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De nouvelles règles devraient entrer en vigueur lors de la Coupe du monde 2026, décidées par International Football Association Board (IFAB), l’organe qui fixe les lois du jeu.

L'arrestation de Daniel Kinahan à Dubaï intervient dans un contexte de pression internationale accrue contre le crime organisé et de coopération policière croissante, sous l'influence des tensions géopolitiques au Moyen-Orient.

C'est un premier roman qui nous vient du Sandžak de Novi Pazar, dans le sud de la Serbie. Avec Gens sans tombes, Enes Halilović donne corps à une vérité plurielle, traversée de récits contradictoires et de fragments de vie. Une œuvre ancrée dans les Balkans, mais tournée vers une interrogation universelle sur la parole, la mémoire et le sens.

- Articles / Courrier des Balkans, Serbie, Culture et éducation, crise sandzak

By Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka (Polish Academy of Science & Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne) & Jan Kotýnek Krotký (Masaryk University)

On 9 May 2026, we celebrate Europe Day and the fourth anniversary of the closing event of the Conference on the Future of Europe (CoFoE) hailed as a landmark transnational democratic experiment. During CoFoE hundreds of randomly selected citizens from all EU Member States deliberated alongside Members of European Parliament (MEPs) and national parliaments (MPs), producing far‑reaching recommendations for the European Union’s future.

Yet, for all the fanfare, the political follow‑up has been sobering. Most visibly, member state governments have declined to open the process of treaty reform based on the Conference’s proposals, despite the European Parliament’s plea to do so. While the CoFoE inspired a new generation of European Commission’s Citizens Panels and made them a permanent feature of the EU’s participatory toolbox, these deliberative fora remain largely disconnected from parliamentary arenas where political conflict and decision‑making actually take place. At the same time, the EU and its member states are experiencing the crisis of representative democracy manifested by decreasing trust in parliaments, increasing polarisation, populist electoral gains and widespread citizens’ dissatisfaction with democracy in general.

Four years on, one uncomfortable question looms: is the EU drifting towards a model of citizen participation that is rich in symbolism, but thin on political impact and true connection with representative policy-making?

Our recent JCMS article analyses how both MEPs and MPs talk about increased citizen participation in EU policy‑making. We depart from the premise that citizen participation is more likely to gain attention and appreciation from members of parliament when it is institutionally “coupled” with representation and the formal policy-making stage. To achieve our goal, we examine debates in the European Parliament, inter-parliamentary committee meetings, and several national parliaments between 2020 and 2023. We explore the underlying factors behind these positions, such as party ideology, institutional level, and views on European integration. Based on this analysis, we develop a refined typology of political discourses on EU‑level deliberative mini‑publics (DMPs), distinguishing between consultative, sceptical and power‑sharing stances.

A consultative Union – by design

Our first key finding is both simple and striking: across arenas and party families, a consultative discourse clearly dominates which means that parliamentarians overwhelmingly appreciate citizen participation and see value in deliberative mechanisms – as long as they remain advisory and do not fundamentally redistribute decision‑making power. In this discourse, citizens should be regularly asked, listened to, and perhaps even involved “permanently,” but final authority must stay firmly with elected representatives.

In practice, it suggests that most parliamentarians support what we call a “consultative Union”: a system where citizen participation is welcomed, but structurally non‑binding. The Commission citizens panels fit this logic very well – they create new spaces for citizen input, yet their policy-shaping potential remains largely discretionary.

MPs and MEPs: more similar than you might think

The second and unexpected finding concerns the relationship between national and European parliamentary arenas. While we might expect supranational MEPs to be more supportive than national MPs of transnational citizen involvement in EU policy-making, and national MPs to be more sceptical of EU‑level participatory innovations, our analysis suggests otherwise. We find no significant discursive differences between MEPs and MPs.

Such finding not only confirms that political conflict increasingly cuts across, rather than between, the national and supranational levels but is also normatively important since any EU participatory instrument that aspires to be more than window‑dressing needs the support of both national and European parliamentarians. The example of CoFoE showed how quickly legitimacy clashes emerge when that support is uneven.

Power‑sharing or populist plebiscites?

Perhaps the most politically explosive insight from our study is that not all calls for “giving power back to the people” mean the same thing. At first glance, there seems to be substantial support for what we label power‑sharing discourse: representatives who are willing to put citizens on an equal footing with politicians and accept binding forms of citizen involvement in EU decision‑making.

But once we look closely, this power‑sharing discourse splits into two very different strands.

In what we call deliberative power‑sharing discourse parliamentarians advocate binding deliberative mechanisms whose recommendations would directly shape EU reforms – and see citizens as partners in co‑constructing policy. This language is most prominent among Greens/EFA, the radical left and some liberal actors, who stress that strong participation can reinforce representative democracy.

