Saudi Arabia elected as new member to the Executive Board of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. Saudi Arabia looks forward to working alongside our fellow members starting in January 2019 pic.twitter.com/CZw8hgrxZN — Saudi Arabia Mission to the UN 🇸🇦 (@ksamissionun) April 16, 2018 Telling: Saudi ambassador (left) wouldn't even shake her hand—his regime's winning candidate. Whole thing is absurd: Electing Saudi Arabia's rep to the 23-member UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women is like making a pyromaniac into the town fire chief. pic.twitter.com/ElsALRlWpD — Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) June 18, 2018 UN Watch is a non-profit organization dedicated to holding the United Nations accountable to its founding principles UN Watch is funded entirely by charitable donations we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information may adversely affect certain features and functions Visit the NSSF online store to order research and publications online NSSF Members: Login to see your special pricing Director of Special Projects at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Millions of gun owners represent the best of America The firearm industry faces a range of emerging cyber threats that pose significant risks to… Paige Roux was at SHOT Show 2025 to show and tell us about what she’s looking forward to most and to visit with the USCCA and FN America — The total economic impact of the firearm and ammunition industry in the… Explore the commitment of companies like Beretta which supports hunter safety education and conservation initiatives to ensure the future of hunting and shooting sports Annual event examines business culture within the firearm industry providing guided discussions through valuable market… especially that from the Firearms and Ammunition industry have significantly contributed to wildlife and habitat restoration in the United States the trade association for the firearm industry is pleased to announce that its Patron members have elected Marvin C Daniel is President and CEO of Daniel Defense parts and accessories manufacturing company Daniel founded the company in 2001 in Savannah developing innovative products for the popular and expanding AR-15 rifle market Daniel Defense takes great pride in all of its products being manufactured in the United States “Our company has always been a huge supporter of the NSSF,” said Daniel “I now look forward to playing an even more active role in working with the NSSF in support of the Second Amendment and the shooting sports industry.” Daniel serves on the Georgia Southern University Corporate Advisory Board to the Allen E Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology He also serves on the board of the American Suppressor Association Daniel’s election to the board is effective immediately Tags: American Suppressor Association Board of Governors Daniel Defense WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, hails Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee for signing SB 1360 into law which brings added protections to…Read More Last year, under the final year of former President Joe Biden’s term in The White House, a fact sheet released by the Bureau of Alcohol,…Read More At the 2024 NSSF Marketing and Leadership Summit, Landon DePasquale, Strategic Clients Director at AmericanEagle.com, shared experience-driven insights into how firearm retailers and manufacturers can…Read More Attendees of NSSF's Marketing & Leadership Summit outline a few of the many valuable takeaways from this premier event. Watch Now © 2025 National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. All Rights Reserved. • 203.426.1320 The European Council’s proposal was based on Parliament’s report of June 2023 which started the process and was prompted by demographic changes in the EU since the 2019 elections Additional seats will be allocated as follows: Parliament consented to the legislative decision with 515 votes in favour The upcoming elections (6-9 June 2024) will take place with the new number of seats in Parliament and based on the most recent population figures MOSCOW — Dmitry Gudkov was once a rising star of an opposition movement that posed a threat to Vladimir Putin Now he’s fighting to hang on to his seat in the Russian Duma It’s a foregone conclusion that Putin’s United Russia and allied parties will dominate Sunday’s parliamentary election: The only open question is how much room will be afforded to people like Gudkov Canvassing for votes in a suburb of northwest Moscow the 36-year-old candidate for the Yabloko party struggled to win the attention of locals Despite the free balloons and slick brochures swigging liquor from bottles hidden in plastic bags “They’ve thrown everything they can at me,” he shouted But they know they have a real election on their hands.” As one of the youngest deputies in parliament, Gudkov was thrust into the national limelight during the 2011 Duma elections. One of a handful of politicians to switch to the protest movement as thousands took to the streets to demonstrate against Putin’s job switch with then-president Dmitri Medvedev he felt that Russia was on the verge of change Putin’s ruling United Russia became a laughing stock