The European Parliament has a chance to help free Europe’s regions from fossil fuels and support the creation of sustainable jobs.
On the week of 14 September, the European Parliament has a chance to help free Europe’s regions from fossil fuels and support the creation of sustainable jobs. MEPs will vote in plenary on the EUR17.5 billion Just Transition Fund, which aims to support EU regions such as the coal regions of Southwest Bulgaria’s and the Jiu Valley of Romania in their transition to climate neutrality.
The gas industry has been particularly busy lately, pandemic or no pandemic. Gas lobbyists have met with EU officials 49 times between March and July 2020 alone. It is no surprise that the industry is worried: the writing’s on the wall for fossil fuels. We are moving towards a zero carbon EU, and gas is terrible for the climate – leaked methane emissions can make it even worse than coal. Already, new gas infrastructure is not economically viable and there is far less demand for gas than previously estimated. Yet despite the facts, and with a crucial European Parliament vote just days away, the industry’s efforts appear to be paying off.
MEPs must overturn the regressive position of the Parliament’s Regional Affairs Committee, which voted in favour of gas being eligible for Just Transition funding. To the gas lobby, the concept of ‘fake news’ is all too familiar. It has been writing its own fake news for years, using its wealth and influence to portray itself as a clean and sustainable “transition fuel.” Polluting gas has no place in a climate neutral Europe and is not particularly effective for job creation.
The European Commission, EU Member States and the EU Committee of the Regions all oppose gas getting Just Transition funding.
“MEPs have a crucial choice. They can kick out fossil fuels and help Europe’s most vulnerable regions unlock the door to a sustainable future. Or they can take money away from those regions to give it to the polluting gas industry. Doing this would be a shocking betrayal both of European citizens and of the climate targets MEPs claim they endorse.” – Katie Treadwell, Energy Policy Officer, WWF European Policy Office
What does WWF want? To truly deliver, the EU Just Transition Mechanism should do three key things:
Exclude gas and other fossil fuels – only projects consistent with a sustainable and climate neutral Europe by 2040 should be financed;
Require plans to be aligned with EU climate targets to access funds, reward climate ambition and include coal phase-out dates of 2030 latest, and gas phase-out dates of 2035 latest; and
Encourage and enable effective partnerships by supporting transparency and meaningful engagement, including with civil society, local governments and trade unions.
Allowing the gas industry to get Just Transition Fund money would directly contradict the concept of a just transition to a zero carbon economy. Fossil gas has no role as a transitional fuel: it accelerates climate change and leaked methane emissions can make it worse for the climate than coal. There is also zero evidence that it would create many or decent jobs, while every $1 million (USD) invested in renewables creates three times more jobs than fossil fuels.
Last but not least, giving priority and money to gas projects would cement Europe’s future in a gas lock-in over the next 40-50 years and waste up to €29 billion of EU taxpayers’ money in stranded assets.Twenty-two organisations including WWF sent a letter on September 8 to the heads of the European political groups calling for the Parliament to reject any opening for fossil gas and ensure the fund prioritises support for Member States who have committed to an ambitious transition.
Background Just Transition in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) will contribute to achieving EU climate neutrality by 2050 and the local development of target regions by having a positive impact in all the important aspects of the transition process – social, economic and environmental. For example, the total coal reserves in Southwest Bulgaria are estimated to be relatively small – less than 15% of the country’s overall reserves; 5% of which is extracted. The two operational thermal power plants (TPPs) in the region, TPP Bobov Dol (Bobov Dol municipality) and TPP Republika (Pernik municipality) burn about 2.5% of the coal, and generate approximately 5% of Bulgaria’s annual electricity production. Closing down these two coal-fired power plants will leave an annual 903,781 MWh energy gap that will need to be filled by alternative sustainable sources.
A WWF study of the southwest coal region in Bulgaria provided 3 scenarios for possible development of the region. The analysis is an attempt to plan the future of coal regions in Bulgaria and to serve as a tool for policy planning and long-term strategic decision-making first in the districts of Pernik, Kyustendil, Blagoevgrad and Sofia (without the city of Sofia); mainly in the municipalities of Bobov Dol and Pernik, as well as the already two other non-operational mines in the region.
There are over 150 protected areas of all types in Southwest Bulgaria, including two of the country’s three national parks: Rila National Park (the largest in Bulgaria) and Pirin National Park (also a UNESCO World Heritage Site). These conditions favour economic alternatives such as the development of various forms of tourism, organic farming, organic stock-breeding, sustainable forestry and fishing. Moving in this direction would also comply with the desire that economic activities should be compatible with the conservation of valuable species, habitats and nature in general. This fact should be a prerequisite for a sustainable future and be considered when deciding on alternative, Just Transition Mechanism-funded economic investments in the region.
