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L'UE s'est engagée mardi 13 mai à renforcer ses sanctions contre la Russie après que le Kremlin a ignoré l'ultimatum lancé par les Européens, qui exigeaient un cessez-le-feu de 30 jours en Ukraine.

The post L’UE va renforcer ses sanctions contre Moscou après l’échec des appels à un cessez-le-feu appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Internal documents seen by Euractiv show the secretariat-general, comprised of top EU officials, will be revamped on Friday.

Bis Ende Jahr will Bundesrätin Elisabeth Baume-Schneider die nächste grosse AHV-Reform in die Vernehmlassung geben. Blick weiss: Am Mittwoch diskutiert der Bundesrat darüber, in welche Richtung es dabei gehen soll.

Für Wehrpflichtige soll es schwieriger werden, ihren Dienst statt bei der Armee im Zivildienst zu leisten. Die zuständige Kommission des Nationalrates stellt sich hinter Vorschläge des Bundesrates. Widerstand gegen die Anpassungen im Zivildienstgesetz regt sich bereits.

Un appareil proposé dans les magasins Jumbo est jugé dangereux. Le détendeur allemand n’est pas compatible avec les bonbonnes de gaz suisses.

Quelques centaines de salariés d'ArcelorMittal de toute la France ont manifesté mardi 13 mai devant le siège français du groupe en banlieue parisienne, pour la défense de leur emploi et l'avenir de l'acier en France.

The post ArcelorMittal : les salariés manifestent à Paris contre les suppressions de postes appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Des individus mal intentionnés s'arrogent le droit de saboter les infrastructures routières réalisées pour la bonne circulation des personnes et des biens. La police, dans son rôle de veille sécuritaire a procédé à la saisie d'une importante quantité de couvercles en acier des égouts volés.

La police aux trousses de citoyens véreux qui volent les couvercles en acier des égouts sur les voies publiques. Une enquête minutieuse a permis de saisir une importante quantité de couvercles en acier des égouts volés par les hors la loi. Un appel au sens de responsabilité et de civisme de tous pour la préservation de ces infrastructures.

La publication de la police
L'amélioration du réseau routier reste une préoccupation majeure du Gouvernement de la République du Bénin.
Ainsi, d'énormes sacrifices ont été consentis, aboutissant à l'édification de routes modernes, pour la grande satisfaction des usagers. Malheureusement, certains individus, en quête de gains faciles, s'arrogent le vilain privilège de soustraire frauduleusement les couvercles en acier des égouts, sur ces routes récemment réfectionnées. Ils ont pour seul but de les revendre aux fondeurs, au grand dam de la sécurité de tous.
La Police Républicaine, fidèle à son rôle régalien, a mené une enquête minutieuse. Cette enquête a permis la saisie d'une importante quantité de matériel en acier dérobé par ces individus dépourvus de toute fibre patriotique.
La Police Républicaine en appelle au sens de responsabilité et de civisme de tous pour la préservation de ces infrastructures. Elle invite également tous les bons citoyens à rapporter sans délai les auteurs de ces actes, ainsi que leurs complices.
Ensemble, protégeons les infrastructures routières !

Nach seinen Schmähgesängen hat die SFL eine Verfahren gegen Taulant Xhaka (34) eingeleitet. Warum es für den Basler Mittelfeldspieler ein Vorteil wäre, möglichst schnell ein Urteil zu bekommen.

Der achtfachte Coiffeur-Weltmeister Martin Dürrenmatt lüftet bei Blick das haarige Geheimnis von Sandra Studer und Hazel Brugger, die den ESC in Basel moderieren.

Written by Marc Jütten.

President Donald Trump threatens that the US will take back the Panama Canal, a strategic maritime route for global trade, because of perceived Chinese influence in the Canal Zone. In fact, a Hong Kong-based private company owns two of the canal’s five port terminals at strategically important points. The Panama Canal is a key maritime trade route that handles about 40 % of US container traffic and approximately 5 % of world trade.

