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EU measure that seeks to curb imports of coffee, cocoa, soy, beef, palm oil and wood when it is determined that it drives deforestation in the source country. To qualify as "deforestation-free" the land on which these food and other products were grown cannot have been deforested or degraded since Dec. 31, 2020. Demand from European Union countries for commodities such as beef and cocoa are strong drivers of deforestation, says Frans Timmermans, vice president of the EU. This comes after COP26 Glasgow conference where over 100 countries signed an agreement to end deforestation. The EU commissioner for the environment says "we can't ask for ambitious policies on the environment from partner countries on the one hand and support deforestation on the other."

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Peter Magyar Explained- Magyar 45 years was a follower of Orban till 2024 when he broke from the Fidesz ruling party. He married the Justice Minister Judit Varga of the Fidesz in 2006. He was a Hungarian diplomat in Brussels and held senior positions in state companies. The break with Fidesz came when Varga resigned over a government scandal. There is some skepticism even among Magyar's supporters and hope that things will change from the corruption that this report says is the most corrupt in the EU with funds from the EU for public services. Hungary now gets access to 18 billion euros of EU funds that were blocked because of Orban's policies.

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The G7 countries including the US, France and Germany  and the European Union now support setting a oil price cap of $60 per barrel for Russian oil. This price cap of $60 goes into effect December 5, 2022, and require western companies that do most of the shipping and distributing for Russian oil worldwide to comply. The US favored oil price cap of $65 set at what Russia earned historically on oil exports. Eastern European countries such as Poland wanted to set the price cap on Russian oil much lower at $30 what it costs Russia to produce oil so that it would crimp Russia's ability to wage war in Eastern Europe that has brought millions of refugees to Poland in 2022.  There were also other prices of between $65 and $70 that were proposed by the European Commission. The US wanted to give Russia some incentive to continue its oil exports which it had threatened to stop if the oil price cap was set -and avoid a situation in which oil prices that hit $120 a barrel early in 2022 would not jump to hit $140 a barrel.  Poland has called for a review every 2 months of the oil price cap so that it is close to the market cap. In November 2022 Russian oil is being sold at about $48 per barrel discounted from Brent crude at $86. The $12 difference between $48 and $60 is the US saying to Russia that it is working with moderation just as it had supported Ukraine with air defenses but acted with restraint to limit that to avoid provocative attacks on Russian soil. What does a cap on Russian oil price mean and how is it possible? Western shipping companies ship the oil out of Russia and distribute it around the world. This advantage of the G7 countries is what it intends to now use to bring an early end to the war in Ukraine by cutting into Russian oil generated funding for the war. Shipping an insurance companies that insure shipping based mostly in the west are now required to comply and not carry supplies bearing a price higher than $60.  ...

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Issues of social media spreading misinformation are seen in this report in NYT about Twitter acquired by Elon Musk and now called X.  This only points to the broader negative role played by social media in the last decade, which includes negative effect on young people and its damaging effect on society. As a medium it has added little and shows the corrosive effects of some technologies.

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Macron gets a well deserved boost in France as his popularity grows after he worked hard with Germany's Merkel at his side in long drawn out negotiations with the Dutch and Swedes to get the $390 billion non repayable aid for the European Recovery Fund. The money goes to hard hit Spain, Italy, Greece and other nations who had great difficulty borrowing to support recovery.

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The title of this BBC report is a misnomer as the content of the report is that India and the US are actively negotiating a Trade Agreement after some disagreements on Indian oil purchases from Russia bumped up from 2% before 2019 to about one third to 40% of its imports by 2024. This is being rapidly reversed and some estimates by consultants CLSA show India only made $2-3 billion from Russian discounted oil sales, a miniscule amount. On American interest in agricultural exports India can take in some products other than grain which it sees as important to feed 1 billion people and food security.  DJT says the "special relationship" between India and the US is important, and says "there's nothing to worry about. We just have moments on occasion". India has much bigger stakes in trade with the US. In fact it's growth into the third largest economy in the world means doubling or tripling its trade with the US and the European Union in the next few years. This would narrow the difference in GDP and per capita between India and China, as India and China started at the same GDP and per capita in 1950. Only in 1990 with China's trade with the US has the Chinese GDP and per capita income increased to create the huge gap with India. ...

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The European Banking Authority (EBA) is conducting the E.U. stress tests of 91 major banks in 21 European countries to measure the financial strength of these banks and their ability to withstand an economic crisis environment.

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After Macron and Merkel flatly reject Britain's appeal for direct talks, Mr. Boris Johnson says it is now looking "very, very likely" that Britain will leave the European Union without an agreement. Johnson said this was a potentially "wonderful" outcome. Both sides want to be seen as not responsible for the failure of the talks. The stumbling bloc is the adherence to EU rules which Britain rejects as infringing on its sovereignty, and EU's fears of Britain relaxing its environmental and other rules to gain unfair competitive advantage in business.

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The European Union response to Britain's decision to begin negotiations to leave the EU is a tough one that presents serious problems for Britain. EU Council president, Donald Tusk said that no talks on Britain's future trading relationship with the EU could take place till all the issues relating to Britain leaving have been resolved. Included is a bill of 60 billion euros, according to European authorites, for settling British committments in the EU. Tusk also said the EU wanted to see the rights of the 3 million EU citizens living in the EU, and the 1 million British citizens in the EU protected as a priority in negotiations. Without negotiations on a future trading relationship Britain faces tariffs and duties putting it at a disadvantage after the exit. Talks also cannot extend beyond March 2019 or new approval is needed from 27 EU states. The European parliament also has veto rights if the agreement is not seen as strong enough for the EU. Tusk says that Brexit has made the EU more united. Chancellor Merkel of Gemany has also separated exit from future trading relationship negotiations, the second only being discussed after the first is complete. The issue of Scottish independence also hangs in the balance, as the Scottish parliamentary leader Jack Salmond refused to accept prime minister May's point that her own constituency Islington had voted against Brexit yet she was negotiating for the whole of UK- Salmond responded in parliament that not taking Scotland's interests into account after it had voted against Brexit made "Scottish independence inevitable." The EU leaders are taking a calmer approach, in contrast to the more nationalist appeal in parliament to Tory back benches of prime minister May with promises she may have difficulty keeping.   ...

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Spain's prime minister Mariano Rajoy, says his government's 2012 budget will reduce its deficit to 5.8% of GDP. This is higher than the 4.4% target that the previous government of Jose Luis Zapatero had committed to. Rajoy took into account the deteriorating economic situation in Spain in setting the new target, especially how this will affect Spain's local economy. Part of the problem is also that the actual 2011 budget deficit was 8.51% of GDP compared to a target of 6%. Rajoy said Spain is still committing to the 3% of GDP target set for 2013 by the EU. In making this decision Rajoy said at a press conference: " This is a sovereign decsion made by Spain, that I am announcing now, to you." Rajoy is basing the new budget on a 4.7% reduction in spending in 2012. The assumptions in the new budget will be for a 1.7% contraction in the Spanish economy, down from the overly optimistic 2.3% forecast for growth of the previous Zapatero government. Spanish Feb. 2012 jobless claims went up to 4.7 million, and unemployment in Spain was at an high of 23.3% in Jan 2012. The 4th quarter contraction for Spain was 0.3%....