On the other hand, plebiscitary power‑sharing discourse opposes institutionalized, transnational citizen deliberation postulating instead referendums that bypass parliaments and EU institutions. This strand is particularly visible among Eurosceptic and far‑right representatives, who demand EU‑wide referendums on European questions and present them as the only “real” expression of the people’s will.

This finding matters for how we interpret populism’s relationship to democratic innovation. It shows that far‑right and hard Eurosceptic parties may be enthusiastic about direct‑democracy instruments, yet deeply hostile to transnational deliberative settings such as CoFoE due to their distrust of EU‑organised participatory forums as biased or manipulated. Instead, they favour top‑down referendums whose questions and framing they hope to control. In this plebiscitary power‑sharing discourse, citizens are invoked less as co‑deliberators and more as a weapon, or at least a legitimating force for decisions aimed at weakening EU institutions.

Beyond consultation: reconnecting citizens and parliaments

What follows from these findings for the EU’s broader “citizen turn” is that the real challenge is not to invent ever more participatory instruments, but to better connect existing deliberative experiments to representative politics at both EU and national levels.

Our study suggests that while many politicians are not opposed to citizen involvement per se, they are often wary of deliberative designs that either sideline them or appear to instrumentalise citizens. This is precisely why thinking seriously about institutional linkages matters: for example, involving both MEPs and national MPs in transnational citizens’ assemblies, or hosting pan‑European citizen panels in national parliaments during rotating EU Council presidencies.

At the moment, the Commission‑led citizens’ panels risk reproducing the main weakness of CoFoE: citizens are invited to deliberate, but their recommendations are only loosely coupled to the arenas where political conflict is structured and decisions are actually taken. This fuels suspicion that participation serves primarily to legitimise pre‑set policy trajectories – “democracy without politics”, as some have called it.

Karolina Borońska-Hryniewiecka is Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Science, and Associated Research Fellow at the CESSP, Paris 1 – Panthéon Sorbonne. She is currently leading an NCN OPUS-funded project exploring transnational political discourse on EU institutional reform. Her work appeared in, among others, West European Politics, European Political Science Review, Journal of European Integration, and Parliamentary Affairs.

Jan Kotýnek Krotký is Assistant Professor at the International Institute of Political Science, Masaryk University. He is currently leading a post-doctoral project on citizen participation in the EU, supported by the Czech Science Foundation. His articles appeared in journals such as West European Politics, JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, and European Security.

The post “Consulting Citizens? Be Our Guest – But Only on Our Conditions” appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Le titre de l'exposition fait référence aux multiples hybridités qu'elle explore : celle qui unit les deux artistes, celle des formes et des matériaux employés, celle des références puisées dans l'histoire de l'art, la géopolitique ou la science-fiction, et enfin celle du caractère double des œuvres, qui, malgré leur matérialité affirmée, ouvrent une fenêtre sur l'âme humaine et ses aspirations. Adriana Popović (1970, Paris) possède une double formation artistique et scientifique : formée (…)

- Agenda / Serbie, Région parisienne

Le titre de l'exposition fait référence aux multiples hybridités qu'elle explore : celle qui unit les deux artistes, celle des formes et des matériaux employés, celle des références puisées dans l'histoire de l'art, la géopolitique ou la science-fiction, et enfin celle du caractère double des œuvres, qui, malgré leur matérialité affirmée, ouvrent une fenêtre sur l'âme humaine et ses aspirations. Adriana Popović (1970, Paris) possède une double formation artistique et scientifique : formée (…)

- Agenda / Serbie, Région parisienne

Die Adventszeit ist eine der schönsten Zeiten des Jahres, und europäische Weihnachtsmärkte versetzen uns in eine märchenhafte Atmosphäre. Überall funkeln Lichter, es duftet nach gebrannten Mandeln, frisch gebackenen Plätzchen und heißem Glühwein. Jeder Markt hat seinen ganz eigenen Charme und bietet einzigartige Erlebnisse. Lassen Sie sich inspirieren von den traditionsreichen Ständen, die handgefertigte Waren anbieten, und genießen Sie die festliche Stimmung, die diese Märkte zu etwas Besonderem macht.

Ob Sie lieber in das bunte Treiben eines großen Marktes eintauchen oder kleine, romantische Gassen bevorzugen – Europa hält für jeden Geschmack etwas bereit. Von dem historischen Striezelmarkt in Dresden über den stimmungsvollen Christkindlesmarkt in Nürnberg bis hin zum skandinavischen Flair des Tivoli-Weihnachtsmarktes in Kopenhagen gibt es eine Vielzahl an Orten, die darauf warten, entdeckt zu werden. Besuchen Sie diese herrlichen Weihnachtsmärkte und erleben Sie die magische Adventszeit in ihrer vollen Pracht!

