The Portuguese parliament has approved a bill to create a humanitarian visa, the local newspaper Correio da Manhã reports.
The document is reported to allow people who are persecuted in their home countries to obtain a special visa to Portugal in order to apply for political asylum there. Currently, this can be done on a tourist visa, which must be obtained in the country of citizenship or in another country if you have a residence permit.
The procedure for issuing humanitarian visas will now be developed by the parliamentary committee on constitutional issues. The Liberal Initiative party, which drafted the bill, wants to ensure that a humanitarian visa can be obtained at the Portuguese embassy in any country, rather than going home “with all the risks that come with it.”
It is noted that Russians who are being persecuted for “political reasons” will be able to count on the visa, in particular, according to Portuguese deputies.
Former Republican President Donald Trump has an edge over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on who would better navigate the country through the Ukraine and Middle East wars, a Wall Street Journal opinion poll of seven battleground states showed.
In overall support, the poll published on Friday showed Harris and Trump tied across the seven states that could decide the November presidential election.
The poll showed Harris with marginal 2 percentage point leads in Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, Trump up 6 points in Nevada and 1 in Pennsylvania, and the two tied in North Carolina and Wisconsin. The poll of 600 registered voters in each state conducted on Sept. 28-Oct. 8 had a margin of error of 4 percentage points in each state.
The neck-and-neck results echo other polls reflecting a tight race before the Nov. 5 election as Americans grapple with concerns about the economy, immigration, women’s rights and the nation’s democratic values in picking between the two candidates.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll this week also found Trump and Harris locked in a close race nationally, with Harris marginally ahead 46% to 43%.
Surveys of swing state voters can be an important indicator given that state-by-state results of the Electoral College will determine the winner, with the seven battleground states likely being decisive.
Harris would win a narrow majority in the Electoral College if she captures the states where she holds an edge in the WSJ’s poll.
According to the WSJ poll, Trump leads Harris in the seven swing states 50% to 39% on who is best able to handle Russia’s war in Ukraine. Trump also has a 48% to 33% lead over Harris on who is better suited to handle the Israel-Hamas war.
More voters said they backed Trump on the economy and immigration while more said Harris would do a better job when it comes to housing, healthcare and caring about people like them, the WSJ poll found.
As of August 31, 2024, 4 million 163.66 thousand non-EU citizens who fled Ukraine as a result of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, had temporary protection status in the EU, compared to 4 million 123.88 thousand citizens a month earlier, Eurostat reports.
“Compared to the end of July 2024, the largest absolute increase in the number of beneficiaries was observed in Germany (+11,730; +1.1%), the Czech Republic (+7,275; +2.0%) and Romania (+3,050; +1.8%),” the agency said.
It pointed out that the number of beneficiaries decreased in Poland (-1,015; -0.1%), France (-680; -1.1%) and Luxembourg (-10; -0.3%).
According to Eurostat, despite Germany’s revocation of almost 237,000 temporary protection status in July, it still remains the country with the largest number of them in the EU and the world – 1 million 122,33 thousand at the end of August, or 27.0% of the total number of EU beneficiaries.
It is followed by Poland – 975.19 thousand, or 23.4%, and the Czech Republic – 376.89 thousand, or 9.1%.
In August, after a four-month break, the data on Spain was updated, according to which it remains in fourth place – 215.13 thousand compared to 203.3 thousand at the end of March.
At the same time, Eurostat clarified that the data for Spain, Greece and Cyprus take into account some people whose temporary protection status is no longer valid.
According to the agency, compared to the population of each EU member state, the largest number of temporary protection beneficiaries per thousand people in August 2024 was observed in the Czech Republic (34.6), Lithuania (27.6) and Poland (26.6), while the corresponding figure at the EU level is 9.3.
It is also said that as of August 31, 2024, Ukrainian citizens accounted for more than 98% of the beneficiaries of temporary protection. Adult women accounted for almost half (45.1%) of temporary protection beneficiaries in the EU, children for almost a third (32.3%), while adult men accounted for just over a fifth (22.6%) of the total. A year earlier, the share of women was 46.5%, children 33.9% and adult men 19.5%.
According to the data presented, in July, Italy remained the fifth largest country by the number of refugees from Ukraine with temporary protection status in the EU with 166.80 thousand, which is 0.60 thousand more than in July.
At the end of August 2024, there were also more than 100 thousand such persons in the Netherlands – 116.90 thousand, Slovakia – 125.92 thousand and Ireland – 107.44 thousand.
