World
Nearly half of Europeans say their standards of living have declined
The price-of-living disaster triggered by the Ukraine conflict, the vitality crunch, surging inflation and the coronavirus pandemic has develop into the best fear for European Union residents, in keeping with a brand new Eurobarometer that reveals 45% of respondents are at the moment having “some” or “quite a bit” difficulties with their private revenue.
The ballot speaks of a “polycrisis temper” throughout the continent.
Moreover, 46% of Europeans admit their requirements of residing have already decreased on account of the mounting crises whereas 39% anticipate to see a decline someday this 12 months.
Simply 14% don’t anticipate any form of change or impression.
The international locations the place the perceived drop in residing requirements has been most pronounced are Cyprus (70% of respondents say requirements have “already been decreased”), Greece (66%), Malta (65%), France (62%) and Portugal (57%), the report reveals.
Folks in Nordic international locations are probably the most snug with their current revenue – 87% in Sweden, 86% in Denmark and 84% in Finland –, whereas solely 21% in Greece and Bulgaria are happy with their earnings.
Extra worryingly, 39% of respondents admit they wrestle to pay their month-to-month payments “once in a while” and 9% say that is the case “more often than not.” As soon as once more, Greece and Bulgaria report the best share of the inhabitants going by way of this type of hardship, with 86% and 64% respectively.
General, 56% of Europeans specific dissatisfaction with the measures taken on the EU stage to sort out the rising prices of residing, whereas 64% really feel the identical in regards to the actions of their nationwide governments.
In whole, 93% of ballot individuals say they’re frightened in regards to the cost-of-living disaster, together with surging meals and vitality costs. Poverty and social exclusion (82%), local weather change (81%) and the attainable unfold of the Ukraine conflict to neighbouring international locations (81%) additionally characterize sources of hysteria amongst EU residents.
Notably, almost three-quarters confess to being concerned in regards to the “threat of a nuclear incident,” a state of affairs fuelled by inflammatory rhetoric from the Kremlin.
Regardless of these widespread fears and struggles, European help for Ukraine stays steadfast: 74% of EU residents approve of the EU’s response to the conflict versus 23% who disapprove.
Approval of the EU’s help to Ukraine is overwhelming amongst respondents within the northern area: 97% in Sweden, 95% in Finland, 93% within the Netherlands and 92% in Denmark.
Solely in Slovakia (49%), Greece (48%) and Bulgaria (48%) this help falls beneath the 50% threshold.
When requested in regards to the conflict’s broader implications, 65% of all these surveyed say they’re “not very” or “by no means” assured that their private lives will proceed unchanged.
The Eurobarometer, launched by the European Parliament on Thursday morning, relies on greater than 26,000 face-to-face interviews carried out between October and November in all 27 member states.
In addition to cost-of-living and Ukraine, the outcomes additionally contact upon the EU as a complete, its establishments and the 2024 parliamentary elections.
The share of those that have a constructive picture of the EU has dropped from 52% in Might to 47% in November, with massive variations throughout international locations. On the identical time, 62% see their nation’s membership within the bloc as a “good factor” versus a small minority (10%) who name it a “unhealthy factor.”
Nonetheless, over half of respondents (51%) say issues within the EU are going within the “flawed path,” with slightly below a 3rd saying issues are going within the “proper path.”
Pessimism runs even deeper inside nationwide boundaries: 62% of EU residents say issues of their residence nation are going within the “flawed path.”
In an attention-grabbing twist, 63% of individuals declare issues of their private lives are going within the “proper path,” reflecting a stark dissonance between the house atmosphere and the political panorama.
These in Luxembourg (82%), Eire (80%) and Sweden (80%) are probably the most happy in regards to the present state of their private lives, whereas these in Romania (49%), Poland (47%) and Portugal (46%) are extra combined.
A majority of Europeans (57%) are optimistic in regards to the EU’s future, with 39% describing themselves as pretty or very pessimistic. France, Cyprus and Greece are the one thee member states the place a pessimistic outlook represents the bulk opinion.
World
US citizen imprisoned in Russia given new 15-year sentence in wake of espionage conviction
A Russian-born U.S. citizen who was already behind bars in Russia on a bribery conviction has been handed a second sentence for espionage.
Eugene Spector was sentenced to a new 15-year term for his espionage conviction, according to Russian news agencies. Spector was born and raised in Leningrad, Russia, but later moved to the U.S. and became a citizen.
