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Green, circular buildings are crucial for climate change mitigation and resource efficiency, yet their employment impact in Sub-Saharan Africa remains unclear. This paper explores green job potential in Kigali, Rwanda—an urbanizing city with strong policy commitments and urgent housing needs. Employing a sequential mixed-methods design, we conducted 33 expert interviews and surveyed 546 firms across five construction value chain segments. We find that (1) many green jobs already exist, with 5.1% highly green and about 58% partly green based on practices performed; (2) green and circular practices are emerging through both policy support and grassroots innovation, (3) greening is positively, significantly correlated with employment growth for highly green firms, and (4) greening is significantly associated with improved job quality for all firms. Targeted support for firms in critical greening phases could boost job creation and quality. A mix of interventions is required to tackle cost competitiveness, skills and attitudes.

Green, circular buildings are crucial for climate change mitigation and resource efficiency, yet their employment impact in Sub-Saharan Africa remains unclear. This paper explores green job potential in Kigali, Rwanda—an urbanizing city with strong policy commitments and urgent housing needs. Employing a sequential mixed-methods design, we conducted 33 expert interviews and surveyed 546 firms across five construction value chain segments. We find that (1) many green jobs already exist, with 5.1% highly green and about 58% partly green based on practices performed; (2) green and circular practices are emerging through both policy support and grassroots innovation, (3) greening is positively, significantly correlated with employment growth for highly green firms, and (4) greening is significantly associated with improved job quality for all firms. Targeted support for firms in critical greening phases could boost job creation and quality. A mix of interventions is required to tackle cost competitiveness, skills and attitudes.

Green, circular buildings are crucial for climate change mitigation and resource efficiency, yet their employment impact in Sub-Saharan Africa remains unclear. This paper explores green job potential in Kigali, Rwanda—an urbanizing city with strong policy commitments and urgent housing needs. Employing a sequential mixed-methods design, we conducted 33 expert interviews and surveyed 546 firms across five construction value chain segments. We find that (1) many green jobs already exist, with 5.1% highly green and about 58% partly green based on practices performed; (2) green and circular practices are emerging through both policy support and grassroots innovation, (3) greening is positively, significantly correlated with employment growth for highly green firms, and (4) greening is significantly associated with improved job quality for all firms. Targeted support for firms in critical greening phases could boost job creation and quality. A mix of interventions is required to tackle cost competitiveness, skills and attitudes.

Facing Xi Jinping across a polished Beijing conference table—less a peer than a petitioner granted audience—Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney declared that Canada was “set up well for the new world order.” The remark landed not as a strategy of trade diversification, but as a carefully choreographed kowtow, casting Canada in the obloquious role of an irritable middle power crossing the Pacific with the zeal of a court eunuch: eager to reassure an emperor while daring the prairie and Quebecer populists to absorb the snub. Carney’s January state visit to China—Canada’s first prime-ministerial foray in eight years—quickly produced headlines touting $4 billion in canola tariff relief and the announcement of a so-called ‘new strategic partnership,’ an institutionalized reset whose substance remained conspicuously thin, extending little beyond consultative dialogues and trade-facilitation committees. Yet the deeper story lay not in the press releases or handshake photos, but in the erratic motion beneath them. Canada’s foreign policy now swings like a toddler wielding scissors—so visibly that even Beijing itself declined to dignify the moment with a joint announcement. Indeed, Carney delivered the trade news alone, in a solo press appearance following the summit, a detail quietly emphasized when Global Times splashed front-page images of the Canadian prime minister speaking by himself, as if to underline who was indulging whom. The visit, then, was revealing not merely for the deals struck, but for the asymmetry it exposed: who Canada rushed to please, and whom it appeared willing to slight in exchange for short-term economic anesthesia.

Carney’s Situational Liberalism Awakens the Wrath of ‘We the Locals’ Populists in the Prairies and Quebec

In Alberta, the backlash initially assumed a sharper moral and constitutional edge—one that directly connected Ottawa’s foreign-policy posture to domestic legitimacy. Michael Kovrig, the former Canadian diplomat imprisoned in China for more than 1,000 days, warned that Carney’s Beijing visit risked squandering Canada’s hard-earned credibility on human rights. By emphasizing trade normalization while soft-pedaling issues of coercive diplomacy and political repression, Kovrig argued, Ottawa hollowed out its own claim to principled leadership, signaling that values were now negotiable when economic relief was at stake.

