Jacinda Ardern, the world's youngest female head of government, gave her farewell speech to Parliament on Wednesday, reflecting on her time in office and the challenges she faced. She thanked her family, her political party, and her supporters for their support and hoped to have demonstrated that "you can be anxious, sensitive, kind and wear your heart on your sleeve" and still be a successful leader. She also hoped her legacy would be showing the world “you can be a nerd, a crier, a hugger” and still be a leader.
Posts tagged as “Parliament”
Turkey's Parliament has voted unanimously to ratify Finland's application to join NATO, ending months of delays and paving the way for Finland to become the 30th member of the Western military alliance. The decision follows Hungary's parliament endorsing Helsinki's accession earlier this week, and is in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine a year ago. Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said the vote marks a “historic moment” for Finland, and the country is now ready to join NATO.
Thousands of French citizens took to the streets in protest on Thursday evening in response to President Emmanuel Macron's decision to pass pension reforms without a vote from the lower house. Polling from IFOP shows that the majority of French citizens find the decision unjustified, and protests have broken out in Paris and other cities. Smoke was seen rising early Friday over Gare du Lyon, a busy rail station in Paris, as the government faces increasing pressure to abandon the reforms.
Georgina Beyer, the world's first openly transgender member of Parliament, passed away at the age of 65. She was a tireless advocate for LGBTQ rights and was known for her work in the legalization of civil unions and gay marriage as well as the decriminalization of prostitution. Her death has been met with an outpouring of grief from the LGBTQ community and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who praised her for her courage and commitment to equality.
The Biden administration is set to announce the delivery of US-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine this week, in an effort to bolster the country's defense against Russian aggression. The move has been met with both anticipation and criticism, with Germany providing billions in humanitarian and military aid since the start of the war. The timing around the actual delivery of the tanks is still unclear, and it remains to be seen how effective they will be in the fight against Russian aggression.