Das Wichtigste in Kürze

• Europäische Weihnachtsmärkte bezaubern mit festlicher Stimmung und traditionellem Charme.
• Der Striezelmarkt in Dresden ist bekannt für den Dresdner Christstollen und sächsischen Glühwein.
• Nürnbergs Christkindlesmarkt bietet berühmte Lebkuchen und exquisite Handwerkskunst.
• Winter Wonderland in London beeindruckt mit großen Attraktionen, einer Eisbahn und weihnachtlicher Deko.
• Wiens Weihnachtsmarkt lockt mit romantischer Atmosphäre und kaiserlichen Spezialitäten wie Punsch und Maroni.

Striezelmarkt, Dresden: Tradition und sächsische Leckereien

Der Striezelmarkt in Dresden ist einer der ältesten Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa, mit einer Geschichte, die bis ins Jahr 1434 zurückreicht. Hier erleben Sie eine einzigartige Kombination aus Tradition und sächsischen Köstlichkeiten.

Ein besonderes Highlight dieses Marktes ist der berühmte Dresdner Christstollen, auch als „Striezel“ bekannt, nach dem der Markt benannt wurde. Neben diesem traditionellen Gebäck sollten Sie auch unbedingt den sächsischen Glühwein probieren.

Die festliche Atmosphäre wird durch zahlreiche kulturelle Veranstaltungen und handgefertigte Kunstwerke aus der Region ergänzt. Der Striezelmarkt bietet damit ein eindrucksvolles Erlebnis für alle, die auf der Suche nach authentischem Weihnachtszauber sind.

Mehr dazu: Urlaubsländer Europa: Ein Überblick

Christkindlesmarkt, Nürnberg: Lebkuchen und Handwerk

Die schönsten Weihnachtsmärkte in EuropaDer Christkindlesmarkt in Nürnberg ist einer der bekanntesten Weihnachtsmärkte Europas. Er besticht durch seine reiche Tradition und sein einzigartiges Angebot an Handwerkskunst. Besonders berühmt sind die Nürnberger Lebkuchen, die seit Jahrhunderten nach alten Rezepten hergestellt werden. Ob kunstvoll gefertigte Holzspielzeuge oder filigraner Christbaumschmuck, hier findet jeder ein einzigartiges Geschenk. Ein Besuch des Christkindlesmarkts bietet auch die Gelegenheit, das spezielle Flair der historischen Altstadt von Nürnberg zu erleben.

Die Welt hat genug für jedermanns Bedürfnisse, aber nicht für jedermanns Gier. – Mahatma Gandhi

Winter Wonderland, London: Große Attraktionen, festliche Stimmung

Das Winter Wonderland im Hyde Park von London ist ein Must-Visit während der Festzeit. Hier können Besucher eine Vielzahl von großen Attraktionen erleben, die sowohl Kinder als auch Erwachsene begeistern. Neben aufregenden Fahrgeschäften und einer eindrucksvollen Eisbahn gibt es zahlreiche festlich dekorierte Stände, die für eine einzigartige Weihnachtsstimmung sorgen.

Weihnachtsmarkt, Wien: Romantisch und kaiserlich

Der Wiener Weihnachtsmarkt ist ein wahrhaft romantisches Erlebnis, das Besucher in eine kaiserliche Atmosphäre entführt. Der Markt befindet sich vor der beeindruckenden Kulisse des Wiener Rathauses und bietet eine Vielzahl von kunstvoll dekorierten Ständen. Hier können Sie traditionelle österreichische Spezialitäten wie Punsch und Maroni genießen, während Sie durch die festlich erleuchteten Gassen schlendern. Besonders beliebt sind die handgefertigten Weihnachtsdekorationen, die als schöne Andenken dienen.

Weiterführende Informationen: Günstig reisen in Europa: So geht’s

.table-responsiv {width: 100%;padding: 0px;margin-bottom: 0px;overflow-y: hidden;border: 1px solid #DDD;overflow-x: auto;min-height: 0.01%;} Weihnachtsmarkt Besondere Merkmale Höhepunkte Striezelmarkt, Dresden Tradition und sächsische Leckereien Dresdner Christstollen, sächsischer Glühwein Christkindlesmarkt, Nürnberg Lebkuchen und Handwerk Nürnberger Lebkuchen, Holzspielzeuge Winter Wonderland, London Große Attraktionen, festliche Stimmung Eisbahn, festlich dekorierte Stände Weihnachtsmarkt, Wien Romantisch und kaiserlich Punsch, Maroni, handgefertigte Weihnachtsdekorationen Tivoli Christmas Market, Kopenhagen: Magisch und skandinavisch Tivoli Christmas Market, Kopenhagen: Magisch und skandinavisch – Die schönsten Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa

Der Tivoli Weihnachtsmarkt in Kopenhagen verzaubert Besucher mit seiner magischen Atmosphäre und dem einzigartigen skandinavischen Flair. Seit Jahren zieht dieser Markt zahlreiche Reisende an, die die festlich dekorierten Stände und Fahrgeschäfte genießen. Besonderes Highlight sind die liebevoll gestalteten Weihnachtshütten, die traditionelle dänische Speisen und Kunsthandwerk anbieten. Zudem bietet der Markt eine beeindruckende Eislaufbahn und eine Vielzahl von Vergnügungsmöglichkeiten, die sowohl für Kinder als auch Erwachsene attraktiv sind.