Between 50 thousand and 100 thousand of them were in Belgium – 83.24 thousand, Lithuania – 79.74 thousand, Austria – 80.27 thousand, Norway – 74.96 thousand, Finland – 66.49 thousand, Switzerland – 66.48 thousand, Portugal – 63.01 thousand, France – 60.67 thousand (data on children are mostly not included – Eurostat) and Bulgaria – 62.51 thousand.
This is followed by Latvia – 46.51 thousand people, Sweden – 43.73 thousand, Hungary – 37.53 thousand, Denmark – 35.79 thousand, Estonia – 33.84 thousand, Greece – 31.48 thousand, Croatia – 25.22 thousand, Cyprus – 21.13 thousand, Iceland – 3.91 thousand, Luxembourg – 3.81 thousand, Malta – 2.13 thousand and Liechtenstein – 0.65 thousand.
Eurostat clarified that all the above data relate to the granting of temporary protection on the basis of EU Council Decision 2022/382 of March 4, 2022, which establishes the existence of a massive influx of displaced persons from Ukraine due to Russia’s military invasion and entails the introduction of temporary protection.
According to updated UNHCR data, the number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe as of September 16 this year was estimated at 6.218 million, and 6.780 million in the world in general, which is 134 thousand and 125 thousand more than a month earlier.
The United Kingdom has fallen to seventh place in the world in terms of the total capitalization of companies traded in the country, passing the Canadian market, Bloomberg writes.
Since the beginning of the year, the market value of companies traded in Canada has increased by 11% to $3.22 trillion.
The British stock market, which was once among the world’s leaders, is also inferior to the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, and India. Last year, it also passed France, but due to the difficult political situation in the neighboring country, the UK regained its status as Europe’s largest equity market earlier this year.
Over the past decade, Canadian companies have increased their capitalization by about $1 trillion, while British companies have lost about the same amount.
Brian Madden, head of First Avenue Investment Counsel, attributes this mixed performance to the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. In addition, the tech sector has an extremely small share in the main British stock index, the FTSE 100, at only 1% compared to 8.4% in Canada. In the US stock index S&P 500, high-tech companies have a share of about 30%.
Bloomberg notes that since 2022, there has not been a single IPO in Canada. However, during the same period, the Toronto Stock Exchange lured 51 companies from competing trading platforms.
Meanwhile, London still ranks second in the ranking of the world’s largest financial centers, second only to New York. Toronto ranks 23rd on the list. In addition, 11% of all global assets are managed from the UK.
Almost every Ukrainian employer recognizes the importance of employees’ mental health, but not all of them act systematically to support their teams. A new survey conducted by the Ukrainian Psychotherapeutic League in cooperation with HURMA System and the European Business Association covered more than 120 companies of various sizes and industries to find out how they support the psychological well-being of their employees.
The survey was conducted using questionnaires and in-depth interviews with HR professionals and managers of organizations ranging from NGOs and consulting companies to pharmaceutical production and retailers. This approach made it possible to see the situation from two polar sides – from the side of change initiators and key decision makers.
The results are thought-provoking:
98% of employers are aware of the importance of mental health, but only 68% of them are implementing appropriate measures.
The main barriers to systematic care for the psycho-emotional state of teams in every fifth company are budget shortages and lack of support from owners.
The most popular tools are educational events, professional psychological assistance, creating a supportive atmosphere, and measures to maintain work-life balance.
In 51% of companies, employees can get psychological help from both internal psychologists and external specialists.
About 70% of organizations have adapted their support programs since the outbreak of war, focusing on stress resistance, burnout and the development of self-regulation skills.
“The survey has shown that most Ukrainian companies understand the importance of caring for the well-being of employees and are ready to invest in this process. But so far, they are implementing tools and measures on a spotty, ad hoc basis, and therefore cannot fully assess their effectiveness. In order to increase productivity and have a motivated team, comprehensive actions are needed: monitoring the emotional state of employees, preventive and edutainment measures, formalizing procedures and implementing them in all business processes. And only then – psychological counseling,” explains Khrystyna Kudriavtseva, the initiator of the survey, vice president of the Ukrainian Psychotherapeutic League, founder of the mental health service Mozhna.space.
This survey shows the real picture of how Ukrainian businesses are responding to new challenges in the area of mental health of their teams.
Companies still have a long way to go to create a healthy work environment and implement comprehensive policies, but they are already taking the first steps in the right direction.
More details and detailed findings of the survey can be found in the full version of the report.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has lowered its forecast for corn exports from Ukraine this marketing year by 1 million tons to 23 million tons due to a 1 million ton decrease in the harvest estimate to 26.2 million tons.
The USDA has also downgraded its estimate of global corn production to 1 billion 217.19 million tons (-1.38 million tons compared to the September forecast) and global corn exports to 190.50 million tons (-0.87 million tons).
