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BRICS hypocrisy on offshore reform

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

Andrea Binder is a Freigeist fellow and research group leader at the Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science at Freie Universität Berlin and the author of “Offshore Finance and State Power.” Ricardo Soares de Oliveira is professor of the International Politics of Africa at Oxford University and is currently writing a monograph titled “Africa Offshore.”Of all the challenges in global governance discussed at the latest BRICS summit in Johannesburg, the role of offshore financial centers should have loomed large. Instead, the issue barely got a noncommittal half paragraph on page eight of the summit’s 26-page declaration.In an example of breathtaking hypocrisy, BRICS countries rail against the global financial architecture but offer no collective action on offshore banking, and they also continue to be among its major users themselves.Data leaks such as the Pandora Papers and Panama Papers have shown just how vast amounts of cash end up in jurisdictions that ca...

Europe’s green deal will need broad support to succeed

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

Jean Pisani-Ferry, Simone Tagliapietra and Georg Zachmann are senior fellows at Bruegel.The European Union turned green into its defining color with the European Green Deal, setting ambitious climate targets and unleashing a wave of legislation to get there.But as decarbonization costs become more visible and changing political conditions constrain the politics of climate action, ensuring these achievements won’t fall short of commitments will be challenging. To this end, the EU must strengthen its climate and energy governance, and increase the financial resources allocated to supporting its goals.It must be clear to all that what the EU has embarked on is no less than an industrial revolution. A revolution that — unlike those of the past — is set against a tight deadline. And even if its benefits will by far outweigh its costs, this transformation will still entail significant pain along the way — even in strict economic terms.Some assets will lose value, some jobs will be destroy...

Lettuce remember: One year on, Liz Truss’ 9 wildest moments

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

LONDON — Oh what fun we had! It’s a year to the day since Liz Truss became Britain’s prime minister, kicking off the wildest and shortest-ever tenure of a U.K. leader.As her successor (and former rival) Rishi Sunak studiously plods on with the business of government, Truss has been busy defending her record and even plans a big speech later this month addressing the economic chaos that swiftly called time on her administration. The opposition Labour Party’s keen to remind voters of all that too, funnily enough.Take a walk down memory lane as POLITICO runs through nine of the most memorable moments from the Truss premiership.1) Truss enters Downing Street for glorious reignWhat happened: Having trounced her hopeless rival Sunak (whatever happened to that guy??) after a hard-fought contest to win over Conservative members, Britain’s former foreign secretary had a spring in her step as she got going.Stood on the steps of No. 10 Downing Street a year ago this week, Truss vow...

Ukraine’s democratic dilemma: When to hold elections

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

KYIV — If Russia hadn’t invaded, Ukraine was meant to hold parliamentary elections next month and a presidential vote in March 2024.Whether elections could or should happen is once again a lively topic of discussion in Kyiv, after U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham in late August called for Kyiv to organize “free and fair” elections even when it is under all-out assault from Russian attacks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is strongly suggesting he wants to run for a second term. “In 2024, if the war continues and if elections are held, I will never in my life abandon my country. Because I am the guarantor of the Constitution, and I will defend it in any case,” he said in a recent interview with the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP.Zelenskyy responded to Graham by saying he is ready — if parliament agrees — to overturn the martial law that bans the country from holding elections in time of war, but it’s a ...

EU enlargement can combat Putin’s influence, France says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

The European Union should help countries stand up to Vladimir Putin by sending a clear message about their prospects for joining the EU, French Europe Minister Laurence Boone told POLITICO.The EU is preparing for a potential wave of expansion that could bring as many as eight new members, including Ukraine and six Balkan countries, into the fold in the years to come.Several of these countries are prime targets for Russian influence campaigns that aim to weaken support for the EU and keep them out of the bloc — which is why the EU needs to be “clear and balanced” about what’s required for them to join, Boone said. “There is a lot of disinformation and interference in these [candidate] countries. It’s an issue,” she told POLITICO on the phone from Paris. “Vladimir Putin, in addition to his territorial ambitions, also aims to weaken the European Union. That’s a factor we need to take into account and fight against.”She added th...

