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Press release - EU 2040 climate target: MEPs want 90% emissions reduction in EU climate law

Európa Parlament hírei - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 11:13
Parliament wants a 90% reduction target for emissions by 2040 compared with 1990 levels, to achieve a climate neutral EU by 2050.
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

Modération de contenu : la plateforme X d’Elon Musk visée par une enquête en Irlande

Euractiv.fr - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 11:03

La plateforme de réseaux sociaux X d’Elon Musk fait l’objet d’une enquête de l’autorité irlandaise Coimisiún na Meán pour d’éventuelles violations du règlement européen sur les services numériques (Digital Services Act, DSA), a annoncé le régulateur mercredi 12 novembre.

The post Modération de contenu : la plateforme X d’Elon Musk visée par une enquête en Irlande appeared first on Euractiv FR.

From exclusion to integration: how informal workers can improve urban waste management

Solid waste management is one of the most pressing urban governance issues in low- and middle-income countries. Because waste volumes are increasing, the associated fiscal, environmental and health costs will also rise. The idea of working with informal waste workers to address this problem is often suggested but rarely implemented. Based on the case of Irbid, Jordan’s second-biggest city, we show why it was successful there and draw recommendations for other municipalities. 
Irbid used an approach that combined what we call “frontloading trust” and “prioritising integration over training”. First, the mayor and municipal managers invited informal waste worker representatives to a structured dialogue about waste management challenges in the city, about the role of informal workers, and about potential solutions. During this months-long process, they overcame class differences, stigma and distrust and agreed on how to work together in the future. Then, rather than requiring extensive prior training of informal workers, they started to work together, which allowed workers to show what they were able to contribute (“prioritising integration over training”). 
Based on this process, the municipality and informal worker representatives signed the first Memorandum of Understanding of its kind in Jordan, legalising the work of informal workers, providing them with official badges and safety equipment and piloting their integration into municipal sorting facilities. After only a few months, data showed that the integration of informal workers had reduced landfill waste, had saved the municipality a lot of money, had improved waste services for residents, and had increased respect, protection and income for informal waste workers. 
This case shows that challenges like urban waste management require not only technical but social and governance innovations that include rather than exclude informal workers, and that can thereby contribute to improved livelihoods for all concerned.

 

From exclusion to integration: how informal workers can improve urban waste management

Solid waste management is one of the most pressing urban governance issues in low- and middle-income countries. Because waste volumes are increasing, the associated fiscal, environmental and health costs will also rise. The idea of working with informal waste workers to address this problem is often suggested but rarely implemented. Based on the case of Irbid, Jordan’s second-biggest city, we show why it was successful there and draw recommendations for other municipalities. 
Irbid used an approach that combined what we call “frontloading trust” and “prioritising integration over training”. First, the mayor and municipal managers invited informal waste worker representatives to a structured dialogue about waste management challenges in the city, about the role of informal workers, and about potential solutions. During this months-long process, they overcame class differences, stigma and distrust and agreed on how to work together in the future. Then, rather than requiring extensive prior training of informal workers, they started to work together, which allowed workers to show what they were able to contribute (“prioritising integration over training”). 
Based on this process, the municipality and informal worker representatives signed the first Memorandum of Understanding of its kind in Jordan, legalising the work of informal workers, providing them with official badges and safety equipment and piloting their integration into municipal sorting facilities. After only a few months, data showed that the integration of informal workers had reduced landfill waste, had saved the municipality a lot of money, had improved waste services for residents, and had increased respect, protection and income for informal waste workers. 
This case shows that challenges like urban waste management require not only technical but social and governance innovations that include rather than exclude informal workers, and that can thereby contribute to improved livelihoods for all concerned.

 

ÄNDERUNGSANTRÄGE 1 - 123 - Entwurf eines Berichts zur Änderung der Verordnungen (EG) Nr. 1907/2006, (EG) Nr. 1272/2008, (EU) Nr. 528/2012, (EU) 2019/1021 und (EU) 2021/697 hinsichtlich der Verteidigungsbereitschaft und der Erleichterung von...

ÄNDERUNGSANTRÄGE 1 - 123 - Entwurf eines Berichts zur Änderung der Verordnungen (EG) Nr. 1907/2006, (EG) Nr. 1272/2008, (EU) Nr. 528/2012, (EU) 2019/1021 und (EU) 2021/697 hinsichtlich der Verteidigungsbereitschaft und der Erleichterung von Investitionen im Verteidigungsbereich und der Bedingungen für die Verteidigungsindustrie
Ausschuss für Umweltfragen, öffentliche Gesundheit und Lebensmittelsicherheit
Ausschuss für Industrie, Forschung und Energie
Ausschuss für Sicherheit und Verteidigung
Antonio Decaro, Aura Salla, Sven Mikser

Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2025 - EP

Le président polonais bloque les nominations judiciaires et défie le gouvernement de Donald Tusk 

Euractiv.fr - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 10:46

Le refus du président Karol Nawrocki d'approuver des dizaines de nominations de juges marque une nette escalade dans son bras de fer avec le gouvernement pro-européen de Donald Tusk.