Ausführlicher Artikel: Europa Park Tickets: Rabatte sichern

Weihnachtsmarkt, Straßburg: Tradition und elsässische Spezialitäten

Der Weihnachtsmarkt in Straßburg ist einer der ältesten und schönsten Weihnachtsmärkte in ganz Europa. Gegründet im Jahr 1570, bietet dieser Markt eine außergewöhnliche Atmosphäre, die zur Adventszeit Menschen aus aller Welt anzieht. Die Stände sind bekannt für Ihre elsässischen Spezialitäten, wie Flammkuchen, Brezeln und Choucroute. Ein weiteres Highlight sind die traditionellen Handwerksprodukte, die ein Gefühl von authentischem Weihnachtszauber vermitteln.

Weihnachtsmarkt, Tallinn: Mittelalterliche Atmosphäre und estnische Gemütlichkeit

Der Weihnachtsmarkt in Tallinn ist bekannt für seine mittelalterliche Atmosphäre, die Besucher in eine vergangene Epoche entführt. Die Stadt besticht durch Ihre wunderschönen, gut erhaltenen alten Gebäude und gepflasterten Straßen. Hier können Sie traditionelle estnische Köstlichkeiten genießen und einzigartige handgefertigte Waren kaufen. Der Rathausplatz verwandelt sich in ein malerisches Winterwunderland, das mit festlich geschmückten Ständen begeistert.

Weihnachtsmarkt, Prag: Böhmische Weihnachtsfreuden

Der Weihnachtsmarkt in Prag gehört zu den schönsten Weihnachtsmärkten Europas und ist bekannt für seine beeindruckende böhmische Ästhetik. Der zentrale Platz vor der majestätischen Teynkirche wird zu einem Winterwunderland mit Holzhütten, die einzigartige Produkte und köstliche Leckereien anbieten.

Besucher können sich an traditionellem böhmischem Glühwein, Trdelník (einer süßen tschechischen Spezialität) sowie handgefertigtem Kunsthandwerk erfreuen. Besonders stimmungsvoll sind die Lichter und Dekorationen, die den historischen Charme der Altstadt noch unterstreichen.

Ein Highlight des Prager Weihnachtsmarktes ist die prachtvolle Weihnachtskrippe, die jedes Jahr liebevoll gestaltet wird. Dazu kommen zahlreiche kulturelle Darbietungen wie weihnachtliche Musik- und Tanzaufführungen, die den Besuch unvergesslich machen.

FAQ: Antworten auf häufig gestellte Fragen Welche Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa sind familienfreundlich? Viele Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa sind besonders familienfreundlich. Dazu gehören unter anderem das Winter Wonderland in London mit seinen vielen Fahrgeschäften und der Eislaufbahn sowie der Tivoli Weihnachtsmarkt in Kopenhagen, der zahlreiche Attraktionen für Kinder bietet. Auch der Wiener Weihnachtsmarkt hat spezielle Programmpunkte für die Kleinen, wie Karussells und einen Kinderpunsch-Stand. Wann eröffnen die meisten Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa? Die meisten Weihnachtsmärkte eröffnen Ende November und laufen bis kurz vor oder nach Weihnachten. Einige Märkte, wie der Striezelmarkt in Dresden, beginnen in der letzten Novemberwoche, während andere, wie das Winter Wonderland in London, bereits Mitte November öffnen. Gibt es auch vegane oder vegetarische Spezialitäten auf den Weihnachtsmärkten? Ja, auf vielen Weihnachtsmärkten gibt es mittlerweile auch vegane und vegetarische Optionen. In Berlin beispielsweise gibt es sogar einen komplett veganen Weihnachtsmarkt. Auch auf großen Märkten wie in Wien oder London findet man eine zunehmend größere Auswahl an pflanzlichen Gerichten. Welche Sicherheitsmaßnahmen gibt es auf den Weihnachtsmärkten? Die Sicherheitsmaßnahmen auf Weihnachtsmärkten variieren je nach Standort. Häufig gibt es erhöhte Polizeipräsenz, Zugangskontrollen und manchmal auch Sicherheitsbarrieren, um für die Sicherheit der Besucher zu sorgen. Viele Weihnachtsmärkte arbeiten eng mit den lokalen Behörden zusammen, um ein sicheres Erlebnis zu gewährleisten. Sind die Weihnachtsmärkte auch für Menschen mit eingeschränkter Mobilität geeignet? Ja, viele Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa bemühen sich, barrierefrei und für Menschen mit eingeschränkter Mobilität zugänglich zu sein. Marktbetreiber stellen oft barrierefreie Wege, mobile Toiletten und behindertengerechte Zugänge zur Verfügung, um möglichst vielen Besuchern ein tolles Erlebnis zu ermöglichen. Gibt es alternative Weihnachtsmärkte mit einem speziellen Thema? Ja, es gibt viele alternative Weihnachtsmärkte, die spezielle Themen verfolgen. Beispielsweise gibt es mittelalterliche Weihnachtsmärkte wie in Esslingen oder fantasy- und gothic-inspirierte Märkte wie in Dortmund. Diese Märkte bieten einzigartige Erlebnisse und heben sich durch spezielle Kulinarik und Dekoration von traditionellen Weihnachtsmärkten ab.