Background

From 1904 to 1914, the US completed the building of the Panama Canal. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter and Panamanian military leader Omar Torrijos signed the Neutrality Treaty and the Panama Canal Treaty, referred to as the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which ended decades of US control over the canal. The agreement guaranteed the canal’s neutrality and passed full sovereignty over the canal to Panama by 31 December 1999. Since then, the Panama Canal has been managed and operated by the Panama Canal Authority (PCA), an agency of the Panamanian government. Over time, various expansion programmes have increased the canal’s traffic handling. The completion of a major expansion in 2016 significantly increased Panama’s revenues and global trade influence, with the works involving a consortium of companies from Spain, Italy and Belgium. In addition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) provided US$500 million, representing 10 % of the project costs and marking the EIB’s largest operation so far in Latin America.

Figure 1 – The Panama Canal © Peter Hermes Furian/Adobe Stock. A global trading hub

The Panama Canal is an artificial 82-kilometre (51-mile) waterway that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean (see Figure 1), making it an important trade and logistics hub. By allowing vessels to bypass the southernmost tip of South America, the canal significantly reduces transit times, distances and logistics costs, and is the fastest route for trade between the US east coast and Asia. Overall, the canal connects 180 maritime routes and 1 920 ports worldwide. It generates roughly 4 % of Panama’s GDP, through the tolls paid by vessels using the canal. According to the PCA, the canal handles approximately 5 % of world trade; 40 % of all US container traffic traverses it annually, and more than 70 % of the cargo that goes through the canal originates in or is destined for the US, making the Panama Canal vital to US supply chains. The canal is also a crucial component of US naval strategy, allowing the US Navy to swiftly transfer vessels between the Atlantic and Pacific. China accounted for 21.4 % of the cargo volume transiting the canal, making it the second largest user after the US. Other major users of the waterway include Japan, South Korea and Chile (see Figure 2). From an EU perspective, the third most important trade route, which the Panama Canal connects, is from South America’s west coast to Europe.

The Panama Canal relies on freshwater, which makes it dependent on climate change. In recent years, unprecedented droughts (the El Niño weather phenomenon) have been affecting the water supply from nearby lakes, leading authorities to impose surcharges and weight limits on ships traversing the canal. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), drought reduced the Panama flows by 5 % in 2023, with economic damage estimated at around 0.5 % of Panama’s GDP for 2024.

Figure 2 – Top countries shipping cargo through the Panama Canal Data source: Panama Canal Statistics. China’s presence in the Panama Canal Zone

A company controlled by CK Hutchison Holdings, a Hong Kong-based private multinational conglomerate corporation, has operated two of the canal’s five port terminals since it won the tender in 1997; their contract was renewed for another 25 years in 2021. The company operates one container terminal at the port of Balboa (on the Pacific side) and another at Cristóbal (on the Atlantic side), which provide access to the Panama Canal Railway. The railway has become increasingly important over the years, among other reasons because of the canal’s chronic lack of water. Because of low water, many large container ships have to offload cargo and transport it by rail to the other end of the canal. The Chinese government lacks any direct institutional channels to influence CK Hutchison’s decision-making. However, experts point out that, if Hutchison were to give preferential treatment to the cargo of Chinese ships, it might have an impact on the supply of goods to the US. According to an announcement made on 4 March 2025, CK Hutchison agreed to sell most of its global ports business, including those on the Panama Canal, to US-led group BlackRock. CK Hutchison stressed that the transaction was purely commercial in nature and unrelated to recent political events. However, in the meantime it has been reported that China’s market regulator said it would carry out an antitrust review of the Panama port deal in accordance with a law to protect fair competition and safeguard the public interest. Consequently, the deal was not signed on 2 April as expected. In addition to the two container terminals, there are other undertakings around the Panama Canal operated by Chinese state-owned companies. In 2024, a new cruise ship terminal was inaugurated, built by a consortium led by China Harbour Engineering Company. The latest project is the construction of the fourth bridge over the Panama Canal, involving a consortium comprising state-owned China Communications Construction Company and China Harbour Engineering Company.

Panama’s sovereign rights under threat?