What Ottawa framed as pragmatic recalibration on China’s human-rights record soon collided in Alberta with long-standing anger over fiscal redistribution and energy policy, hardening a sense of alienation that fed the province’s separatist undercurrent. Weeks later, petition drives in central Alberta — including packed meetings in Red Deer — drew long lines of residents eager to sign on to a proposed independence referendum. Organizers reported strong turnout and enthusiasm, with roughly three in ten participants openly expressing support for leaving the federation altogether. The petition, if it reaches the required threshold, would force a province‑wide referendum later in the year, transforming diffuse resentment into a formal constitutional challenge

Alberta’s separatists have not limited themselves to domestic mobilization. Movement leaders have openly boasted of seeking audiences in the United States, even attempting to bend the ear of U.S. President Donald Trump and his circle to air grievances against Ottawa and to internationalize their cause. The spectacle of provincial activists shopping their complaints south of the border underscored how deeply federal authority has eroded in parts of the West. For many Alberta separatist critics, that erosion goes beyond economic decline and reflects a cumulative record of federal policy outcomes widely perceived as unfair: Alberta has been a net contributor under equalization payments since the mid‑1960s, contributing to redistribution while receiving none; pipeline conflicts culminated in the rejection of Northern Gateway (2016), the collapse of Energy East (2017), and the cancellation of Keystone XL (2021), reinforcing perceptions of federal obstruction even as Ottawa selectively intervened by purchasing and advancing Trans Mountain in 2018. Although Alberta gained three seats in the 2022 redistribution—holding 37 of 343 House seats (10.8 %) while representing roughly 11.6 % of the national population—representation debates still persist alongside ongoing economic grievances that endure even amid record oil production and profits in recent years.

Quebec’s response to Carney’s January visit to China followed a different but no less corrosive trajectory. In a January 12 social media post, Parti Québécois leader Paul St‑Pierre Plamondon denounced Carney’s “insane desire to suddenly forge an alliance with a totalitarian communist regime that already constitutes a threat to our national security, China,” while simultaneously voicing support for popular resistance against authoritarian rule elsewhere. What sovereigntist figures cast as a betrayal embedded in Carney’s China posture did not generate an entirely new grievance so much as strip the cover off a long‑simmering dispute with Ottawa over federal critical‑mineral governance—most clearly illustrated by the Barriere Lake mining case. In 2024, a Quebec court ruled that mining claims had been issued without proper consultation with the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation (Algonquins of Barriere Lake), reinforcing Quebec’s complaint that Ottawa’s drive to fast‑track critical‑mineral development routinely collides with constitutional consultation duties, legal predictability, and provincial authority over permitting.

Taken together, these provincial responses reveal the deeper consequence of Carney’s China gambit. What was presented as pragmatic liberal internationalism abroad has translated into fragmentation and suspicion at home—awakening resource localism both in the West and in Quebec. The visit exposed not just an asymmetry between Ottawa and Beijing, but a widening rift between Canada’s federal center and ‘We the locals’ it governs.

Environ un tiers des équipements militaires produits dans l’Union européenne et retrouvés en Russie transiteraient par la Turquie, selon un rapport publié le 19 février par l’institut allemand Ifo Institute.

The post La Turquie, plaque tournante des exportations indirectes d’armes de l’UE vers la Russie appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Quatre mois après les exactions commises à El-Facher dans le Darfour, après sa prise par les paramilitaires des Forces de soutien rapide (FSR), une mission d'enquête de l'ONU a fait état jeudi d'"actes de génocide". Le rapport documente notamment "des massacres, des viols généralisés, des violences sexuelles, des actes de torture (...) et des disparitions forcées" lors de la prise de la ville.

Already, Tarique Rahman has made clear that Bangladesh’s interests would guide foreign policy. China, India, and the United States are recalibrating their approaches accordingly. 

With discussions on a possible new, flexible, regional platform with Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, Pakistan is seeking to build backup security channels in a dynamic region.

