The European Commission plans to establish a common list of ‘safe countries of origin’ (SCO) across EU Member States in a bid to deal more efficiently with asylum claims from nationals of countries where persecution is deemed unlikely.
READ MORESince 2010, South Asia has witnessed a resurgence of the long standing Indo-Pakistani territorial dispute over Kashmir. Yet, while the conflict has oft been simply characterized as friction over Pakistani support for the regional Muslim self-determination movement, underlying water sharing concerns also play a significant part in the prolonged tension between the nuclear powers. The climate-change induced Bengali migration and water scarcity that affects these nations will only worsen. The resulting stress on resources portends longer-term threats to South Asian stability – the extent depends on whether the region hoards or cooperates.
READ MOREAt the end of 2015 the world was full of hope. After 23 years of postponing, staling and log-rolling, we finally had a global agreement on climate change. Even countries that had long been skeptical about global warming, like the US and China, were ready to take action. The world community promised to keep global warming well below 2°C. It finally looked like states, citizens and businesses would be taking the right path.
READ MORECould Dubai turn into the next Silicon Valley?
READ MOREOne of the fundamental values of the European Union is democracy: is it democratic for some Member States not to grant citizenship to foreigners’ children, born and raised in their own same country, while others sell citizenship in exchange of money and investments?
READ MORE2016 has brought us Brexit and Trump, and with them came the loud, mass calls for repeating or at least recounting the votes. So what happened to respecting the will of the people? Don’t get me wrong, I am just as appalled and disappointed by the recent turn in Western politics as you probably are. However, the people have voted and I must respect that. And so do you and so does everyone else. Whether we are happy about the result or not.
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