5 Stories from Europe You May Have Missed

[rpannier]

1. Face Off: Local Council In St. Petersburg Replaces Putin Portrait With Sakharov

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That's the situation at a St. Petersburg district council whose deputies, at their first meeting following controversial September 8 elections, voted to ban the hanging of portraits of "active politicians" in their meeting room.

The new rule apparently rules out pictures of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin-backed city governor, Aleksandr Beglov.

"Instead of Putin, they hung a portrait of human rights activist Andrei Sakharov," the liberal Yabloko party proclaimed in a post on Twitter after the September 30 decision.

The party won a majority on the Liteiny district council in the recent elections, in which the increasingly unpopular ruling United Russia party suffered notable setbacks in many races. The decision to remove Putin's portrait was adopted unanimously, as the United Russia members boycotted the opening session.

https://www.rferl.org/a/local-council-st-petersburg-replaces-putin-portrait-with-sakharov/30195174.html


2. Turkmen President Dismisses Once-Powerful Interior Minister

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov has fired Interior Minister Isgender Mulikov amid allegations of abuse of power and corruption.

Berdymukhammedov fired Mulikov, who had served since May 2009, during a cabinet meeting on October 1.

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Mulikov's driver was immediately arrested and some of the minister's business interests, which include several restaurants, cafes, and shops in Ashgabat, were confiscated.

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Mammetkhan Chakiyev, a deputy chair of the cabinet, was appointed as Mulikov's replacement.

https://www.rferl.org/a/turkmen-interior-minister-isgender-mulikov/30195163.html


3. Beloved European horse chestnut tree 'close to extinction' warns report

Europe's beloved horse chestnut tree is officially considered vulnerable to extinction, according to a new report.

The tree is among more than 400 native European tree species evaluated for their risk of extinction by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The study found that two fifths (42%) are threatened with extinction and that among endemic trees — those that don't exist anywhere else except Europe — it is 58%.

Pests and diseases are the main threat to these European trees, with the iconic horse chestnut tree being particularly ravaged by the leaf-miner moth — an invasive species from the Balkans.

https://www.euronews.com/2019/09/27/beloved-european-horse-chestnut-tree-close-to-extinction-warns-report


4. 132,000 descendants of expelled Jews apply for Spanish citizenship

More than 132,000 descendants of the Jews expelled from Spain in the late 15th century have applied for Spanish citizenship under a law intended to make amends for the mass exile.

The law, introduced four years ago, was designed to atone for the “historical wrong” that saw the country’s Jewish community expelled, forced to convert to Catholicism or burned at the stake.

After being extended for a year, the law lapsed on 1 October. According to the justice ministry, 132,226 people of Sephardic descent applied for Spanish citizenship before the deadline, with a huge rise in applications in the past month.

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As well as taking tests in Spanish language and culture, applicants needed to prove their Sephardic heritage, establish or prove a special connection with Spain, and then pay a designated notary to certify their documents.


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/02/132000-sephardic-jews-apply-for-spanish-citizenship


5. Staff At Russia's Main Cancer Center Quit En Masse, Citing Low Wages And Dire Conditions

Russia’s main cancer treatment center has been rocked by a wave of resignations amid complaints about low wages and deteriorating conditions at its wards, in the latest indication of what medical professionals say is a systemic crisis that is endangering the quality and availability of critical care in the country.

At least 10 doctors have resigned over the past two days from the N.N. Blokhin Cancer Research Center, which bills itself as the biggest oncology clinic in Europe, following the publication of a video address from 26 staff members of its childhood cancer institute calling for the institution to reform its management and improve conditions for employees.

In the clip, which was posted to YouTube on September 30, four doctors from the institute decry falling salaries and alleged intimidation on the part of management, and paint a picture of a health-care center that has fallen into serious disrepair.

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According to Maksim Rykov, deputy director of the childhood cancer institute and one of the doctors who features in the video, at least 12 of his staff handed in their resignations on October 1 and dozens more are set to follow. He told RFE/RL the walkout may ultimately result in a loss of more than half the entire cancer center’s workforce, which amounts to over 3,500 people.


https://www.rferl.org/a/staff-at-russia-s-main-cancer-center-quit-en-masse-citing-low-wages-and-dire-conditions/30193826.html