Peter Ungphakorn

Our coverage of the vote on March 8 Swiss vote on taxing spouses, media licence fee, cash availability and new climate fund

For the "cash" initiative, 🇨🇭 voters have three votes:
1. to accept or reject the initiative
2. to accept or reject the counterproposal
3. which one should prevail if both are accepted.

The 3 others are: cutting the TV/radio licence, an environmental fund, separate taxation for married couples

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Swiss to vote on preserving cash as a payment system On March 8, the Swiss will decide whether the availability of cash should be enshrined in the constitution. An explainer.

On Sunday, the first 🇨🇭 federal vote of 2026 has four issues. One is unusual procedurally. It's an initiative for a constitutional guarantee that cash will be available. There's also a counter-initiative from the government, also for a constitutional requirement but toned down.

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OK. Time to turn in. Goodnight

New York and other US states sue Trump over ‘illegal and reckless’ tariffs Lawsuit says president does not have authority to impose levies and demands refunds from federal government

This is going to get lost in today’s other news, but the AGs and the govs have it right. Section 122 is a relic of the past and is no longer germane to modern trade policy. Unfortunately, the case is likely to require more than 150 days to be decided and appealed. Hope I’m wrong about that.

Opponents of WTO investment pact split; India is accused of falsehoods South Africa steps back from blocking plurilateral deal’s addition to WTO rules. Singapore loses patience with ‘insulting’ India

This is "plurilateral" because only part of the membership (128 out of 166) participates. To add it to the rule book requires WTO-wide consensus.

Harsh words exchanged in December tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2025/12/18/o...

The draft decision: docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages...

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128 WTO members fail at 11th attempt to formalise plurilateral investment deal For two years now, three quarters of WTO members have found consensus blocked on adding their deal to WTO rules even though non-participants would be free riders

If at first you don't succeed, try, try ... 128 participants in the WTO agreement on investment facilitation will again seek consensus to add their "plurilateral" deal to be added to WTO rules when ministers meet this month

11 failed attempts so far tradebetablog.wordpress.com/2024/07/22/1...

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Photo of a very calm, blue, sunny Lac Léman at Rolle with its island and early spring leafless trees.

Calm

No I don't. That's a photo of the kind of compass I played with a long, long time ago

Heads of WTO, EIB sign landmark agreement to boost trade and investment The WTO Secretariat and the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 4 March to enhance sustainable trade and investment worldwide. The agreement marks the be...

Ahem. Excuse me. How do you "leverage" an agreement that has been blocked from entering the WTO rule-book for over two years, with no sign of the objecting countries unblocking it?

www.wto.org/english/news...

Photo of a World War 2 marching compass

More like this

I'd forgotten the stadium, but that's quite a stretch! The actual explanation was quite amusing. "We know no one likes us, but we don't care"

Mind-boggled by the idea that Iran is "the Millwall of Western Asia"

#BBCPM

The trouble is, that adjustment line on my compass* is no longer valid for where I am.

* I don't actually have a compass any more

It means my compass is not longer as accurate as it used to be

Interesting title, whether "the" or not. Something each of us will react to differently. In my case, Cittàgazze came to mind
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locatio...

But what about international law – continued. 4th March 2026 * Hello and welcome to The Empty City blog, the new name of which is explained here. * From time-to-time this law and policy blog touches upon international law.  The last time a pos…

But what about international law – continued.

A new post at The Empty City on how Western one-sidedness in what they openly condemn as a breach of international law is neither coherent nor compelling

Personal blog: theemptycity.com/blog/2026/03...

Substack: emptycity.substack.com/p/but-what-a...

Elizabeth Warren slams Trump's effort to delay tariff refunds as a 'theft in broad daylight' As the Trump administration suggests that the process ahead for tariff refunds will be drawn-out and and possibly messy, Democrats are making them an election-year issue.

Elizabeth Warren slams Trump's effort to delay tariff refunds as a 'theft in broad daylight'

Screenshot showing: Considering the above, the Ministerial Conference: 1. Commits to engaging constructively and transparently to establish a fair and market- oriented agricultural trading system and to deliver outcomes that, inter alia, strengthen global food security. 2. Commits to continuing the agriculture negotiations pursuant to the reform process set out in Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, and subsequent Ministerial Decisions and Declarations. 3. Reaffirms that the negotiations shall continue to take place in the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS) and its Dedicated Sessions, based on discussions among Members, including their existing and future contributions and submissions. 4. Requests the CoA-SS Chair, working with Members, to promptly establish a calendar of meetings after this Conference and set milestones, as appropriate. 5. Requests senior officials to meet periodically after MC14 to review progress and provide political guidance, as needed. 6. Invites Members to continue supporting the negotiations and efforts to enhance food security, including through technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives for developing country Members, including least-developed country Members with support from relevant international organizations.