President Trump’s allegations regarding the Panama Canal are two-sided. He accused Panama of charging US ships exorbitant rates to transit the canal and urged free transit for American commercial and military ships. In fact, the PCA charges fees based on the size and type of ships that are using the waterway; rates are uniform, impartial, and non-discriminatory. Panama’s President, Jose Raul Mulino, added that US government vessels, including navy vessels, paid US$6 million a year for the right of passage. The Torrijos-Carter Treaties only granted preferential treatment to vessels from Costa Rica and Colombia. Secondly, Trump claimed that the US would take back the Panama Canal because of Chinese influence in the Canal Zone, which poses a threat and represents a violation of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. In fact, the Treaties envisage the US having primary responsibility for protecting and defending the canal against armed attacks or other actions which threaten the canal’s security. While Panama rejected US claims threatening Panama’s sovereign rights over the canal, the government has made some concessions, including on migration, the fight against organised crime and security cooperation. Following a visit by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February 2025, President Mulino confirmed that Panama would withdraw from China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, Mulino and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, during his visit to Panama, issued a joint statement on 8 April that included information about the signature of a memorandum of understanding on enhanced security cooperation. Moreover, Panama and the US would work on a mechanism to compensate for the payment of tolls and charges. However, while the Spanish-language version of the statement, released by Panama, said ‘Hegseth recognised Panama’s leadership and inalienable sovereignty over the Panama Canal’, that line did not appear in the English version released by the Pentagon.

In 2012, the EU and Panama signed the EU-Central America Association Agreement, which establishes a free trade area between the EU and Central America, consisting of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. In April 2024, the Council adopted a decision to conclude the agreement; this is the final step of the ratification process, which allows for the full implementation of the agreement. The European Parliament gave its consent to the agreement on 11 December 2012. Panama has also established partnerships with the EU under the Global Gateway Investment Agenda.

Read this ‘at a glance’ note on ‘The Panama Canal: Panama’s sovereign rights under threat?‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.

Les pays qui abritent la chaîne de montagnes de l'Himalaya comptent depuis longtemps sur les recettes touristiques qu'elle génère. Mais la pollution de l'air et le ciel brumeux, aggravés par le changement climatique, empêchent désormais de profiter de la vue envoûtante des sommets pendant la majeure partie de l'année.

In 50 Tagen beginnt die Frauen-EM in der Schweiz. Die Organisatoren sind auf Kurs, für die 31 Spiele wurden bereits mehr als 550'000 Tickets verkauft. Es kündigt sich ein Turnier der Superlative an.

An ex-MP was ordered to pay $18m, but a judge rules that the amount was "disproportionate".

Kedden reggel három személygépkocsi ütközött össze Budamér és Kassa között, két sérültet a kassai Louis Pasteur Egyetemi Kórházba szállítottak.

Der gefährliche Trend #SkinnyTok verherrlicht auf Tiktok extreme Schlankheit und präsentiert restriktives Essverhalten als Schlüssel zu Erfolg und Attraktivität. Eine Petition fordert die konsequente Löschung solcher Inhalte.

Dauer des Videos : 30'

Haftungsausschluss : Die Verdolmetschung der Debatten soll die Kommunikation erleichtern, sie stellt jedoch keine authentische Aufzeichnung der Debatten dar. Authentisch sind nur die Originalfassungen der Reden bzw. ihre überprüften schriftlichen Übersetzungen.
Quelle : © Europäische Union, 2025 - EP

Schwerer Verkehrsunfall in Roggwil TG: Ein Auto und ein Lastwagen sind auf dem Autobahnzubringer A23 zusammengekracht. Der 57-jährige Autofahrer verstarb noch an der Unfallstelle. Der Lastwagenfahrer wurde leicht verletzt.

Some broader defence-related spending could count toward the target – but not "a grab bag" of budget items, the ambassador said.

Am Donnerstag feiert das Bundesgericht sein 150-Jahr-Jubiläum. Eingeladen sind auch Medienschaffende. Doch fotografieren und filmen dürfen sie den Festakt nicht selbst. Schränkt ausgerechnet das Bundesgericht die Medienfreiheit ein?

Rama's supporters are thrilled with his fourth term. But election results are entirely predictable in a well-managed country.