For more information: Georgi Stefanov Chief Climate and Energy Expert, WWF-Bulgaria Tel: +359 889 517 976 Email: [email protected] www.wwf.bg / www.climatebg.org Skype: zoro_stefanov
The European Parliament has urged the EU to impose sanctions on Turkey after President Tayyip Erdogan this month paid a visit to the breakaway Turkish-held north of divided Cyprus.
With 631 votes in favour, three against and 59 abstentions, the parliament agreed a non-binding resolution in support of EU member Cyprus urging EU leaders to “take action and impose tough sanctions in response to Turkey’s illegal actions”.
The resolution is likely to bolster support for France’s push for EU sanctions on Turkey next month, following through on a threat made by the bloc in October over a dispute between Ankara and EU members Greece and Cyprus over natural gas rights.
The parliament resolution called Turkey’s gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean “illegal”.
Paris, at odds with Ankara on other issues too, has not yet drawn up detailed sanctions, but diplomats told Reuters that any measures would likely target areas of Turkey’s economy linked to its hydrocarbon exploration, such as shipping, energy and banking.
“Turkey knows what it needs to do,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told a French parliamentary hearing this week. “Confrontation or collaboration, it’s up to them.”
Cyprus has been divided since a Turkish invasion in 1974 triggered by a brief Greek-inspired coup. Only Ankara, which still maintains troops in the north, recognises as illegal secessionist entity declared by Turkish Cypriots.
Erdogan incensed Cyprus on Nov. 15 by visiting Varosha, a resort that has been fenced-off and abandoned in no-man’s land since 1974. Ankara backed the partial re-opening of Varosha in a move criticised by the United States, Greece and Greek Cypriots.
The Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have approved a resolution titled “Escalating tensions in Varosha following the illegal actions by Turkey and the urgent need for the resumption of talks.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry has condemned the resolution, saying, “We completely reject the non-binding resolution adopted by the MEPs on our country and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”
The press release issued by the European Parliament following the adoption of the resolution has emphasized the three following points: “Turkey must refrain from any action that alters Cyprus’ demographic balance”, “European Union (EU)-Turkey relations at a historic low and “Call for tough sanctions in response to Turkey’s illegal actions.”
While the resolution has been adopted by 631 votes in favour, 3 against and 59 abstentions, the MEPs have stated, “Turkey’s decision to ‘open’ the sealed-off suburb of Varosha undermines prospects of a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem.”
“MEPs condemn Turkey’s illegal activities in the Varosha suburb of the city of Famagusta and warn that its partial ‘opening’ weakens prospects of a comprehensive solution to the Cyprus problem, exacerbating divisions and entrenching the permanent partition of the island,” they have noted.
“MEPs call on Turkey to transfer Varosha to its lawful inhabitants under the temporary administration of the UN and to refrain from any actions that alter the demographic balance on the island through a policy of illegal settlement.”
The MEPs have also called for “tough sanctions” against Turkey:
“A sustainable solution to reunify the island of Cyprus and its people can only be found through dialogue, diplomacy, and negotiations, MEPs stress.
“They call on the European Council to maintain its unified position on Turkey’s illegal actions and impose tough sanctions in response.
“MEPs regret that the Turkish authorities have endorsed the two-state solution for Cyprus and reiterate their support for a fair, comprehensive and viable settlement on the basis of a bi-communal, bi-zonal federation with a single international legal status.
“They also call on the EU to play a more active role in bringing the negotiations under UN auspices to a successful conclusion.”
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry rejects the resolution
As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hami Aksoy has denounced the resolution in a statement, saying, “We completely reject the non-binding resolution adopted by the MEPs on our country and the TRNC.”
Underlining that Turkey fully supports the statement made by the Northern Cyprus Presidency on this issue, Aksoy has said, “This decision, which is undoubtedly dictated by the Greek Cypriot Administration, once again demonstrates how disconnected from reality and prejudiced the European Parliament is on the Cyprus issue.”
Aksoy has added that “if the European Parliament maintains this approach and mentality, it is not possible for European Union bodies to make a constructive contribution to the solution of the Cyprus issue.”
“Turkey calls on the EP and EU to face the realities on the island and take into account the presence of the Turkish Cypriot people as well as fulfill the EU commitments made in April 2004 to Turkish Cypriots,” he has stressed.
He has also noted that “Turkey will continue to protect both its own rights and those of Turkish Cypriots”, adding at the same time, Turkey will continue its efforts for dialogue and negotiations within this context.
Varosha, or Maraş, a coastal town in Cyprus’ Famagusta (Gazimağusa) reopened on October 8, 2020, nearly half a century after it was closed to settlement by a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution.
