Europe

By Laurence Lee in Europe on April 13th, 2012


Camila Batmanghelidjh looked me in the eye. "We've had toddlers drawing food on pieces of paper and eating the paper because they were so hungry," she said.

I gawped at her. She's instantly recognisable and one of Britain's leading childrens' charity campaigners.

Her people have been on the phone, and say children (and some adults) they deal with are suffering the effects of starvation. They described it as a "humanitarian crisis".

Now I can completely follow the logic of people in Britain not having enough cash to feed them and their kids.

Benefit cuts, food inflation, the disgracefully high cost of fuel, all combine to make it impossible to afford enough food over a week for many thousands.

By Charles Stratford in Europe on April 4th, 2012

The town of Muslyumovo has to be one of the saddest places on earth. The thousands of people who have little choice but to live here, on the banks of the Techa river not far from Russia's southern border with Kazakhstan, are the victims of a nuclear disaster that began more than six decades ago.

They are still suffering with the consequences of life next door to the Mayak nuclear plant , and still dying from the radiation-related illnesses that have claimed the lives of so many before them.

On the way to the plant, constructed in the 1940s, our crew was forced to avoid several checkpoints, and to conceal our cameras - we made do, in the end, with a small camera mounted on the windscreen. 

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on March 31st, 2012
Thousands of people gathered for a demonstration in Madrid on 29th March [Barnaby Phillips]

Here's a sobering thought for Europe's trade unions. Throughout the long and painful story of the Eurozone crisis, from early 2010 to the present, it's difficult to think of a single significant victory for organised labour.There have been many strikes and protests in Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Some have been well attended, others not. Sometimes there has been violence, but most protests have been peaceful.But heavily indebted governments have pushed ahead anyway, with big cuts in public spending and a range of economic reforms.

Are the unions simply helpless before what they would characterise as the powerful forces of neo-liberalism and international finance? Do they lack the stomach for a fight? Or are they simply failing to present viable alternatives for Europe's struggling economies?

By Jonah Hull in Europe on March 22nd, 2012
Photo by EPA

In resisting two previous United Nations resolutions on Syria, Russia's position was that the texts were unbalanced and aimed at regime change. It insisted both sides should cease fire and begin negotiations, without preconditions or ultimatums.

Western powers, demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad step down, lambasted Russia for this. It cost them a show of diplomatic unity against Assad, in the absence of will to take concrete steps on the ground.

Wednesday's presidential statement includes calls for both sides to cease fire and engage in negotiations. It includes the Russian position that these should occur with no preconditions, timelines or ultimatums.

By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on March 11th, 2012
Photo: AFP
The crowds are dwindling at the protest rallies, the energy seems to be draining away.
By Nick Spicer in Europe on March 8th, 2012
Photo by EPA
On this International Women's Day, here's a thought about how we in the media describe the woman often called Europe’s most powerful politician: Angela Merkel.
It is doubtless more a comment on the sad lack of iconic female leaders in politics [or the media's unwillingness to recognise and celebrate them] that the English-speaking press is repeatedly comparing Germany’s chancellor to the former British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher.
It would be churlish for me to point out which media are doing this.
But you need only go to Google News and type in "Iron Lady" and "Merkel" for the examples to pile up in the search results [and, yes, I know the comparision turns up on AJE’s website too. Ouch!]
The parallel is wrong-headed for three reasons.
One: Merkel is a staunch pro-European.
By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on March 6th, 2012
Reuters photo

Here's a quick round-up of global reactions to Vladimir Putin's not-so surprising triumph in the Russian presidential elections:

First prize for effusiveness goes to ... Syria, where the official news agency said President Bashar al-Assad "offered in his name and that of the Syrian people his sincere congratulations for his remarkable election".

Another happy man was Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, who sent his personal congratulations to Moscow, saying that Vladimir Putin had "initiated a strategic relationship of co-operation between Venezuela and Russia, connected by a very strong bond of friendship".

There was also a warm reaction from Beijing.

President Hu Jintao sent a congratulatory message, and the Chinese foreign ministry said the election had been "a success".

West's reaction

By Christopher True in Europe on March 6th, 2012
Riot police forcibly pushed some demonstrators down the steps of surrounding metro entrances [Christopher True/Al Jazeera]

It did not take long for Vladimir Putin, the winner of Sunday's Russian presidential election, to reassert his authority over the country's opposition: less than 24 hours in fact.

On Monday evening, about 14,000 people, from across the political spectrum - from nationalists to Communists - had gathered in Moscow's Pushkin Square to demonstrate against Putin's victory.

After failing to disperse after their alloted time for protesting - and in Russia, rules are rules - police used heavy handed tactics to arrest about 250 people, including the informal leader of the movement, anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny.

The demonstration had started peacefully, with a crowd made up of people from all walks of life from students and businessmen to artists and pensioners.

It was an icy cold day, with the temperature falling to minus 11 degrees, and a biting breeze, but the crowd remained in good spirits.

By Al Jazeera Staff in Europe on March 4th, 2012
[Reuters]

Al Jazeera brings you up-to-the-minute reporting from Russia following Sunday's presidential elections.

Vladimir Putin, prime minister since 2008, won almost 64 per cent of the votes and will now enter his third term as president, but he has seen rising opposition to his rule in recent months.

Check out our special spotlight page on the Russian elections for all the background, opinion, features and news.

Al Jazeera is not responsible for content derived from external websites. 

File 61111

Tags:
By Christopher True in Europe on March 3rd, 2012
Al Jazeera/Christopher True

As Mikhail Prokhorov arrives on stage at Moscow's Olympic Stadium he is greeted by the cheers of thousands of supporters gathered at a concert in the Russian capital to promote his bid to become president.

Up close, Prokhorov is tremendously tall, at more than two metres in height he was nicknamed "giraffe" at school.

As he walks through the stadium tunnel to meet the crowd, he towers over everybody around him, including his bodyguards.

Across huge screens, laser images of Prokhorov, shots of his twitter page and flashes of his manifesto promises are beamed to the audience.

The crowd listens attentively to his speech and are then treated to a series of pop music performances.

For many Russians, Prokhorov, with an estimated wealth of about $18bn, symbolises aspiration, the chance to become rich in a country with vast natural resources.