The reconstruction of Syria lacks a solid foundation, as Ahmad Al-Sharaa and his interim government prefer to establish facts rather than a social consensus. In his victory speech, al-Sharaa promised a social contract, but protection, provision and participation are still lacking. The interim government has fallen short of its responsibility in all three areas as evidenced by a series of violence including the forceful takeover of Kurdish-dominated territory in early 2026, large-scale investments without clear benefit for Syria’s suffering population, and polarized public discourse lacking genuine commitment to pluralism and tolerance. Social rifts are deep, including within the Syrian diaspora, which also requires a minimum of trust and security – so only some members of the diaspora may choose to engage with their homeland. The international community should not remain silent over these destabilizing developments in Syria’s domestic politics.

The reconstruction of Syria lacks a solid foundation, as Ahmad Al-Sharaa and his interim government prefer to establish facts rather than a social consensus. In his victory speech, al-Sharaa promised a social contract, but protection, provision and participation are still lacking. The interim government has fallen short of its responsibility in all three areas as evidenced by a series of violence including the forceful takeover of Kurdish-dominated territory in early 2026, large-scale investments without clear benefit for Syria’s suffering population, and polarized public discourse lacking genuine commitment to pluralism and tolerance. Social rifts are deep, including within the Syrian diaspora, which also requires a minimum of trust and security – so only some members of the diaspora may choose to engage with their homeland. The international community should not remain silent over these destabilizing developments in Syria’s domestic politics.

The reconstruction of Syria lacks a solid foundation, as Ahmad Al-Sharaa and his interim government prefer to establish facts rather than a social consensus. In his victory speech, al-Sharaa promised a social contract, but protection, provision and participation are still lacking. The interim government has fallen short of its responsibility in all three areas as evidenced by a series of violence including the forceful takeover of Kurdish-dominated territory in early 2026, large-scale investments without clear benefit for Syria’s suffering population, and polarized public discourse lacking genuine commitment to pluralism and tolerance. Social rifts are deep, including within the Syrian diaspora, which also requires a minimum of trust and security – so only some members of the diaspora may choose to engage with their homeland. The international community should not remain silent over these destabilizing developments in Syria’s domestic politics.

Dem Wiederaufbau Syriens fehlt das Fundament, denn Ahmad Al-Scharaa und seine Übergangsregierung schaffen lieber Fakten als einen gesellschaftlichen Konsens. In seiner Siegesrede versprach Al-Sharaa einen Gesellschaftsvertrag, doch Schutz, Daseinsvorsorge und die Möglichkeit bürgerlicher Teilhabe lassen weiterhin zu wünschen übrig. Die Übergangsregierung ist ihrer Verantwortung in allen drei Bereichen nicht nachgekommen. Das zeigen, erstens, das wiederholte Wiederaufflammen von Gewalt, darunter die gewaltsame Übernahme des kurdisch dominierten Gebiets Anfang 2026, zweitens, die groß angelegten Investitionen ohne klaren Nutzen für die notleidende Bevölkerung und, drittens, die polarisierte öffentliche Debatte ohne echtes Bekenntnis zu Pluralismus und Toleranz. Die sozialen Gräben sind tief, auch innerhalb der syrischen Diaspora. Mangels Vertrauen und Sicherheit wird nur ein Teil der Syrer im Ausland bereit sein sich, über Rücküberweisungen hinaus, für ihr Heimatland zu engagieren. Die internationale Gemeinschaft sollte zu diesen besorgniserregenden Entwicklungen in der syrischen Innenpolitik nicht schweigen.

Dem Wiederaufbau Syriens fehlt das Fundament, denn Ahmad Al-Scharaa und seine Übergangsregierung schaffen lieber Fakten als einen gesellschaftlichen Konsens. In seiner Siegesrede versprach Al-Sharaa einen Gesellschaftsvertrag, doch Schutz, Daseinsvorsorge und die Möglichkeit bürgerlicher Teilhabe lassen weiterhin zu wünschen übrig. Die Übergangsregierung ist ihrer Verantwortung in allen drei Bereichen nicht nachgekommen. Das zeigen, erstens, das wiederholte Wiederaufflammen von Gewalt, darunter die gewaltsame Übernahme des kurdisch dominierten Gebiets Anfang 2026, zweitens, die groß angelegten Investitionen ohne klaren Nutzen für die notleidende Bevölkerung und, drittens, die polarisierte öffentliche Debatte ohne echtes Bekenntnis zu Pluralismus und Toleranz. Die sozialen Gräben sind tief, auch innerhalb der syrischen Diaspora. Mangels Vertrauen und Sicherheit wird nur ein Teil der Syrer im Ausland bereit sein sich, über Rücküberweisungen hinaus, für ihr Heimatland zu engagieren. Die internationale Gemeinschaft sollte zu diesen besorgniserregenden Entwicklungen in der syrischen Innenpolitik nicht schweigen.