derided as the “party of crooks and thieves.” Gudkov seemed to be on the right side of history Five years on, it’s Gudkov who has been pushed to the fringes of Russia’s political landscape. The system has now largely stabilized thanks to a mass clampdown and the feel-good factor from the 2014 annexation of Crimea Gudkov was one of four deputies in the Duma not to back the move there have been clear concessions to the protesters Russia has again adopted a mixed electoral system whereby half the 450 seats in the Duma are allocated according to party lists and the remainder are filled by single-mandate constituencies There’s also a new head of the election committee: Instead of Putin’s chum Vladimir Churov Head of Russia’s Central Election Commission Ella Pamfilova speaks during a meeting with the commission’s officials in Moscow on September 7 ahead of parliamentary elections to be held on September 18 | Yuri Kadobnov/AFP via Getty Images state television now includes anti-Putin parties in political debates and the most radical opposition party standing — former prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov’s PARNAS — even used the platform to call for Putin’s impeachment The system is set up so there is no chance of anyone but Putin winning The new mixed electoral system will almost certainly skew the results in favor of pro-government parties and United Russia could even receive an unbeatable two-thirds constitutional majority on the back of a 40 percent share of the vote The three main tolerated “opposition” parties – the Communists the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and Just Russia — are also predicted to do well headed by the charismatic nationalist Vladimir Zhrinovsky could beat the Communists into second place by capitalizing on the economic woes of its mostly poor supporters Pollsters and experts said that on current projections only these four parties will pass the 5 percent threshold for the party list vote Both the public and the authorities realize this,” said Alexei Chesnakov a political consultant close to the Kremlin The failure of the opposition parties who are not part of the system is only partly the fault of the Kremlin While the Kremlin has undermined its opponents — revealing that Kasyanov had a mistress or fabricating corruption cases against 2011 protest leader Alexei Navalny and his brother — the opposition has led a poor campaign failing to agree on a united platform or ditch people who had proved unpopular “They should have made their campaign about new faces,” said political consultant Evgeny Minchenko Where things might get more interesting are in a handful of single mandate districts That’s where Gudkov insists he has a chance of winning Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny takes a selfie as he attends a memorial march marking the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Russian politician Boris Nemtsov in central Moscow 2016 | Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images whose enthusiasm overflows the campaign HQ despite the likelihood that his main rival the influential former chief medical officer Gennady Onischenko will get a helping hand from the government According to election expert Mikhail Vingoradov polling suggests that Gudkov is being overly optimistic another Yabloko politician with popular appeal running in the Siberian Altai region “You will see one or two single breakthroughs from the smaller parties like nationalist Rodina Although Putin and his backers will win on Sunday there is still nervousness in the Kremlin over the falling popularity of United Russia The party has been in steady decline since 2008 with short rebounds during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and immediately after the annexation of Crimea According to the Levada Center support for United Russia has fallen to 31 percent from 39 percent nationally in the past month alone and it could be even lower among higher-educated segments of the urban population in St In areas far away from Pamfilova’s scrutiny anything below 95 percent will be considered disastrous but on a nationwide basis anything above 40 percent will be considered good and 45 percent would be regarded as excellent As if to underline the Kremlin’s nervousness last week the justice ministry took action to register the Levada Center as a “foreign agent.” but the overall direction of the country: “If we don’t get a democratic fraction in the parliament Russia could go the route of North Korea or Iran.” Also On POLITICO Vladimir Putin switches chief of staff By Joshua Posaner Opposition politician, who wants to take on Putin in next year’s presidential elections, was arrested during demonstrations last month. The defection of a former investigator of corruption may have worried Russian authorities. Vladimir Putin’s United Russia is the big winner with a constitutional majority. The drama features fists, threats and water throwing, and it risks destabilizing the country. Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Analysis: Convicted of tax fraud and renowned for controversy, the 82-year-old former prime minister is back, writes Hannah Roberts I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Just weeks ago, global news organisations were rifling through their obituary war chests as Silvio Berlusconi was rushed to hospital known for his sordid sex parties and crashing gaffes was mid-campaign for the European parliament elections when he was rushed in for bowel surgery Berlusconi himself feared he had “reached the end of the line” In recent years Berlusconi has been dogged by health problems Time and time again the oft-disgraced politician has been given up for dead before making a triumphant return This time he left his sickbed to return to the campaign trail – and has now been elected as an MEP is the first step on the path back to the corridors of power after he was forced to give up his parliamentary seat following a conviction for tax fraud in 2015 As the first name on his party’s list in four out of five constituencies, Berlusconi was a shoo-in for election under the proportional representation system used in European elections, says Giovanni Orsina, director of the school of governance at Luiss University in Rome. “If you are going to vote for Forza Italia For his die-hard base he can do no wrong.” the man himself said that the result showed: “We are still indispensable – without Forza Italia the centre right cannot win .. In Brussels I will remain the sole levee against anti-European nationalism Berlusconi was forced to resign as prime minister in 2011 after running the Italian economy into the ground His last few years in the country’s top job had been marred by allegations of corruption and tales of “bunga bunga” sex parties at his lavish villa outside Milan He was accused of unlawful sex with 17-year-old nightclub dancer Ruby – “the Heart Stealer” – but was acquitted on appeal after a troupe of starlets testified the evenings were merely “elegant dinners” the former cruise ship crooner served a community service sentence in a retirement home where he was in his element at bingo games and singalongs But with the lifting of his exclusion from public office last year the “Teflon don” saw a chance to return yet again to the political fray He declared his bid for European election in January saying that “at the lovely age” of 82 he felt “a sense of responsibility to head for Europe where there is a lack of deep thinking about the world” Since then he has been working his mainstays of off-colour jokes and popular-appeal policies Furthermore, he is now in the midst of a second trial for the corruption of witnesses in the Ruby case. The unexplained death of a vital prosecution witness, model Imane Fadil, in January sparked speculation that she had been poisoned as part of a cover-up plot, threatening to ruin Berlusconi’s comeback. Berlusconi claims he has never met her and that “her statements had always sounded like inventions and nonsense”. His planetary ego will enjoy a brief respite. But his election as an MEP doesn’t really change much. Prime-time Berlusconi was extraordinary because he was a libertine billionaire in charge of a G8 country. But now he’s fading away Berlusconi sees himself as an elder statesmanlike figure with experience in international relations. But in reality, and while in power, he frequently embarrassed Italy on the international stage, and horrified Eurocrats with his puerile jokes. He suggested German politician Martin Schulz could get a role as concentration camp guard in a war film, and reportedly called Angela Merkel an “unf***able lard-arse”. But while at one time he would be every European leader’s worst nightmare, now, in an increasingly fractured Europe, Berlusconi, jaw-dropping gaffes and all, would be a welcome return. “He is the best that they can hope for,” says Orsina. If, as seems probable, there is a crisis in the coalition after the European elections, there may be fresh elections in the autumn. Forza Italia could then return to government as part of a centre-right coalition with Salvini’s League. But for Michael Day, author of Being Berlusconi: The Rise and Fall from Cosa Nostra to Bunga Bunga, any comeback will be a short-lived rally on a path of terminal decline. “His planetary ego will enjoy a brief respite. But his election as an MEP doesn’t really change much. Prime-time Berlusconi was extraordinary because he was a libertine billionaire in charge of a G8 country. But now he’s fading away. The miserable showing of Forza Italia at 8.8 per cent, a quarter of the 37 per cent it was at its prime in 2008, underlines how Salvini and the hard right are running things now.” Even Salvini is doing everything to hinder Berlusconi’s political return, hoping to be able to form a centre-right coalition without him, says Orsina. “Berlusconi puts off a certain part of the electorate, and even as a junior partner would be cumbersome, not happy to sit on the sidelines.” Ever the maker of his own myth, Berlusconi has often been said to harbour ambitions of becoming president of Italy. But that dream has now evaporated with his votes. His real legacy is likely to be the corrosion of political faith caused by the corruption and tawdry scandals that dogged his career and tainted Italian politics, ironically contributing to the rise of the new generation of populist forces. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies Essential digital access to quality FT journalism on any device Complete digital access to quality FT journalism with expert analysis from industry leaders Complete digital access to quality analysis and expert insights complemented with our award-winning Weekend Print edition Terms & Conditions apply Discover all the plans currently available in your country See why over a million readers pay to read the Financial Times Connecting decision makers to a dynamic network of information Bloomberg quickly and accurately delivers business and financial information Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan meet in Istanbul 2015 at 5:00 PM EDTBookmarkSaveLock This article is for subscribers only.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan likes to treat his visitors to the trappings of power For talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday he laid on two towering gilded chairs at an Ottoman-era mansion QuickTake Turkey’s Continental Divide Watchdog director likens move to 'making an arsonist the town fire chief' Saudi Arabia has been elected to the UN women’s rights commission prompting outrage from human rights groups The kingdom is now one of 45 countries sitting on a panel “promoting women’s rights documenting the reality of women’s lives throughout the world and shaping global standards on gender equality and the empowerment of women," according to the UN The ultra-conservative Islamic kingdom has a state policy of gender segregation between men and women who are not related "Every Saudi woman must have a male guardian who makes all critical decisions on her behalf controlling a woman’s life from her birth until death," said Hillel Neuer "Saudi Arabia also bans women from driving cars "Electing Saudi Arabia to protect women’s rights is like making an arsonist into the town fire chief," Mr Neuer said At least five EU states voted in a secret ballot for the Saudis to serve a four-year term on the commission former administrator of the UN Development Programme and prime minister of New Zealand said in response to news of the election of the Saudis to the commission: “It's important to support those in the country who are working for change for women In March Saudi Arabia launched its first ever girls' council meeting with publicity photos showing 13 men on stage and no women. Organisers said women were involved in the launch event, but that they were obliged to sit in a separate room. The World Economic Forum’s 2015 Global Gender Gap report ranked Saudi Arabia 134 out of 145 countries for gender equality. It is the only country in the world where women are prohibited from driving and are unable to obtain a driving licence. Saudi Arabia, the country to which the UK exports most weapons, already sits on the UN Human Rights Council. Sign in to listen to groundbreaking journalism Philippines (Updated) – Not a single opposition candidate is becoming a senator after the 12 spots in the Senate were dominated by President Rodrigo Duterte’s allies Reelectionist Senator Cynthia Villar is the top victor with a total of 24,082,934 votes based on the latest partial and unofficial results from the Commission on Elections transparency server as of 4:40 am Tuesday with 92.61% of precincts having transmitted results Completing the 11 seats are other reelectionist senators and administration bets who ran under Duterte’s PDP-Laban and the Hugpong ng Pagbabago slate of his daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio At second place with 21,078,911 votes was Poe followed by former special assistant to the president Bong Go in third place all top candidates belong to the administration-backed Hugpong ng Pagbabago slate Reelectionist Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito placed 13th He is behind Revilla by around 220,000 votes None of the opposition candidates of the Liberal Party-led Otso Diretso ticket made it to the Magic 12 including its two veteran bets who have breached the winners’ circle in preelection surveys – reelectionist Senator Bam Aquino and former interior chief Mar Roxas Aquino placed only 14th with 13,499,806 votes Roxas recorded 9,382,159 and landed at 16th place who has to experience his third straight electoral loss on his 62nd birthday Rounding up the first 3 candidates who got the highest number of votes among all other opposition bets is human rights lawyer Chel Diokno of Otso Diretso Most of them struggled with running a nationwide campaign and few to zero politicians and donors willing to endorse them publicly who campaigned diligently for Otso Diretso The Otso Diretso bets had hoped they would be able to pull off another come-from-behind victory like Robredo did in the 2016 vice presidential polls the fight does not end after the 2019 midterm elections “Kailangan iyong mga taong nag-unite magkaisa pa din para magdesisyon kung paano lalabanan iyong mga bagay na pakiramdam namin mali patuloy iyong pakikibaka,” the Vice President said work together to decide on how to fight the things we feel are wrong “Siyempre mas madali kung mas marami iyong makapasok sa Senado kasi tingin namin iyon iyong most important battleground Pero whatever the outcome of the elections is (Of course it’s easier if many of us made it to the Senate because we think that’s the most important battleground But whatever the outcome of the elections is