A view of Almaty

Kazakhstan is firm on its path of structural reforms that the country embarked on at the dawn of its independence. At the opening of the Parliament on September 1, 2020, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his State of the Nation Address presented a comprehensive plan of action. It embraces a new form of governance and a new economic course.

In this file photograph taken on January 29, 2020, British members of the European Parliament from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats pose for a group picture wearing scarves depicting the European Union and the Union Jack flags at The Europa Building in Brussels. - EU chief Ursula von der Leyen declared October 1, 2020, that Brussels is taking legal action over the British government's attempt to overturn parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

With talks set to continue this coming week between the UK Government and the EU over the Brexit trade deal, Constitution Secretary Michael Russell said: “It is beyond belief that in the middle of a deep recession, Scottish firms still have no idea what their trading arrangements will be with the EU in less than three months’ time.

The visa policy of the European Union is changing. From 2022, travellers from third countries who had previously been able to cross an external EU border using just a passport will need to register with ETIAS. The European Travel Information and Authorisation System is being introduced to boost EU border security and reduce the threat of terrorism and other serious crimes. Whilst Finland already ranks as one of the safest places on earth, this additional layer of security provides even greater peace of mind for residents and visitors.

This cave in the Juukan Gorge, dubbed Juukan 2, was destroyed in a mining blast last Sunday. Consent was given through outdated Aboriginal heritage laws drafted in 1972.

Juukan Gorge 1 and 2 in Australia’s Western Pilbara, are Aboriginal rock shelters dating back 46,000 years. These ancient rock shelters are the only inland sites in Australia used for human occupation since the Ice Ages.

This is not the first time industrial development blasts away sites of cultural significance to the Aboriginal people of Australia. Last year, another cultural heritage site was cleared in Sydney to give way to a $2.1 billion railway line. The destroyed site included an excavated area where 2,400 stone artefacts indicating aboriginal occupation of the area between 1788 and 1830 had surfaced.

Asian long-horned beetle has spread to Finland via packaging material / Ville Welling / Evira

“The findings are clear: Our relationship with nature is broken.

Biodiversity – the rich diversity of life on Earth – is being lost at an alarming rate. This loss effects our own health and well-being. Today, catastrophic impacts for people and the planet loom closer than ever,” says the WWF Living Planet Report 2020.

The population sizes of mammals, birds, fish, amphibians and reptiles have seen an alarming average drop of 68% since 1970, and 75% of the planets ice free land surface has been significantly altered by human activity. 

US authorities must drop all charges against Julian Assange relating to his publishing activities, and UK authorities must reject the related US extradition request, said Amnesty International today. Julian Assange’s extradition hearing resumes today and is expected to last several weeks.

The hearing will decide on the Trump administration’s request for Julian Assange’s extradition to the US, where he faces a sentence of up to 175 years for publishing materials that document possible war crimes committed by the US military.

Images of the 125 doctors who have died during the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, are displayed outside Peru's Medical College (CMP) in Lima on August 13, 2020. - Peru is the third-worst affected country in Latin America -- after Brazil and Mexico -- by the coronavirus pandemic with nearly half a million cases and more than 21,500 deaths. LEHTIKUVA / AFP

New analysis by Amnesty International has found that at least 7,000 health workers have died around the world after contracting COVID-19. At least 1,320 health workers are confirmed to have died in Mexico alone, the highest known figure for any country. 

Amnesty International also recorded high numbers of health worker deaths in the USA (1,077) and Brazil (634), where infection and death rates have been high throughout the pandemic, as well as alarming figures in South Africa (240) and India (573), where infection rates have soared in recent months. 

Israeli protesters, take part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv on August 23, 2020, to denounce sexual violence against women following the alleged gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl in a Red Sea resort. LEHTIKUVA /

 Yesterday, after many years of campaigning by women’s rights and survivors’ groups, the Danish government agreed to amend the Criminal Code to finally recognise in law that sex without consent is rape.

A cross-party agreement by Denmark’s government and coalition parties to introduce consent-based rape legislation is a step towards a historic victory for human rights, said Amnesty International. 

The first year of President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been marked by the broadening of the political spectrum, strengthening of human rights and improvement in the quality of life and well-being of the people of Kazakhstan.

The President set out the ambition of a truly modern state which is both accountable and responsive to the needs of the people. It is a state that hears and listens to the people. The National Council of Public Trust was established to facilitate genuine dialogue on reforms in many areas.

550 km of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) are in the area in which near-surface permafrost thaw may occur by 2050 / Wikipedia

Degradation of near-surface permafrost can pose a serious threat to the utilization of natural resources, and to the sustainable development of Arctic communities, Professor of Physical Geography University of Oulu Jan Hjort told Helsinki Times in an interview.

"Difficult to say how much global warming affect human activity in the Arctic because the amount depends on what we are considering (e.g. what kind of land use and human activity), geographical location (what are the environmental conditions) and time scale (season, year, decade or century), but for sure global warming will affect people in the Arctic", said Professor Hjort.