European Politics > Orban forming new right-wing alliance with Austria and Czechia in EU; AfD reelects leaders; National Rally still leading polls as voting begins; EU giving billions to Egypt

 

Hungary's Orban moves to form new alliance with Austrian and Czech nationalist parties

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced he wanted to form a new alliance with Austria’s far-right Freedom Party and the main Czech opposition party. The trio is looking to attract political partners from other EU countries to successfully form a group in the new European parliament.

Issued on: 30/06/2024 - 15:06

2 min

By:NEWS WIRES, France24

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Sunday presented a new alliance with Austria's far-right Freedom Party and the main Czech opposition party, which hopes to attract other partners and become the biggest right-wing group in the European Parliament.

Orban traveled to Vienna to present the “Patriots for Europe” alliance of his Fidesz party with the Freedom Party and former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's ANO party, a day before Hungary takes over the European Union’s rotating presidency for six months.

The European Parliament elections in early June strengthened hard-right parties overall, though their performances varied from country to country, but left unclear to what extent they would manage to work together. Until now, they have been spread across two groups in the EU legislature, plus a large number of unaligned parties.

Orban in recent years has appeared to relish opportunities to block, water down or delay key EU decisions, routinely going against the grain of most other leaders on issues like the war in Ukraine, relations with Russia and China, and efforts to defend democracy and the rule of law. His public opposition to EU policies and stances has long frustrated other governments in the bloc and pushed him to the margins of the continent’s mainstream.

You can tell France24 is a hard-left media outlet. Everything Orban has done in recent years has been to save Hungary and the EU from the madness of far-left lunatics who are doing their absolute best to destroy the continent. For some reason, France24 doesn't like that.

“What Europeans want is three things: peace, order and development,” Orban said through an interpreter at Sunday's event. “And what they are getting from the elite in Brussels today is war, migration and stagnation.”

“Our objective is, and we believe that this will happen, that in a short time, this will be the strongest right-wing group in the European Parliament,” Orban said.

The trio would need to attract lawmakers from at least four more EU countries to successfully form a group in the new parliament. 

Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl noted that the new European Parliament will meet for the first time in Strasbourg on July 16. He said that “starting immediately ... all political forces that want to join in our political and positive reform effort are very welcome."

Kickl added that “from what I have heard in recent days ... there will be more of them than some of you probably suspect right now.” He didn't name any potential partners, and the three party leaders didn't take questions.

The Freedom Party narrowly won first place in the European Parliament election and hopes to win Austria's national election on Sept. 29.

A “patriotic manifesto for a European future" signed by the three party leaders assails alleged plans for “a European central state" and pledges “to prioritize sovereignty over federalism, freedom over diktats, and peace.”

(AP)

================================================================================================

Germany's far-right AfD party re-elects two

amid violent protests

By Mike Heuer

Local police anticipate up to 80,000 protesters, including about 1,000 violent far-left protesters, to descend on the weekend's AfD party conference in Essen, Germany. Photo by Fabian Strauch/EPA-EFE

June 29 (UPI) -- Germany's Alternative for Deutschland party re-elected Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla to another two-year team as the party's joint leaders amid violent protests Saturday in Essen.

Chrupalla received 82.72% of supporting votes from 600 AfD party delegates and Weidel 79.77% during the AfD conference that got underway Saturday.

Their successful bids for reelection as AfD party leaders occurred as thousands of protesters took to the streets of Essen Saturday morning.

The group Widersetzen allegedly is organizing mass protests against the AfD, which many describe as a "far-right" political party.

Widersetzen protest organizers want its members and supporters to disrupt the AfD conference to "prevent the spread of fascism."

About 1,000 German police are deployed in Essen for the two-day political conference.

Police officials expect up to 80,000 protesters to arrive in Essen on Saturday, including about 1,000 far-left extremists prone to violence, German media have reported.

The Bild newspaper reported police made several arrests and rescued an AfD member whom aggressive protesters had cornered in a local bakery.

Hooded violent protesters attacked police and security forces outside the event, which led to several arrests, the North Rhine-Westphalia regional police posted on X.

Violent protesters seriously injured two police officers, according to the NRW.

The protests follow the AfD's recent European Union election results earlier this month that gave the party Germany's second-highest amount of votes.

Only the Christian Democratic Union, which is considered a center-right political party, has more votes.

The AfD's election success occurred despite AfD member Maximilian Krah in May saying not all former Nazi SS members were criminals.

But, it appears that some of the anti-AfD protesters are criminals.

Polls show French far-right party with big lead

ahead of Sunday election

By Simon Druker

France’s far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen is showing a significant lead in the latest polls ahead of the country’s national election. File Photo by Clement Martin/UPI | License Photo

June 29 (UPI) -- France's far-right National Rally party is showing a large lead in the latest polls ahead of the country's national election Sunday.

