Ukraine’s defence ministry corruption reshuffle marks a painful moment in an agonising war

by Rashmee

Posted on February 7, 2023


Anyone who wishes Ukraine well will be dismayed by news that its defence minister, Oleksii …

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The high point of the ‘Hummus Wars’ was probably its lowest

by Rashmee

Posted on April 30, 2022


In 2016, the so-called “Hummus Wars” were raging and Lebanon and Israel had a lively …

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Turning the unvaccinated into modern-day lepers?

by Rashmee

Posted on January 7, 2022


On January 6, Italy made a coronavirus vaccination mandatory for everybody over the age of …

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From 1979, this man kept tabs on the EU’s worsening verbal diarrhoea

by Rashmee

Posted on July 2, 2021


/ LANGUAGE Words matter, and the European Union shows just how much. In the years …

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The US, EU and Democracies Anonymous, a new mutual aid fellowship

by Rashmee

Posted on June 29, 2021


/ POLITICS & AMERICA Renaud Lassus, minister counsellor for economic affairs at the French embassy …

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After Brexit, the French urge Europe to rethink the language of Shakespeare

by Rashmee

Posted on January 23, 2021


It’s not particularly surprising that the French sent up a trial balloon within a few …

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Tree-hugging pandemic therapy, home-delivered litter. What will governments do next?

by Rashmee

Posted on December 20, 2020


In August, this blog explored “unique” government jobs that push up against the category of …

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Geopolitics and conscious uncoupling – up to a point

by Rashmee

Posted on September 18, 2020


‘Conscious uncoupling’ became famous – both as a term and a concept – in 2014, …

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France and Italy are food and beverage superpowers

by Rashmee

Posted on September 15, 2020


There’s no question that Europe’s food and beverage superpowers are France and Italy. Half of …

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More European Union? The ‘frugal four’ are pushing back against Franco-German largesse

by Rashmee

Posted on May 21, 2020


Some say there’s “18% more union”. That’s what Bloomberg opined anyway. It said that the …

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Rashmee has lived and worked in several countries in the past decade, including Afghanistan, India, Haiti, Tunisia, the UAE, US and UK