It’s not just musicians who are worried. Creative industries – films, television, theatre, fashion, dance, art galleries and music – have been at the heart of what is sometimes called Britain’s “soft power” for decades, even centuries.
A friend of mine, for example, is an English theatre designer. She is so talented she is called upon to work in France, Germany, the Netherlands and elsewhere on multi-million euro productions. Other groups of friends, musicians, spend every summer touring venues and festivals all over Europe. But the Brexit agreement, more formally known as the “EU-UK Free Trade and Co-operation Agreement” was negotiated in great haste at the insistence of Boris Johnson’s British government, and it is full of holes.
Why isn’t Switzerland progressively closing its wealth gap? The question is important in the context of the intense ongoing debate from Washington to London about a wealth tax.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused government debt to soar and led to calls for substantial new levies on the rich. The argument goes that the wealthy should pay their fair share and growing inequality must be addressed.
Switzerland is supposed to offer a template. Not only does it have the highest density of millionaires in the world, it has a recurring annual wealth tax, which goes back 181 years. It consistently generates more income than the other three European countries that also have a wealth tax or some version of it. In 2017, the Swiss wealth tax contributed 3.6 per cent to the total tax takings. That’s respectable, compared to the 1.1 per cent generated by Norway’s wealth tax, the 0.55 per cent raised by Spain’s and the even lower sum brought in by Belgium’s limited wealth tax on securit
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President Sheikh Khalifa has declared 2021 as the Year of the 50th , as the UAE celebrates its Golden Jubilee and plans a route to its centenary, 50 years on from now.
For most governments around the world, five decades in the future would seem a long way off. Political realities mean that most are more concerned about getting to the end of the news cycle, than they are about planning for a distant future. Things are different in the UAE, which has stated its ambition to be the best country in the world by 2071. With this as a goal, 50 years suddenly feels like a much shorter length of time.
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In commemorating the 32nd anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the fifth anniversary of Federal Law No 3 of 2016 on child protection, best known as “Wadeema’s Law”, and in preparation for our celebration of Emirati Children’s Day on March 15, we wish to reflect upon our progress on children’s rights and our commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights.
We in the UAE enjoy an environment in which we can openly discuss how to improve existing laws, institutions, policies and services to advance the promotion and protection of children’s rights. Our nation is young, and in this spirit, we have given priority to children’s rights, as a prosperous future depends on their well-being.
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Turkey and Greece are set to hold their second round of exploratory talks on the eastern Mediterranean and maritime issues starting on Tuesday in Athens, just as regional tensions, and frustrations toward Ankara, may be on the wane.
The energy ministers of all seven member states of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) – Israel, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Italy – held their first joint meeting last week. Since its 2019 creation, the EMGF has mainly been seen as an anti-Turkey body that seeks to keep Ankara from accessing gas resources in the territorial waters of EU members Greece and Cyprus.