by tyler | Oct 23, 2023 | CNN, europe
Women across Iceland – including the prime minister – will go on strike Tuesday as part of a campaign pushing for greater gender equality in the country.
This will be the seventh time that women in Iceland strike in the name of gender equality, campaign organizers said on their official website. The first strike took place on October 24, 1975.
“On 24 October, all women in Iceland, including immigrant women, are encouraged to stop work, both paid and unpaid. For the whole day, women (and non-binary people) will strike, to demonstrate the importance of their contribution to society,” organizers said.
The strike, which is known as the “Women’s Day Off” or “Kvennafrí” in Icelandic, hopes to raise awareness about the “systemic” wage discrimination and gender-based violence faced by women in Iceland, according to organizers.
Icelandic Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir told Icelandic news site Iceland Monitor on Friday that she will not work on the strike day and expects other female members of government to do the same “in solidarity with Icelandic women.”
“As you know, we have not yet reached our goals of full gender equality and we are still tackling the gender-based wage gap, which is unacceptable in 2023. We are still tackling gender-based violence, which has been a priority for my government to tackle,” Jakobsdóttir said.
Her government had previously committed to eradicating the gender pay gap by 2022.
Icelandic employers have historically gotten behind the strikes and not prevented or docked the pay of employees who participate, according to organizers.
This year’s strike has the backing of the country’s largest federation of public workers unions, the Federation of the Public Workers Union in Iceland (BSRB), the Icelandic Nurses’ Association and the Icelandic Association of Women’s Associations, among others.
Organizers are drawing particular attention to the plight of immigrant women whose “invaluable” contribution to Icelandic society they say is “rarely acknowledged or reflected in the wages they receive.
Writing for CNN in 2019, Jakobsdóttir described how testimonies from migrant and ethnic minority women marked a turning point in Iceland. “They revealed that while Iceland has made internationally recognized progress on gender equality, we have not sufficiently confronted the intersections of gender, racial and class injustices,” she wrote.
Organizers have called on men to show their support for women striking by “taking on additional responsibilities” in home and at work which will enable female and non-binary partners/ colleagues to strike.
Meanwhile, the Icelandic government is focused on a recently launched research project into the wage disparity between professions traditionally dominated by men versus those dominated by women, according to Jakobsdóttir.
“We are looking at how these jobs are different… because we estimate that the difference in wages that exists is due to this,” Jakobsdóttir said.
by tyler | Oct 18, 2023 | CNN, europe
German security services are investigating after two Molotov cocktails were thrown in the direction of a synagogue in Berlin during the early hours of Wednesday.
Posting on X, Berlin police said the incident took place around 3.45am local time (9.45pET) at the synagogue on the Brunnenstraße street in Berlin’s central district of Mitte.
The flaming bottles smashed on the pavement before dying out, the police said.
Police have arrested a 30-year-old man who rode an e-scooter along the street and threw it away before running towards the synagogue. The man resisted arrest and shouted anti-Israel slogans as officers tried to apprehend him, the police added.
Germany’s state level security agency, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, is investigating the incident, according to police.
Without addressing the incident directly, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took to X in the wake of the attack to denounce violence against Jewish institutions.
“Attacks against Jewish institutions, violent riots on our streets – this is inhumane, disgusting and cannot be tolerated,” Scholz wrote.
“Antisemitism has no place in Germany. My thanks go to the security forces, especially in this situation.”
The Israeli embassy in Berlin also condemned the incident, calling for German authorities to address antisemitic attacks with “unwavering severity.”
The German government had previously warned that it would not tolerate any antisemitic behavior following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
Policing in Germany was stepped up after videos emerged of people holding Palestinian flags appearing to celebrate in German streets after the attack by Hamas on October 7.
In addition to Germany, other European countries including France and the UK have ramped up security measures in the wake of the massacre, amid fears of attacks against the Jewish community.
London’s Metropolitan Police announced in a post on X its decision to increase policing patrols across the capital “in order to provide a visible presence and reassurance to our communities,” while in France, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said there will be a reinforcement of security “around places of worship and Jewish establishments.”
by tyler | Oct 18, 2023 | CNN, europe
Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with a public order offense following her arrest for protesting outside this year’s Energy Intelligence Forum in London, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement Wednesday.
The 20-year-old was charged with a failure to comply with a “condition imposed under Section 14 of the Public Order Act,” the statement outlined.
Thunberg had been attending a demonstration organized by climate group Fossil Free London outside the Intercontinental Hotel in London’s Park Lane, protesting the annual summit that gathers chief executives from oil and gas companies.
The police said a total of 26 people were charged following the protest Tuesday.
