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Europe
France
Sunday 1 May 2022 19:34 May Day protests turn violent in Paris. Banks and a McDonald's restaurant were attacked. Tear gas was used during a May Day protest in Paris, with some protesters angry over Macron's pension reform plans. (Source: SkyNews)
Germany
May 1, 2022 Economy and Climate Minister Habeck said today that Europe’s largest economy has reduced the share of Russian energy imports to 12% for oil, 8% for coal. Before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Germany got more than half of its natural gas imports from Russia. That share is now down to 35%, partly due to increased procurement from Norway and the Netherlands, the ministry said. To further reduce Russian imports, Germany plans to speed up the construction of terminals for liquified natural gas (LNG). The Energy and Climate Ministry said Germany aims to put several floating LNG terminals into operation as early as this year or next. That’s an ambitious timeline that the ministry acknowledged 'requires an enormous commitment from everyone involved.' Germany has resisted calls for an EU boycott on Russian natural gas. Germany’s central bank has said a total cutoff of Russian gas could mean 5 percentage points of lost economic output and higher inflation. (Source: AP)
Greece
01.05.2022 In Greece, metro trains came to a halt and ships stayed docked in ports as workers rallied against soaring food and energy prices. Police said some 10,000 people marched in the center of Athens to protest over the cost of living. (Source: DW)
European Union
Sunday, May 1, 2022 The Conference on the Future of Europe has been debating proposals to reform the EU since last year but a key meeting today agreed 325 proposals to achieve 49 objectives, and will now go to EU leaders for consideration. The European Parliament approved a draft of the proposals on April 29. Once approved by the conference’s executive, the proposals are likely to go to the heads of the EU’s three principal institutions – the parliament, the commission and the council – on May 9th, Europe day. However, they are likely to meet opposition among many national governments wary of ceding powers to the EU. The proposals were backed by representatives of five of the parliament’s main political groupings, including the European People’s Party, Renew Europe, the Socialists, the Greens and the Left group. These groups will now bring a resolution to the parliament this week in support of a revision of the European treaties to introduce the reforms, said one of the conference chairmen, Verhofstadt. Right-wing MEPs from Identity and Democracy group and the European Conservatives and Reformists group refused to support the proposals, saying there was no public support from them, and they withdrew from the conference on Saturday. The conference also suggests that some members of the European Parliament be elected through union-wide or “transnational” voting lists, and suggests that the president of the European Commission could be directly elected by EU citizens. A proposal to dispense with the need for unanimity, 'which make it very difficult to reach agreement” – effectively meaning an end the national veto – is likely to be resisted by many national governments. (Source: IrishTimes)
Russia
May 1, 2022 5:26 am Mariupol civilian evacuation begins. Some have left the Azovstal steelworks. The Russian defence ministry says some 80 civilians have left the besieged steelworks and were taken to Bezimenne, a village in Russian-held territory in Ukraine. They are being provided with medical care and supplies, it said. President Zelensky said a large group is also on its way to Zaporizhzhia, which Ukraine maintains control of. The United Nations confirmed it was involved with the operation, alongside the Red Cross and the "parties to the conflict". (Source: RNZ)
Ukraine
May 01, 2022 4:13 PM Nearly 5.5 million people have fled Ukraine since the start of Russia's war on Feb. 24, according to data from the U.N. refugee agency. Most have entered countries on Ukraine's western border: more than 3 million people have fled to Poland, while more than 817,000 others have fled to Romania and around 520,000 have crossed into Hungary, UNHCR statistics show. The Romanian government is currently giving away free train tickets to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Romania that they can use to travel on to Hungary, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Slovakia and Bulgaria. (Source: VoANews)
10:34, Sun, May 1, 2022 | Updated 16:38 A tenth Russian General has been killed during fighting near the city of Izyum according to the Ukrainian military. Major General Simonov reportedly died after his command post came under artillery fire by Ukrainian forces on April 30. The bombardment also took out more than 30 Russian armoured vehicles, including tanks. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show the command post being hit by Grad rockets, fired from a multiple-launch rocket system. Presidential adviser Arestovych said in an interview that some 100 Russian servicemen were also killed in the rocket attack. Russian forces are trying to push south from Izyum towards Slovyansk, in a pincer movement designed to encircle Ukrainian troops defending the Donbas. The strategic importance of the Izyum axis for Moscow was shown with the recent announcement that Russian Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov would take personal command of the offensive there. Reports suggest the Kremlin is strengthening its Izyum front with additional troop deployments. Analysts for the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that units from the Eastern Military District along with air-defence assets were being sent from the Russian town of Belgorod to the Izyum front. The new units would supplement Russian forces attempting to advance south of the Ukrainian city. 'These forces are unlikely to enable Russian forces to break the current deadlock, as Russian attacks remain confined to two major highways (toward Slovyansk and Barvinkove) and cannot leverage greater numbers, the researchers predicted'. They added: 'Russian forces appear increasingly unlikely to achieve any major advances in eastern Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces may be able to conduct wider counterattacks in the coming days.' (Source: Express)
Asia
Turkey
01.05.2022 There were clashes - and some 160 arrests - in Turkey, where images showed protesters being pinned to the ground and dragged away from the rally. The protest took place despite a ban on the event by the Istanbul governor's office. Among the refrains chanted by the crowd was "Labor and freedom!" Clashes took place as protesters tried to reach the central Taksim Square, particularly significant in Turkish May Day rallies. (Source: DW)
North America
United States
10:27 BST, 1 May 2022 | Updated: 18:26 BST Microsoft billionaire Gates told the FT: 'We're still at risk of this pandemic generating a variant that would be even more transmissive and even more fatal'. In December 2021, he warned his millions of Twitter followers to brace themselves for the worst part of the pandemic having previously cautioned in 2015 that the world was not ready for the next pandemic. Covid-19 has killed an estimated 6.2million people worldwide since March 2020. Case numbers and deaths have been dropping in recent weeks. Gates - who releases his new book 'How to Prevent the Next Pandemic' in May 3 - advised governments across the world to invest in a team of epidemiologists and computer modellers to help identify global health threats in the future.
A comment: 'Doctor Gates didnt succeed the first time but is working again now, to succeed the second time! Deceitful, evil man!' (Source: DailyMail)
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