How has life changed in Russia and the world over the past month
Every day we are faced with a huge amount of news, in a stream which is easy to get lost and miss important. Exactly that is why every month we will remember the most significant events of the last 30 days, which have affected life in Russia and other countries. Today we tell what people, events and initiatives have changed our world in February.
The constitutional court of Russia recognized the right of women to the jury
The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation declared unconstitutional deprivation of women accused of criminal offenses of the right to jury trial. According to the court, depriving women of the right to a jury trial of their case "does not comply with the principle of legal equality, leads to discrimination and limits their right to judicial protection." The court ordered to make appropriate changes to the legislation.
Pavel Astakhov, Gennady Onishchenko and others: The nominees of the “Sexist of the Year” award have been announced
The initiative group "For Feminism" announced the nominees of the annual award "Sexist of the Year." On the award website, you can vote for the winners in the categories "Sexist of the Year", "Sexism in the Media", "Sexism in Advertising", "Anti-Woman Policy" and "Women Against Women".
The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on the decriminalization of beatings
The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill on the decriminalization of several articles of the Criminal Code, including beatings and the threat of murder or the infliction of grievous bodily harm. According to the bill, those who are first brought to justice for beatings or death threats are awaiting administrative punishment: they propose punishment for beatings with an administrative fine in the amount of 5 to 30 thousand rubles, or arrest for 10 to 15 days, or compulsory labor for a term from 60 to 120 hours.
Keshe was not allowed to terminate the contract with the producer accused of violence
In 2014, singer Kesha sued her producer Dr. Luke: the singer demanded that she be released from the obligations of the contract with the producer. According to her, for ten years, since the signing of the contract with the label, when she was only 18 years old, she was a victim of sexual and psychological violence from Dr. Luke. On February 20, the court rejected Keshi's preliminary injunction petition - which means she will have to continue working with the label.
Died legendary writer Harper Lee
American writer Harper Lee died at the 90th year of life. She is known for her book To Kill a Mockingbird, for which she won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961. Last year, the sequel to the novel Go, Put the Watchman was published, which was written several decades ago, earlier than the first book by Lee.
State Duma rejected the bill on punishment for coming-out
The State Duma rejected a bill providing for administrative responsibility for "publicly displaying their distorted sexual preferences in public places." It was assumed that they would be fined for this (from 4 to 5 thousand rubles) or arrested (for up to 15 days). The bill was submitted to the State Duma last October by Communist Party deputies Ivan Nikitchuk and Nikolai Arefyev.
Department of Health launched the project "Moscow without pain"
The Moscow Department of Health together with public and medical organizations is launching the project "Moscow without pain." It was initiated by Nyuta Federmesser, President of the Vera Hospice Charity Foundation. "The goal of the project is to support patients suffering from pain, to provide guaranteed, timely and high-quality pain treatment in patients of metropolitan medical organizations, regardless of the cause of the pain, its features, strength and duration," says the message on the department website.
The action of Peter Pavlensky was removed from the state competition "Innovation"
The work of Peter Pavlensky "The Threat" without explanation of the reasons was removed from participation in the state competition in the field of contemporary art "Innovation". The action of the artist was presented in the nomination "The work of visual art." Subsequently, the NCCA decided to cancel the award in this category for 2015. In a sign of disagreement with the actions of the expert council of the competition, several experts came out of its composition: Dmitry Ozerkov, Ilya Dolgov, Sergey Khachaturov and Anna Tolstova.
Moscow ranked 167th in the list of the best cities for life.
Moscow took the 167th place in the ranking of the best cities in the world in quality of life, compiled by the consulting agency Mercer. St. Petersburg got the 174th position in the list. A total of 230 cities were included in the ranking, and Vienna led it. The top five also hit Zurich, Auckland, Munich and Vancouver. Other megalopolises took lower positions: for example, Paris was on the 37th line of the rating, London - on the 39th, and New York - on the 44th.
British companies will be obliged to talk about unequal pay
In the UK, they will struggle with the wage gap between men and women: companies employing more than 250 employees will be obliged to disclose data on average wages and bonuses of men and women working in the company. Based on the information received, starting from April 2018, the government will publish a rating of companies operating in different sectors of the economy, highlighting the best and worst among them. According to the authorities, this will help draw attention to the most egregious violations of women's rights.
