HowRu68

Cross-posted

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday revealed details of the latest US-backed 20-point plan to end the war in Ukraine, saying it has been sent to Moscow for feedback. Zelensky gave a point-by-point briefing to journalists in Kyiv, including details on the creation of demilitarised zones.

The European Commission and Japan have successfully concluded negotiations on Japan's association to Horizon Europe, the EU's flagship €93.5 billion research and innovation funding programme. The agreement, expected to be signed in 2026, represents the closest form of collaboration offered by the EU to global partners in this field. It will enable Japanese researchers to lead and coordinate their own research and innovation projects under the programme, to apply and receive funding, and to seek closer collaboration with partners in the EU and other associated countries.

The EU has formal security and defence partnerships with Australia, Japan and South Korea, and in 2020 signed a broad “strategic partnership” with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional group, which includes co-operation on counterterrorism and maritime and cyber security.(..)

Kallas said the EU was “not the traditional security actor”, but Asian countries had been raising the possibility of working with it on issues such as maritime security, freedom of navigation and cyber security.(..)

“China is telling us that they want to be good partners and they are interested in our partnership,” she said. “If you want to have a partnership, then you also listen to the worries that the other side has.” Arch

Pim De Witte, founder of General Intuition and Medal.tv, turned down a deal reportedly worth $500 million from OpenAl, and instead raised $134 million to build an Al lab rooted in games, not words.

Context; EU AI Startup " While most 2025 AI and robotics rounds reported by EU-Startups have ranged between €3 million and €12 million, General Intuition’s raise underscores a sharp contrast in both scale and ambition – particularly notable given its early stage and cross-continental structure spanning New York and Geneva.

“When you play video games, you essentially transfer your perception, usually through a first-person view of the camera, to different environments,” added de Witte. “You get this selection bias towards precisely the kind of data you actually want to use for training work.”

Note: YT vid is 55 mins instead of 5,5 mins. My bad.

"Almost 6,700 American nationals had applied for a visa to work, be with family or study in the Netherlands by the end of November this year, according to immigration service figures, and that is by far the highest number in the past 10 years.

The total is likely to be higher once December, traditionally a busy month, is taken into account, current affairs programme Nieuwsuur reported at the weekend. (...)

Asylum requests submitted via the IND are also rising, with over 60 since the beginning of this year, compared with around 20 in the whole of 2024. Most are from members of the LGBTQ+ community fleeing repression under Trump."

NOS NL

"Only a more federal Europe can cope with these challenges, ensuring the respect of our fundamental values and rights.(..) To this end, we support the creation of a renewed cross-partisan and inter-institutional pro-European coalition encompassing the most committed Member States in the European Council, the pro-European majority in the European and National Parliaments, the European Commission, and regional and local institutions, over and above the particular inertias of each institution, and the pro-European organized civil society. We call on them all to mobilize locally, nationally, and transnationally to support these requests for a more sovereign and democratic Union."

This text is based on the declaration adopted by the relaunched Action Committee for the United States of Europe, 18 October 2025, Jean Monnet House, Houjarray/ Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France

Original declaration federalists.eu

The unrest was unlocked by the government’s budget for 2026 which proposed higher taxes on the private sector to fund pay rises for the public sector, a shortcut, critics said, to greater government control over the public administration, military and police.

Despite promises of revisions, the protest wave – led by the pro-EU opposition duo We Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria – was not calmed, expressing deep dissatisfaction with Bulgaria’s power structures and a desire for all-around change on the political scene.

Temu's European headquarters in Dublin were raided by EU regulators last week on concerns about potential Chinese state subsidies granted to the online retailer, a subsidiary of China's ecommerce giant PDD Holdings, a person familiar with the matter has said.

Temu did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The European Commission has proposed new initiatives to address long-standing issues in the planning and implementation of the EU’s energy infrastructure. They aim to ensure that affordable and clean energy flows more efficiently across the EU.

• help lower energy prices
• ensure a secure and reliable energy supply
• help achieve energy independence

Leaders of the “coalition of the willing” group of nations will hold a video call on Thursday as chaotic American efforts to push through a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine reach a crunch moment.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said his officials would hand over a revised version of a peace plan to US negotiators on Wednesday before the call with leaders and officials from about 30 countries.

"Every time Trump or members of his administration have lashed out at Europe, including Ukraine, Europeans have absorbed the blow with a forced smile and bent over backwards to flatter the White House." (...)

"While a systemic answer to Europe’s security conundrum is not in sight, Europeans do have the levers to prevent Ukraine’s capitulation and create the conditions for a just peace."

Arch

The US strategy outlines US President Trump's "America First" view, signaling a shift from Washington's global role, and sharply criticizes European allies. Berlin said it doesn't need a lecture on freedom of expression. Key points:

• New US strategy carries unusually critical tone of Europe
• US strategy questions the European rule of law and transnational bodies
• EU rejects the strategy's accusations against the bloc
• Berlin also criticises the strategy