Новости за 02.02.2017

As Donald Trump turns America in on itself, China has emerged as the new global star. But the world should turn to the EU instead.

Transparency campaigners are livid after the EU commission scuppered plans to publish an EU anti-corruption report amid unfolding corruption scandals in Romania and France.

New US president Trump overshadows the Malta summit of EU leaders on Friday, as they discuss the bloc's future amid new geopolitical realities, and step up efforts to stop migration via Libya from North African countries.

MEPs have urged the EU to stand up for European values, starting with rejecting Trump's presumed choice for US ambassador, who has stated that he wants to "tame" the bloc.

EU states have told 92 countries that they will be “screened” with a view to inclusion in a future “blacklist” of tax havens.

The British government has formally published its strategy for Brexit. The 77-page "white paper" was released a day after MPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of invoking Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to formally start the process of leaving the EU. The paper lists 12 principles that were already set out in a speech by prime minister Theresa May on 17 January.

The scandal over emissions cheating is unlikely to end any time soon, the MEP who wrote a highly critical report for the parliament's inquiry committee tells this website.

Triggering Article 50 was backed by 498 to 114 MPs in the UK parliament, with the Scottish National Party and Labour rebels forming the bulk of the dissenting votes.

Dutch interior minister Ronald Plasterk on Wednesday said he had ordered the entire process of counting votes at the upcoming March elections to be done by hand. After a report that the computers used for adding up votes could be vulnerable, Plasterk said he wanted to reassure people the results would be genuine, and said hacking was now "excluded". Voting itself was always going to be on paper.

Climate-change denier Myron Ebell disparages experts and attracts protests at a panel discussion in Brussels.

"I won't have to tell him his father was a coward," business minister Florin Jianu said of his young son, as tens of thousands marched against a law that would protect corrupt officials.

Some 2,000 people protested in The Hague against the US travel ban for people from seven Muslim-majority countries, but also threw in some anti-Wilders slogans.

Israel’s announcement of new settlements in the West Bank marks a "very worrying trend" and risks making a two-state solution impossible, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini has warned. Since Trump took office as US president, the Israeli government announced plans to add more than 6,000 homes for Jewish settlers. Mogherini said it “goes directly against” recommendations of the so-called Quartet - the EU, UN, US and Russia.

Universities across the UK are experiencing a fall in applications from EU students since the Brexit vote, according to figures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). For courses starting in the autumn, figures show a 5 percent drop in UK students while EU applicant figures decreased by 7 percent to 42,070. The number of applicants from other overseas countries is 52,630, similar to last year.

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko has said he wants a referendum on joining Nato. He told Berliner Morgenpost that more than half of Ukrainians were now in favour of joining the alliance, up from just 16 percent four years ago. "If the Ukrainians vote for it, I will do everything to achieve membership of the Atlantic alliance," he said.