Beyonce dedicated the video "Formation" to the fight for the rights of African Americans
Beyoncé presented the clip "Formation", one of the main themes of which was the struggle for the rights of African Americans and a protest against the cruel attitude of the American police to the black people in the country. At the beginning of the video Beyonce sits on the roof of a police car, which gradually goes under water. In another fragment, an African-American boy dances in front of police officers who raise their hands up, after which the camera shows an inscription on the wall - “Stop shooting at us.”
The photograph of the year World Press Photo was a snapshot of migrants
The jury of the World Press Photo contest chose a picture of the Australian photographer Warren Richardson "Hope for a New Life", taken on the Hungarian-Serbian border, as the 2015 photo. It depicts two refugees passing a child from hand to hand through a fence with barbed wire. Richardson said that before taking a picture in August last year, he spent about five days with refugees, hiding with them from the police.
Pharmaceutical companies have reported the threat of the disappearance of vital medicines.
The Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers warned of the threat of disappearance from the Russian market of certain life-saving drugs due to disagreements between the Ministry of Health and the Federal Antimonopoly Service. According to pharmaceutical manufacturers, they faced problems when trying to change the data on their production sites in the register of vital and essential drugs.
The organization of mizoginov and "neo-muscules" canceled its actions in Russia and other cities of the world because of the protests
Dariush Valizade, a pickup specialist and leader of the neo-muscular movement, also known as Roosh V, announced that on February 6 he would organize meetings of his followers at 165 sites in 43 countries around the world - including in Russia, in Novosibirsk on Lenin Square. Later in his blog appeared the official announcement of the abolition of shares in connection with numerous protests around the world.
British scientists allowed genetic modification of embryos
British scientists have received permission for the genetic modification of human embryos. Scientists from the London Francis Crick Institute can begin research in March. They will be carried out on "extra" embryos obtained by IVF, but not used for artificial insemination. Embryos can only be used for research purposes for 14 days; The use of modified embryos for artificial insemination is strictly prohibited.
Abortion is officially banned in Abkhazia
President of Abkhazia Raul Khadzhimba signed the law "On Public Health", which officially prohibits abortion. The law provides for criminal liability for the artificial termination of pregnancy, the only exceptions are cases of intrauterine fetal death: "The state recognizes the right to life of the unborn child from the moment of conception and prohibits artificial termination of pregnancy. Taking into account the equal right to life of the mother and child, the state protects and defends it right".
Emily Ratakovski wrote an essay on women's right to sexuality
The actress and model Emily Ratakovski, known for her role in the movie “Disappeared” and Robin Tick’s clip “Blurred Lines”, wrote an essay for the weekly newsletter Lenny, created by Lena Dunham along with the producer of “Girls” Jennifer Conner. In it, she talks about female sexuality and how often society makes women ashamed that they are sexy.
Launched fundraising for the terminally ill helpline
The Vera Hospice Foundation launched a fundraising fund on Planeta crowdfunding platform to create a free helpline for the terminally ill. “A person can call the hotline from anywhere in the country in a difficult situation: if an incurable child was born, if doctors say that a relative cannot be saved, if it is very difficult to cope with caring for the dying person at home,” the project description says.
A plus-size model appeared on the cover of the Sports Illustrated special edition.
The editorial board of the Sports Illustrated magazine presented the cover of the annual special edition of the swimsuit edition. For the first time in the 52 years of the special issue, he will have three cover options, and for the first time, one of the heroines of the cover was the plus-size model - Ashley Graham. She starred for the cover of the magazine along with MMA fighter Rhonda Rousy and model Hayley Klauson
The writer and philosopher Umberto Eco died.
Umberto Eco, an Italian writer and philosopher, passed away. He was 84 years old. According to family members, he died on February 19 late at home. Eco - author of numerous scientific works on semiotics, linguistics, philosophy, history; engaged in teaching. The most famous literary work of Umberto Eco is the novel The Name of the Rose.
Photo: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 via Shutterstock, Christy Dawn