In a controversial move that led his government to break down, Northern Cyprus’ the then Prime Minister Ersin Tatar, now the President of the country, announced the decision on October 6 during a joint press conference with President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the capital city Ankara.
Following Turkey’s “Second Cyprus Peace Operation” in the 1974 war that eventually divided the Mediterranean island, the town was closed to settlement as it was on the “green line” between the “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” and the “Republic of Cyprus.”
Passed by the UNSC in 1983, Resolution 550 stated, “… Deeply concerned about recent threats for settlement of Varosha by people other than its inhabitants, reaffirming its continuing support for the United Nations Peace-keeping Force in Cyprus…”
A major tourist attraction with its beaches and hotels, Varosha turned into a “ghost town” after this. (EKN/SD)
SEBASTIANO (“NELLO”) MUSUMECI, the governor of Sicily, counts off on his fingers some of the many things he says his island lacks: a hub-port to tap into the goods traffic that flows from the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean; an international airport (“Malta, smaller than the smallest Sicilian province, has one,” he notes indignantly); a modern rail system (large stretches of the existing network are either single-track or unelectrified, or both); and a motorway that fully encircles the triangular island (there is a long gap on one side). “Then there is all the social infrastructure we lack,” he goes on. Top of that list is a shortage of nursery schools.
Europe’s efforts to recover from covid-19 focus on poorer regions like Sicily. One of the aims of its €750bn recovery fund, currently blocked by Poland and Hungary (see article) but due to come on stream next year, is to “level up” the EU. The Italian government will soon spell out to the European Commission how it wants to spend its share of the loans and grants on offer—more than a quarter of the total, says the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte. Last month, Sicily’s regional government sent Rome a list of schemes it hopes will qualify for funding. But although the island’s needs are great, the EU scheme may not help to satisfy them.
Most of the projects the regional government wants for the island are large-scale, long-term and designed to fulfil relatively basic requirements. But the conditions attached to the EU’s main recovery fund prioritise schemes that are “smart”, green and can be completed quite fast. Vincenzo Provenzano, who teaches economics at the university of Palermo, worries that the regional government’s aims may be too ambitious and that it ought to focus more on the potential of the EU’s promised Green Deal. “If we want to have immediate effects, we need to work on areas where Sicily has a comparative advantage,” he says. Organic farming, which Sicily has a lot of, is a perfect example.
Other doubts over Sicily’s capacity to benefit from this unique opportunity have a longer history. The island’s bureaucracy is notoriously sluggish. It may struggle to meet the deadlines set for having access to the EU’s funds: 70% of the money has to be committed, with contracts awarded and signed, by the end of 2022, the remaining 30% within the year after. The entire fund has to be spent by the end of 2026. Sicily has in the past found it hard to devise projects suitable for EU funding and then spend the money it has been given.
In any event, a worry persists that EU or state money invested in Sicily will enrich the island’s Mafia, known to affiliates as Cosa Nostra (“Our Thing”). In this respect there are grounds for optimism. Once the beefiest of Italy’s three main organised-crime syndicates, Cosa Nostra has been losing ground since the 1990s to the Camorra, which operates in and around Naples, and to the Calabrian ’Ndrangheta. Since the early 1990s police and prosecutors have relentlessly pursued it. Under Mr Musumeci, a former president of Sicily’s anti-Mafia commission, they have had solid backing from the regional authorities.
One reason Cosa Nostra has retreated from the streets is that it has increasingly concentrated on white-collar crime. As many investigations have shown, it is still able to muscle in on the allocation of contracts and has a special penchant for helping itself to EU financing.
That has prompted the creation of numerous laws and regulations which are intended to thwart the mobsters’ infiltration of the legal economy but which also slow down the approval of public investment projects. Mr Musumeci argues that the precautions have become excessive. He wants the central government to simplify the procedures for being granted the EU’s funds. “We can’t not look to the future,” he says. ■
This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “No cosying up to Cosa Nostra”
The European Parliament adopted on Thursday a resolution calling on Algeria to respect human rights and ensure basic freedoms in the country.
The resolution expresses concern with the deteriorating situation of human rights in Algeria, stressing, in particular, the case of journalist Khaled Drareni.
An Algerian court sentenced Drareni in August to three years in prison and fined him 50,000 Algerian dinars ($389) for filming police attacking Hirak demonstrators in Algiers.
The court formally charged the TV5 Monde correspondent with “inciting an unarmed gathering” and “undermining the integrity of national territory.” In September, a judge reduced his sentence to two years following an appeal.
<p>The European Parliament resolution “strongly condemns the escalation of arbitrary and unlawful arrests, detentions and judicial harassment of journalists, <a class="wpil_keyword_link " href="https://bit.ly/32MBOeM" title="human rights" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">human rights</a> defenders, trade unionists, lawyers, civil society and peaceful activists in Algeria.”</p><h4><strong>A true democratic transition requires the Algerian people’s participation</strong></h4><p>The resolution argues Algeria has not allowed any space for political dialogue on the undemocratic constitutional revision and the exercise of the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.