Dem Wiederaufbau Syriens fehlt das Fundament, denn Ahmad Al-Scharaa und seine Übergangsregierung schaffen lieber Fakten als einen gesellschaftlichen Konsens. In seiner Siegesrede versprach Al-Sharaa einen Gesellschaftsvertrag, doch Schutz, Daseinsvorsorge und die Möglichkeit bürgerlicher Teilhabe lassen weiterhin zu wünschen übrig. Die Übergangsregierung ist ihrer Verantwortung in allen drei Bereichen nicht nachgekommen. Das zeigen, erstens, das wiederholte Wiederaufflammen von Gewalt, darunter die gewaltsame Übernahme des kurdisch dominierten Gebiets Anfang 2026, zweitens, die groß angelegten Investitionen ohne klaren Nutzen für die notleidende Bevölkerung und, drittens, die polarisierte öffentliche Debatte ohne echtes Bekenntnis zu Pluralismus und Toleranz. Die sozialen Gräben sind tief, auch innerhalb der syrischen Diaspora. Mangels Vertrauen und Sicherheit wird nur ein Teil der Syrer im Ausland bereit sein sich, über Rücküberweisungen hinaus, für ihr Heimatland zu engagieren. Die internationale Gemeinschaft sollte zu diesen besorgniserregenden Entwicklungen in der syrischen Innenpolitik nicht schweigen.

The country has rushed to embrace artificial intelligence. Its impacts on jobs, the electrical grid, and water availability need to be taken into account.

The purges carry real implications for China’s domestic politics and short-term military readiness, but their relevance to Beijing’s Taiwan policy is limited.

The court’s recognition of Yoon as a rebellion leader necessitates an expedited final ruling to permanently root out martial law remnants.

Dreißig Jahre nach Gründung der Zollunion mit der Europäischen Union (EU) sieht Ankara durch die Freihandelsabkommen der EU mit Drittstaaten, zuletzt mit Indien, wachsende wirtschaftliche Risiken. Während die Verhandlungen zum EU-Indien-Freihandels­abkommen Ende Januar abgeschlossen wurden und nun ebenfalls die Sicher­heits­kooperation zwischen der EU und Indien ausgeweitet werden soll, bleibt Ankara außen vor. Aus Sicht der Türkei könnte das Abkommen zudem ihr Gewicht im strate­gischen Kalkül der EU schwächen. Mit Nachdruck fordert Ankara daher die Modernisierung der Zollunion. Denn nicht auszuschließen ist, dass sich die struk­turellen Asymmetrien in der Zollunion zu seinen Lasten weiter verfestigen: Markt­integration ohne politische Mitgestaltung kann eine dauerhafte Benachteiligung der Türkei bedeuten und belastet ihre Beziehungen zur EU. Mit Inkrafttreten des Frei­handels­abkommens werden indische Produkte leichter auf den tür­kischen Markt gelangen, türkische Produkte aber nicht nach Indien. Aufgrund geo­politischer Diver­genzen mit Indien bestehen aus türkischer Perspektive überdies Risiken für eigene regionale Interessen. Brüssel und Berlin könnten diese Konstellation nutzen, um die Koopera­tion mit Ankara auf eine tragfähige institutionelle Grundlage zu stellen.

Die Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz zeigt: Das transatlantische „Wir" ist nicht mehr selbstverständlich. Globale Ordnung muss neu verhandelt werden. Ein Gastbeitrag von Julia Leininger.

Die Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz zeigt: Das transatlantische „Wir" ist nicht mehr selbstverständlich. Globale Ordnung muss neu verhandelt werden. Ein Gastbeitrag von Julia Leininger.