Nearly 60% of Canadians support becoming a full member of the European Union, poll says Results come amid heightened tension between Canada and the U.S., particularly over a wave of new tariffs on Canadian imports

57% of Canadians support the idea of Canada becoming a member of the European Union

www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

The Trump budget once again proposes to eliminate NOAA OAR, which brings you the CO₂ Keeling Curve. In this piece, I argued that the Keeling Curve is a treasure that belongs to humanity as the most poignant indication of our impact on the environment and as a testament to our ability to document it.

Germany's energy minister has correctly identified that it's sustainability that's crashing the German economy... First it was the pipeline supply of sustainability from Russia and now the seaborne supply of sustainability from the Gulf...

Here it is - after Iceland last week, today the EU signed the Security and Defence Partnership with Australia.

In Asia, the EU now has security partnerships with Japan, South Korea, India and Australia:

Spain's renewables build-out has structurally decoupled its electricity prices from gas markets. Gas now sets the price in only 15% of hours, compared to 90% in Italy.

Countries that invested early in clean power are far less exposed to fossil fuel price shocks. Those that didn't now pay the price.

Trump’s choices are only pushing China and Russia closer together Beijing and Moscow look to one another for energy and economic security amid geopolitical turbulence

Alexander Gabuev in FT: Trump’s choices are only pushing China and Russia closer together – ‘Beijing seemed reluctant to further increase its reliance on Russian energy. […] Trump’s war in the Middle East and the US naval blockade of Venezuela may change that calculus.’

A grim parallel between US escalating a trade war w/ China & realising that China has serious leverage in the form of rare earths & US launching a war vs Iran & realising Iran has serious leverage in the form of being able to blow up the world economy. Failure of statecraft.

Jeez - these numbers for Europe are absolutely bonkers

China's trade data for the first 2 months of the year.

Exports to the EU up 27.8%
Exports to Germany up 31.3%
Exports to Netherlands up 17.9%
Exports to France up 31.9%
Exports to Italy up 36.4%

Neuer Kurs der Bundesregierung: Feminismus nicht mehr gewünscht Frauenminsterin Karin Prien streicht Geld für den Feministischen Juristinnentag in Hamburg. Ihre Vorgängerinnen hatten ihn jahrzehntelang unterstützt.

40 Jahre lang wurde der Feministische Juristinnentag vom Bund gefördert - dieses Jahr wurde die Förderung kurz vor der Veranstaltung eingestellt. Der FJT ist eine sehr wichtige juristische Veranstaltung: viel Solidarität mit den Kolleginnen!

taz.de/Neuer-Kurs-d...

The EU has the tools to stand up to the US (read anti-coercion instrument) and I read @olofgill.bsky.social's statements to mean it is ready to use them if Trump really blocks all trade with Spain because Sánchez dares criticize him. The EU has to stand together.

Strategically it’s incredibly clever the EU is eroding the key levers of the green transition.

As a net oil and gas importer being susceptible to repeated geopolitical supply and terms of trade shocks is just such a great place to be.

As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence For long, China was a magnet for America’s rhetorical aggression. Now, it is the Europeans who are under fire.

As transatlantic divorce plays out in Munich, China enjoys the silence

My last dispatch from Bavaria on Beijing floating under the radar, looking for openings...

Screenshot of a White House Press Release titled „In Munich, Secretary Rubio Calls on Allies to Embrace Shared Heritage, Meet Challenges of New Era“.

It’s telling what the White House highlights with regard to Rubio’s speech. „Shared heritage“, „Christian foundations“, „cultural legacy“, „cultural preservation“, and a rejection of globalism. That‘s at the heart of its understanding of „Western civilization“.

Merz at MSC: Europe will not adopt MAGA vision of free speech. It does not support tariffs and protectionism. It believes in climate change and the need for the WHO. "The US will run up against its own limits if it tries to go it alone"

"As Japan’s election showed on Sunday, coercive pressure from abroad — in this case from China — can backfire badly on the coercer."

Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Can Europe do nuclear deterrence without America? Britain and France are deepening their co-operation

Can Europe do nuclear deterrence without America? France and the UK are deepening their cooperation. Other European conversations with the continent’s two nuclear-armed powers are also underway

A joint report with @shashj.bsky.social

economist.com/europe/2026/...

The Other India-EU Deal The trade pact may be getting all the attention, but the pair also inked a landmark defense agreement.

The trade pact may be getting all the attention, but the pair also inked a landmark defense agreement this week.

In Trump’s Shadow, India and the European Union Expand Trade Ties After nearly 20 years of negotiations, the two sides struck a far-reaching agreement that officials called “the mother of all trade deals.”

Breaking News: India and the EU announced a free-trade agreement nearly 20 years in the making.

Europe is about to sign a long-awaited free-trade deal with India One way to show America and China that also-rans have options, too

The EU and #India are the runners-up in their respective half of the globe. But if they team up, they‘ll show the world that they have options, too. 🇪🇺🇮🇳

My latest for The @economist.com.
economist.com/europe/2026/...

No idea if this will be good so it is not an endorsement per se, but curious to see how it develops

Breaking | China’s top military leaders Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli put under investigation Pair suspected of ‘serious violations of discipline and law’.

China’s top military leaders Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli put under investigation
www.scmp.com/news/china/p...

Many western multinationals are losing enthusiasm for China
• European and US firms cut employment in China by almost 10% between 2019 and 2023
• Several big US firms like Starbucks, IBM and Airbnb have pulled out of China, completely or in part
www.economist.com/briefing/202...

Mit, ohne, gegen Washington: Die Neubestimmung der Bezie­hungen Europas zu den USA Die Epoche der Pax Americana, die nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg Deutsch­lands und Europas Sicherheit garantierte, kommt an ihr Ende. Die Europäer...

Die Ära der Pax Americana geht zu Ende. Europa kann sich nicht länger auf die Partnerschaft mit den USA verlassen. Eine Studie von Barbara Lippert & Stefan Mair (Hg.) zeigt in 14 Beiträgen Wege aus der Abhängigkeit von Washington. (1/4) www.swp-berlin.org/publikation/...

Chinese Policymakers Look Focused on Domestic Demand to Lift Economy Senior state planners are formulating a five-year plan to lift domestic demand, acknowledging that the world’s second-largest economy currently faces an imbalance between “strong supply and weak deman...

„We believe Beijing has become increasingly concerned about one of the worst domestic demand slowdowns in this century“ www.wsj.com/economy/chin...

NATO's Rutte says Arctic talks with Trump will focus on keeping Russia, China out Trump's ambitions have put strain on the NATO alliance.

NATO’s Rutte says Arctic talks with Trump will focus on keeping Russia and China out – Reuters

The uncomfortable truth is that we no longer know the answer. U.S. security guarantees are conditional, transactional, and potentially unreliable. A far stronger European defence is no longer a matter of ambition or prestige—it is a necessity. 3/4

China battery storage installations triple North America's in 2025 Gap expected to grow this year despite AI-fueled demand in US

China's newly added energy storage capacity last year grew 40% asia.nikkei.com/business/ene...

"Benchmark Intelligence forecasts China will install 239 GWh of new capacity this year, making up more than half the 458.5 GWh expected globally."

Taiwan’s $40 Billion Military Spending Plan Stalled by Political Impasse

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/w... "Members of Mr. Lai’s Democratic Progressive Party, for their part, say that the opposition is trying to paralyze his administration."