For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Nigeria’s election commission this afternoon held a news conference as voting continues in some areas of the country (26 February). Delays, attacks on polling stations, and concerns of […] More
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails New Zealand’s new Prime Minister Chris Hipkins on Wednesday said he was axing or delaying many of his government’s more contentious policy plans as he looked to refocus […] More
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails The European Commission is to propose a windfall tax on energy firms across the EU to help shield citizens from surging energy prices. “In these times it is […] More
The moment the West’s image of the Soviet Union began to change can be pinpointed with some exactitude: it was December 1984, when Mikhail Gorbachev, then second-in-command at the Kremlin, arrived in London for talks with Margaret Thatcher, which concluded with the British prime minister declaring: “I like Mr Gorbachev. We can do business together.”It was a triumphant visit, but the success was not Mr Gorbachev’s alone. At his side throughout was his wife Raisa: elegant, with warm eyes and a chic and ever-changing outfit and a coiffed helmet of auburn hair, she was like no top Communist the west had ever seen. The contrast with the last Soviet wife to venture abroad, the frumpish and rustic Nina Khrushchev, could not have been starker. The British tabloids had a ball: “The new Gucci comrades”, they called them; their joint appearance with the Thatchers was a case of “Chequers chic”; one excitable hack went so far as to dub Raisa “the Bo Derek of the Steppes”. “What a contrast to the previous glimpses we have had of other senior Russian wives in the past,” wrote a columnist in the Daily Mirror, “who looked as though they should be building dams in Siberia.”It was the international coming-out of a couple who were every bit as special as they appeared. Women’s emancipation had been a fundamental plank of the Bolshevik Revolution, as embodied by Vladimir Lenin’s wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, a fellow revolutionary and a minister in the government until her death. But it cut against the deeply conservative grain of Russian life, and Stalin reversed direction. Women ended up with the worst of all worlds: bearing equal responsibility to work, whether teaching or driving a tractor, but with none of the status or power of men. More
Support for membership of the European Union is at its highest level in 15 years, according to a survey by the bloc’s parliament.Nearly two-thirds of Europeans consider membership of the EU a “good thing”, the results, published on Wednesday, revealed.Most countries showed significantly more positive attitudes towards EU membership compared to a survey conducted at the end of last year, the European Parliament said in a statement, notably in the Baltic States of Lithuania and Estonia.Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament, said: “With war returning to our continent, Europeans feel reassured to be part of the European Union.”The survey showed only one in 10 respondents saw Russia positively, compared to one in three in 2018.Attitudes to China also deteriorated, though Europeans reported a more positive image of the UK and United States.Almost 60 per cent considered defence of “common European values” a priority, even if it were to affect prices and costs of living, which have further shot up since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Another EU-backed survey published last week had shown 80 per cent support for economic sanctions again Russia and a common security and defence policy.EU leaders will seek to offer support this week to six Western Balkan countries that have long been knocking at the bloc’s doors.The two-day summit starting Thursday in Brussels is expected to approve the European Commission’s proposal to give Ukraine and Moldova candidate EU membership status – the beginning of a long process that the Western Balkan Six started years ago – although Kyiv would likely take years to become a member, if at all.The EC has repeatedly told Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia that their future lies within the 27-nation bloc. But progress has stalled — for all sorts of reasons. The countries are at different levels of negotiations and fulfilling numerous membership requirements, with Montenegro leading the pack and Kosovo not even starting the talks.The European Parliament poll surveyed nearly 27,000 people across the bloc’s 27 member states between April and May.Additional reporting by Reuters More
Some 121 million pregnancies around the world each year are unintended with this amounting to almost half of all pregnancies, according to a new United Nations study.Researchers said this equates to an average of around 331,000 unplanned pregnancies each day as they warned the issue constitutes a “human rights crisis” which has far-reaching ramifications for “societies, women and girls and global health”.The report, carried out by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), notes over 60 per cent of unintended pregnancies result in an abortion, while an estimated 45 per cent of all abortions around the world are dangerous.Researchers, whose section of the United Nations strives to boost reproductive and maternal health, said some five to 13 per cent of all maternal deaths are the by-product of unsafe backstreet, clandestine abortions. The pregnancy terminations are carried out in contexts where abortion is illegal, highly restricted or too expensive to afford.Rose Caldwell, chief executive of Plan International UK, said: “The scale of these figures is alarming, but the reality behind the numbers is that far too many women and girls still have no choice about whether or not to become pregnant.“They may be survivors of abuse or exploitation; they may have been forced to marry early; or they may have lacked access to modern contraception or the education they need to understand their own bodies.”Ms Caldwell warned the situation constitutes a “global injustice” which world leaders are not taking enough action to address.She added: “The UK government especially should see these figures as an alarm bell. Last year, it made cuts to overseas aid that included a shameful 85 per cent reduction in funding for sexual and reproductive health services.