The post Le président polonais bloque les nominations judiciaires et défie le gouvernement de Donald Tusk  appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Au Parlement européen, le PPE prêt à s’allier à l’extrême droite pour faire passer une loi sur la durabilité des entreprises

Euractiv.fr - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 10:14

Le Parti populaire européen (PPE) s’apprête à faire adopter de nouvelles règles de durabilité pour les entreprises avec le soutien du groupe libéral Renew et du camp d’extrême droite Patriotes pour l’Europe, en vue d’un vote ce jeudi 13 novembre au Parlement européen.

The post Au Parlement européen, le PPE prêt à s’allier à l’extrême droite pour faire passer une loi sur la durabilité des entreprises appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Que retenir des divergences au sommet du tandem Diomaye-Sonko sur l'avenir de la coalition qui les a portés au pouvoir

BBC Afrique - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 09:58
Bassirou Diomaye Faye a annoncé la désignation de Mme Aminata Touré pour restructurer la coalition qui l’a amené au pouvoir, le bureau politique du PASTEF dirigé par Ousmane Sonko, s’est opposé à ce choix estimant ‘’ne partager ni les valeurs, ni les principes’’ avec la personne choisie par le président.
Categories: Afrique, Swiss News

Que retenir des divergences au sommet du tandem Diomaye-Sonko sur l'avenir de la coalition qui les a portés au pouvoir

BBC Afrique - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 09:58
Bassirou Diomaye Faye a annoncé la désignation de Mme Aminata Touré pour restructurer la coalition qui l’a amené au pouvoir, le bureau politique du PASTEF dirigé par Ousmane Sonko, s’est opposé à ce choix estimant ‘’ne partager ni les valeurs, ni les principes’’ avec la personne choisie par le président.
Categories: Afrique, Swiss News

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 2025

Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 09:14

By External Source
Nov 13 2025 (IPS-Partners)

 
Violence against women is a human rights emergency in every country.

One in three women worldwide experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime.

Most survivors are harmed by an intimate partner.

Every ten minutes, a woman or girl is killed by a partner or family member.

Around sixty percent of female homicides are committed by partners or relatives.

In 2023, an estimated 612 million women and girls lived within 50 kilometres of conflict, and their risk skyrockets.

Conflict related sexual violence is used strategically, and reports are rising.

The 2025 UNiTE theme calls us to end digital violence against all women and girls.

Studies indicate that between sixteen and fifty eight percent of women and girls face technology facilitated abuse.

Seventy three percent of women journalists report online violence, and one in four receive threats of physical harm.

Online abuse silences voices, distorts public debate, and often spills into offline harm.

Data matters, and the UN is strengthening global measurement of femicide to make every case count.

Many countries have laws, but real protection requires enforcement and survivor centred services.

Prevention works when we change harmful norms, fund services, and hold perpetrators to account.

Wear orange, speak up, and support survivors during the 16 Days of Activism from November 25 to December 10.

Media and audiences can help by using verified data and amplifying frontline voices.

On November 25, 2025, we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Act now! For rights, for safety, and for equality for all women and girls.

 


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Categories: Africa, Swiss News

Public Health Besieged by Industry Interference

Africa - INTER PRESS SERVICE - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 08:56

By Mary Assunta
BANGKOK, Thailand, Nov 13 2025 (IPS)

The 183 Parties to the global health treaty, WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) will convene in Geneva from 17 – 22 November with one objective – to strengthen their efforts to arrest the No.1 preventable cause of disease and 7 million deaths annually – tobacco use.

Credit: Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control

The WHO FCTC is unique in that it serves to regulate a unique industry that produces and markets a uniquely harmful product.

In October, the WHO FCTC Secretariat issued an alert to Parties preparing to head to Geneva for the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) urging them to stay vigilant against the industry’s tactics and misinformation.

According to the Andrew Black, the Acting Head of the Secretariat of the WHO FCTC, “This is not just lobbying; it is a deliberate strategy to try to derail consensus and weaken measures to further the treaty’s implementation.”

Despite government efforts to implement the treaty adopted 20 years ago, the tobacco industry is a lucrative business. It is projected to generate a revenue of more than US$988 billion in 2025. Low- and middle-income countries bear the bulk of the tobacco burden where 80% of the world’s 1.2 billion tobacco users live.

Governments have identified tobacco industry interference as their biggest barrier to implementing tobacco control measures to save lives.

But the tool to address tobacco industry meddling is in governments’ hands. Known as Article 5.3, this obligatory clause in the FCTC, is based on principles of good governance and outlines specific actions governments can take to limit their interactions with the tobacco industry to only when strictly necessary for regulation.