The specter of Liz Truss still haunts Britain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

LONDON — A year is a long time in politics — but the reverberations of the surreal fall of 2022 are still being felt across the U.K.Wednesday marks the first anniversary of Liz Truss’ ill-fated appointment as prime minister — a year on from that rainy day in September when she stood outside No. 10 Downing Street and vowed to “transform Britain” with free market shock therapy. Truss’ £45 billion package of unfunded tax cuts — with the promise of more to come — instead sunk the pound, sent interest rates soaring, caused chaos on the bond markets and forced the Bank of England to prop up failing pension funds.Humiliated, Truss had little choice but to junk her entire economic program and less than four weeks later she was gone — the U.K.’s shortest-ever serving prime minister, famously outlasted by a supermarket lettuce.The legacy of the period still is fiercely debated among Britain’s left and right-wing commentariat. In Westminster, some Tory faction...

Rishi Sunak could make it two trips to India — in search of cricket and trade deal

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

LONDON — Rishi Sunak heads to India this week for the first time as U.K. prime minister — and is already planning a glitzier return trip this fall.The British PM — born in England to parents of Indian heritage — will travel to New Delhi later this week for the G20 summit, where he will take part in a series of bilateral meetings with fellow world leaders. Hopes that a highly coveted post-Brexit trade deal with India would be signed in time for the summit have evaporated. But there has been sufficient progress that U.K. and Indian government officials are increasingly confident an agreement can be hammered out by the end of the year.And that means Sunak could get an opportunity to combine one of his favorite pastimes away from politics with a trade deal which would be highly politically expedient.No. 10 Downing Street is tentatively lining up a second Sunak trip to India in as many months, four people with knowledge of the plans — three lobbyists and a government offic...

Search for ‘elusive’ emu in Lakeville continues into third day

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

An emu is on the loose in Lakeville, and police said the bird has been evading capture for almost three days since its former owner moved out of the state.An animal control office posted on social media that the emu was last seen in the woods near Lang St. and County Road, in driveways and snacking on a garden. However, no one has been able to capture the bird. People in Lakeville said it’s not uncommon for an animal to get loose here, but an emu is not a traditional farm animal. “That’s not your normal pig or cow or farm animal,” a neighbor said.“So it’s just running around? I live just up the street and I’ve got eight and a half acres,” another neighbor said. “I wonder if it will make it up there?”Angel Costa has been following the emu sightings on Facebook. “It’s been on the move, and it’s pretty elusive,” Costa said. The last sighting was on Tuesday morning.“The guy that was walking through the woods following it, and he was trying to get somebody out there to catch it...

One dead, another seriously injured after fiery rollover crash in Foxboro

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

A serious rollover crash in Foxboro Tuesday evening killed one driver and seriously injured another, Massachusetts State Police said.The two-car crash happened around 5:15 p.m. on Route 495 southbound, and after the crash, one of the vehicles was engulfed in flames. A 24-year-old woman from Mansfield was transported to the hospital, where she later died. A 30-year-old man from North Easton was also transported with serious injuries.All lanes were temporarily closed while MassDOT inspected the overpass and other officials investigated. Around 9:30 p.m., MSP said the scene was clear and all lanes were reopened.Officials said the crash is under investigation.

Giancarlo Stanton drills 400th home run in Yankees’ win over Tigers

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:15:09 GMT

Giancarlo Stanton achieved a personal milestone in typical fashion on Tuesday, drilling a ball to left field for the 400th home run of his career.Stanton’s two-run blast off Tigers reliever José Cisnero traveled 451 feet at 116.8 miles per hour. It also broke a 1-1 tie in what became a 5-1, series-opening win for the now-.500 Yankees.Stanton, who has struggled for most of the season, received a loud curtain call ovation following the dinger. It was a nice moment for a player who has heard his fair share of boos throughout his Yankees tenure.Stanton, playing in the 1,520th game of his career, became the fourth-fastest player to reach 400 longballs. The only players ahead of him are Mark McGwire (1,412 games), Babe Ruth (1,475) and Alex Rodriguez (1,489). Stanton also became the 58th player in baseball history to record the round number, and the 10th to do so as a Yankee.Now 33 years old, he has a shot at 500 homers, too.While Stanton had the most significant bomb of the ni...