“We warned that the decision could harm thousands of women and girls and hinder the struggle for gender equality. The Foreign Office’s own assessment raised similar concerns. Yet still the government pressed ahead with its plans.”Ms Caldwell urged Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor, to “immediately restore the aid budget to 0.7 of GNI and for the foreign secretary to deliver on her commitment to restore the women and girls’ budget to pre-cut levels as soon as possible”.She added: “The government must ensure that areas hardest hit by the cuts – including sexual and reproductive health and rights – are prioritised.”The report found gender inequality and impeded development are behind high levels of unintended pregnancies around the world. Researchers warned an estimated 257 million women around the world who want to avoid pregnancy do not have safe, modern forms of contraception.“Where data is available, nearly a quarter of all women are not able to say no to sex,” researchers said.Other important factors which cause unintended pregnancies were cited by researchers as “sexual and reproductive healthcare and information, contraceptive options that don’t suit women’s bodies or circumstances, harmful norms and stigma surrounding women controlling their own fertility and bodies, and sexual violence and reproductive coercion”.Dr Natalia Kanem, executive director of the UNFPA, said: “This report is a wakeup call. The staggering number of unintended pregnancies represents a global failure to uphold women and girls’ basic human rights.“For the women affected, the most life-altering reproductive choice – whether or not to become pregnant – is no choice at all. By putting the power to make this most fundamental decision squarely in the hands of women and girls, societies can ensure that motherhood is an aspiration and not an inevitability.”The UNFPA warned the war which has recently broken out in Ukraine and other world crises could cause a rise in yet more unintended pregnancies due to women struggling to access contraception and sexual violence shooting up.Dr Kanem said: “If you had 15 minutes to leave your house, what would you take? Would you grab your passport? Food? Would you remember your contraception?“In the days, weeks and months after a crisis starts, sexual and reproductive health and protection services save lives, shield women and girls from harm and prevent unintended pregnancies. They are as vital as food, water and shelter.” More
The German chancellor has called for the European Union to swiftly conclusion access talks with the western Balkans countries and welcome them as members.Speaking on Monday Olaf Scholz, who took over from Angela Merkel last year, said North Macedonia and Albania should be allowed to join.“Every further delay makes Western Balkans more vulnerable to third party influence,” Mr Scholz, a social democrat, said at a joint press conference following a meeting with the Swedish prime minister Magdalena Andersson.“It is clear for both Germany and Sweden that the EU must push ahead with institutional reforms to make itself capable of enlargement.”His comments come as EU enlargement shoots up the agenda thanks to the Russian invasion of Ukraine – which wants to join the bloc.Albania and North Macedonia have been candidate countries for joining the EU since 2020, but they have made little progress in the labyrinthine process.EU authorities have concerns that the Western Balkan states do not meet standards for corruption, politicisation of the judiciary, and rule of law.The 27 EU presidents and prime ministers did not focus on EU accession at last week European Council summit in Brussels – instead spending time on the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis.Last week Mr Scholz also said the Western Balkans should be admitted EU membership to secure peace.But other countries such as France are more sceptical of enlarging the union, at least in its current state. French president Emmanuel Macron has previously said the enlargement process is not fit for purpose and briefed vetoed any enlargement. More
The United States has agreed to step up gas exports to the European Union in a bid to reduce reliance eon Russian suppliesUnder a deal announce on Friday Joe Biden promised the US would deliver at least 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) more liquid natural gas to Europe than under previous plans.The accord was struck by Mr Biden and EU leaders at a summit in Brussels on Friday, which the US president is attending.The arrangement also sees the US commit to increase gas supplies in 2023.“We aim to reduce this dependency on Russian fossil fuels and get rid of it. This can only be achieved through… additional gas supplies, including LNG deliveries”, Ms von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Mr Biden on Friday in the Belgian capital.“We as Europeans want to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust, that are our friends, that are reliable.“Therefore, the US commitment to provide the European Union with additional at least 15 billion cubic metres of LNG this year is a big step in this direction because this will replace the LNG supply we currently receive from Russia.”The US president told the same group of journalists: “We’re coming together to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s energy. We should not subsidise Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine.”Gas prices have surged to record levels in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and some countries like Germany and Italy are heavily reliant on Russian supply.Germany’s government has already pulled the plug on a planned gas pipeline called Nordstream 2 which critics said would increase reliance on supply controlled by Vladimir Putin’s regime. But Russia currently supplies 40 per cent of the EU’s gas needs and 25 per cent of its oil, albeit with significant differences between countries. Boris Johnson conceded on Thursday at a Nato summit that it was easier for some countries to quit Russian hydrocarbons than others.EU leaders are on Friday discussing whether to impose phased-in restrictions on the purchase of Russian fossil fuels such as oil and coal – but gas is not expected to be on the table.Alexander de Croo, the Belgian prime minister, told reporters on the doorstep of the summit: “Measures on energy right now would have a huge impact on our economies.“The basic rule is that sanctions must have a much greater impact on the Russian side than on the European side. We don’t wage war on ourselves.”Meanwhile Mark Rutte, the Dutch leader said: “Everybody wants it but it’s nothing that you can do in the short term.”US liquid natural gas plants are thought to be producing at full capacity and the exports will likely come from supply previously destined for other parts of the world.Analysts at Goldman Sachs said “near-term measures” to support European LNG imports would “rely on the reallocation of existing supply”.They added that “such a relocation to Europe is already happening” because EU gas prices have in recent months generally been the highest in the world.More follows… More