The Global Tobacco Industry Interference Index 2025, a civil society report card on governments’ implementation of this article, found many governments were lacking in protecting public health. The Index covering 100 countries has exposed how the tobacco industry targeted and persuaded willing senior officials, especially from the non-health sectors, to protect its business and lobby on its behalf.

The newly released Index found the industry has not only become more aggressive in its meddling, but it is also more blatant and lobbied legislators including parliamentarians, ministers and governors who as elected officials can influence policy at the legislature.

Parliamentarians in 14 countries filed pro-industry bills, accepted industry input that resulted in delayed adoption of tobacco control laws or promoted legislation to benefit the industry.

The Index revealed very senior officials had accepted sponsored study trips to tobacco company facilities, the most common facility visited being the Philip Morris International’s research facility in Switzerland.

The tobacco industry has also used its charity to lure public officials and governments to endorse its activities and whitewash its public image. While 32 countries have banned tobacco-related CSR activities, 18 governments from LMICs, such as Bangladesh, Bolivia, El Salvador, Fiji, Gabon, Jamaica and Zambia, collaborated and endorsed industry activities such as tree planting, community programs, assistance to farmers and cigarette butt cleanups.

Evidence shows tax increases on tobacco products is the silver bullet to reduce tobacco use. The Index found more than 60 of 100 countries were persuaded to not to increase tobacco tax, delay tax increases, lower tax rates, or give tax exemptions for certain products.

Over 40 countries resisted the tobacco industry’s misleading narrative on so called harm reduction and have banned e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products. However, when a government prevails with stringent legislation, the industry has used the courts to challenge the law. In Mexico for example, when the government banned e-cigarettes in 2023, Philip Morris Mexico obtained an injunction from the Supreme Court to allow it to continue sales of these products.

Industry interference has obstructed tobacco growing countries such as Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia from even having basic bans on cigarette advertising and promotions. Now Big Tobacco is pushing new nicotine products in these countries and others, and creating the next generation of nicotine addicts.

The lack of transparency in governments’ interactions with the industry has provided a breeding ground for interference. The absence of lobby registers and disclosure procedures, and the failure to inform the public about meetings with the industry lets this interference continue.

But there is hope and positive outcome for public health when governments acted without compromise. Botswana, Ethiopia, Finland, Netherlands and Palau all show low levels of interference by protecting their bureaucracy. These countries are a testament to standing up to a powerful industry and arresting interference so they can fulfill their mandate to protect public health.

Dr Mary Assunta is the head of Global Research and Advocacy at the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control

IPS UN Bureau

 


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Categories: Africa, Swiss News

Contrebande, espionnage, sabotage : comment la Russie utilise sa flotte secrète pour contourner les sanctions occidentales

BBC Afrique - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 08:13
Les pétroliers "fantômes" et "zombies", qui transportent clandestinement du pétrole russe, iranien et vénézuélien en violation des sanctions, étendent désormais leurs filets pour menacer les infrastructures sous-marines de l’Europe occidentale – et l’environnement.
Categories: Afrique, Swiss News

Contrebande, espionnage, sabotage : comment la Russie utilise sa flotte secrète pour contourner les sanctions occidentales

BBC Afrique - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 08:13
Les pétroliers "fantômes" et "zombies", qui transportent clandestinement du pétrole russe, iranien et vénézuélien en violation des sanctions, étendent désormais leurs filets pour menacer les infrastructures sous-marines de l’Europe occidentale – et l’environnement.
Categories: Afrique, Swiss News

Remarks by Paschal Donohoe following the Eurogroup meeting of 12 November 2025

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
Remarks by Eurogroup President Paschal Donohoe on macroeconomic situation, competitiveness, euro area challenges in a global context, while also addressing fiscal policy coordination, Banking Union and the progress made on the digital euro and stablecoins.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

Macroeconomic dialogue with the social partners on 12 November 2025

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
The Council presidency, the European Central Bank and the European Commission met with European social partners on 12 November 2025 to discuss recent developments of the economic situation, as well as a thematic topic chosen by the Danish presidency: “The importance of labour market and human capital-building reforms in enhancing EU’s competitiveness”.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

Press briefing - Agriculture and Fisheries Council of 17 November 2025

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
Press briefing ahead of the upcoming Agriculture and Fisheries Council will take place on 13 November 2025 at 18.00.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

Council and Parliament strike a deal on combating cross-border unfair trading practices in the agrifood sector

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
Today Council and Parliament reach provisional agreement to update cross-border enforcement of rules against unfair trading practices in the agrifood supply chain.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Implementing Decision (CFSP) 2025/2038 of 23 October 2025 implementing Decision 2012/642/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/2036 of 23 October 2025 amending Decision 2014/145/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the EU on the alignment of certain countries concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine

European Council - Thu, 11/13/2025 - 05:47
Statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the alignment of certain third countries with Council Decision (CFSP) 2025/2040 of 23 October 2025 amending Decision 2012/642/CFSP concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Belarus and the involvement of Belarus in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
Categories: European Union, Swiss News

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