Here is the full text of the chair’s draft for the Yaoundé Ministerial Conference: 1 page, 6 short paragraphs.

JARGON BUSTER: Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS) = agriculture negotiations, which are distinct from the regular committee meetings.

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Agriculture talks Chair circulates draft text ahead of MC14 building on member submissions At a meeting of the Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture on 27 February, members provided feedback on a new draft ministerial decision introduced by Argentina in addition to eight other su...

The biennial WTO Ministerial Conference starts in three weeks. Don’t expect negotiated outcomes. The draft on agriculture would simply commit members to continue talking. The talks’ chair will submit the draft to the General Council, which meets next week.

1/2 www.wto.org/english/news...

Central to debunking the "hyperglobalisation" argument is @simonlester.com's rebuttal of the accusation from some Republicans and Democrats that WTO dispute settlement became too rigid and too legal, leaving little room for diplomacy to resolve conflict. The facts show the opposite, he says.

More than 3,400 flights were canceled Sunday across 7 airports in the Middle East, according to flight tracker Flightradar24.

Airports in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain were among those closed.

YouTube video by Playing For Change Oye Como Va ft. Carlos Santana & Cindy Blackman Santana | Playing For Change | Song Around The World

Make this stuff, not war

youtu.be/NJZW8U9bbmM

Farewell, Neil. You were part of my youth, and you've had a long life. Meanwhile Carol is still going strong

youtu.be/e72tG80LmsU?...

Hope you enjoy it!

Screenshot from the linked page, highlighting the results for the candidates from the Conservative and The Monster Raving Looney parties

www.parliament.uk/business/new...

😂

String Quartet No 8, 2nd mvt: Allegro Molto. Why? No spoilers. You have to listen.

Repeated Tuesday at 11:00 (GMT) if you prefer to listen live.

BBC Radio 4 - Add to Playlist, Debbie Wiseman and Jay Capperauld head to Colombia Debbie Wiseman and Jay Capperauld join Anna and Jeffrey to add five more tracks.

Another cracking episode of "Add to Playlist": Shakira, Zithande, Pink Floyd, Shostakovich, Joni Mitchell.

(Hope you have access) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

The Brief – Forrest Trump | Euractiv Europe shouldn’t be too quick to laugh at the lunacy on the other side of the Atlantic. As Mrs Gump famously taught her son: Stupid is as stupid does

Nominated for the title of the year.

www.euractiv.com/opinion/the-...

Nigel Farage in answering Nick Robinson's question about why he believes Britain is broken gave an analysis of falling net migration that is demonstrably factually inaccurate. "It is so broken and its declining so quickly that anybody with a dispassionate view can see it. It is quite interesting. Just look at the net migration numbers. 'Oh isn't it good net migration is coming down?' But do you know why? It is because there is an exodus. There is now an exodus.Those who are of a situation and a financial position to have a choice are now fleeing the country in numbers". This is factually incorrect. Net migration fell year on year by 465,00 in the most recent Official of National Statisitcs figures: the year to June 2025. This was not because of an "exodus" (an increase in emigration). It is because immigration fell by 401,000 (to 898,000 from 1.299 million the previous year). That accounts for 90% of the big drop in net migration. The increase in emigration by 41,000 was a minor component. Most of the increase in emigration was of non-EU nationals. British citizens made up a third of emigrants, but there was no significant increasse in British emigration, which was at very similar levels in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025: it is not a significant cause of the drop in net migration. Nick Robinson did tell Mr Farage that he was exaggerating the number of people who don't speak English - and BBC Verify did produce an analysis showing that was a five-fold exaggeration. But this central incorrect claim about immigration and net migration was not caught in the programme, or before broadcast. It should at least be scrutinised and corrected afterwards - so that an accurate account of why net migration fell (primarily a reduction in immigration visas to the UK) can be communicated to the audience.

I have asked the BBC to scrutinise + correct the factually inaccurate claims made by Mr Nigel Farage about why net migration fell in 'Political Thinking with Nick Robinson'

Here is the link if you want to do something like this.
www.bbc.co.uk/contact/comp...