It also denounces the use of emergency COVID-19 measures to limit the fundamental rights of the Algerian people.
The members of European Parliament (MEPs) formally call on Algerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Khaled Drareni “and all those detained and charged for exercising their right to freedom of expression, both online and offline, and to freedom of assembly and association.”
With the resolution, MEPs reiterate their demands that Algerian authorities stop all forms of intimidation and criminalization of dissent, insisting that the country take appropriate steps to guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly.
Dissent and criticism are fundamental to a fully democratic political transition, the resolution stresses.
Echoing the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, the resolution calls for the urgent release of all political prisoners and those detained for expressing dissenting views.
As well, the resolution urges Algerian authorities to unblock media outlets and expresses solidarity with the Algerian people who have demanded democracy, fighting against corruption.
The resolution also outlines its concerns with restrictive elements of Algerian law. It highlights, in particular, the new Law 20-06, “which arbitrarily criminalizes the dissemination of ‘fake news’ undermining the honor of public officials and the financing of associations.”
MEPs adopted the resolution with 669 votes in favor, three against, and 22 abstentions.
Repeated calls for cooperation
High Representative of the EU Joseph Borrell’s speech to the European Parliament plenary on Thursday underlined the EU’s interest “in a strong and strategic cooperation with Algeria” and attempts to “reinforce the bilateral partnership.”
He affirmed that the EU “stands ready to support the reforms that the Algerian authorities will want to undertake, keeping in mind that the ultimate objective is to respond to the legitimate expectations of the Algerian people.”
“We need more dialogue with Algeria, not less,” he stressed. “We are determined to deepen an open dialogue with Algeria, based on trust and constructive criticism.”
Algeria has experienced political, social, and economic turmoil since the Hirak (movement) began in February 2019 in response to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announcing he would seek re-election for a fifth term.
Bouteflika, 83, eventually resigned in April 2020 under pressure from the military. With 20 years in office, he was Algeria’s longest-serving head of state.
Abdelmajjid Tebboune won the presidential election in December 2019 on promises of sweeping democratic “reforms.” Yet he ultimately failed to deliver, evidenced in the protests that raged even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the record-low voter turnout and boycott against the recent constitutional referendum.
With Tebboune still in Germany one month after Algiers announced the president’s COVID-19 infection, Algeria is a ship without a captain. The country is suffering the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and global collapse in oil prices, an overwhelmed health system, social unrest, and international condemnation of human rights violations.
Brussels [Belgium], November 26 (ANI): Two prominent Members of European Parliament (MEP) wrote to Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, condemning Islamabad for not yet having brought to justice those who orchestrated the 2008 Mumbai terror attack.
In a letter to Khan on November 24, Polish MEP Ryszard Czarnecki and Italian MEP Fulvio Martusciello requested to know what action has Pakistan “taken against Lashkar-e-Taiba, the terrorist organisation, based in Pakistan, known to have carried out the multiple shooting and bombing attacks that happened in Mumbai in 2008?”.
They further asked, “what action has, and is, Pakistan taking against terrorist groups operating within the country in general?”On November 26, 2008, ten terrorists trained by the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) carried out a series of coordinated attacks against multiple targets in Mumbai including the Taj Mahal hotel, the Oberoi hotel, the Leopold Cafe, the Nariman (Chabad) House, and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus train station, killing 166 people.
In these gruesome attacks, nine terrorists were killed and the lone survivor, Ajmal Amir Kasab, was caught and was sentenced to death at Yerwada Central Jail in Pune in 2012. On November 11, 2012, Kasab was hanged in Yerawada Jail in Pune.
Pakistani authorities continue to deny culpability and are yet to take action on the multiple dossiers shared by India. A trial underway in a Pakistani anti-terrorism court against seven suspects has made little headway in more than a decade, as Pakistani officials serially question the sufficiency and legitimacy of evidence against them.
In a reminder to Khan, a Prime Minister who delivered a eulogy to Osama Bin Laden, hailing him as a “martyr” in May this year, the two MEPs said: “Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, often in pursuit of political or ideological aims,” EU Chronicle reported.
They added that as “European politicians, we are committed to fighting against terrorism and extremist violence. We all have a responsibility to condemn terrorism and bring to justice those who perpetrate such actions.”Czarnecki and Martusciello highlighted in their letter to Khan: “On 26 November 2008, an extremist terrorist organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba, based in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the Mumbai bombings in which 166 innocent people were murdered, nine attackers killed, and more than 300 individuals sustained injuries.””Subsequent documented evidence from United States intelligence reports, from India’s intelligence services including DNA, photographs and identification of the origins of the attackers; and an admission by Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s of the country’s involvement in the crimes; highlight the engagement of accomplishes in Pakistan. However, to date, the senior coordinators and promoters who orchestrated the attacks remain at large,” he added.
