The European Union’s Conference on the Future of Europe could this week finally get the green light, when member states and the European Parliament give their verdict on the joint declaration negotiated under the aegis of Portugal’s presidency of the Council of the EU.
The proposed declaration, a four-page document presented on Monday to the ambassadors of the 27 member states in Brussels, is expected to be adopted on Wednesday by them at a meeting of the Permanent Representatives Committee (Coreper) before being discussed on Thursday by the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents, which includes the president of the parliament and the leaders of the various political groups.
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France’s judiciary has a new spring in its step these days. It marked the end of February by refusing to allow one of the country’s most dangerous media tycoons, Vincent Bolloré, to escape trial over corruption. And then, at the start of March, came the bombshell decision that the former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, should serve a year in jail for corruption.
That ruling on Sarkozy, who was president from 2007 to 2012, means that he joins François Fillon, his prime minister for those five years, and one of his ministers, Georges Tron, in facing the prospect of kicking his heels inside one of France’s overcrowded prisons. Fillon was last June sentenced for corruption, while in February 2021 Tron was found guilty of rape. The victim was an employee in the town hall at Draveil, a town in the Parisian suburbs, where Tron has been mayor since 1995.
Simeon Djankov, Eva (Yiwen) Zhang 03 March 2021
Steep falls in entrepreneurial activity were recorded in early 2020 across G7 economies. In the US, however, the creation of US startups shot up by 24% relative to the previous year. This column uses data on new company applications in the US since 2004 to show that firm birth generally accelerates in the aftermath of economic crises and that this pattern was particularly pronounced in 2020, fuelled by the government assistance provided to small businesses. It also shows that US firm births are estimated to have surpassed firm deaths in 2020, unlike in the aftermath of the previous financial crisis.
Feminism in 2021: The Ideology vs The Aesthetic
Illustration: NOOR US SAFA ANIK
Every year, during International Women s Day (IWD), lifestyle brands around the globe centre their marketing around women and their necessities. Popular brands here in Bangladesh are no different. Last year, we saw a brand of soap host a much-televised women s day campaign on March 8th. Their campaign featured models, bloggers, and female entrepreneurs.
The campaign was well shot and well presented, and ironically lacked the feminist spirit.
The women featured in the campaign all looked the same: conventionally fair, dressed in glamorous, non-functional attire. They all sit still, look pretty, speak gracefully and never do any heavy lifting. They all come from a place of privilege and do not speak their mind. As the video progresses, you come to realise that they re only there because a brand has a business to promote.
Fear fennel no more: Savor subtle sweetness By Debbie Arrington, The Sacramento Bee
Published: March 3, 2021, 6:03am
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It’s a rarity in the kitchen: a vegetable that’s sweet.
But that’s just part of the allure of fennel, a Mediterranean staple that’s finally catching on with American cooks and diners.
“One of the main things I like about fennel is its versatility and the way its flavor changes from raw to cooked,” said award-winning author Georgeanne Brennan, whose cookbook “La Vie Rustic: Cooking and Living in the French Style” (Weldon Owen, 290 pages, $35) features four fennel recipes.
“Raw, it’s crunchy and definitely has a licoricelike flavor, which is wonderful with things like anchovies and Parmesan cheese,” Brennan said. “I like to julienne it, toss it with an anchovy- and Parmesan-laden vinaigrette, or to thinly slice and chop it to add to any salad.”