Der Beitrag Die schönsten Weihnachtsmärkte in Europa erschien zuerst auf Neurope.eu - News aus Europa.

Credit: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP

By Inés M. Pousadela
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, May 8 2026 (IPS)

When Péter Magyar took the stage in Budapest on the night of 12 April, he told the crowd they had ‘liberated Hungary’. The hyperbole seemed justified. His party, Tisza, had won a parliamentary supermajority on the highest turnout since Hungary’s first free election in 1990, ending 16 years of increasingly autocratic rule.

An autocracy built in plain sight

Ousted Prime Minister Viktor Orbán boasted of turning Hungary into a model of what he called ‘illiberal democracy’. When he returned to power in 2010, he set about dismantling every institution capable of constraining him. His party, Fidesz, rewrote the constitution, restructured the Constitutional Court and gerrymandered electoral districts so thoroughly that in 2014 and 2018, it won two-thirds of parliamentary seats on under half of the vote.

Public broadcasting became a party mouthpiece, and Orbán-connected oligarchs took over private media. Fidesz captured universities and arts bodies. The government used Pegasus spyware against opponents, demonised migrants and LGBTQI+ people as threats to the nation and passed a law criminalising attendance at Budapest Pride. Civil society organisations faced escalating restrictions on their funding, and the government created a Sovereignty Protection Office to investigate and harass them further. The Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) index eventually downgraded Hungary to ‘electoral autocracy’ status — the first European Union (EU) member state to receive that designation.

The EU’s blind spot

The EU’s response was inadequate. In 2018, the European Parliament triggered Article 7(1) of the Treaty on European Union, the first step in a procedure that could, in theory, suspend a state’s voting rights. In practice, Article 7 was never fully applied, because doing so requires unanimous agreement among all other member states, and there are always states unwilling to go that far. The Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation, in force since 2022, allowed the EU to freeze up to US$32 billion in funds for Hungary, but this mechanism too was compromised by political calculation. In December 2023, the Commission released around US$12 billion in cohesion funds seemingly in exchange for Hungary lifting its veto on Ukraine aid, effectively trading rule-of-law conditionality for foreign policy compliance.

Ultimately, the EU did not solve its Orbán problem; Hungarian voters did. This suggests structural reforms are still needed to prevent another autocrat from playing the same blocking game Hungary did.

After Orbán

Previous opposition coalitions in Hungary failed partly because Orbán’s machine had a reliable weapon against them: the accusation that they served Brussels, Hungary-born funder George Soros and a cosmopolitan elite detached from Hungarian values. Magyar, a former Fidesz insider who broke with the party in February 2024 following a scandal over a presidential pardon granted to a man convicted of covering up child sexual abuse, was immune to that weapon. His campaign was deliberately post-ideological, focused on corruption, crumbling public services and economic stagnation, while Orbán ran a fear-based campaign centred on the EU and the war in Ukraine. Voters chose economic reality over a manufactured threat. In the end, the electoral architecture Orbán had built to reward the first-placed party converted Tisza’s win into a supermajority of 141 of 199 parliamentary seats.

But Magyar’s victory will not necessarily bring a progressive transformation. He is a conservative politician leading a centre-right party whose platform made no explicit commitment on LGBTQI+ rights. During the campaign, he criticised the Budapest Pride ban as a distraction rather than a rights violation, committing only to protecting freedom of assembly more broadly. His victory speech promised a Hungary where ‘no one is stigmatised for loving someone differently from the majority’, but this was a shift in tone rather than a policy commitment. LGBTQI+ rights are unlikely to regress further under Magyar, but recovery will depend on sustained pressure from civil society.

Orbán may be out of government, but Fidesz appointees remain embedded throughout the state apparatus. Magyar has pledged to invite the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to examine alleged misuses of EU funds, dismantle the Sovereignty Protection Office and drop proposed legislation that would have further extended powers to restrict civil society. Delivering on those pledges and unravelling 16 years of institutional capture will require sustained political will.

Hungarian civil society faces its first genuine opening in 16 years. To make the most of it, it will need to push hard and consistently for the restoration of civic space, the rule of law and LGBTQI+ rights, and not mistake a change of government for a change of direction.