As Europe also suffers from the impacts of horrific acts of increasingly radical and extremist jihadi attacks, the politicians said it was “essential that justice is served on those who have carried out, instructed or supported such terrorist activities. It is equally important that leaders of countries publicly condemn these acts of violence and proceed to ensure justice is done for the victims, by apprehending and sentencing the perpetrators.” (ANI)
WHO THEY WAS by Gabriel Krauze (Fourth Estate £14.99)
LITERARY FICTION
ANTHONY CUMMINS
WHO THEY WAS
by Gabriel Krauze(Fourth Estate £14.99)
I’ve had more conversations about this novel than any other this year. Drawn on the author’s troubling past as a university student running with London gangs, it’s thrillingly visceral and endlessly rich. Longlisted for this year’s Booker, it should have been shortlisted.
MONOGAMY
by Sue Miller (Bloomsbury £16.99)
This U.S. writer isn’t as well known here as she should be — if you like Anne Tyler or Elizabeth Strout, check out this wise, witty page-turner about the wife of a secretly philandering bookseller who suddenly drops dead after ditching his latest mistress.
REPRODUCTION by Ian Williams (Dialogue Books £16.99)
REPRODUCTION
by Ian Williams (Dialogue Books £16.99)
I had a ball with this extremely funny Canadian debut about the decades-long fallout from an ill-advised hook-up between a young Caribbean student and an older white businessman, each grieving the loss of a parent. Pure pleasure, line after pitch-perfect line.
AUGUST
by Callan Wink (Granta £14.99)
This outdoorsy coming-of-age debut, written by a fly fishing guide from Montana, has been on my mind ever since I devoured it this summer. Beautifully understated, it charts the growing pains of a farmer’s son in post-9/11 America.
STEPHANIE CROSS
SHUGGIE BAIN
by Douglas Stuart (Picador £14.99)
A worthy Booker prize winner, this 1980s, Glasgow-set novel belongs not to the titular character, but his mother: the porcelain-dentured, mink coat-wearing alcoholic Agnes. Be warned, her rollercoaster addiction makes for harrowing reading. But she’s a toweringly magnificent creation.
THE FIRST WOMAN by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Oneworld £16.99)
THE FIRST WOMAN
by Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Oneworld £16.99)
Kirabo, the heroine of this rangy, Ugandan-set novel, was the character I most enjoyed spending time with this year. We first meet her aged 12 in 1975, desperate to find her absent mother — who has her own dramatic tale. Makumbi braids Ugandan feminism, history and folklore into an utterly absorbing story.
WHAT’S LEFT OF ME IS YOURS
by Stephanie Scott (W&N £14.99)
This ticks every Christmas must-read box: totally transporting, with oodles of haunting atmosphere and an original, page-turning plot. Set in Japan, it’s the story of trainee lawyer Sumiko and her quest to understand the murder of her mother; it’s also a riveting insight into the world of Japanese professional marriage ‘breaker-uppers’.
DJINN PATROL ON THE PURPLE LINE
by Deepa Anappara (Chatto £14.99)
When children start to go missing from an Indian shanty town, nine-year-old Jai and his pals turn amateur sleuths. But what begins as a game turns deadly serious. Former journalist Anappara brings her setting’s smog-choked lanes and teeming bazaar brilliantly to life in a terrific debut.
CLAIRE ALLFREE
A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS by Polly Samson (Bloomsbury £14.99)
A THEATRE FOR DREAMERS
by Polly Samson (Bloomsbury £14.99)
Samson’s sun-saturated novel set on the Greek island of Hydra might be just the escapism you need right now. Leonard Cohen, his lover Marianne Ihlen and a bunch of other boozy creatives lived on Hydra in the 1960s and Samson captures the darkness, emerging fractures and the beauty of their lives in a sharply feminist novel.
LOVE
by Roddy Doyle (Cape £18.99)
Two men, old school friends, meet for a drink or seven one night in a Dublin pub, and talk. Love, regret, fatherhood, friendship, mortality: it’s all covered in a tangled and mesmeric novel that consists entirely of conversation which is all about the things that don’t need to be spoken and the things that can’t be said.
THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS
by Elena Ferrante (Europa Editions £20)
Ferrante once again gets under the skin of a 12-year-old girl on the cusp of adulthood in 1990s Naples. Little in her family is what it seems, while Naples is a city teeming with seemingly irresolvable contradictions. This doesn’t have the finesse of the My Brilliant Friend quartet but few probe the seething mess of female adolescence so forensically as Ferrante.
