France: Which are the world's most influential countries?

France has risen to the top of a list of the world’s most influential countries following the election of Emmanuel Macron.

It replaced the US in the number one position in the Soft Power Index complied by the University of Southern California and PR firm Portland Communications.

Soft Power is a term used to describe the influence of a country beyond traditional political or military strength. It includes aspects such as culture, education, economics and even sport.

The Soft Power Index uses polling in 25 countries as well as measures such as the number of Michelin-starred restaurants and levels of digital engagement to rank nations against each other.

The report’s authors noted that the election of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote in the UK, weighed on both country’s statuses.

Read more: Which are the world's most influential countries? | Euronews

Poland: EU Commission unmoved by Polish president's veto - by Eszter Zalan

Andrzej Duda decided to veto two of the controversial draft laws, which would put the judiciary under political control, but the EU executive is awaiting details before deciding on whether to launch legal probes on Wednesday

The commission's spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, said the EU executive is “following the events and situation in Poland very closely".

"Things are changing even as we speak," Schinas told reporters only two hours after Duda's announcement.

He confirmed that the college of EU commissioners will discuss the situation in Poland on Wednesday, and decide on the next steps.

"All developments, and all the changes that are going on will be addressed by the commission on Wednesday,” he said.

"This is a political commission, this is up to the political masters to discuss," he added, but declined to call Duda’s veto a positive development.

Read more: EU Commission unmoved by Polish president's veto

Social Media: Protect your privacy and ward off trolls on social media - by David Nield

On social media, you get to catch up with old friends, make new connections, and coo over cute baby photos. Although you're supposed to enjoy these visits to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, a persistent commenter or obnoxious "friend" can ruin your experience. That's why these services provide ways for you to fight back. Here are the steps you can take to protect your privacy and slay trolls on three of the world's biggest social networks.

Unlike Twitter and Instagram, which we discuss below, Facebook doesn't make your posts visible to the whole internet by default. So other users will only see your photos, links, and other information if you have chosen to friend them. You can adjust this extra layer of protection every time you post by choosing to make the update public or to restrict it to only a certain number of friends.

You can select who gets to see your own posts, but that doesn't stop your friends from tagging you in public posts. To prevent people from posting on your timeline or tagging you in photos, you can limit this activity from your Timeline and Tagging settings page. One of the options lets you review any tags you're mentioned in before they appear in your News Feed.

If you've friended someone, but they start giving you unwanted attention, you can easily cut off their access: Head to their profile page and clicking on the Friends button to find the Unfriend option. That person won't get an alert that they've been unfriended, but they might notice if they load up your profile and see the Add Friend option.

For the complete report go to: Read more Protect your privacy and ward off trolls on social media | Popular Science

EU Citizenship Has Its Obligations: ′You belong here,′ Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel tells Germany′s Turks

Less than 48 hours after announcing a major shift in policy towards Turkey, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel on Saturday sought to calm fears among Turkish nationals living in Germany that they are not targets in an ongoing political row.

Gabriel penned an open letter, published in German and Turkish in the mass circulation newspaper Bild, where he called the friendship between Germans and the estimated 3 million Turks living in the country a "great treasure."

His message followed a further week of wrangling between the two countries following the jailing by a court in Istanbul of several human rights activists - including German national Peter Steudtner - accused of what Germany says are the trumped-up charges of being linked to a terrorist organization.

Note EU=Digest: Very true.This also goes for immigrants to any country in the world. You can't have your cake and eat it too! In case you do prefer your home country over the one where you immigrated to, nothing stops you to go back from where you came. It must also be noted that Governments of  former citizens, who immigrated to other countries, and became citizens there, also have no right to claim authority or any rights over these former citizens.  

Read more: ′You belong here,′ Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel tells Germany′s Turks | News | DW | 22.07.2017

EU - Polish relations: Polish parliament steps up showdown with EU - by Eric Maurice

The Polish parliament adopted a controversial reform of the Supreme Court on Thursday (20 July), stepping up a showdown with the EU.

The law, which puts the Supreme Court under government control, was passed with 235 votes against 192 and 23 abstentions, just a day after the European Commission had called on Polish authorities to suspend the bill or face a rule of law procedure that could lead to sanctions.

"We are coming very close to triggering Article 7," the EU executive vice president Frans Timmermans warned on Wednesday, referring to a rule of law procedure.

The vote led the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk, who is a former Polish prime minister, to publish a statement calling for a solution to a "very serious situation".

Tusk said that he proposed a meeting with Polish president Andrej Duda to try to avoid "bleak outcomes which could ultimately lead to the marginalisation of Poland in Europe."
He said that the reforms carried out by the Polish government were a "dangerous tendency".

Read more: Polish parliament steps up showdown with EU

Britain Return To The Fold: 9 ways Britain could stay in the European Union

While undoing Brexit altogether looks almost as unlikely today as it did in the immediate aftermath of the referendum last year, those who think Britain might be better off staying in the European Union are becoming more vocal as the complexities and potential costs of Brexit become clearer.

Vince Cable — who was crowned leader of the Liberal Democrats unopposed Thursday — has never supported leaving the bloc and is “beginning to think Brexit may never happen.” Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair last weekend suggested the U.K. could stay in a reformed European Union. Even the director of the Vote Leave campaign, Dominic Cummings, admitted on Twitter this week that there are “some possible branches of the future” in which “leaving will be an error.”

Donald Tusk, the former Polish prime minister and European Council president, put it more poetically last month. “You may say I am a dreamer. But I am not the only one,” he said, channelling John Lennon.

In Westminster, anti-Brexit dreamers are scarce but POLITICO spoke to some of those who believe Brexit could yet be halted. The political odds might be stacked against them, but then very few correctly predicted the referendum vote in the first place.

Here are nine scenarios in which Britain stays in the European Union:
1. Public opinion changes

Remainers have been heartened by a number of polls since the June 8 election which have suggested an uptick in support for staying in the European Union, including one by Survation that found 54 percent of Brits would now prefer to remain in the bloc.

However Joe Twyman, head of political and social research at YouGov, which has been monitoring public opinion since the referendum, said the shifts in views had been too small to point of a definitive change of heart. He said the country was still divided down the middle, much as it was in the referendum vote itself but added that “things could change massively.”

“It is almost certain that as things do actually start to occur then there could be a movement in one way or another. People could say ‘this is working out really well, yay us.’ And so support for Brexit rises significantly. The opposite could be true if things go wrong.”

The main political parties are all monitoring the situation through private polling, according to Twyman. The “smart ones” understand the fluid nature of [public opinion] and are aware that polls could change significantly.

Read more: 9 ways Britain could stay in the European Union – POLITICO

Germany Turkish Relations: Germany says EU aid to Turkey could be halted over arrests

Germany raised the possibility on Wednesday (19 July) of suspending European Union aid payments to Turkey after summoning Ankara’s ambassador to Berlin to protest over the arrest of six human rights activists including a German citizen.

The moves mark a further escalation of tensions between NATO allies Germany and Turkey, who are at loggerheads over a wide range of issues.

This month, Turkey arrested rights activists including Amnesty International’s Turkey head Idil Eser and German citizen Peter Steudtner on terrorism charges, which Berlin has labelled “absurd”.

Read more: Germany says EU aid to Turkey could be halted over arrests – EURACTIV.com