The party led by Marine Le Pen is projected to capture 36% of the popular vote, according to the poll conducted by the French polling and market research firm IFOP.

That would equate to between 260 and 295 seats in the French parliament.

If Le Pen's National Rally wins, it would mark the first far-right government since the Nazis occupied France during World War II.

France's parliament is made up of 577 seats, meaning a majority of 289 is required to form an absolute majority government. Falling short of that, the country could look to form a coalition.

French President Emmanuel Macron's governing Renaissance party is projected to secure only 20% of the popular vote, with the left-wing New Popular Front sitting at 27%, according to the poll, published Thursday.

The first of two rounds of voting in the election takes place Sunday with the second round set for July 7.

Under the country's electoral system, any candidate that receives at least 12.5% of the local vote moves on to the second round of voting.

Macron had not commented publicly on the latest polling numbers as of Saturday afternoon,

"Nothing can stop a people who have started to hope again. Have faith in France, be free, be passionately French," National rally member Jordan Bardella said on X in a post translated to English by Google.

Bardella may become the next Prime Minister of France.

==================================================================

EU urged to insist on human rights reforms

as it delivers financial aid to Egypt

By Doug Cunningham 

As EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travels to Cairo to deliver financial aid to Egypt at the EU-Egypt Investment Conference, Amnesty International is urging the EU to insist on Egyptian human rights reforms as a precondition for the aid. Photo via G7/UPI | License Photo

June 28 (UPI) -- As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen travels to Cairo Saturday to deliver financial aid the EU-Egypt Investment Conference, Amnesty International is urging the EU to insist in Egyptian human rights reform.

The EU will sign a short-term macro-financial assistance package of $1.06 billion designed to bolster the Egyptian economy's resilience. It's part of a larger $7.91 billion EU package to support the Strategic and Comprehensive partnership with Egypt.

What does the EU have to do with Egypt? As if the EU doesn't have enough problems of its own to solve, it seems prepared to hand out billions of euros to countries that have little or nothing to do with Europe. Somebody help me understand this.

Amnesty International joined other human rights organizations in Egypt and around the globe urging the European Union to make sure human rights activists are freed from prison before the financial deal is completed.

"Thousands of people including journalists, critics, opposition politicians, peaceful protesters and human rights defenders are unjustly languishing behind bars, in squalid conditions, for exercising their human rights," said Amnesty International's Eve Geddie, in a statement. "The EU must ensure Egypt releases those arbitrarily detained before proceeding with the deal at hand."

She said the assistance package is one of the most expensive financial deals the EU has ever signed off on with non-EU nation.

If there is no human rights precondition, Geddie said, the EU would be breaking its own rules.

Fifteen Egyptian and international human rights organizations joined Amnesty in calling for the human rights reforms as a condition of Egypt receiving the aid.

The EU announcement Friday of von der Leyen's role at the conference made no mention of human rights reforms, only of "human capital" as one among many financial considerations to be covered at the weekend Cairo conference.

Von der Leyen will deliver the opening speech for the conference Saturday along with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

The Egypt-EU Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership signed in March includes everything from political relations to economic stability, migration and security.

Roughly 1,000 people will participate in the conference, including senior officials from the EU and Egypt across a wide range of sectors.

Ozzone 9-25 > Without a supernatural work done in us, we cannot possibly fulfill the demands of God.

 

“Not the slightest trace of resentment”. That is a difficult character set to develop, and it certainly takes a supernatural work of God in me – the creation of a disposition similar to Jesus’. Are you there yet?

The last clause, “and the cross will come along that line always”, was removed in the modern versions of this devotional. I added it back in. Oswald Chambers’ wife, Biddy, compiled this wonderful devotional after his early death in the Egyptian desert during WWI. Sometime, near the mid-20th century, “the cross” lost an extremely important part of its meaning. Aside from being the instrument of great torture, trial and death to Jesus, for the first 19 centuries of Christians “the cross” also meant our instrument of trial and death to worldly things.

Luke 9:23. King James Version ... “And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me..” Matt. 16:24.

If we are willing to deny ourselves, that is, our right to ourselves, the Providence of God will provide for each of us a cross that we can carry that will empower us to grow in godly character and in our ability to identify with Christ. Like Simon the Cyrene, it is a privilege like no other. We, like Simon, must follow Jesus as He struggled up the Via Dolorosa to Calvary.

Of course, this doesn’t fit modern-day evangelicalism where struggling, suffering, and trials are not taught.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Denmark - First country to tax cow farts; Chinese robot with human stem cells in brain

 

Denmark the world’s first country to tax farting cows

Shaun Polczer

Published on: 

26 Jun 2024, 10:14 am

Denmark will be the first country to tax livestock emissionsPhoto Illustration generated by Meta AI

To err is human; to moo bovine.

