World celebrates International Women's Day
Women MPs pose together in the House of Commons Chamber for a group photo to celebrate International Women's Day in London. Photo: AFP
Women took to the streets of cities across Europe, Africa and elsewhere to mark International Women's Day with demands for ending inequality and gender-based violence, The Guardian reported on Saturday.
On the Asian side of Turkey's biggest city Istanbul, a rally in Kadiköy saw members of dozens of women's groups listen to speeches, dance and sing in the spring sunshine. The colorful protest was overseen by a large police presence, including officers in riot gear and a water cannon truck.
The government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared 2025 the Year of the Family. Protesters pushed back against the idea of women's role being confined to marriage and motherhood, carrying banners reading "Family will not bind us to life" and "We will not be sacrificed to the family."
Critics have accused the government of overseeing restrictions on women's rights and not doing enough to tackle violence against women.
The Turkish president in 2021 withdrew his country from a European treaty, dubbed the Istanbul Convention, that protects women from domestic violence. Turkey's "We Will Stop Femicides" platform says 394 women were killed by men in 2024.
"There is bullying at work, pressure from husbands and fathers at home and pressure from patriarchal society. We demand that this pressure be reduced even further," Yaz Gulgun, 52, said.
In many other European countries, women also protested against violence, for better access to gender-specific healthcare, equal pay and other issues in which they don't get the same treatment as men.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
8 hours ago
- Business Recorder
India and US advance toward interim trade deal after four-day talks
NEW DELHI: Indian and U.S. negotiators made progress in their latest round of talks in New Delhi on Tuesday on a bilateral trade deal, having focused on market access for industrial and some agricultural goods, tariff cuts and non-tariff barriers, Indian government sources said. 'The negotiations held with the U.S. side were productive and helped in making progress towards crafting a mutually beneficial and balanced agreement including through achievement of early wins,' one of the sources said. The U.S. delegation, led by senior officials from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, held closed-door negotiationswith Indian trade ministry officials headed by chief negotiator Rajesh Agrawal. Both sides discussed increasing bilateral digital trade, by improving customs and trade facilitation measures, the sources said, adding that 'negotiations will continue' for early conclusion of the initial tranche of the trade pact. U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed in February to conclude a bilateral trade agreement by fall 2025 and to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. India, US push to finalise interim tariff deal as Trump's deadline nears The two sides are expected to sign an interim agreement by the end of the month, before the expiry of Trump's 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs on major trading partners, including a 26% tariff on India. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, currently in Switzerland for talks with European trade partners, said India is prepared to proceed with the deal by first addressing simpler issues. The next phase of negotiations could tackle more complex matters, with the goal of signing the first tranche of the bilateral trade pact by September or October, the officials added. India resisted U.S. demands to open its markets to wheat, dairy and corn imports, while offering lower tariffs on high-value U.S. products such as almonds, pistachios and walnuts, one of the sources said. India also asked the U.S to revoke its 10% baseline tariff. However, the U.S. side opposed this, noting that even Britain was subject to this under its recent bilateral trade agreement. Trump says US doing 'big deals' with Pakistan, India Additionally, India sought an exemption for its steel exports from a 50% tariff. A potential 26% tariff on India would be devastating to Indian goods - including rice, shrimp, textiles and footwear, which together comprise nearly one-fifth of India's merchandise exports - and could severely hit exports and dampen foreign investment inflows. India has pledged to increase purchases of American goods, including energy products like liquefied natural gas, crude oil, coal and defence equipment. India's exports to the U.S. rose 28% to $37.7 billion in the first four months of 2025, while imports increased to $14.4 billion, widening India's trade surplus, according to U.S. government data.
Business Recorder
9 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Blackstone to invest $500 billion in Europe over next decade
Blackstone plans to invest up to $500 billion in Europe over the next decade, CEO Steve Schwarzman told Bloomberg Television in an interview on Tuesday, underscoring market confidence in the region's prospects. Schwarzman said Europe represents a 'major opportunity' for the world's largest alternative asset manager, which oversees assets worth over $1 trillion. There has been a surge in investor optimism about the region, driven by European governments' push to increase military spending and revive a sluggish private equity market. With U.S. President Donald Trump reshaping global alliances and trade policies, Europe is actively pursuing new avenues for economic growth, potentially creating promising investment opportunities for firms such as Blackstone. The European Union, for example, is ramping up its defense spending to revitalize a sector historically overlooked by private investors. Since 2020, the U.S. and Canada have attracted 83% of all private equity and venture capital-backed aerospace and defense investment, according to S&P. Europe is starting to change its approach, 'which we think will result in higher growth rates. So this has worked out amazingly well for us,' Schwarzman told Bloomberg. Schwarzman supported Trump in the U.S. presidential election last year, according to a report from Axios. He has long been viewed as an ally of the president. Trump's whiplash tariffs have, however, prompted several businesses to optimize their supply chains to reduce U.S. exposure. 'The U.S. administration's tariffs - combined with any retaliatory measures from its trading partners - will deliver a supply shock to the U.S. and a demand shock to the rest of the world, including China and Europe,' said Blerina Uruçi, chief U.S. economist at T. Rowe Price.
