A crucial deal aimed at averting a global food crisis has been extended. Here’s everything you need to know
CNN
23-05-17 16:38
Russia, Ukraine and Turkey have agreed to extend the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal which has allowed the safe passage of ships from Ukraine and prevented global food insecurity occuring while Russia blockade vital grain exports. Ukraine is key exporter of grain with it accounting for 10% of the world wheat market, 15% of the corn market, 13% of the barley market, and a key global player in the sunflower oil sector. The agreement has been renewed for a third time for two months as there were fears that it would not be renewed after Russia called for it to be scrapped, citing concerns that a separate agreement with the UN to facilitate shipments of its own foodstuffs and fertilisers had not yielded results and dissatisfaction with the sanctions imposed by G7 nations. The EU had previously lifted all duties on Ukrainian grain via land to facilitate exports, causing a glut of cheap Ukrainian grain to flow into central and eastern Europe and affecting the sales of local producers.
Hungary’s foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, has said that Hungary will continue to block the disbursement of a new tranche of European Union military support to Ukraine until Kyiv removes Hungary’s OTP Bank from a list of international sponsors of Russia’s war. Szijjarto said that Hungary wouldn’t approve the release of €500m ($543m) from the EU’s European Peace Facility until the bank is removed from the list. Hungary’s nationalist government, which maintains close ties with Moscow, has also argued against EU sanctions on Russia, and sought to cement Hungary’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Elon Musk has been accused of playing a leading role in the spread of disinformation on Twitter, as he gives priority to “playing footsies with the crazies” over working for some of his much vaunted causes such as artificial intelligence, climate change, and revolutionising transport. The allegations follow comments Musk made on the social media platform inferred to be anti-Semitic and anti-humanity. Critics accuse the businessman of exercising his freedom of speech to bully and belittle others online but of blocking media coverage that does not flatter him.
Lord Frost has criticised Michael Gove’s recently proposed changes to rental reforms, regarding them as “dangerous and counterproductive.” The criticisms were made during a speech at the National Conservatism Conference where Frost also discussed state interference in people’s life and the need for the Conservatives to portray themselves as the “party of opportunity and the party of the future”. Ian Fletcher, director of policy for the British Property Federation, has added concerns that the reforms could lead to an increase in short-term rentals, prompting holiday lets to replace permanent residences.
France is resisting EU targets regarding renewable energy out of concern that “low-carbon” hydrogen generated with electricity from atomic power plants will not be included. On Wednesday the EU’s 27 member states were due to agree on an overall target of 42.5% of renewable power in the bloc’s energy mix by 2030. Paris is promoting its nuclear industry, despite missing EU targets for the integration of renewables. Six pro-nuclear countries, including the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Hungary, backed France’s stance on Wednesday and other member states have raised concerns that behavioural precedents may be damaging to overall EU emission targets.
Russia's campaign to recruit men to give up their civilian job to join the army, as well as offering medals to woman who have 10 or more children to help boost the country's birth rate shows how gendered stereotypes reflect the interest of patriarchal states. This free article in the Financial Times looks at how this state rhetoric has been a constant, with state control over populations being the preoccupation of governments for at least 5,000 years and why President Putin cannot prevent queues of young men trying to avoid conscription by fleeing the country.
Air raid alerts have sounded throughout Ukraine while the military has warned of potential missile strikes due to the ongoing conflict with Russia. Several explosions have been reported in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and neighbouring cities, including Darnytskyi and Dnipro. Warning to take cover have been issued across much of the country, including central and the southern regions. Heavy fighting and territorial gains by the Ukrainian army in Bakhmut have been reported, but the mercenary group Wagner, spearheading the assault, has not reported ammunition shortages, according to Serhiy Cherevatyi, a Ukrainian military spokesperson. The Russian brigade group has continued to fire all available weapons as it seeks to gain control of Bakhmut. Paul Kolbe, the Executive Director of the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has stated that Moscow’s ultimate aim remains annexing the Donbas region of Ukraine, not war by attrition.
According to a study by the Center for Reproductive Rights and 8 human rights organisations, Ukrainian women who fled to EU countries are returning to their native country in order to get access to sexual and reproductive healthcare. Poland, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, the EU nations in which most Ukrainian refugees reside, have various legal restrictions and cost barriers when attempting to access healthcare in relation to family planning and abortion. Fearing exposure of their illegal refugees status, and being subjected to poor treatment and legal restrictions, Ukrainian women are putting themselves in danger travelling back to their native land.
