Section: Newsweek (USA)
Britain’s Welfare State Pushes People Into Survival Crime
Britain’s welfare state is making people destitute and pushes them toward “survival crime” in order to eat, a major U.K. study has found. Preliminary findings of research into increased restrictions on receiving benefits in the U.K., led by the University of York and reported in The Guardian, show that in some cases children are missing...
Azerbaijan Named Europe’s Worst Place for LGBTI People
Azerbaijan has ranked as the worst place for LGBTI people to live in Europe in the annual Rainbow Index by the European Region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA-Europe). The oil-rich Caspian state met under 5 percent of ILGA-Europe’s assessment criteria, which evaluate the legal and practical...
Putin Snubs Leaders of Ukraine and Georgia On Victory Day
Russian President Vladimir Putin snubbed the leaders of Ukraine and Georgia in his traditional Victory Day note to the leaders of a list of former Soviet Republics on Monday. Putin also commended Soviet victory over the Nazis, while omitting to mention the allies involved in toppling Hitler’s fascist regime. Moscow and other Russian cities...
Parliament Approves Hungarian Refugee Quota Referendum
Hungary’s parliament on Tuesday approved a government move to hold a referendum on mandatory refugee quotas set by Brussels. The Hungarian vote, which was approved by a vote of 136 to five in the parliament, will put the question: “Do you want the European Union to prescribe the mandatory settlement of non-Hungarian citizens in Hungary even...
Ukraine Commends Over 1,000 ‘Heroic Mothers’
Ukraine is honouring over 1,000 women with the award “heroic mother,” given to women who have raised five or more children. The announcement that 1,085 Ukrainian mothers would be given the honour was made on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s official website on Sunday. The award commends “mothers who have raised five or more children...
Moscow Victory Day Parade Tips Putin’s Military Strategy
Russia’s Victory Day military parade on Monday is more a domestic propaganda exercise than an authoritative representation of the nation’s achievements in the military sphere. However, this does not mean we cannot draw some valuable conclusions about the general trend in the Russian military development basing those on the equipment...
Why Moscow’s Man in the Vladimir Putin Mask Wants to Go to Jail
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. But in Russia, the real hardships fall on the head wearing a Vladimir Putin mask. One man knows this better than anyone. Over the last few months, Roman Roslovtsev has been detained nine times for an offense he describes as “absurd.” Now, when he stands in front of the Kremlin sporting a rubber mask of the...
Russia’s Valery Gergiev Performs Concert in Syria’s Palmyra After Liberation From ISIS
A famous Russian conductor has brought life back to the Syrian city of Palmyra after its liberation from the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), leading a classical concert in the ruins of the ancient city’s Roman Theater. Valery Gergiev conducted St. Petersburg’s Mariinsky Symphony Orchestra, guiding them through performances of...
Russian Lawmakers Push To Regulate Officials’ Online Behavior
Russian state officials and civil servants might soon have a bit more to worry about than Internet trolls, as lawmakers are proposing that all state employees report to their bosses what private information they have made public online. Vladimir Burmatov, from the ruling United Russia party, and Andrey Lugovoy, from the nationalist LDPR party,...
Putin Takes Action Against Slacker Members of Parliament
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree which allows parties and committees to suspend lawmakers for non-attendance to parliamentary sessions, according to Russia’s official law archive website. The new regulation means members of parliament can be stripped of their mandate if their fellow members believe they have been...