Business Recorder
11 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Ukraine says Russian strikes hit Kyiv, Odesa, killing three
KYIV: Russia launched fresh drone and missile attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and port city of Odesa early on Tuesday, killing three people and hitting a maternity hospital, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow has escalated its bombardments of Ukraine and Kyiv has retaliated with strikes deep inside Russian territory. Talks in Turkey last week failed to yield a breakthrough towards ending the three-year war. Aside from an agreement to exchange prisoners, progress has stalled and Russia has repeatedly rejected calls for an unconditional ceasefire. After the overnight barrage of more than 300 drones and seven missiles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged Kyiv's Western allies to respond with 'concrete action'. 'Action from America, which has the power to force Russia into peace. Action from Europe, which has no alternative but to be strong,' Zelensky wrote in a post on social media. He added that two of the missiles fired in the latest wave attacks were made in North Korea. Russia fired record 479 drones at Ukraine overnight Russia's defence ministry said it had targeted 'Ukrainian aviation, missile, armoured vehicle and ship-building facilities in Kyiv' with a 'group strike'. 'The goal of the strikes was achieved. All designated objects were hit,' the ministry said. But residential and hospital buildings were struck in Odesa, where two people were killed and at least nine others were wounded, Governor Oleg Kiper said. 'The enemy massively attacked Odesa with strike drones,' Kiper wrote on Telegram. 'The Russians hit a maternity hospital, an emergency medical ward and residential buildings,' he said, adding that the maternity hospital had been evacuated in time. Prisoner swap In central Kyiv, an AFP journalist heard at least a dozen explosions, anti-aircraft fire and the buzzing of drones. City officials said one woman was killed and four people were wounded. The mayor said strikes hit at least seven districts, setting buildings and cars on fire. Russia's 2022 invasion of its neighbour triggered the biggest European conflict since World War II, forcing millions to flee their homes and decimating much of eastern and southern Ukraine. Ukrainian cities are targeted by Russian air strikes almost daily. Russia launched a record 479 explosive drones at Ukraine overnight into Monday morning, the Ukrainian Air Force said. Kyiv has responded with attacks on Russian territory, targeting transport and weapons production infrastructure. Russia's transport agency Rosaviatsia said on Tuesday that flight operations had been temporarily restricted at more than a dozen Russian airports – standard procedure during Ukrainian drone attacks. In the city of Belgorod near the border with Ukraine, Russian emergency services said one person was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack on a petrol station. Russia's defence ministry said it had intercepted 102 Ukrainian drones overnight. Despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to reach a ceasefire agreement, peace talks are at a standstill. The only concrete agreement reached at talks in Istanbul last week was a large-scale prisoner exchange and the repatriation of dead soldiers' bodies. Demands Russia and Ukraine swapped a first group of captured soldiers on Monday and Zelensky announced the exchange would 'continue in several stages over the coming days'. The deal should see the freeing of all captured soldiers under the age of 25, as well as those who are sick or severely wounded. But Zelensky said last week it was 'pointless' to hold further talks with the current Russian delegation – who he previously dismissed as 'empty heads' – since they could not agree to a ceasefire. Russian forces meanwhile are making steady advances across the front line. Over the weekend Moscow said it had pushed its offensive into the Dnipropetrovsk region for the first time, marking a significant territorial escalation. 'Time for everyone to finally accept the fact that Russia understands only strikes, not rational words,' Zelensky's top aide, Andriy Yermak, said on Tuesday, in a thinly veiled criticism of the Trump administration. As a condition for halting its invasion, Russia has demanded that Ukraine cede the territories Moscow says it has annexed and forswear joining NATO. It has also rejected a proposed 30-day unconditional ceasefire sought by Kyiv and the European Union, arguing that this would allow Ukrainian forces to rearm with Western deliveries. Ukraine is demanding a complete Russian withdrawal of from its territory and security guarantees from the West.
