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Monday Commentary
Monday Commentary: Sharing Ukraine's pain

Monday Commentary: Sharing Ukraine's pain

As winter approaches, Vladimir Putin’s strategy in Ukraine is becoming increasingly clear. The war that he initiated in February of this year against the Ukrainian state is now becoming a punitive action against the entire Ukrainian people. The targets of the missile and rocket attacks launched by the Russian army are no longer the military installations of the Ukrainian army, but the civilian infrastructure that helps keep the nation supplied with energy, heating and water, in a false hope that this would bring Ukraine down on its knees. This strategy, like the failed military strategy that Russia pursued in the last nine months, will not succeed. The Ukrainian nation has proved already its determination and resilience in front of Russian aggression. But this heroism does not lessen the pain that the Ukrainians are enduring, and will likely have to endure for some time. "There has never been a moment when it was as important to support Ukraine as now. The question is whether the world, and particularly the people in the countries of Europe and North America that have supported Ukraine generously so far, have the perseverance to stick with Ukraine until victory", writes Dennis Sammut in today's Monday Commentary on commonspace.eu
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News
Landmine Free South Caucasus by the end of the decade

Landmine Free South Caucasus by the end of the decade

The 2022 Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign is calling for the region of the South Caucasus to be cleared of landmines and other unexploded remnants of war by the end of the decade. In an appeal published to launch this year's campaign it is pointed out that the South Caucasus remains one of the areas most infected with contamination by landmines and other unexploded remnants of war in the world. Apart from the thousands of casualties caused directly or indirectly by landmines and other unexploded ordnance over the last three and a half decades, including several hundred in the last year, this contamination negatively impacts whole communities across the region, affecting their economic well-being, and exposing them to the constant threat of risk and danger. 30th November will this year be marked as a Day of Solidarity with the victims of landmines and other unexploded remnants of war in the South Caucasus. For the rest of the year and in the first half of 2023 the regional campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus will work to raise awareness of the impact of landmines and other remnants of war on individuals and communities across the region.
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Young voices
The Yemeni Diaspora: An analysis of its history, development, and nature

The Yemeni Diaspora: An analysis of its history, development, and nature

In this first article in a series of three pieces about different aspects of the Yemeni diaspora, Hisham Almahdi discusses the history, development and nature of the global Yemeni diaspora, and notes how its varying waves and changes have impacted all three. There are about 6-7 million Yemenis spread across the six continents, at least according to Mohammed Al-Adil, Yemen's deputy minister of expatriates, and several other official and unofficial sources. Compared to Yemen’s total population of over 30 million, the size of the diaspora is indeed significant, although it is unclear whether the diaspora is included in the overall population count. Almost half of the diaspora (3 million Yemenis) live in Gulf countries, mostly Saudi Arabia, where Yemenis, alongside their South Asian counterparts, make up the backbone of the oil producing nations' labour force. Other estimates report that the number of Yemenis in Egypt is somewhere between 500-900 thousand, with another 58,600 and 12,000 Yemeni nationals in the US and UK respectively. This is not to mention second- and third-generation migrants who have been abroad for decades, as well as tens of thousands in countries like Djibouti, Malaysia, Turkey, and Jordan. 
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Brussels hosts 6th EU-GCC Business forum

Brussels hosts 6th EU-GCC Business forum

The EU and the GCC have underlined their commitment to expanding cooperation during the sixth joint business forum held at the Residence Palace in the European Quarter of Brussels on Thursday, 24 November.  "This meeting is both welcome and timely, given the very challenging global developments we have faced, and continue to face, in 2022," said European Commission Executive Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis in his keynote speech to the gathering. Dombrovskis said that "in this challenging environment, the EU is fully committed to strengthening economic ties between our two regional blocs. By developing our areas of mutual interest, by working in a more collaborative way, we can achieve real benefits.  "The EU is guided in this important work by our Communication on a 'Strategic Partnership with the Gulf, published in May of this year. The strategic aim of this roadmap is clear: we want to broaden and deepen our cooperation with the GCC and its member countries. We view the Gulf as a dynamic neighboring region, and an important gateway between Europe, Asia and Africa."
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Putin discusses with CSTO leaders in Yerevan the future of the alliance

Putin discusses with CSTO leaders in Yerevan the future of the alliance

President Vladimir Putin of Russia travelled to the Armenian capital Yerevan on Wednesday for a meeting of the heads of state and government of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO). At Yerevan airport Putin was welcomed by Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan, with who he held discussions soon  after on the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh.  Apart from Putin and Pashinyan also attending the summit are the leaders of the other four CSTO members,   Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the situation in Afghanistan and Ukraine dominated the talks. A report on the Kremlin website said that a number of documents were agreed. At the end of the meeting the chairmanship of the CSTO for the next year passed on from Armenia to Belarus.