FlashFeed

Full text

LONDON — U.K. plans to tackle illegal deforestation risk stoking U.S. trade tensions, with Washington expressing “strong concerns” about Britain adopting elements of the EU regime.

The row is the latest sign of growing U.S. frustration with U.K. efforts to align more closely with Brussels as part of its post-Brexit reset in relations with the bloc.

Last month, the U.K. unveiled plans for new deforestation rules modeled on the EU’s in a move aimed at limiting regulatory divergence. The proposals would require businesses placing certain commodities — including beef, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber, soya, and wood — on the U.K. market to prove they are not linked to illegal deforestation.

The Trump administration has been one of the most vocal critics of the EU’s deforestation regulation, due to take effect later this year, arguing it will create unnecessary trade barriers and runs counter to commitments made under last year’s EU-U.S. Turnberry deal.

A key Washington grievance is that the EU has not created a lighter-touch regime for countries it considers low risk, that would exempt exporters from some of the regulation’s most burdensome requirements, including geolocation and traceability requirements.

The Commission’s refusal to create such a category has since become a major focus of U.S. lobbying efforts.

An official from the office of the United States Trade Representative, granted anonymity to speak freely about the plans, told POLITICO that the U.S. expects the EU to provide flexibilities that are consistent with the Turnberry Agreement — and warned that Washington has “strong concerns with the United Kingdom implementing similar measures absent similar flexibilities.”

A U.K. government spokesperson said: “We will consult on proposed deforestation policy later this year, seeking out views from businesses, civil society and international partners before we introduce any regulatory changes.

“We encourage all interested parties to engage by responding to the upcoming consultation.”

‘Very problematic’

Erin Borror, vice president of economic analysis for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, echoed these concerns, warning that the deforestation regime was “very problematic” for suppliers serving the EU market, as well as the EU beef industry, importers and customers, who face “unnecessarily higher costs and regulatory burdens.”

The federation hopes the U.K. “will not go down the same path,” Borror said, arguing that similar rules would make Britain “a more difficult market to serve” without delivering tangible benefits for reducing global deforestation or for British consumers.

If the U.K. proceeds, she urged policymakers to include a “true negligible-risk category” that would remove low-risk suppliers from the most burdensome requirements.

Timber is pictured on the dockside at Newport, South Wales, U.K. | Adrian Sherratt/Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images

The American Forest & Paper Association also warned the U.K. against replicating what it sees as the EU’s shortcomings. While supporting efforts to tackle deforestation, the group cautioned against a “one-size-fits-all” approach, arguing that “costly geolocation and traceability requirements” could become “non-tariff trade barriers” when they do not reflect low-risk supply chains.

Another ‘axe to grind’

Allie Renison, a former U.K. government trade adviser, now a director at SEC Newgate, said Britain will likely try to learn from the EU’s experience and design a “less problematic” system — particularly around which products are covered and how rules are enforced.

But she warned that the broader direction of travel could still create friction with Washington. With the U.S. administration increasingly focused on regulation as a trade barrier, following the EU’s approach “on principle” means Washington “may feel it has more of a substantive axe to grind.”

It’s not the first time the U.K. has angered Washington over its plans to move closer to the EU.

At a conference in March, America’s ambassador to the U.K., Warren Stephens, said Britain’s plans to align with EU animal and plant health rules would be a “problem” for the U.S.

“I know the EU is an important market for the U.K., and you’ve got to do what’s best for you,” he warned at the time. “But that will not be favorably viewed in Washington.”

Full text

Zero Parades has a free to play TTRPG

It adapts the game's setting and mechanics for pen and paper

It also comes with a free premade one shot to help you learn the game

Let’s face it, 2026 — with its component price hikes , sweeping layoffs , cancellations, expensive AAA titles , and Sony’s promise to stop making physical games — has been something of a year of Ls. But one of the few lights in this darkness, and game of the year contender, Zero Parades for Dead Spies just announced brand new content is dropping: it’s a tabletop version of its gameplay, and it’s totally free.

If you head over to zeroparades.com/one-shot you’ll find everything you need to get started including a simple core rulebook and a One Shot story set in the Zero Parades world 30 years before the events of the game.

The One Shot comes with everything you need to play your first session including location maps, premade characters, GM materials (to help whoever is running things) and adapted rules that bring the game’s mechanics to life in TTRPG form.

Scratching the itch

Anyone who has played Zero Parades for Dead Spies or its spiritual predecessor Disco Elysium will have already felt the TTRPG inspired elements — all challenges in the games are already presented as dice rolls.

Just like in Zero Parades the pen and paper game has the same stats and Faculties — Action, Relation, Intellect — which determine how capable your character should be at certain actions, as well as details on how you can exert yourself to increase your odds of success — at the cost of raising your Fatigue, Anxiety, or Delirium respectively.

You also find items of clothing you can equip to make your stats better (and sometimes also worse), or tools which unlock actions like a camera allowing you to snap photos to use later — or to remember a sick spy moment you just pulled off, the decision is all yours.

As a major fan of both TTRPGs like Dungeons and Dragons and of Zero Parades I had been thinking of adapting the digital gameplay into something pen and paper for my regular playgroup. With this free release I don’t need to do any work at all — though I love there are the resources to create your own adventure and stories if you want to move away form the premade One Shot.

(Image credit: ZA/UM) Zero Parades for Dead Spies is everything you’d want from a follow-up to Disco Elysium . It keeps the post-Soviet vibes and aesthetics with a whole new story and setting. The gameplay is very similar too, with a few updates that fine-tune mechanics in a way that feels better and yet utterly familiar.

There’s also that general and gradually growing weirdness that made Disco Elysium so much of a joy to play through.

So many people I know who loved Disco Elysium had no clue Zero Parades is a thing they can play, and the perfect game to scratch the itch Disco Elysium leaves you with.

Plus if you’re reading this article the day it comes out the full Zero Parades for Dead Spies game is 10%-off for everyone, and 20% off for owners of Disco Elysium in the Steam Summer Sale. What are you waiting for? Go and play it!

Full text

Listen on

Spotify

Apple Music

Amazon Music

This week, NATO leaders gathered in Ankara — giving President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan a powerful stage at a moment when Turkey’s strategic value to Europe is rising.

Sarah Wheaton speaks to Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, about Erdoğan’s moment at this week’s NATO summit, Turkey’s complicated relationship with Europe and the United States, and whether the EU can build a serious partnership with Ankara while still confronting its crackdown on political opposition and free media.

Then, author and POLITICO contributor John Kampfner joins the show to discuss his new book, “Braver New World” — and what Europe can learn from places that have found unusually good answers to big problems, from Vienna’s housing model to Finland’s schools and Estonia’s digital state.

And since we’re book nerds, we’d love to hear your recommendations for summer reads; we’ll feature some of them in a future episode. Send us a voice note or message us on WhatsApp here , or at +32 491 05 06 29. You can also email us at podcast@politico.eu .