For the EU, Magyar’s victory opens a window to change a decision-making structure that allows a single member state to hold the bloc’s foreign policy hostage. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s call for qualified majority voting for foreign policy decisions may now gain traction. But the broader question of how the EU enforces its democratic standards against a member state determined to flout them remains open. The EU should resolve it before the next challenge arises.

Inés M. Pousadela is CIVICUS Head of Research and Analysis, co-director and writer for CIVICUS Lens and co-author of the State of Civil Society Report. She is also a Professor of Comparative Politics at Universidad ORT Uruguay.

For interviews or more information, please contact research@civicus.org

 

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Credit: UKBET (UK Bangladesh Education Trust)

By Mohammed A. Sayem
SYLHET, Bangladesh, May 8 2026 (IPS)

When catastrophic floods swept through the Haor wetlands of Sunamganj in 2022, they destroyed far more than homes and crops. They shattered childhoods.

Jannat was only nine years old when floodwater swallowed her family’s house, farmland, and livestock. Like thousands of displaced families in northeastern Bangladesh, they took shelter in a school building converted into an emergency flood centre. But when the water receded, there was nothing left to return to.

The family migrated to a slum in Sylhet city to survive. Her father, once a farmer in the fertile haor lands, began pulling a rented rickshaw. Her mother started working as a domestic worker. Jannat’s school life ended almost overnight. Instead of carrying books, she began washing dishes and cleaning clothes in another family’s home for food and a small income.

Her story reflects a growing reality across climate-vulnerable Bangladesh. The 2022 floods in Sylhet, Kanaighat, Companygonj and Sunamganj were among the worst in more than a century. United Nations agencies estimated that nearly 7.2 million people across northeastern Bangladesh were affected, including around 3.5 million children. Entire villages disappeared under water, electricity collapsed across districts, schools were turned into emergency shelters, and thousands of hectares of cropland were destroyed. UNICEF reported that 1.6 million children were stranded by the floods, while hundreds of educational institutions and community clinics were damaged or submerged.

Credit: UKBET (UK Bangladesh Education Trust)

The crisis did not end in 2022. In 2024, another devastating wave of flooding inundated nearly 75 per cent of Sylhet district, affecting more than two million people across northeastern Bangladesh and displacing thousands of families yet again. More than 800 schools were flooded and large areas of farmland went underwater, deepening poverty and food insecurity. This year again, heavy rainfall and upstream water flows submerged more than 46,000 hectares of standing Boro rice fields in the haor region during harvesting season, threatening livelihoods and increasing the risk of climate migration and child labour. Experts warn that repeated climate shocks are trapping vulnerable families in a cycle of disaster, displacement, and poverty.

Yet hope can still rise from disaster.

The Doorstep Learning Programme (DLP) of UKBET, a UK-based international NGO working in Bangladesh, was created to support children trapped in domestic labour and other vulnerable situations in urban slums. Rather than waiting for children to return to school on their own, the programme brings education, counselling, and rehabilitation support directly to their communities. Through flexible learning support and family livelihood assistance, it helps children return to education while reducing families’ dependence on child labour for survival.

Credit: UKBET (UK Bangladesh Education Trust)

DLP identified Jannat and supported her return to school alongside her younger brother. The programme also helped her father secure his own rickshaw, giving the family a more stable livelihood and a chance to rebuild their future.

As global leaders gather at the Eighth Assembly of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan in May–June 2026 to discuss climate financing and resilience, stories like Jannat’s must remain at the centre of international attention. (Global Environment Facility) Climate change is no longer only about rising temperatures or environmental loss. It is about children losing education, dignity, and hope.

Credit: UKBET (UK Bangladesh Education Trust)

Local community-led initiatives that protect vulnerable children and strengthen climate resilience deserve far greater global investment and support through mechanisms such as the GEF Trust Fund and international adaptation financing.

Because children like Jannat are not victims to be pitied. They are futures worth protecting.

Mohammed A Sayem is Executive Director, UKBET
Sylhet, Bangladesh
msayem@ukbet-bd.org

IPS UN Bureau

 

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UNICEF and partners established the first Primary Health Care (PHC) Centre and Child-Friendly Space/Learning Space in Jabalia, North Gaza on 12 January, 2026. Credit: UNICEF/Rawan Eleyan

By Oritro Karim
UNITED NATIONS, May 8 2026 (IPS)

Despite the implementation of a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel last October, Israeli forces continue to launch airstrikes into the Occupied Palestinian Territory. This has resulted in extensive destruction of infrastructure, loss of human life and exacerbating immense health needs amid an increasingly strained health system in Gaza.

Recent months have marked a significant escalation in hostilities, with routine bombardment pushing communities that have been displaced multiple times to the brink, while continued blockages of humanitarian aid hinder relief efforts and deprive thousands of life-saving services.

“Gaza’s crisis is far from over. For millions of civilians, the emergency is ongoing, relentless, and life-threatening. Food insecurity remains widespread and severe,” said Faten, the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Senior Protection Manager in Gaza. “Gaza’s healthcare system has all but collapsed with 94% of Gaza’s hospitals destroyed or damaged.”

