This week’s selection comes from Liz Wright, National Life Stories Project Interviewer. Rod Kelly is a silversmith who specialises in the technique of chasing to create low relief decoration on the surface of silver vessels, which he often raises (hammers from sheet metal) himself. Rod depicts images from nature with… read more
Now we know what the EU wants without the UK. The Rome Declaration signed last week-end sets out the full scheme for the Union. It is as Eurosceptics described. It is certainly not the minimalist EU based around a single market of Mr Blair and Mr Brown’s imagining.
As the Declaration says, “We have built a unique Union with common institutions and strong values….Unity is b0th a necessity and our free choice….Our Union is undivided and indivisible.” “We will make the European Union stronger and more resilient through ever greater unity and solidarity amongst us and the respect of common rules”
The document sets out four large areas where the Union is manifest and will now be strengthened. The first is freedom of movement of people, combined with promises of new border arrangements and an EU wide policy towards external migrants. The second is the single currency which will be “stable and further strengthened”. There is no mention of countries opting out. The third is a social Europe, with EU wide benefit and social policies. The fourth is “a stronger Europe in the global scene” “committed to strengthening its common security and defence” with a common defence supply industry.
This upbeat and centralising document looks forward to further increases in Union powers. It does acknowledge that “The EU is facing unprecedented challenges both global and domestic: regional conflicts, terrorism, growing migratory pressures, protectionism and social and economic inequalities”. All this points them in the direction of doing more in the Brussels to counter these unwelcome trends.
So there we have it. It was the creation of a large new state after all. The irony seems to be missed that this declaration is published to the world when the UK sends in its resignation and as many voters around the EU seek to show their disapproval of the vision. The declaration points to the EU having much more influence in world affairs without explaining how it will build up its military forces to back up its wish to intervene and its pursuit of influence in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Surely now, no-one can doubt that the EU is so much more than a set of laws regulating trade and commerce? Why did so many UK politicians try and pretend this was just a business or commercial arrangement? As this declaration reminds us in a timely way, at the heart of the EU is the strong desire to create a single country. It will have common borders, one currency, one foreign policy and one social policy. It will have its own energy policy, its own transport policy. Indeed, it has much of that already. It is only those who refuse to read EU documents who can think otherwise.
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Bill Gates, former chairman of Microsoft Corp and chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, receives a table tennis paddle from Peking University in Beijing on Friday. Gates talked with students after delivering a speech at the university and was invited to play a game of table tennis. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn] |
Once widely considered the world’s richest man, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said China is the “best place” for the young to fulfil their ambitions to make the world a better place.
In a Friday lecture to Peking University students, the billionaire philanthropist described the skepticism in some developed countries about whether globalization works for ordinary people.
He said the results of the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote showed how any country may turn inward when confronted with difficult issues like immigration, security and global development. In a world suddenly short of experienced leaders, Gates commended China for assuming greater responsibility for critical global issues like climate change and inclusive development.
Gates told hundreds of students attending the lecture of his high hopes for China’s youth as they enter the workforce at the time of “China’s rise as a center of global progress and innovation.”
“The world’s eyes are on China…the world’s eyes are specifically on all of you… What an incredible thing is the belief that you can make the world a better place. There has never been a better moment.”
Gates said China has to deal with the most urgent challenges the world faces.
Health, agriculture, energy, and technology are areas where Gates sees “exciting opportunities” for more “amazing progress” for China and for the world.
Gates believes China could lead the world in eradicating malaria. He commended Tu Youyou’s discovery of artemisinin, which won her a Nobel Prize in 2015, and said there was need to develop more powerful tools — like a single-dose treatment — to block transmission of the malaria parasite form mosquitos to humans. More than 3.2 billion people in the world still live with the risk of malaria infection, he said.
On agriculture, Gates said China’s continuing advances in rice growing could benefit to millions of small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gates’ foundation has keen interest in Africa and is working with the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture on sustainable agriculture throughout Africa.