SISTERS by Daisy Johnson (Cape £14.99)
SISTERS
by Daisy Johnson (Cape £14.99)
Two sisters, almost unnaturally close, are holed up with their mother in a dilapidated Suffolk coastal cottage. Something awful happened at school and their mother has taken to her bed, so the girls become feral. Told from the perspective of the younger sister, this is a haunting, emotionally acute novel with a terrific twist.
CONTEMPORARY
SARA LAWRENCE
GHOSTS
by Dolly Alderton (Fig Tree £14.99)
Work is going well for food writer Nina Dean but her love life is non-existent. She signs up to a dating app with no expectations but meets marvellous Max on date one and it’s not long before they’re a couple. When he disappears she can’t fathom what’s happened. Brilliant.
ONE YEAR OF UGLY by Caroline Mackenzie (Borough Press £12.99)
ONE YEAR OF UGLY
by Caroline Mackenzie (Borough Press £12.99)
This dark comedy stars the Palacio family who fled the socialist regime in Venezuela for a happier existence in Trinidad.
When a beloved aunt dies it transpires she was in debt to a crime master called Ugly. Chaos ensues when he forces the family to work for him. Fabulous.
CONTACTS
by Mark Watson (HarperCollins £14.99)
Sacked by his best friend, dumped by his girlfriend, estranged from his sister and grieving his dad, protagonist James is heading to Edinburgh on the sleeper train. So unhappy he doesn’t want to live any more, he sends a text to all his contacts saying goodbye. A compelling emotional rollercoaster.
QUEEN BEE
by Jane Fallon (Penguin £8.99)
After Laura’s marriage breaks down she rents an annexe from an extraordinarily wealthy couple who live in an exclusive gated community. All that glitters is not gold and Laura is soon ostracised by the queen bee of this glitzy gang. They eventually form an unlikely alliance. Fascinating.
BIG GIRL, SMALL TOWN by Michelle Gallen (John Murray £14.99)
KEEPING MUM by James Gould-Bourn (Trapeze £14.99)
THE MARGOT AFFAIR by Sanaë Lemoine (Sceptre £16.99)
DEBUTS
FANNY BLAKE
BIG GIRL, SMALL TOWN
by Michelle Gallen (John Murray £14.99)
Majella O’Neill is autistic, has bags of attitude and works in the Aghybogey chippie in Ireland. Being in her company is nothing less than a treat as she details her world in her distinctive voice — hilarious, mundane and touching in turns.
THE DISCOMFORT OF EVENING
by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld (Faber £12.99)
Winner of the 2020 Booker International Prize, this is a powerful and disturbing novel about a Dutch farming family overtaken by grief after the death of the oldest son. Told by ten-year-old Jas, we watch the family unravel as each struggles to cope.
KEEPING MUM
by James Gould-Bourn (Trapeze £14.99)
I couldn’t resist this delightful feel-good novel about a man trying to reconnect with his young son who hasn’t spoken since his mother’s death. A bear costume provides an unexpected answer but of course nothing’s that straightforward . . .
THE MARGOT AFFAIR
by Sanaë Lemoine (Sceptre £16.99)
Margot is the secret 17-year-old daughter of a married politician and his actress mistress. Her decision to reveal her father’s true identity to a journalist has serious repercussions. With well-realised characters and beautifully descriptive, this is an astute and gripping portrayal of complex family relationships.
HISTORICAL
EITHNE FARRY
THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT
by Hilary Mantel (4th Estate £25)
The final instalment of Mantel’s life of charismatic Thomas Cromwell is magnificent. Packed to the gills with intrigue, plot and counterplot, this richly detailed, epic sweep of a novel tells the story of Cromwell’s downfall at the hands of capricious King Henry VIII, who rules over a country that is sullen with suspicion and secrets. A masterpiece.
HAMNET
by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press £20)
Winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction, this outstanding study of love and loss explores the death of Shakespeare’s son Hamnet from the perspective of his wife, Agnes. Gifted with second sight, adept at herbal cures, but unable to save her son, Hamnet’s death unmoors her from everything she knows and loves in this lyrical study of grief.
MISS BENSON’S BEETLE
by Rachel Joyce (Doubleday £16.99)
It’s England, 1950, and prim teacher Margery Benson is on a mission to discover a mysterious golden beetle in faraway New Caledonia. Accompanied by the irrepressible Enid Pretty, they embark on a grand adventure, which is as much about second chances and emotional courage as it is about trekking through dangerous terrain.