Manchester United may be looking to sign a new striker, but their search for a new central defender is also continuing, with Napoli's Kim Min-Jae linked to a high-profile move to Old Trafford. However, if the club is priced out of a move for the South Korean defender, there are several promising alternatives on the market. WhoScored.com has examined potential targets and selected centre-backs with stats that match or exceed Kim's in areas such as passes per game, pass success rate, aerial duels won per game, clearances per game and tackles per game. The list includes Ibanez of Roma, Bremer from Juventus, Willi Orban from RB Leipzig, Kevin Danso from Lens, Sinaly Diomande from Lyon, Anthony Rouault from Toulouse, as well as two younger uncapped players, Sam Beukema from AZ Alkmaar and Tomas Araujo from Gil Vicente on loan from Benfica.
Recent antisemitic conspiracies perpetuated by former US President Donald Trump and Hungarian President Viktor Orban reveal the link between far-right nationalism and Israeli ethno-nationalism, says Ian Buruma in Project Syndicate. Although both leaders point to their support of Israel as proof of no antisemitism, their anti-immigration and xenophobic policies suggest otherwise. Moreover, members of Israel’s far-right government embrace similar rhetoric, with Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calling for the expulsion of Palestinian-Israeli citizens. The nation’s current leadership has led to divisions in the Jewish community, including criticism from pro-Zionist organizations like the Anti-Defamation League, who have condemned Jewish racism. Such a schism suggests Israel, initially established to be a homeland for Jews, is no longer inclusive of the group. In turn, this risks the growing gap between Israel and the wider Jewish diaspora as xenophobic policies become common in global political discourse.
The National Conservatism Conference has attracted backlash for its promotion of Western civilization principles linked to far-right beliefs. The conference, which ran for three days in Westminster attracted a variety of ministers and Conservative MPs. It was run by American group the Edmund Burke Foundation, which describes its aim as “strengthening the principles of national conservatism in Western countries,” and has links to an Israeli-based Zionist research organisation. The conference featured speeches on “biological reality,” and critiques of birth rates and the “disintegration of the family,” concerning critics for its opposition to identity politics and “radical gender ideology”. The conference’s treatment of non-whites, non-Christians and LGBTQ+ people among other groups were criticised, with counter-extremism group Hope Not Hate describing its content as featuring “far-right and populist conspiracy theories.”
The ideals of Traditionalism, a belief system that claims that there exists a primordial order beyond the visible world to which only certain individuals may be initiated, have resurged in recent years, according to a new survey by author Mark Sedgwick. Traditionalism's emphasis on the contrast between sacred order and modern disorder is fueling the resurgence. A combination of critique and alternative understanding of reality in response to modernity's perceived flaws has made Traditionalism attractive to political figures who support it, such as Aleksandr Dugin, said to be the ideologue behind President Putin, noted Sedgwick.
Slovakia's parliament is expected to vote on a proposal that would prohibit transgender people from changing their gender identity on official documents, effectively removing their legal recognition. The amendment would only allow a change in gender on documents if a genetic test showed that it had been incorrectly identified, which would block transgender people from being able to make the change. Human rights groups have criticised the proposal and it is expected to be challenged in the constitutional court. At present, transgender people can legally change their gender and other personal information on their ID cards.
Pope Francis is reportedly planning to send personal envoys to the presidents of Russia and Ukraine in an attempt to broker a ceasefire in their ongoing conflict, according to a Vatican news website. The pope allegedly revealed details of the mission to reporters on his return from Hungary last month. According to Il Sismografo, the envoys would be Archibishop Claudio Gugerotti, head of the Vatican’s department for Eastern Churches, and Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna; they would meet with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy respectively. Although both countries have reportedly agreed to hear the papal envoys’ message, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni had no comment on the story.
Sweden won their fourth victory at the ice hockey world championship by routing newcomer Hungary 7-1. Jacob de la Rose scored twice for Sweden who are second in Group A with 11 points, one behind the United States. Germany beat Denmark 6-4 for their first victory. In Group B, Switzerland beat Slovakia 4-2 for their fourth win and the top of the group, one point ahead of Canada in second place. Dominik Kubalik led the Czech Republic to a 6-2 victory over newcomer Slovenia with a hat trick and an assist, putting him at the top of the tournament scoring table with six goals.
