The military research & survey ship Planet

1 November 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Yacht of the Month Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Dr. Lothar Ginzkey/cc-by-sa-2.0-de

© Dr. Lothar Ginzkey/cc-by-sa-2.0-de

Planet of the German Navy is the most modern naval research ship within NATO. It was built as a SWATH design in order to reduce the hull volume and to increase the ship’s stability, particularly in high seas and at high speed. It is used for geophysics and naval technology trials and research. While technically not armed, it is equipped with torpedo launch capability. Other weapons systems can be installed for weapon trials.   read more…

Transatlantic relations

2 June 2018 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Editorial, EU blog post series, European Union Reading Time:  633 minutes

Transatlanticism symbol: a hybrid out of the Europa and Stars and Stripes © Patrikpluhar/cc-by-sa-3.0

Transatlantic symbol: A hybrid of the European flag and the Stars and Stripes © Patrikpluhar/cc-by-sa-3.0

(Latest update: 23 August 2022) Transatlantic relations refer to the historic, cultural, political, economic and social relations between countries on both side of the Atlantic Ocean. Sometimes specifically those between the United States, Canada and the countries in Europe, although other meanings are possible. There are a number of issues over which the United States and Europe generally disagree. Some of these are cultural, such as the U.S. use of the death penalty, some are international issues such as the Middle East peace process where the United States is often seen as pro-Israel and where Europe is often seen as pro-Arab (Arab–Israeli conflict), and many others are trade related. The current U.S. policies are often described as being unilateral in nature, whereas the European Union and Canada are often said to take a more multilateral approach, relying more on the United Nations and other international institutions to help solve issues. There are many other issues upon which they agree. This article refers to the relations between the EU (Culture of Europe, Economy of the European Union, History of Europe, and Politics of the European Union) and the USA (Culture of the United States, Economy of the United States, History of the United States, and Politics of the United States).   read more…

The Spanish enclave of Melilla

11 May 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  4 minutes

© flickr.com - TonioMora

© flickr.com – TonioMora

Melilla is a 12.3 square kilometres (4.7 sq mi) autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa. It was regarded as a part of Málaga province prior to 14 March 1995, when the city’s Statute of Autonomy was passed. Melilla (like Ceuta) was a free port before Spain joined the European Union. As of 2008 it has a population of 73,460. Its population consists of Christians, Muslims (mainly Riffians), and small minorities of Jews. Both Spanish and Tarifit are widely spoken. Spanish is the only official language, while there have been calls to recognise Tamazight, a standarized version of all Berber languages official in Morocco, as well.   read more…

Theme Week Brussels, the city with two faces

18 November 2010 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, EU blog post series, European Union, European Capital of Culture, Theme Weeks Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Emilio García

© Emilio García

Visitors are very quickly attracted by the very special atmosphere of Brussels. The city clearly shows serenity and joy in the small, beautiful things of life. Enjoy the typical Belgian way of life in Europe’s capital!   read more…

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