ACTRESS
by Anne Enright (Cape £16.99)
Katherine O’Dell is the starry heart of Enright’s elegant novel. It follows Katherine’s career trajectory, from her youthful heyday in Hollywood to depression in Dublin, as seen through the eyes of her daughter. It brilliantly explores the corrosive nature of celebrity, while taking a candid look at the complexities of maternal affection.
FINDERS, KEEPERS by Sabine Durrant (Hodder, £14.99)
PSYCHO THRILLERS
Christena Appleyard
FINDERS, KEEPERS
by Sabine Durrant (Hodder, £14.99)
A Smart, young woman and her family take pity on the lonely lady next door with explosive ramifications. Neighbourly relationships quietly descend into a toxic psychological battle that only one of them will win. Perfect domestic noir.
INVISIBLE GIRL
by Lisa Jewell (Century £14.99)
This is a brilliant mash-up of contemporary themes from the dangers of therapy to the rise of organised groups of incels — men who have serious problems relating to women. Seventeen-year-old Saffyre is the focal point of a tale packed with psychological insight and menace.
DEAD TO HER
by Sarah Pinborough (HarperCollins £12.99)
Glamour, money, powerful men and two beautiful trophy wives, one black and young, one white and older, are hiding big secrets that could destroy themselves or each other. Set in the American Deep South, this book has Netflix series written all over it.
THE OTHER PASSENGER
by Louise Candlish (S&S, £14.99)
The relationship of two ambitious young couples with wobbly moral boundaries is challenged when one of the men suddenly goes missing. Candlish expertly explores the underlying tensions and jealousies that often motivate these friendships. Nobody writes so incisively about couples.
THE TROUBLE WITH PEACE by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz £20)
SCI FI AND FANTASY
JAMIE BUXTON
THE TROUBLE WITH PEACE
by Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz £20)
In Part 2 of this grippingly brutal series, the dandyish King Orso is both finding his feet and losing his grip while rivals do their darnedest to bring him down. Fabulously written, nail-bitingly plotted, it lays bare the best and worst of human nature.
THE UNSPOKEN NAME
by A. K. Larkwood (Tor £16.99)
Just a perfect fantasy debut, crammed with everything we love: cruel gods, icy priest-cults, trans-dimensional warship chases and a gorgeous priestess assassin, complete with tusks and a spot of dysmorphia. Suffice to say, Csorwe battles through and wins the day, and we’re with her all the way.
THE SUNKEN LAND BEGINS TO RISE
by M. John Harrison (Gollancz £20)
Dreamy and sharp, murky and clear, this is a psycho-geographic, paranoid tour de force.
Its quiet hero is beset by emotional, watery mysteries, while sensing the emergence of new semi-aquatic Britain, just lurking beneath the surface of the familiar world.
THE BOOK OF KOLI by M.R. Carey (Orbit £6.99)
THE BOOK OF KOLI
by M.R. Carey (Orbit £6.99)
A voyage of survival and self-discovery in a post-apocalyptic Britain. Exiled from his village with a bit of chatty, hi-tech hardware, Koli has to battle inner demons, giant rats and very bad people.
Funny and frightening, you’ll cheer Koli on all the way.
CLASSIC CRIME
BARRY TURNER
MIDWINTER MURDER
by Agatha Christie (HarperCollins £14.99)
The hardest challenge in crime fiction is to produce a convincing short story. Agatha Christie had the talent in abundance.
With tight plotting and sharply defined characters, she never fails. This collection of fireside mysteries comes in a handsome presentation edition.
HOWDUNIT
Edited by Martin Edwards (HarperCollins £25)
If you have wondered how a crime novel comes to be written, or thought of writing one yourself, this is where you start.
Tapping into the experience of past and present members of the Detection Club, Martin Edwards has put together an instructive and entertaining collection of essays.
After a chance meeting with a troubled stranger, Lotte Meerman of the Amsterdam police reopens a 30-year-old murder case.
Finding the truth proves easier than facing up to it for both Lotte and the families involved. This is the best police procedural of the year.
THE SEARCHER by Tana French (Viking £14.99)
CRIME & THRILLERS
GEOFFREY WANSELL
THE SEARCHER
by Tana French (Viking £14.99)
A Burnt-out former Chicago cop in his late 40s retreats to an isolated house in southern Ireland to try to restore himself, only to be drawn into the hunt for a missing young man by his mysterious younger brother. Beautifully told and deeply moving.
SNOW
by John Banville (Faber £14.99)
A former Booker Prize-winner underlines his impressive ability as a crime writer with this dark tale of a murder in County Wexford. A Catholic priest is killed and castrated to the horror of the community, and a DI from Dublin is sent to investigate. Exquisite.
BOX 88 by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins £14.99)
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB
by Richard Osman (Viking £14.99)
TV presenter Osman reveals himself as a crime fiction star with this story of four elderly residents of a retirement village who like to solve cold cases of murder — then get two fresh ones on their doorstep. Elegant and witty, it is delightful.
