Photo by Nikolay Vorobyev on Unsplash In the much anticipated presidential address to the Russian Federal Assembly today, 21 February, there had been expectations of sharp and momentous statements, but in the end there were none. The event was broadcast live on BBC News, for the first time in history. Vladimir Putin began his speech by mentioning the…
African film’s premier event starts this Saturday 25th February, in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Fasso. The Panafrican Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou (FESPACO) was first launched in 1969 and has since evolved into an internationally recognised and respected event. This year will mark the 28th Festival in the series since its inception. The…
This morning Monday 20 February, U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Kyiv without any announcements or warnings. In the morning, several important highways were blocked in the capital, and the city was gridlocked for a couple of hours. Kyiv residents tried to understand the cause of the traffic jams for a long time, until around…
Photo by Nati Melnychuk on Unsplash The EU-New Zealand trade agreement has taken a big step towards ratification, with the Commission sending it to Council for signature. Sending the draft decisions to the Council on the signature and conclusion of the agreement is a major step. Once the Council gives its green light, the EU and New Zealand…
Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash In the aftermath of the earthquakes that rocked both Syria and Türkiye, the humanitarian needs on the ground continue to increase. The EU says it has been responding to the disaster since day one and is now scaling up its assistance to the people affected. 18 EU Member States (Austria, Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany,…
Photo by Nick Bolton on Unsplash New data shows that the number of bankruptcy declarations among businesses in the EU increased substantially in the fourth quarter of 2022. They were up by a huge 26.8% compared with the previous quarter and reached the highest levels since the start of the data collection in 2015. The number of bankruptcy declarations…
Photo by Sinitta Leunen on Unsplash MEPs from across the political divide insist that the European Union should ratify the Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, in line with a 2021 Court of Justice opinion. The EU signed the Istanbul Convention in 2017 and signalled its commitment to eradicating gender-based violence. However, the EU ratification process has been stuck…
Photo by Nati Melnychuk on Unsplash One year into the war in Ukraine, 61% of Europeans believe that the country will prevail, says a new survey. Published on Thursday, it says Germans, however, are not quite so optimistic, although a 55% majority believes in a Ukrainian victory. These are the main findings of the EU-wide survey conducted by…
Photo by moein rezaalizade on Unsplash MEPs will this week debate the EU’s response so far to the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria on 6 February. The death toll in the two countries had exceeded 33,000 by Monday. The World Health Organisation has now warned of a secondary disaster, with tens of thousands of people displaced and in need…
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash Kazakhstan is totally committed to the goals and objectives of the Paris Climate Agreement. This was stressed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Alikhan Smailov at the Summit of World Leaders of the Global Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt last November. Smailov has highlighted that Kazakhstan has set…