A Moscow court brought espionage charges against Spector in August of last year, although details surrounding the case were not made publicly available.
RUSSIA ARRESTS US CITIZEN ON ESPIONAGE CHARGES: REPORT
The U.S. State Department said it was aware of reports of a U.S. citizen in Russia being sentenced and that it was monitoring the situation.
Spector, a former executive at a medical equipment company in Russia, was sentenced in September 2022 to three and a half years in prison for enabling bribes to an aide of former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich.
WALL STREET JOURNAL’S EVAN GERSHKOVICH REVEALS SHADOWY KREMLIN FIGURE BEHIND IMPRISONMENT IN RUSSIA
The aide, Anastasia Alekseyeva, was sentenced to 12 years in April for accepting bribes of two expensive overseas vacation trips.
Dvorkovich was a deputy prime minister under former Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in 2012 to 2018. Dvorkovich is currently head of the international chess federation FIDE.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan: Emergencies ministry
BREAKINGBREAKING,
Passenger plane crashed near the city of Aktau.
An passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan, the Central Asian country’s Emergencies Ministry said in a statement.
Fourteen people had survived the crash and had been hospitalised, according to the local health officials.
“At the moment, 14 survivors have been taken to the regional hospital, including five in intensive care,” the health ministry’s regional department said in a statement. The Emergencies Ministry said fire services had put out the blaze
Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but had been forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Russian news agencies said the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into different possible versions of what had happened, including a technical problem, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
More to follow.
World
Justin Baldoni Sued by Former Publicist Amid Blake Lively Scandal
Justin Baldoni‘s former publicist sued him, his company and his current publicity team on Tuesday, amid a spiraling scandal over an alleged smear campaign against Baldoni’s “It Ends With Us” co-star Blake Lively.
Steph Jones, who owns Jonesworks, accused Baldoni of breaching their contract, which required him to pay her $25,000 per month. Baldoni dropped the firm in August, a few months into a year-long deal, after his Jonesworks publicist, Jennifer Abel, left the company to start her own publicity firm.
Jones also sued Abel and publicist Melissa Nathan, accusing them of implementing the smear campaign against Lively behind her back and without her knowledge. She alleges that they are now trying to blame her for the ensuing meltdown.
“To this day, Abel and Nathan continue to point the finger falsely at Jones now that their own misconduct is coming to light, and to defame and attack Jones in the industry,” the lawsuit states.
Lively filed a complaint on Saturday with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni and his publicists of orchestrating negative coverage about her in retaliation for her complaints of sexual harassment on set.
In the complaint, Lively accused Baldoni of a catalog of sexually inappropriate comments and behavior that allegedly took place on set in 2023. According to the complaint, she raised these issues through her attorneys before filming, which had been suspended during the Hollywood strikes, resumed earlier this year.
The rift between Baldoni and Lively became apparent during the publicity tour for the film last summer. Baldoni feared that Lively or her team would public accuse him of sexual misconduct, and sought ways to combat that. The complaint quoted extensively from text messages among Baldoni’s publicity team, in which they plotted to “bury” Lively.
In an unusual move, Lively’s attorneys obtained the messages by sending a pre-litigation subpoena to Jones.
Abel, Nathan, and Baldoni are represented by attorney Bryan Freedman. On Monday, Freedman threatened to sue Jones for releasing the contents of Abel’s phone to Lively’s legal team. Freedman, Abel and Nathan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jones’ suit.
In her lawsuit, Jones relates that she “forensically preserved” Abel’s company phone after Abel was fired.
“Abel and Nathan’s covert take down and smear campaigns were revealed in black and white on Abel’s company-issued phone following her termination, which Jonesworks forensically preserved and examined in detail after receiving a subpoena for the phone’s contents,” Jones’ suit states. “Jones discovered the breadth and intensity of Abel and Nathan’s duplicity from these records, including that Abel was actively encouraging other Jonesworks clients and employees to leave Jonesworks while Abel was still employed there.”
Jones’ suit alleges that Abel conspired for months to leave her company and to “steal” her clients and trash her reputation in the industry. She accuses Nathan of encouraging Abel to leave, because Nathan would then have greater access to those clients.
“This scheme ultimately inflicted serious damage on Jones and Jonesworks,” states the lawsuit, which was filed in state court in New York.
Among other things, the suit alleges that Abel and Nathan planted negative stories about Jones in the press, including an article in Business Insider that was published last summer.
The suit alleges breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, breach of fiduciary duty and defamation.
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