A group of Conservative members gathered in Bournemouth for the formal launch of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), founded by allies of Boris Johnson who want to hand Tory decision-making powers to members. However, the conference was more notable for member complaints about the direction of the party. Compounding such complaints is a sense of uncertainty following the Conservative’s local election results earlier this year. With members seen as the bedrock of the party’s activist base, it’s unclear what the party will do to coalesce with a broad coalition voter base while listening to increasingly divergent concerns from members. While some party members blamed the Conservatives’ state on a “bloated bureaucracy” and taxes, one key issue raised was discontent over the government’s immigration and Brexit policies. The CDO was a haven for many “disgruntled Conservative supporters” with its central calls for party reform. Meanwhile, a separate three-day National Conservatism Conference in London hosted a broader range of right-wing speakers, with the notable absence of the Conservative party present.
Although the Tory party’s leadership appears united, there are worries over how long this could last, with some speculating about the possibility of replacing Sunak before the next election, while more discussions have generated speculation on whether the Conservatives can maintain its current coalition voter base. With polls indicating an average 17-point lead for Labour, there is concern among Conservative members about what the party should be offering up as its core vote-winning policy. Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns, who opened the CDO conference, raised eyebrows by noting that “I look around colleagues myself and think, you belong in the Lib Dems, actually”. Former home secretary Priti Patel suggested the local election results “is a moment to recalibrate”.
Despite the issues facing the Conservatives, there was one unifying theme across the two right-wing conferences – a vehement criticism of political correctness and a pivot toward more traditional conservatism/populism. Attendees such as Miriam Cates and Danny Kruger have cited "reproductive rights” and “sense of family values” as central tenets of their politics. Former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that a change of leadership once more would make the party look “ridiculous”. Nonetheless, the unease and increased discussions among party members could lead to a fracturing if they perceive that the party is shifting too far from its traditional base.
The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) initially underestimated the country's population of foreign nationals by almost half a million, due to a flaw in how data was collected. Many of the migrants were employees of Wizz Air, the regional airline that frequently lands at airports inspected by personnel conducting the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which offers estimates of migration to and from the UK. The survey targets random individuals and questions cover issues such as how much was paid for airline tickets. The experience made Brexiteers question the ability of the IPS to produce accurate data.
The term “Christian nationalism” is now being used by many to smear conservative Christians who defend the role of religion in American public life, even though the term can have many meanings depending on who is doing the defining. Sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry have recently published, Taking America Back for God, in which they define Christian nationalism as “an ideology that idealizes and advocates a fusion of American civic life with a particular type of Christian identity and culture,” but they include assumptions of “nativism, white supremacy, patriarchy and heteronormativity, along with divine sanction for authoritarian control and militarism,” which many do not believe is what the term describes. A Brookings Institute and the Public Religion Research Institute survey found 29% of the American population fell somewhere on the “Christian nationalist” spectrum. To smear conservative Christians who defend the role of religion in American public life, the definition has been stretched to include standard conservative views on marriage, family, and politics, as well as anyone who opposes policies an accuser doesn’t like. The term, as used in the media, is mostly a rhetorical tool to smear and silence conservatives.
Hotel chains are competing to attract the business of American pet owners, with 23 million US households acquiring a new pet since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Mars Pet Nutrition. A report shows that over half of Americans expect to take their dogs on holiday with them. Hilton claimed that "pet-friendly" was the third most popular filter on its website in 2021. However, travelling with pets can be challenging. Dogs struggle with time differences and changes to routine, and eating and elimination can also be problematic. Hotels are offering pet-friendly facilities, including experiences like "bark-uterie boards". Virgin Hotels Chicago is ranked as one of the city's most pet-friendly hotels by pet-care website, rover.com. Guests are not required to cage dogs in the rooms, nor are they banned from leaving them unattended. The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago has weight restrictions of 25lbs on dogs. Over two-thirds of US households own pets, according to the American Pet Products Association.
A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged allies to take bolder action in imposing sanctions on Russia, calling for the targeting of banks that provide financial services to Russian soldiers. The calls came as the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) met to discuss imposing new sanctions and preventing Russia and third-party firms from circumventing previously imposed measures. European Union members also looked at the 11th package of sanctions. Vladyslav Vlasiuk singled out three lenders, including Gazprombank, Tinkoff Bank, and Rosselkhozbank. Each of the banks had been implicated in some way in Ukraine's conflict.
