Perante o aumento do custo de vida e as desacertadas respostas neoliberais em Portugal e na União Europeia, que alterações nas políticas públicas de crédito e de desenvolvimento são urgentes? Continuamos a colocar no debate público ideias simples para melhorar o futuro. As taxas de juro, sobretudo as relacionadas com o endividamento hipotecário de longo prazo, fazem parte das preocupações de tantos portugueses, dado o seu impacto na prestação mensal da casa e no rendimento disponível. No (…)
No espaço público e mediático, o tratamento do sistema prisional português tende a ser tratado pelo ângulo dos «abusos» e do que terá corrido mal para se verificarem condições penitenciárias «degradantes» ou até doença e morte. Mas quais as características estruturais que produzem estas condições, e o que dizem elas sobre desigualdades sistémicas que as democracias não resolveram? «As prisões têm olhos e ouvidos, mas não têm vozes» Mumia Abu Jamal, jornalista aprisionado nos Estados (…)
O universo mediático assemelha-se ao «mundo ao contrário» que o escritor uruguaio Eduardo Galeano descrevia. Quanto mais os Estados Unidos espezinham o direito internacional, mais a China é acusada de se mostrar ameaçadora. É o caso do conflito no Irão, desencadeado por Washington e Telavive, mas no qual seria sobretudo Pequim a «avançar os seus peões» e a dar rédea solta às suas veleidades imperiais… Algumas análises parecem autorretratos. Ao revelarem os pressupostos que lhes estão (…)
Em 27 de outubro, os eleitores israelitas vão deslocar-se às urnas para renovar o seu Parlamento. Para lá da questão do futuro político do primeiro-ministro cessante, Benjamin Netanyahu, neste escrutínio está em jogo a confirmação, ou não, do crescimento do sionismo religioso. Esta corrente, que defende a anexação dos territórios palestinianos, contribui para uma polarização extrema da sociedade. A aplicação do projeto sionista demorou várias décadas antes do nascimento de Israel. A (…)
Un mois après la disparition du directeur de la Radio Télévision Saraounia, Moussa Kaka, au Niger, Reporters sans frontières (RSF) saisit le groupe de travail sur les disparitions forcées ou involontaires des Nations unies. Les autorités nigériennes doivent réagir et tout mettre en œuvre pour que Moussa Kaka puisse retrouver les siens au plus vite. […]
Anyone over the age of about 35 has no idea how far Western universities have fallen into the mire of DEI, collapsing standards and Left-wing monoculture, says Professor James Allan. It's time to sort them out.
La paralisi del traffico di Kiev è l’ennesima prova imposta alla capitale ucraina dagli attacchi dei russi, che negli ultimi giorni hanno oltrepassato una nuova linea rossa accanendosi sul Pivdennyi,...
La paralisi del traffico di Kiev è l’ennesima prova imposta alla capitale ucraina dagli attacchi dei russi, che negli ultimi giorni hanno oltrepassato una nuova linea rossa accanendosi sul Pivdennyi,...
Some expected a change in Hungary’s pro-Russian foreign policy after Viktor Orbán’s fall. But they failed to take into account the domestic political pressures on Hungary’s prime minister Péter Magyar.
An unexpected source of tension in Ukrainian-Hungarian relations came at a meeting of the newly formed ‘Carpathian Eight’ (C8) in late September. At the meeting in Kyiv, PM Magyar was embroiled in a sharp exchange with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha, who criticised Budapest for not taking part.
Magyar responded to Sybiha by claiming that Hungary had been included in the C8 without his consent.
“To claim that a sovereign country is a member of an international cooperation (Carpathian Integration) without prior consultation or consent of the country concerned is completely unacceptable,” Magyar said on social media.
This comes after Hungary-Ukraine relations began to improve rapidly following the formation of the Tisza government in May.
Under Orbán’s government, relations had fallen to a historic low, raising the prospect of escalation. In June, Magyar announced that he had reached an agreement with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on settling the rights of the Hungarian minority in Transcarpathia, hailing it as a historic deal.
Ukraine’s Deputy PM Vsevolod Chentsov informed me that legislation on minority education rights will be submitted to Parliament. I welcome this step after weeks of 🇭🇺🇺🇦 expert consultations. Thank you to all Hungarian and Ukrainian colleagues for their constructive work. Looking…
Since June, however, Hungary has repeatedly blocked Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations, arguing that progress on settling the rights of Hungarians in Transcarpathia has fallen short of expectations.