“The protestors were asked to move from the road onto the pavement, which would enable them to continue with their demonstration without breaching the conditions,” the statement added.
CNN has reached out to representatives for Thunberg, who is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on November 15, alongside 10 others.
by tyler | Oct 17, 2023 | CNN, europe
Poland’s presumptive next leader, Donald Tusk, has urged the country’s president not to frustrate the handover of power, after final results from a tight election confirmed he is on course to remove the populist ruling party from government.
Tusk’s opposition Civic Coalition (KO) party finished a close second to the incumbent Law and Justice party, known by its Polish acronym PiS. But the results of Sunday’s election indicated that a coalition between KO and two other pro-European groups is the only realistic combination that could gain a majority in Poland’s parliament.
In a statement addressed to Andrzej Duda, Tusk said on Tuesday: “Mr President, please make energetic and quick decisions! The winning democratic parties are ready to take responsibility for governing the country. People are waiting.”
Nonetheless, weeks of high-stakes negotiations to form Warsaw’s next government are expected.
PiS won the biggest share of the vote with 35.38% but lost its parliamentary majority, according to official results released Tuesday by the National Electoral Commission after all ballots were counted.
The group led by Tusk, a former Polish Prime Minister and European Council President, finished on 30.7%. The close result made the centrist Third Way and left-wing Lewica parties kingmakers; both groups are resoundly opposed to the hardline PiS and have indicated they will seek to form a new coalition government with Tusk’s bloc.
The situation points to an end to PiS’ divisive eight-year rule, which saw a drastic overhaul of Poland’s democratic institutions and grave warnings that the country was lurching towards populist authoritarianism. Tusk had promised to restore democratic norms in Poland and cooperate with Western European allies, among whom Warsaw was fast becoming a pariah.
But a nervy few weeks may lie ahead. Duda, Poland’s PiS-aligned President, is expected to give the PiS every chance to form a government before turning over proceedings to Poland’s new block of opposition lawmakers. Tusk must also cement an ideologically broad coalition of politicians in order to present a workable alternative.
“We will definitely try to build a parliamentary majority,” incumbent Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said, despite PiS seemingly having no avenues through which to find one.
According to the Polish constitution, the president must call a new parliamentary session within 30 days of the election. Then, he has 14 days to nominate a candidate for prime minister, after which the nominee has 14 days to win a vote of confidence in parliament.
PiS’ only obvious potential partner is the far-right Confederation party, which turned in a poorer than expected electoral performance after a summer of gaining momentum.
Sunday’s election saw a record turnout of 74%, underscoring the intense polarization that gripped Poland over recent years, as well as the high stakes of the vote.
Tusk had painted the election as a last chance to save Polish democracy. “Democracy has won,” he told supporters after Sunday’s exit poll pointed to the election’s outcome. “This is the end of the PiS government.”
His apparent success is a major political accomplishment, in a country whose public media had essentially been reformed into government mouthpieces. Despite being a veteran of Polish and European politics, Tusk was considered the outsider throughout the campaign.
“The ruling party enjoyed clear advantage through its undue influence over the use of state resources and the public media,” election monitors from the intergovernmental Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said in a statement Monday.
The OSCE added that the election campaign took place on “an uneven playing field.”
Now, Tusk is on the cusp of coming to power and forcing a major political turnaround in the European Union’s fifth-largest country.
But Tusk would face a monumental task in reversing PiS’ illiberal reforms of the country’s judiciary, media and cultural bodies. In particular, a courts system that has been stuffed with PiS-selected judges could attempt to frustrate efforts to change the mechanics of the state.
He will meanwhile seek to re-establish Poland as a major player in the EU, and likely attempt to smooth over tensions that emerged between Warsaw and Kyiv over the imports of Ukrainian grain.
Tusk was heavily critical of the PiS government for allowing the grain feud to spill over last month, at a time when the ruling party were desperate to keep hold of rural voters and appeal to farmers concerned about imported grain undercutting their prices.
Despite those tensions and an upcoming period of political uncertainty, Poland will be expected to remain a resolute partner to Kyiv, particularly in relation to military supplies and humanitarian aid, as Ukraine’s war with Russia grinds on.
by tyler | Oct 17, 2023 | CNN, europe
A gunman suspected of killing two Swedish nationals in a terrorist attack in Brussels has died after being shot by police, bringing an end to an overnight manhunt.
The Belgian federal prosecutor’s office confirmed Tuesday that the suspect, whose identity is yet to be confirmed, had been killed.
