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Nov 18, 2024 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Anna Dickson |Nigel Walker |Rachael Harker
International Men’s Day is celebrated annually on 19 November. This iteration of the day was formally inaugurated by a lecturer, Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, in Trinidad and Tobago on 19 November 1999. In a podcast interview on 21 October 2020 podcast Dr Teelucksingh suggested the need to “promote positive male role models” was his main motivation for founding the day. He also said it should not be viewed as being in opposition to International Women’s Day.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker
Nine parties are contesting fielding candidates in all constituencies, with a further three parties standing in specific provinces. The right-wing Freedom Party of Austria is leading the polls ahead of election day, with its leader, Herbert Kickl, campaigning under the slogan: “Fortress Austria — closing borders, guaranteeing security.”The key issues viewed as important by voters in the run-up to the election are the rising cost of living and immigration.
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Mar 18, 2024 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker
NATO Parliamentary Assembly in brief68 years ago – on 18 July 1955 – 158 parliamentarians from 14 NATO nations attended a six-day meeting at NATO headquarters in Paris. This first “Conference of Members of Parliament from the NATO Countries” soon became the “NATO Parliamentarians’ Conference”. In 1966 delegates at the 12th Conference unanimously agreed to rename the organisation the “North Atlantic Assembly”.
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Dec 7, 2023 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker
Argentina’s 2023 election marked 40 years since the return to democracy in Argentina. The PASO primaries (Open, Simultaneous, and Obligatory Primaries) took place on 13 August, the first key date in the 2023 electoral calendar. The primaries were used to select the final candidates for coalitions and allowed voters to give an early indication of their preferences.
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Oct 13, 2023 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker
On 15 December 2022 the ruling coalition government in Slovakia lost a vote of confidence. Its replacement caretaker government – with the fourth prime minister in five years – then lost a no confidence vote, but was allowed to remain in office with limited powers until early elections could be held on 30 September 2023.
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Oct 9, 2023 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker |Philip Brien |Philip Loft
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)The Sustainable Development Goals were launched in 2015 and apply to all UN member states, including the UK. There are 17 goals intended to be met by 2030, including ending poverty in all its forms everywhere and achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. In July 2023, the UN issued a progress report on the SDGs. It warned that progress on most goals has stalled, and, in some cases, gone into reverse.
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Sep 4, 2023 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | John Curtis |Nigel Walker
Foreign relationsIn its 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy (Integrated Review), the Government said it will “deepen our ties with Brazil and Mexico, strengthening [our] partnerships on trade, innovation, climate, security and development”.
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Aug 22, 2023 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker
The current conflict in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022 when Russian military forces entered the country from Belarus, Russia and Crimea. Prior to the invasion, there had already been eight years of conflict in eastern Ukraine between Ukrainian Government forces and Russia-backed separatists. This paper provides a timeline of the major events that happened in the conflict in Ukraine from the 2014 annexation of Crimea to the eve of the 2022 Russian invasion.
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Aug 17, 2023 | 
inkl.com | Nigel Walker
New Zealander Gatland is eight months into his second stint as Wales head coach after replacing Wayne Pivac and he is preparing for a fourth World Cup at the helm during September and October, having masterminded semi-final appearances in 2011 and 2019. Wales finished fifth in the Guinness Six Nations last season, while Gatland inherited a squad that lost nine out of 12 Tests last year. “The contract was a five-year contract.
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Jul 25, 2023 | 
commonslibrary.parliament.uk | Nigel Walker
The election was regarded by some international observers as a litmus test for West Africa’s democratic resilience. 13 candidates contested the presidential election, although the two largest opposition parties, the National Grand Coalition (NGC) and the Coalition for Change (C4C) did not field presidential candidates in 2023.