WRITTEN IN BLOOD by Chris Carter (S&S £16.99)
BOX 88
by Charles Cumming (HarperCollins £14.99)
The talented Cumming comes up with a spy for the 21st century in Lachlan Kite, recruited to the shadowy intelligence agency, Box 88, straight from boarding school. But Kite is no George Smiley; he’s in the thick of the action with a hint of Bond.
WRITTEN IN BLOOD
by Chris Carter (S&S £16.99)
LA-based pickpocket Angela Wood steals the bag of a man sitting by her in a bar only to discover in it a diary detailing a string of murders. The serial killer wants his list back, while a detective attempts to save her. Superb.
AN INCONVENIENT WOMAN
by Stephanie Buelens (Quercus £12.99)
One of the thrillers of the year, this story of a divorced woman who discovers that her ex-husband is about to marry again, to a woman with a teenage daughter — when her own daughter drowned after confessing her father had abused her — never loses its grip.
THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER by Stuart Turton (Raven £16.99)
POPULAR
WENDY HOLDEN
THE DEVIL AND THE DARK WATER
by Stuart Turton (Raven £16.99)
Stunning historical fantasy set at sea in the 17th century. Evil stalks the decks of a Dutch East Indiaman, leaving gory death and a sinister symbol behind it.
Unlikely detectives Arent and Sammy join forces with aristocratic Sara to tackle the mystery. Holmes and Watson meets Treasure Island.
THE BOY IN THE FIELD
by Margot Livesey (Sceptre £17.99)
In this superb family drama, a badly injured teenager is found in a field by three siblings. They start their own investigation into who, how and why, but it leads them to unsuspected places, including their own lives. Best and cleverest character is Lilly the family dog.
V FOR VICTORY by Lissa Evans (Doubleday £14.99)
V FOR VICTORY
by Lissa Evans (Doubleday £14.99)
It’s all boarding houses and bomb shelters in this brilliant comedy drama. Vee and Noel (a kind of 1940s Adrian Mole) are posing as aunt and nephew, but who are they really?
Packed with wonderful characters and so full of wartime atmosphere you can practically hear the sirens.
JEEVES AND THE LEAP OF FAITH
by Ben Schott (Hutchinson £13.99)
This cracking homage to P.G. Wodehouse is set in 1930s Cambridge and abounds with varsity high spirits.
Bertie and Jeeves face the dark forces of the Oswald Mosley-esque ‘Blackshorts’ and need all their spiff to overcome them. Aunts, drones and fiancées all figure.
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(Photo: ADF International)Julia Rynkiewicz, a student at the University of Nottingham in the U.K.
A 24-year-old Catholic undergraduate student in a midwife program was barred from placement in a hospital, reportedly due to her pro-life beliefs at the University of Nottingham in England but that decision was overturned last week.
The Telegraph newspaper reported that Julia Rynkiewicz, was blocked from entering her program’s hospital placement phase at Nottingham University after the institution learned of her pro-life beliefs and her leadership in a pro-life student group.
The newspaper said that Rynkiewicz underwent a “fitness to practice” hearing by the school.
The university overturned its decision and will allow Rynkiewicz to continue as a midwife student, but the investigation and temporary ban from the placement set her back a year in her studies.
‘FITNESS TO PRACTICE’
Concerns were raised by school officials about Rynkiewicz’s fitness to practice as a midwife after they saw her tending a booth at a school fair in her position as president for Nottingham Students for Life (NSFL), an approved pro-life student group that supports life from conception to natural death
The pro-life midwifery student, who faced suspension from midwifery studies and a fitness-to-practise investigation, also won an apology and a payout from her university.
Although university officials later back-tracked on their decision and dismissed the case against her, Rynkiewicz filed a formal complaint with the university, after believing that she was unfairly targeted for her beliefs.
“What happened to me risks creating a fear among students to discuss their values and beliefs, but university should be the place where you are invited to do just that,” Rynkiewicz said.
The Students’ Union had initially denied affiliation to NSFL, but overturned its decision in July 2019 following the threat of legal action.
Rynkiewicz said that she received a letter from officials at her midwifery school days after the fair, saying that a formal complaint had been filed against her.
A University of Nottingham spokesperson said: “While all universities take fitness-to-practice considerations extremely seriously, the university has offered an apology and settlement to Ms Rynkiewicz and is considering how we might approach such cases differently in future.
“The university and Students’ Union supports the rights of all students to bodily autonomy and access to safe, legal abortion services, which is the position in law.
“Universities should be spaces to debate, discuss and disagree points of view, and with more than 200 student societies, covering the full range of beliefs and perspectives, we are confident this is the case at Nottingham.”
