Global

Across the world hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities to mark International Workers Day - often referred to simply as May Day. Citizens and trade unions in cities around Europe are taking to the streets for May Day marches, and to put out protest messages to their governments. In Italy, after a two-year pandemic lull, an outdoor mega-concert was set for Rome with rallies and protests in cities across the country. Besides work, peace was an underlying theme with calls for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Italy's three main labour unions were focusing their main rally in the hilltop town of Assisi, a frequent destination for peace protests. This year's slogan is "Working for peace". May Day is also a big day for left wing parties and organisations in Turkey, where large May Day rallies also took place this year. May 1 was chosen as International Workers Day in 1889 Congress of the Socialist International which met in Paris and established the Second International as a successor to the earlier International Workingmen's Association. They adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day.

The United Nations marks 4 April as International Landmine Awareness Day.  This year, in a message on the occasion, UN Secretary General Antonio Gutteres said that the day  “reminds us how far we have come in clearing the world of explosive remnants of war – and how far we still have to go.” Gutteres pointed out that in Ukraine, the legacy of a single month of war – in the form of unexploded ordnance, landmines, and cluster munitions – will take decades to tackle, threatening lives long after the guns fall silent. In his message Antonio Gutteres also called on all states to accede without delay to the Ottawa Convention banning the production and use of landmines. "Permanent members of the Security Council in particular have a special responsibility", Gutteres said.