He was spotted by a witness in a cafe in the Brussels municipality of Schaerbeek shortly after 8:00 a.m. local time on Tuesday, and then shot during an “intervention” by the police, Belgium’s National Crisis Center (NCCN) said.
Emergency services attempted to resuscitate the suspect but his death was confirmed at a hospital later that morning, the NCCN added, while a military weapon was found at the cafe.
Belgian officials said on Tuesday there could be a link between the attack and the current Israel-Hamas war, Belgium public broadcaster RTBF reported.
The suspected gunman’s deadly attack Monday night came as Belgium hosted Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifier soccer game at the King Baudouin Stadium 3 miles (5 kilometers) from downtown Brussels, forcing the match to be abandoned at half-time.
The stadium was later evacuated and fans were told to return home immediately, according to the NCCN.
In a video posted on social media, a man identifying himself as the gunman claimed “to be inspired by the Islamic State,” a spokesperson for Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said, adding “the Swedish nationality of the victims was mentioned as a probable motivation for the act.”
It emerged that the attacker shared a number of messages in support of the Palestinian people on social media and “it is therefore possible that the situation in the Middle East played a role,” the federal prosecutor’s office said Tuesday, according to RTBF.
The office added that “a more in-depth investigation will have to reveal the exact motivations of the perpetrator.”
Federal public prosecutor’s spokesman Eric van Duyse had initially said there was no indication of a potential link with the Israel-Hamas war.
The deadly shooting follows a spate of Quran-burning protests in Sweden and Denmark that has caused angry demonstrations in Muslim-majority countries, heightened security fears and left both Scandinavian nations questioning whether they need to review their liberal laws on freedom of speech.
A witness to the attack told Reuters that he heard a first gun shot, saw a couple running away and saw a white car accelerate past.
“That’s when I saw the assailant enter the building, who shot twice towards the man,” he said. “The man fell to the ground. I saw him fall because I was just nearby, I could see everything that was happening inside. I stayed there. I was frozen, I couldn’t move. I’m still shivering because of what happened. And then the man came back and shot another bullet, and he came out.”
Belgian authorities condemned the attack.
“Horrified by the terrorist attack that claimed two victims in the heart of Brussels,” Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. “All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and our police forces.”
Following the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised to 4, the highest level, while the French Interior Ministry told CNN it had “strengthened” checks at the Franco-Belgian border.
Police were on the streets of Brussels to ensure safety, the city’s mayor Philippe Close posted on X.
In a post Tuesday on X, Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo offered his “deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack.”
“We are now making sure the Swedish soccer fans can travel back home safely,” he added.
UAEFA said a moment of silence would be held at all Euro 2024 qualifying matches on Tuesday, in memory of the two victims of the attack.
The European Parliament held a minute of silence for the victims earlier Tuesday.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said in an address in Strasbourg on Tuesday that the alert level for European Parliament buildings in Brussels had been raised to orange.
Meanwhile, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson called on the European Union to bolster border controls and internal security following the terrorist attack, saying the region could not afford to be “naive.”
“All indications are that this is a terror attack aimed at Sweden and Swedish citizens only due to them being Swedish,” Kristersson said during a press conference. “These terrorists want to scare us into obedience and silence. That will not happen,” he added.
Kristersson will travel to Brussels on Wednesday to commemorate and mourn the victims of the attack, he said on X.
by tyler | Oct 17, 2023 | CNN, europe
Two people were shot dead in the Belgian capital Brussels on Monday evening in what the government described as a terrorist attack.
The suspect was still at large hours later, Belgian media reported, as authorities raised the terror alert in Brussels to its highest level.
“Horrified by the terrorist attack that claimed two victims in the heart of Brussels,” Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib posted to X.
“All necessary means must be mobilized to combat radicalism. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and our police forces,” the minister added.
Following the attack, the terror threat level for Brussels was raised to 4, the highest level. Belgium as a whole was previously level 2.
The incident came as Belgium hosted Sweden in a Euro 2024 qualifier soccer game. The match was abandoned.
Police are on the streets to ensure safety, the city’s mayor Philippe Close posted on X.
“Following the shooting in Brussels, police services are mobilizing to guarantee safety in and around our capital, in collaboration with the Minister of the Interior,” Close said. “I am at the crisis center… to ensure coordination.”
Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo posted to X: “My deepest condolences to the relatives of this cowardly attack in Brussels. I am closely following the situation, together with the Ministers of Justice and Home Affairs from [the Belgian Crisis Center]. We are monitoring the situation and ask the people of Brussels to be vigilant.”
The country’s Crisis Center also posted to X: “Tonight, a shooting took place in Brussels. There are fallen victims. Out of respect, we ask that no images or videos with relation to this incident are shared.”
