Displaying items by tag: Europe

NATO has launched its biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, amid rising tensions with Russia. About 50,000 soldiers from 31 countries are taking part in a mock battle in Norway, against an invading force named Trident Juncture 18. The battle is scheduled to run until 7 November. NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said the drills would send a clear message to ‘any potential adversary’. Washington is contributing the biggest contingent of troops to the exercises, which are taking place just weeks after Russia staged its own largest-ever military drills.

Attacks by disaffected teenagers at schools and colleges have hit the headlines recently in Russia. In January, a student in Siberia attacked a teacher and fellow-students with an axe and set fire to the school. In April, in the Urals, another student stabbed a teacher and a student and set fire to a classroom. But this week’s tragedy of 18 school children killed and 53 injured has led to three days of mourning from 18 October. Speaking to journalists and parents of missing students in the city of Kerch, where the shooting took place, Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said the death toll stood at eighteen 14- to 16-year-olds, plus the killer Vladislav Roslyakov. Witnesses said they heard shots and ran into the corridor, where they were randomly targeted with a machine gun. Victims were taken away in buses and minibuses: ‘Children and staff, without legs, without arms’.

Albania is considered to be the poorest country in Europe, with a high level of poverty and little access to basic social services. Thousands of children face injustice in many forms of abuse, violence, exploitation and early marriage. The country still lacks a fully functional system which should prevent, protect, and rehabilitate children from all forms of discrimination and abuse. World Vision works there to speak up on behalf of children and improve lives through child protection programmes (see ) In spite of the introduction of child protection measures, Albania is still one of the riskiest places for children in Europe. The risks start at birth - a high infant mortality rate - and continue through to early adulthood, when the lack of opportunities makes it difficult for them to become independent. UNICEF reported that 12% of children aged 5-14 are working while adults face unemployment and poverty.

A survey by the independent pollster Levada Centre shows the number of Russians regarding Putin as Russia’s most trusted politician has fallen significantly recently. The survey asked respondents to list five or six politicians whom they trusted the most. Although Putin was first with 39%, trust in him had fallen 9% since June and a total of 20 percentage points since November. He recently signed into law an unpopular bill that gradually increases the state retirement age to 60 for women and 65 for men. Most ordinary Russians are deeply opposed to the reforms, which sparked rare street protests across the country. Putin’s lowest-ever rating in a Levada poll came in 2013, when only 30% said he was a trusted politician. Then his popularity surged to over 80% after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine.

The EU is taking a hard line on single-use plastics, with the European parliament's environment committee voting to bolster the Commission’s plastics policy. The report now lays out bans on plastic straws, plastic cutlery, and expanded polystyrene food packaging, as well as committing countries to cutting down on other plastics. It now faces a final vote later in October.

The UK government is demanding action from the EU amid strong frustration over the lack of proposals from Brussels on a post-Brexit relationship. Speaking to CNBC recently, several members of the Government appeared frustrated about the EU’s attitude. Chris Grayling said, ‘At the moment, it is very much a question of Europe responding with its proposals. Currently there is nothing on the table.’ Trade secretary Liam Fox said it is the EU's ‘duty’ to help the UK and put forward their proposals. ‘They said they were not very happy with what the UK offered; in which case let them bring forward their own proposals. Under Article 50 we have the right to leave the EU, and they have a duty to help us in that future relationship. Let's see them now deliver what they promised to do in that treaty.’

Dutch military intelligence disrupted a Russian cyber-attack on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. The attack, which was thwarted with the help of British officials, came after Russia had also attempted remote attacks on on the UK Foreign Office in March and the Porton Down chemical weapons facility in April. Both attacks were unsuccessful. The Dutch defence minister said that four Russian intelligence officials from the GRU’s cybercrime unit, known as Sandworm, had been expelled from the Netherlands after being caught spying on the chemical weapons body in April. Jeremy Hunt said that a number of hackers widely known to have been conducting attacks around the world were covers for Russia’s GRU intelligence service, and their attacks had been undertaken with the consent and knowledge of the Kremlin. A Russian spokeswoman dismissed the hacking accusations as ‘big fantasies’.

A leaked document has revealed that EU officials are making no-deal Brexit preparations due to ‘uncertainty’ over a deal passing through the House of Commons. EU ambassadors held a rare ‘closed session’ on 26 September, to discuss the prospect of Parliament rejecting the final divorce settlement. Officials will discuss mini-deals to keep aircraft flying, medicine supplies and ports moving in the event of a no-deal, as part of European Commission ‘contingency planning’. A restricted agenda states, ‘Preparedness work has to intensify in the months ahead at national as well as EU level, as uncertainty remains about the outcome of the negotiations and the ratification of a possible deal.’ Under such a scenario, Britain and the EU could do temporary deals, deferring ‘no deal’ problems, before permanent solutions are negotiated. France’s finance minister said, ‘There is something more important for us than the future of the UK, and that’s the future of the EU.’

GEM UK is part of a global mission, focused on reaching Europe by multiplying disciples and growing Christ’s Church. They mobilise missionaries from the UK to serve as a catalyst throughout Europe (including the UK) to assist churches in their local vision in planting new communities, encouraging a culture of discipleship multiplication and resourcing them with the many skills their missionaries bring. Their heart is to see cities transformed by Christ and churches working together. GEM currently serves in 25 countries across Europe. In 2019 GEM Global will celebrate 70 years as a mission. A predominately non-Christian Welsh community use the phrase ‘Iaith y Nefoedd’ as a joke. It means 'everyone will speak Welsh in heaven.' The exact translation is 'the language of heaven.' Today GEM reaches the many forgotten Welsh people still using the Welsh language. See also the UK article ‘The Welsh language’.

France has taken the hardest line of the member states in recent weeks, including its insistence that an outline of the future relationship should be detailed. Other states suggested it should be allowed to be vague in order to ease the passage to a deal, after the EU rejected key planks of it on customs and the single market. Emmanuel Macron has urged his EU counterparts to stand firm against Theresa May in Brexit negotiations after the PM urged the bloc to give ground in talks. The French president said that EU unity must take precedence over any other considerations. Other leaders took a softer line. Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg said ‘compromise from both sides, not from one side’ was necessary and Irish PM Leo Varadkar told reporters that Mrs May was ‘working hard’ on the issue of Northern Ireland, and that she appeared to be ‘very sincere’.