Findings from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) underscore the urgent state of crisis in the Gaza Strip. OCHA experts leading a safety report recorded a significant number of security incidents over the past week, noting that the figures are among the highest reported since the declaration of the ceasefire last year. Experts from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) note that Israeli forces continue to maintain a high level of activity across the Gaza Strip, most notably in the northern region, where the scale of needs is most pronounced.

According to figures from OCHA, between October 7, 2023, and April 29, 2026, a total of 72,599 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and another 172,411 injured. UNRWA has also reported that over 391 UN personnel have been killed since the start of the war through May 7. Hostilities from Israeli forces remain a routine part of daily life for Palestinians across Gaza, with UN experts recording airstrikes, shelling, and gunfire across all areas, particularly densely populated ones.

In May, a UNRWA school in Jabalia was struck by gunfire, injuring two displaced civilians residing within the school for shelter. OCHA also recorded two separate incidents in which humanitarian facilities came under fire in May, alongside an airstrike landing near a UN warehouse and a stone-throwing incident that damaged humanitarian relief vehicles. The UN continues to underscore the urgency of all actors complying with international humanitarian law, including all parties’ obligations to facilitate humanitarian operations and protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in all contexts.

Displacement also remains widespread, with over 90 percent of the population having been internally displaced. Many communities have been displaced multiple times, with more than half of the displaced population being children. Thousands of families currently reside in poor-quality makeshift shelters, such as damaged residential buildings and schools, where they face increasingly limited access to basic essential services, such as food, water, fuel and sanitation.

It is estimated that UNRWA currently hosts over 65,000 displaced Palestinians across 82 collective emergency shelters throughout the enclave. Approximately 126 UNRWA displacement sites are located with the Yellow Line, as well as areas within the Orange Line, where humanitarian aid remains subject to Israeli monitoring and intervention.

Many of these displacement sites face severe security concerns, overcrowding, and unsanitary conditions, while health responses fail to keep pace and mitigate the rapid spread of infectious disease and illnesses.

Gaza’s health system has borne the brunt of the crisis, being on the brink of collapse as the immense scale of needs continues to grow every day. Compounded by Israeli blockades on humanitarian aid deliveries, relief efforts have been severely hindered by a lack of supplies, such as batteries, lubricants, and spare parts.

“51 percent of essential medicines are currently at zero stock in Gaza, which is severely limiting the ability to treat patients with life-threatening conditions, including those requiring intensive care and cancer treatment,” said Faten. “Hospitals are overwhelmed, under-resourced, and increasingly unable to provide adequate care.”

Additionally, humanitarian movement remains severely constricted as armored vehicles break down, posing significant security risks to aid personnel as they attempt to assist vulnerable populations. Furthermore, continued restrictions on generators, engine oil, and other key supplies hinder sanitation efforts, debris clearance, food distribution, water trucking, ambulance services, and the delivery of educational and medical supplies.

Over the past several months, UNRWA teams on the frontlines have recorded a significant uptick in rodent infestations across multiple overcrowded displacement shelters across the enclave, being most pronounced in Khan Younis, as well as areas with large amounts of rubble, including northern Gaza.

Heath facilities have also reported a significant increase in the frequency of rat bites, which are linked to the transmission of rodent-borne diseases such as leptospirosis. Efforts to contain the spread of infection are hindered by a severe shortage of pesticides, anti-lice shampoos, and scabicidal medications. As a result, UNRWA has recorded a significant increase in cases of chickenpox, as well as ectoparasitic skin diseases, such as scabies, over the past few months.

“With designated landfills becoming inaccessible during hostilities, the market has been used as a major solid waste dump, with trash now covering an entire city block and exceeding four flights in height,” said Stéphane Dujarric, UN Spokesperson for the Secretary-General during a press briefing on May 7.

“Our sanitation partners report that Gaza’s two sanitary landfills are near the perimeter fence surrounding the Strip, where access needs to be enabled by Israeli authorities. They also stress the need for permissions to bring into Gaza the machinery to remove the waste, the rubble and explosive ordnance, as well as the spare parts required to operate that equipment. These permissions are also critical to address health risks linked to pests and rodents,” Dujarric continued.

Despite immense challenges, UNRWA remains on the frontlines of this crisis, providing lifesaving services to vulnerable, displaced communities. Since October 2023, the agency has conducted over 17.2 million health consultations, including over 71,800 consultations between April 20 and 26 of this year alone. UNRWA continues to support six health centers, four temporary centers, and 28 medical points across the enclave, and have provided psychosocial support services to over 730,000 displaced Palestinians, including 520,000 children. The agency also continues to provide protection services, which have proved to be instrumental as security concerns reach new highs, particularly around displacement sites.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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Le procès en appel de l'affaire du financement libyen de la campagne présidentielle de Nicolas Sarkozy de 2007 se tient à Paris depuis le 16 mars. Condamné en première instance à cinq ans de prison, il avait été détenu 20 jours à l'automne. Résumé de la huitième semaine d'audience, au cours de laquelle l'ancien chef de l'État a dû affronter les avocats de proches de victimes de l'attentat du DC-10. 