Denmark will become the first country in the world to begin taxing farmers for Methane emissions from livestock starting in 2030.

Lawmakers agreed Monday to impose a tax of 120 kroner ($25) per tonne of greenhouse gas emitted from livestock, a level that will climb to about $50 by 2035.

The revenues will be pooled into a fund aimed to support the livestock industry’s so-called ‘green transition’.

“We are writing a new chapter in Danish agricultural history,” said farm minister, Jacob Jensen.

Farmer’s protest Files

Added Nicolai Wammen, Denmark’s finance minister: “We know that a CO2 tax model aligned across all sectors gives us the lowest societal costs in total. What we have now done, from industry sectors to agriculture, shows us that an ambitious green transition is possible.”

Denmark is one of Europe’s largest pork producers and a significant producer of beef and dairy as well. According to government statistics, it is home to about 1.5 million cows.

Ruminant animals such as sheep and cattle release methane when digesting food, which about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Some estimates suggest agriculture is responsible for a third of GHG emissions, half which come from animals.

Global livestock emissions 1990-2020Statista

Emissions by livestock sourceResearch Gate

Cows are by far the biggest culprits, producing about 6 tonnes per year.

But EU lawmakers are taking a huge risk; just last week, New Zealand scrapped plans to tax its agricultural emissions after stiff resistance from farmers.

In the EU, farmers have staged massive and often violent protests that have brought traffic to a standstill and sprayed manure in European capitals this year over proposed environmental policies as part of its so-called ‘Green Deal’.

On Monday EU lawmakers in Luxembourg passed a ‘Nature Restoration Law’ — by a slim 1% majority —which aims to restore as much as a third of arable farm land back to a natural state.

Dutch farm group LTO, one of the country’s largest, on Wednesday issued a statement that said they were “concerned and indignant” over the act. It’s significant because the Dutch farmer’s party BBB gained seats for the first time in last week’s EU elections.

Livestock emissions by countryAmerican geophysical Union

===============================================================================================

Chinese scientists create robot with brain

made from human stem cells

• 
  
• Researchers have developed brain-on-chip technology to train the robot to perform tasks such as gripping objects
• 
  

Victoria Bela

Published: 3:00pm, 29 Jun 2024

The robots have an artificial brain as well as a neural chip. Photo: Tianjin University

Chinese scientists have developed a robot with a lab-grown artificial brain that can be taught to perform various tasks.

The brain-on-chip technology developed by researchers at Tianjin University and the Southern University of Science and Technology combines a brain organoid – a tissue derived from human stem cells – with a neural interface chip to power the robot and teach it to avoid obstacles and grip objects.

The technology is an emerging branch of brain-computer interfaces (BCI), which aims to combine the brain’s electrical signals with external computing power and which China has made a priority.

It is “the world’s first open-source brain-on-chip intelligent complex information interaction system” and could lead to the development of brain-like computing, according to Tianjin University.

“[This] is a technology that uses an in-vitro cultured ‘brain’ – such as brain organoids – coupled with an electrode chip to form a brain-on-chip,” which encodes and decodes stimulation feedback, Ming Dong, vice-president of Tianjin University, told state-owned Science and Technology Daily on Tuesday.

BCI technology has gained widespread attention due to the Elon Musk-backed Neuralink, an implantable interface designed to let patients control devices with only their thoughts.

Tianjin University now says its research could lead to the development of hybrid human-robot intelligence.

Brain organoids are made from human pluripotent stem cells typically only found in early embryos that can develop into different kinds of tissues, including neural tissues.

When grafted into the brain, they can establish functional connections with the host brain, the Tianjin University team wrote in an unedited manuscript published in the peer-reviewed Oxford University Press journal Brain last month.

“The transplant of human brain organoids into living brains is a novel method for advancing organoid development and function. Organoid grafts have a host-derived functional vasculature system and exhibit advanced maturation,” the team wrote.

Li Xiaohong, a professor at Tianjin University, told Science and Technology Daily that while brain organoids were regarded as the most promising model of basic intelligence, the technology still faced “bottlenecks such as low developmental maturity and insufficient nutrient supply”.

In the paper, the team said it had developed a technique to use low-intensity ultrasound, which could help organoids better integrate and grow within the brain.

The team found that when grafts were treated with low-intensity ultrasound, it improved the differentiation of organoid cells into neurons and helped improve the networks it formed with the host brain.

The technique could also lead to new treatments to treat neurodevelopmental disorders and repair damage to the cerebral cortex, the paper said.

“Brain organoid transplants are considered a promising strategy for restoring brain function by replacing lost neurons and reconstructing neural circuits,” the team wrote.

=========================================================================