James Forsyth, Spectator
After all the parliamentary drama of the past four and a half years, the final Commons phase of Brexit is passing with remarkably little drama. Boris Johnson knows his agreement will be voted through this afternoon and, following the European Research Group decision, with nearly universal Tory support.
Jeffie Lam, SCMP
Tom Rogan, Washington Examiner
In Hong Kong, a teenager, Tony Chung, was this week sentenced to four months in prison for insulting China's flag. Chung also faces a trial for secession, which carries much longer sentences. On the mainland, journalist Zhang Zhan was given a multiyear prison sentence for reporting on the Communist Party's failure to contain the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan city. Beijing says that Zhang's reporting was designed only to sow distrust in the party, but the truth of the matter is quite different. Читать дальше...
Vladislav Inozemtsev, Riddle
There are only a few days left before the end of the "worst year ever". However, if we look at what is happening now in Russia, there is no sense of this year's trends drawing to any sort of close. Whichever "direction" you take, 2020 looks more like a prelude to something no less dramatic.
A. Emoruwa, African Arguments
The press has remained resilient during the #EndSARS protests, but these hostilities have to end for the sake of the country's democracy.
Kadri Tastan & Ilke Toygür, Elcano Royal Institute
After years of rising tensions in transatlantic relations, the European Union could have a sigh of relief when Joe Biden won the U.S. presidential election. Even if there is no place for nostalgia for the golden years, it looks like the EU could cooperate better with a Biden administration on various issues than with the Trump one, including relations with Turkey. The current estrangement of Turkey -a candidate country for accession to... Читать дальше...
Oliver Moody, Times of London
A new museum in Berlin sheds light on a neglected and controversial chapter of German history
Economist
Freed from an endless round of EU gatherings, British diplomats expect to have more time for globe trotting. Alexander Downer, a former Australian foreign minister, has pointed out that there was a period of 17 years when no British foreign secretary visited Australia; such slights are unlikely to be repeated. Over the year since Brexit various nimble moves—from offering people in Hong Kong a path to British citizenship after China's crackdown there, to sanctions on Belarus while the rest of Europe dithered... Читать дальше...
Ethen Kim Lieser, 1945
On Saturday, even as the country surpassed three million confirmed coronavirusinfections, Russia decided against reimposing an economy-crippling national lockdown.
A. Killing & M. Rajagopalan, B-feed
ALMATY — China has built more than 100 new facilities in Xinjiang where it can not only lock people up, but also force them to work in dedicated factory buildings right on site, BuzzFeed News can reveal based on government records, interviews, and hundreds of satellite images.
Marc Coloma, Independent
Earlier this month, France unveiled a national strategy to increase vegetable protein production and Brexit should persuade us to follow suit, writes Marc Coloma
Perry Anderson, LRB
uantitatively speaking, the shift in the centre of gravity of work on the EU from America to Europe itself has been a product of a now vast academic industry: some five hundred Jean Monnet chairs are currently planted across the Union. In the midst of a sea of conformity, a cluster of thinkers has emerged whose writing represents a qualitative advance in critical understanding of the Union. In independence of spirit closer in type...