Orbán’s Fidesz party previously used the same argument to block Ukraine’s integration efforts.
Three months after the so-called historic agreement, Ukraine’s foreign minister Sybiha wrote that although Orbán had lost the election, Orbánism (a policy based on isolation and obstruction) prevailed in Hungary.
“Orbanism has done no good, neither to Hungary nor to the broader region, in the past — and it will not do anyone any good moving forward,” said Sybiha on social media.
Domestic Hungarian politics can explain the dispute.
MOL, an oil company, signed a memorandum with Ukraine’s Naftogaz at the C8 meeting on the possible establishment of Ukrainian oil storage facilities in Hungary.
The deal was criticised by Fidesz politicians, and Magyar’s government strongly distanced itself from the deal, too. Fidesz may have contributed to Magyar entering the dispute over C8 participation so very forcefully.
What is the Carpathian Eight?
In August, Zelensky announced the creation of the C8 to bring together countries from the wider Carpathian border region. The Ukrainian president said its members would focus primarily on the economy, security, the environment and investment.
Ukraine described it as a project intended to strengthen cross-border cooperation even with countries that do not provide it with military aid. Alongside Ukraine were to be Romania, Serbia, Poland, Slovakia, Czechia, Austria and Hungary.
Michal Lebduška, an analyst at the Association for International Affairs in Prague (AMO), said that it was one of many regional initiatives. While he did not believe it would trigger “major cooperation”, it could nevertheless be important.
The inaugural summit of the newly formed C8 was held last month (18 September) in Bukovel, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, around 160 km from both the Slovak and Hungarian borders. Zelensky called it “an important beginning” and thanked the countries of the Carpathian region for being among Kyiv’s most reliable allies.
From Ukraine’s perspective, however, the meeting had mixed results. On the one hand, several leaders travelled to Bukovel in person, lending the gathering greater diplomatic weight. Polish PM Donald Tusk, Romanian president Nicușor Dan and Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić all attended in person.
On the other hand, the remaining countries sent lower-ranking representatives. Slovakia’s PM Robert Fico had initially indicated that he would attend, and was originally due to meet Tusk. At the last minute, however, he announced that he could not attend the summit due to sudden illness.
Slovakia was ultimately represented by Marek Eštok, state secretary at the foreign ministry.
Andrej Babiš’s Czech government all but completely ignored the initiative. As Respekt magazine wrote, Babiš declined the opportunity to visit Ukraine and did not send any representative to Bukovel.
So Czechia was represented at the summit only by opposition deputy Senate president Jiří Drahoš.
And Austria was ultimately represented by Christine Schwarz-Fuchs, president of the Federal Council.
Hungary sent Ádám Ceglédi, the acting chargé d’affaires at the Hungarian embassy in Kyiv, as the Hungarian foreign ministry confirmed to Telex.
According to the analyst, Ukraine may have hoped that Orbán’s fall would bring a clear shift in Hungary’s Ukraine policy. Anita Orbán, as foreign minister, has confirmed this by pursuing a foreign policy moving away from Russia.
However, Ukrainians did not take Magyar’s domestic political interests into account.
Magyar panders to anti-Ukraine crowd
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Decades ago, I was at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, which is considered a synagogue. At the entrance, I started to take off my baseball cap and put on one of the kippahs they had there. The guard stopped me and said the cap was better. I suppose it’s less likely to fall off. Here,... Continue Reading
Donald Trump would like you to know that the Strait of Hormuz is in tremendous shape. Possibly the best shape in its history. On September 27, he told reporters that “last night, we took a record amount of oil out of the Hormuz Strait, more than we took out before the war.” Three days later...
The sharp drop in irregular migrant arrivals is evidence that the EU’s policy reforms are working, EU migration commissioner, Magnus Brunner, said on Thursday (1 October).
But Syria is also no longer the single biggest source of asylum claims after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime 22 months ago, a factor that appears to have been conveniently ignored.
On Thursday, he told reporters after a meeting of EU interior ministers in Luxembourg that irregular arrivals have dropped 55 percent in the past two years.
“So that’s a record low in the asylum applications,” said the former Austrian finance minister, adding that Austria and Sweden have recorded equally low asylum numbers and that Germany is deporting more people than are asking for protection.
“The basis for all of that, and the foundation for all of that, is the pact, the pact on migration and asylum,” he said, in comments that were echoed by Ireland’s migration minister, Jim O’Callaghan.
