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Medicare

World economy 14th August 2021

American Health Care Is Worst In Rich World

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | The Commonwealth Fund, a century-old foundation dedicated to improving health care, places the United States behind Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in its latest report. The Netherlands and Norway share first place. America is the world’s top innovator of new medications and treatments. The best medical schools are in the United States. The country spends…

bridge general

World economy 6th August 2021

America’s $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill, Explained

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | The United States Senate is expected to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure bill this week with funding for everything from broadband Internet to road safety. The bill, which is believed to have the support of enough Republicans to overcome a forty-senator filibuster, falls short of the $2 trillion President Joe Biden had proposed to spend on (green) infrastructure over four years. The compromise bill has…

TheRock

European politics 27th July 2021

Britain Walks Back Commitment to Gibraltar

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | It agreed to put Gibraltar in the Schengen Area to avoid the need for border controls… Did the British not read the fine print when they signed their Brexit deals? Not only do they regret agreeing to a lay a customs border down the Irish Sea to avoid the need for passport checks and inspections of goods on the Ireland-Northern Ireland border; they also have…

Emmanuel Macron

European economy 8th July 2021

Macron Should Go Ahead with Pension Reforms

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Emmanuel Macron is reportedly mulling pension reforms that were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic. There are risks: reforms will almost certainly spark protests, including from trade unions, which oppose raising the retirement age. Macron can ill-afford social unrest a year away from the election. But it could also burnish the French president’s reformist credentials after the COVID-19 crisis forced him into a more…

Emmanuel Macron

European politics 22nd June 2021

Regional Vote Throws Doubt on Macron’s Reelection Strategy

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | The unexpectedly strong performance of the center-right in France’s regional elections calls Emmanuel Macron’s reelection strategy into question. The liberal incumbent has been leaning to the right expecting he would need their support to defeat the far right’s Marine Le Pen in a presidential runoff. But if the center-right Republicans regroup, Macron risks not even qualifying for the runoff. Relations with the center-right Polls still…

catalonia efimera

Spanish Politics 19th May 2021

Separatist Parties Agree To Form New Government In Catalonia

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Catalonia’s leading pro-independence parties have reached an agreement to install Pere Aragonès as regional president. Aragonés has been acting president since September, when Quim Torra of the center-right Together for Catalonia (Junts) was forced to step down. Aragonès’ Republican Left won the election in February. The agreement comes after three months of negotiations during which the Republicans raised the possibility of forming a minority government…

brexit the corner

European politics 6th May 2021

Three Things To Watch in Britain’s Local Elections

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Will the SNP win an absolute majority? Will Labour’s Red Wall hold? How well will Labour do in Wales? Scotland’s will be the most closely watched election today, but voters across the UK go to the polls. In addition to the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, all sixty seats in the Welsh Assembly, all 25 seats in the London Assembly, thirteen mayoralties and thousands…

VictorOrbanok

European politics 30th November 2020

EU Must Hold Firm in Rule-of-Law Dispute with Hungary, Poland

EU leaders — including Orbán and his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki — agreed in September to tie the disbursement of EU funds to compliance with the rule of law. The conditionality is not automatic. To withhold funds, a qualified majority of fifteen out of 27 member states, representing 65 percent of the EU’s population, would need to agree (…) But if the proposal were meaningless, Orbán and Morawiecki wouldn’t be fighting it. They understand it could be used to rein them in — which is exactly why the rest of the EU must hold firm.

Biden victory

World politics 9th November 2020

What Biden’s Victory Means for the World

Joe Biden, who was declared the winner in America’s presidential election on Saturday, would return the United States to the Paris climate agreement and the World Health Organization; rejoin the Iran nuclear deal if Iran complies with its terms; extend the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia; and end America’s support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen.

US an empire

European politics 5th November 2020

What’s at Stake for Europe in the American Election

Donald Trump has consistently sided against Europe and European interests, from raising tariffs on European exports to rescinding the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces and Open Skies Treaties — which protected Russia’s neighbors — to paralyzing the G20 and the World Trade Organization to withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris climate accord, New START and the World Health Organization. It’s no wonder Europeans prefer Joe Biden — from between 58 percent of Italians to 80 percent of Danes, according to YouGov.