He said China understands that helping other countries creates a more stable and secure world for people everywhere.
The founder of Microsoft sees great potential in China’s tech sector. A lab he set up in Beijing about 20 years ago has grown into Microsoft’s largest research center outside the United States with some 200 of the world’s top researchers, developers and more than 300 visiting scientists and fellows.
He said the lab also supports up-and-coming software developers by hiring more than 5,000 interns.
“Maybe you want to develop the next vaccine that protects everyone from malaria. Maybe you want to design the battery that lights people’s desks at night…” he told students.
“No matter what, if your ambition is to improve the world, this is the best time and the best place to do it.”
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Bill Gates, former chairman of Microsoft Corp and chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, receives a table tennis paddle from Peking University in Beijing on Friday. Gates talked with students after delivering a speech at the university and was invited to play a game of table tennis. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/chinadaily.com.cn] |
Once widely considered the world’s richest man, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has said China is the “best place” for the young to fulfil their ambitions to make the world a better place.
In a Friday lecture to Peking University students, the billionaire philanthropist described the skepticism in some developed countries about whether globalization works for ordinary people.
He said the results of the U.S. presidential election and the Brexit vote showed how any country may turn inward when confronted with difficult issues like immigration, security and global development. In a world suddenly short of experienced leaders, Gates commended China for assuming greater responsibility for critical global issues like climate change and inclusive development.
Gates told hundreds of students attending the lecture of his high hopes for China’s youth as they enter the workforce at the time of “China’s rise as a center of global progress and innovation.”
“The world’s eyes are on China…the world’s eyes are specifically on all of you… What an incredible thing is the belief that you can make the world a better place. There has never been a better moment.”
Gates said China has to deal with the most urgent challenges the world faces.
Health, agriculture, energy, and technology are areas where Gates sees “exciting opportunities” for more “amazing progress” for China and for the world.
Gates believes China could lead the world in eradicating malaria. He commended Tu Youyou’s discovery of artemisinin, which won her a Nobel Prize in 2015, and said there was need to develop more powerful tools — like a single-dose treatment — to block transmission of the malaria parasite form mosquitos to humans. More than 3.2 billion people in the world still live with the risk of malaria infection, he said.
On agriculture, Gates said China’s continuing advances in rice growing could benefit to millions of small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gates’ foundation has keen interest in Africa and is working with the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of Agriculture on sustainable agriculture throughout Africa.
He said China understands that helping other countries creates a more stable and secure world for people everywhere.
The founder of Microsoft sees great potential in China’s tech sector. A lab he set up in Beijing about 20 years ago has grown into Microsoft’s largest research center outside the United States with some 200 of the world’s top researchers, developers and more than 300 visiting scientists and fellows.
He said the lab also supports up-and-coming software developers by hiring more than 5,000 interns.
“Maybe you want to develop the next vaccine that protects everyone from malaria. Maybe you want to design the battery that lights people’s desks at night…” he told students.
“No matter what, if your ambition is to improve the world, this is the best time and the best place to do it.”
read moreThe Supreme People’s Procuratorate (SPP) announced Sunday that it will investigate a case which caught media and public attention over the weekend.
On April 14, 2016, more than 10 people went to Su Yinxia’s company in Guanxian County in east China’s Shandong Province to collect payment for loan sharks allegedly by means of insulting Su and her son Yu Huan.
Police arrived at the scene but Yu later stabbed four of the debt collectors including Du Zhihao, who died the next morning.
Yu was sentenced to life in prison by the Intermediate People’s Court of Liaocheng, Shandong, on Feb. 17.
Investigators will examine and review the evidence to determine whether Yu was acting in self-defence, the SPP said in a statement.
The SPP will also investigate possible dereliction of duty by the police officers concerned.
The Higher People’s Court in Shandong announced Sunday that it has accepted Yu’s appeal.
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