIA calls on China and other parties to the Montreal Protocol to follow the lead of the European Union and accelerate action to phase out HFCs.

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The bill formally endorsed by the Armenian government on January 9 was drafted by several pro-Western political and civic groups largely loyal to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. They collected last year 60,000 signatures in support of their demands for a referendum on joining the EU.

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“I would like to emphasize that the adoption of the bill in itself does not constitute an application for Armenia's membership in the European Union,” Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovannisian said during a two-day parliament debate on the issue.

Hovannisian told lawmakers that the bill is only designed to send a “clear message to the European side about moving our partnership to a qualitatively new stage.”

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Russia has warned that the launch of the EU accession process will mark the “beginning of Armenia's withdrawal from the EEU [Eurasian Economic (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc].” That exit, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, would push up the cost of Russian natural gas and food imported by Armenia and cause a sharp decline in Armenian exports. Armenian officials have responded by emphasizing that Yerevan has no plans yet to leave the EEU.

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The intensity and danger of hybrid threats, as well as disinformation, has been increasing in recent years, while Russia and China are considered the main actors of these threats, according to experts and diplomat at the recent "Balkan Disinfo 2025" conference, which is being held in Pristina.

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Finnish diplomat Tapio Pysalo said that these two countries are cooperating to spread disinformation, also using artificial intelligence.

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"The intensity and dangerousness of hybrid threats has been increasing in recent years, especially considering Russia and the People's Republic of China as the main threat actors. Their objective above all is to undermine our partnerships by sowing divisions within the EU and NATO, by hindering NATO enlargement, especially the EU in the Western Balkans, by undermining democratic institutions including the credibility of elections, by undermining public trust and by polarizing our societies, thereby affecting the stability of our society."

"The goal is to sow uncertainty, fear, undermining public trust and weakening the support we give to Ukraine. I believe that all of this can also be applied to disinformation as a general trend, and in disinformation we see that both China and Russia have escalated their operations in Europe and the US. Russia has invested heavily in disinformation," he said.

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Consultant specializing in new challenges to election integrity, Ben Graham, emphasized that in the United Kingdom, where he comes from, there is a strengthening of pro-Russian narratives from networks of the People's Republic of China.

But, he added that the numerous electoral processes that marked the past year have created some positive aspects for combating disinformation more effectively [but he emphasizes also that] we must also look at the psychological aspects of why people believe this disinformation and how they can convince people. I think we need to work more eloquently in the opposition".

"We see a greater strategic alignment with our adversaries, we see an increase or strengthening of pro-Russian narratives from the networks of the People's Republic of China, and it is important that we work together to counter them."

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Researcher and digital intelligence expert, especially on manipulation campaigns and foreign information influence, Benjamin Schultz from the United States, stated that due to executive orders received from the new American presidency, an attack on researchers is taking place.

According to him, the US has become a hyper-polarized society.

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Moldova's Kremlin-Backed Breakaway Region Transnistria Rejects EU Energy Aid Over ‘Russian Blackmail,’ Moldova's Prime Minister Says

Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria rejected 60 million euros ($61 million) in conditional aid from the European Union due to pressure from Russia, Moldova’s Prime Minister Dorin Recean said Monday.

Moldova began supplying EU-funded gas to Transnistria on Feb. 1 as part of an initial emergency aid package worth 30 million euros ($31 million). Those supplies were set to expire on Monday.

The EU had pledged an additional 60 million euros, contingent on Transnistria making “steps on fundamental freedoms and human rights.” Recean said the region also needed to “gradually increase” utility costs for consumers to receive the funds.

“Tiraspol refused this solution. Russia does not allow them to accept European aid for fear of losing control over the region,” Recean says.

[...]

Russia’s state-owned Gazprom halted gas supplies to Transnistria on Jan. 1 over an outstanding debt, while Ukraine refused to renew a Russian gas transit agreement.

Pro-Russian authorities in Transnistria have not publicly commented on the reported EU aid rejection. Earlier, the region extended its economic state of emergency over the gas crisis until March 10.

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TLDR

• Umeå in northern Sweden is one of Europe's fastest-growing cities, offering a high quality of life despite the long winter's dark and cold.
• In surveys, 99% of residents say they feel safe during the day, and 90% of women say they are unafraid to walk alone at night.
• Following the trauma of a serial rapist active in the city, authorities have worked hard to eliminate spaces of fear, listening closely to women's needs and concerns in the sphere of public safety.

A look at the statistics casts light into this subarctic darkness: Umeå turns out to be more than just an education hub. The city also occupies top relative positions in terms of its infrastructure, the equality of opportunity, and sustainability. In October 2024, it was named the location in Sweden with the best quality of life. According to the crime statistics, it is the only significant urban center in this country afflicted by gang wars that does not have a neighborhood classified as «vulnerable» by the police.

Within the EU, it is considered a model of sustainable and inclusive urban planning. Fully 99% of residents say they feel safe during the day, regardless of their gender or age. And even at night, almost nine out of 10 women say they are unafraid to walk the streets alone. For comparison: According to the December 2024 survey, about 50% of women in Bern report feeling unsafe at night. In Zurich, 70% of women avoid certain streets and locations after dark.

Something must be different in Umeå. How is it possible to create such a pervasive sense of security in a place where it is constantly dark?

Archived link

As we head into fashion month, we’re taking a step forward to also highlight the impact of our clothing with The Last Stop, a package emphasizing the long journey of our discarded clothing and their often forgotten final stage – somewhere across several cities in the Global South where communities are tasked with the brunt of the impact. In this series, we meet upcyclers and resellers who are at the center of the clothing waste crisis, hear from garment workers who know firsthand how much clothing is being made, and we offer steps you can take to help the problem.

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The declining quality of clothing is working in tandem with insatiable consumption habits to exacerbate the global fashion waste crisis. While we are buying more fast fashion than ever — a report released by the United States Slow Fashion Caucus found that in the last eight years, the rate of textile waste grew 50% — clothing is being made with cheaper, fossil fuel-based materials and with poorer construction due to cost-cutting measures at factories. The Slow Fashion Caucus report also pointed specifically to fast fashion brands that are intentionally making cheaper clothes so consumers will continue to buy more and more.

Says Branson Skinner, cofounder of the Or Foundation, a nonprofit based in Accra working on solutions to problems caused by overproduction, “Certain communities have tried to recirculate clothes, but they are getting less and less material they can do that with — which is ultimately impacting the quality of clothes here too.”

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Even with innovative ways to resell or repurpose textile waste, often it’s not enough. More discarded clothing is coming into Accra [in Ghana] than the community can manage. The lack of landfill infrastructure and the fact that recycling solutions for textiles, especially polyester, are poor at best means clothing ends up in the streets, in water systems, and in small neighborhoods where it piles up or gets burned.

In Chile, a massive fire fueled by fast fashion waste sent plumes of toxic smoke into the environment. And in Indonesia, where more than 2.7% of the globe’s textiles are made, garment workers know that the volumes they are tasked with producing contribute to an issue that will harm their own communities, but they have little choice.

This has become a dire issue across the Global South — and it just got more urgent. On January 2, a massive fire tore through the Kantamanto Market, devastating 60% of stalls, including Grace and Janet’s, and taking the livelihoods of thousands of sellers. Sellers have been trying to manage the textile waste that chokes Ghana's shores, but their ability to do so is even more hindered, a disaster for the environment and the families who now have no source of income. ...