A plastic model of the famous “Ghost of Ukraine”, made of plastics that are based on oil products, a shortage of Persian Gulf oil may greatly affect the plastics industry in Asia.

As fluctuations in the oil and gas markets come from almost daily policy changes in the Middle East, purchasers of Persian Gulf dependant oil exports nervously plan contingencies on how to manage possible outcomes. While allies like Europe, South Korea and Japan try to figure out the intricacies of producing and manufacturing with reduced petroleum production, all industries try to adapt while missing key resources. Ironically, the oil based products used to make simple things like a model kit of some of the planes and ships now fighting as American icons in the Persian Gulf might not be able to be produced as the plastics used to make model kits will become harder to obtain with a reduction in petroleum products in places like Japan. Despite this, the larger effect of these policies is a benefit to Western aligned powers in the Asia-Pacific if it denies China the low cost energy imports it would need to fuel a war with Taiwan. While economic pains are temporary, all allied nations from Japan to India to Australia prefer not having to respond to a PLA attack on Taiwan when current Middle Eastern energy policy could prevent the next Great World War from commencing in Asia.

The source of indirect and direct funds and power for regimes like Cuba and China often came through oil supplies from places like Russia and Venezuela, with Venezuela replacing much of the free oil provided to Cuba by the Soviet Union after the Cold War. China was purchasing upwards of 90% of Iran’s sanctioned oil exports while also depending on Venezuelan and Russian oil and gas imports to run its growing economic boom, with many profits from their modern industrialisation going directly into China’s weapons manufacturing industry. While Russian and Iranian oil was sanctioned, many countries sought out low cost energy being sold by those regimes under sanction. With Western powers during the Ukraine War either denying energy exports to their allies, or simply purchasing Russian oil via third party countries that would send re-branded Russian oil into Europe, policies in Allied countries lead to the indirect funding of Russia’s war efforts. Effecting this dark energy exports market is key to ending adversarial funding for conflicts in Ukraine, the Middle East and a future conflict in Asia.

Unlike support by many in Russia for its Government’s actions in Ukraine, most of the Iranian population do not support their Government, and it would likely be the case that a conflict between China and most of their neighbouring countries would not be popularly supported by average citizens in China. The current policy approach in challenging Venezuela and Iran is being done in order to establish deterrent control over oil and gas that could tie any aggression to consequences. If China were to take military action against Taiwan or India, give overwhelming support to their allies, or attempt Covid 2.0 or increases in the Fentanyl trade, the West could strain China’s military complex by starving it of energy resources. This might be preferential to one of the largest naval engagements in human history and a massacre of young soldiers on both sides of the line. It is doubtful that many Chinese nationals would wish to die in that unneeded conflict, especially when they currently one of the most stable economic engines in the world economy with little restrictions by foreign powers on local rights issues. While a conflict with India in the mountain regions would be witnessed by few, a conflict with Taiwan would be seen by millions in cities and regions on the coast of China closest to Taiwan, with massive losses of young men being suffered by every family in the region. For most, the cost of a war with Taiwan is simply not worth the gains.

A thought experiment would be useful in a scenario where we consider not the interests of China’s ruling party elites, but that of the people of China itself. In the current conflict, it would be agreed by those on both sides of the fence that no one wants to put Chinese cities or their citizens in the dark, and like with the Iranian people, the conflict is with the regime and not the people who always made up one of the great cultures of humanity. We must consider that if China was a like minded democracy, what would their strategic initiatives be, and would they maintain the same adversaries due to that strategic position? With a current China and a Mirror Universe China, both countries would be able to maintain a strong industrial base, but like many Western economies, would be destined to be stable at around 3%-4% rate of growth. In both cases, the Government would be subject to the will of its people, with the current Government being afraid of its citizens uprising in tough times and the Mirror Universe version being constrained by elected votes and its international reputation. Both China’s would be challenged by competing economies from India, Japan and South Korea, but would also be integrated with those industries with a commonality of commercial entities present in all markets in the region. China would still look to expand its markets, its influence economically and culturally, and seek lost territories from when they were unable to challenge opposing powers. The difference seems to be one of stability through fear as opposed to peace through innovation, stability and strength. As long as the former is appeased and ignored while threats increase internationally, or overtly accepted as a mean to disrupt and dismantle healthy Western democracies, the potential of not only the Persian and Chinese people, but those young and innovative minds in the West will be subjected to an uncertain future. What is apparent is that freedom is a rare gift, coming from a long tradition of development, ideas and ethics, and is not a commonly occurred achievement throughout the history of human civilisation.

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