France’s local elections this week yielded the highest level of abstention ever recorded. The abstention rate for the first round of voting, which took place this Sunday, is projected around 66%, although some polls suggest an abstention rate of closer to 68%. These local and departmental elections, seen as an
Last week, former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty of corruption and was handed a three-year jail sentence. Despite the ruling, it remains unlikely that Sarkozy will serve any time in prison. Following the case, Sarkozy’s lawyer announced that he will appeal the three-year sentence, two years of which
Pressure continues to mount on the French government to scrap the controversial Loi Sécurité Globale: a bill which seeks to illegalise the filming of police officers in France. Those who are found to have broken the law, by showing the face or identity of an on-duty officer, could face a
Simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan came to the boil this past week, as the long-lasting dispute over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh turned violent. The region, internationally recognized as an Azerbaijani territory despite its Armenian ethnic majority, was the battleground for a territorial conflict that claimed 30,000 lives in a
The UK government this week announced that new measures were to be introduced in England to curb a recent rise in COVID-19 cases. The measures, which will come into force from Monday, prohibit gatherings of more than six people in both indoor and outdoor spaces, with some exemptions including schools
On Friday, more than 70 journalists at the independent Hungarian news outlet ‘Index’ resigned in the wake of the dismissal of their editor-in-chief, Szabolcs Dull. In an open-letter, posted on the ‘Index’ website, the departing journalists cited the threat to their “independent operation” as the motivation for their mass resignation.
Latest Developments This week, the brutal civil war in Libya intensified as the Libyan National Army (LNA) defied the UN’s plea for a ceasefire. The LNA claimed to have seized control of several towns in the north-west of Libya. The offensive comes amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and both the LNA
New legislation was introduced earlier this month which will allow future infrastructure projects to bypass scrutiny from federal agencies in the U.S. The legislation will mean that the environmental implications of major projects such as the construction of power plants, will no longer require an environmental impact assessment. This week,
In the state of Victoria, Australia, residents and holidaymakers alike have this Sunday been told to evacuate in the face of huge bushfires which have devastated the region. The mass evacuation has been prompted by worsening weather conditions in the state with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius and strong winds
Christmas cards, appearing to contain messages from alleged prisoners in China, have been discovered by a six-year-old British girl. The cards, which were sold by Tesco and produced by Heijiang Yunguang Printing, contained the message “We are foreign prisoners in Shanghai Qingpu prison China. Forced to work against our will.
The people of Bougainville have this week overwhelmingly voted to secede from Papua New Guinea (PNG). The non-binding referendum, which began in late November and concluded on 11th December, gave voters the choice of either increased autonomy or independence from the Pacific Ocean country. Astonishingly, almost 98 per cent of
The BBC has this week come under fire for breaking its impartiality guidelines as political commentators and social media users alike have alluded to pro-government bias in their content. According to the BBC’s editorial guidelines, they are committed to achieving ‘due impartiality’ yet, this week, they are accused not only
Spanish Newspaper ‘El País’ this week revealed that the Spanish High Court, known as the ‘Audiencia Nacional’, is investigating Russian interference in the Catalan independence movement. Although the investigation is strictly confidential, three sources, including a judge, have spoken to ‘El País’ to confirm that investigators are examining evidence of
This week a wide range of political actors have decried the UK Government’s decision to withhold a report pertaining to Russian interference in British politics. The report, carried out by Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), was finalised on 17 October, but is yet to be released. Understandably, public outcry
Jack Dowley, co-founder and CEO of Twitter announced this week that the popular social media platform will introduce a ban on political advertising. In a lengthy thread which has since been liked by over 400,000 users, Mr. Dowley outlined the details of the ban—a ban which seeks to remove targeted
Extinction Rebellion’s (XR) global protests came to an end earlier this week yet, despite an early wave of goodwill from the general public, their Canning Town tube station protest proved divisive. On the morning of 17 October, XR activists mounted tube trains in Canning Town which led to angry altercations
On the 3rd October, the High Court in Belfast ruled that Northern Ireland’s current abortion legislation was in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). The case was brought forward by Sarah Ewart who suffered the ordeal of having to travel to England from Northern Ireland in order