The pact, spanning a mix of complex regulations, was launched in June. Despite having two years to prepare for the launch, its implementation remains patchy.
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Depuis le 1er octobre 2026, neuf plateformes prélèvent elles-mêmes les cotisations sociales de leurs indépendants et les versent à l'Urssaf. Obligatoire pour toutes dès le 1er janvier 2027, ce dispositif laisse au travailleur tous les risques de son statut, mais plus la maîtrise de sa trésorerie.
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Jusqu’ici, le micro-entrepreneur encaissait son chiffre d’affaires, le déclarait à l’Urssaf, puis réglait lui-même ses cotisations. Ce circuit disparaît progressivement pour les revenus réalisés par l’intermédiaire des plateformes.
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L'article L613-6-1 du code de la sécurité socialet le décret n° 2026-488 du 10 juin 2026 organisent ce nouveau mécanisme. À chaque versement, la plateforme applique le taux correspondant à l’activité, prélève les sommes dues, puis les reverse mensuellement à l’Urssaf.
Pour les prestations de services relevant des BIC, le taux reste de 21,2 % du chiffre d’affaires. Il atteint 25,6 % pour les activités libérales non réglementées, tandis que la vente de marchandises reste à 12,3 %. Rien ne change donc juridiquement dans le montant des cotisations : c’est leur circuit de collecte qui est bouleversé. Le gouvernement présente cette évolution comme une simplification. Mais pour l’indépendant, la différence financière est immédiate : sur 2 000 euros de recettes soumises au taux de 21,2 %, 424 euros sont prélevés avant même d'arriver sur son compte.
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Entre deux éditions, le fil.
La newsletter vous donne le matin. Le fil vous donne l'instant.
L'indépendant garde les risques, mais perd la main sur sa trésorerie
Le dispositif transfère ainsi une fonction traditionnellement assumée par le cotisant vers une entreprise privée. La plateforme devient l'intermédiaire entre le travailleur et l'Urssaf, avec obligation de calculer, déclarer et reverser les sommes. Les coûts de cette opération restent à sa charge.
Reste surtout la question du contrôle. En cas d'erreur de chiffre d'affaires ou de taux, l'indépendant devra vérifier les montants transmis, réclamer une correction à la plateforme puis, si nécessaire, saisir l'Urssaf. Le décret prévoit d'ailleurs des mécanismes de rectification.
Le paradoxe n'est pas qu'on prélève. Le salarié connaît ce mécanisme depuis longtemps. Mais le salarié bénéficie d'un employeur responsable de sa paie. L'indépendant, lui, conserve la totalité des risques : absence de chômage, revenus irréguliers, charge de la preuve. Il perd en revanche le geste élémentaire de déclarer et de payer lui-même.
La simplification vantée à l'indépendant sert d'abord la fluidité des recettes publiques. Et rien n'indique, dans les textes, que les plateformes devront assumer financièrement leurs propres erreurs de calcul.Il fallait d'abord attirer les travailleurs vers le statut. On les y retient désormais en tenant leur caisse.
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Un média libre vit de ses lecteurs. Un pourboire ponctuel, sans compte ni engagement, quand le cœur vous en dit.
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UNGUJA, Tanzania — Decades before they would partner to build a marine conservation organization together, Ali Thani and Lorna Slade crossed paths in Tanzania. Years later, Slade returned to the East African country researching tourism for her master’s degree when she became involved in an initiative aimed at strengthening the knowledge and rights of local resource stewards. Then came the 2008 global financial crisis. The organization backing the initiative withdrew from Tanzania, providing only a fraction of the funds it had earlier promised — $25,000 — and an idea worth pursuing. “So they said, ‘OK, well, it’s a good idea. We have $25,000, so here you are,’” Slade recalls. That modest beginning would eventually become the Mwambao Coastal Community Network, a locally rooted organization now working with coastal communities across Zanzibar and mainland Tanzania, with an annual budget of around $3.5 million. For Thani, a coastal Tanzanian who had worked in government and with larger conservation organizations, Mwambao grew from a conviction that conservation could not simply be designed elsewhere and brought to communities. People who depend on natural resources, he says, should have the knowledge, capacity, and authority to help manage them. That idea has wider resonance as countries pursue the global goal of conserving 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030. Local organizations and communities are expected to shoulder much of that work, even as many struggle to secure the long-term funding available to larger international organizations and intermediaries. Mwambao’s work includes supporting community fisheries management,…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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