Across
- 2. The US condemned --- in August 2024 for its closure of multiple government bodies run by the Serbian minority in the north of ---.
- 5. UN sanctions against the diamond trade in --- are seen as one key factor in the eventual success of the peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone.
- 6. The UN’s --- --- has lost considerable authority over recent years with both Russia and the US exercising – many would say abusing – their veto power to block resolutions against their strategic interests, such as Russia blocking a May 2024 resolution to resume sanctions inspections on North Korea after the monitor said it would be checking claims N Korea is exporting arms to Russia.
- 9. The Irish --- Simon Harris pushed through an emergency law in April 2024 to enable forcing migrants deterred from applying in the UK by the Rwanda plan to be expelled to the UK, though it was never clear how this could work in practice.
- 10. The EU Commission President sparked fury in September 2024 amongst some of her allies by announcing the --- of Italy minister Raffaela Fitto would get the powerful economics brief within the 26-strong group of Commissioners.
- 12. The European parliament group EPP (European --- Party) narrowly managed to get its candidate, von der Leyen, re-elected to European Commission President in July 2024. Slovakian and French members of the group voted against her.
- 15. The war crimes tribunal for ---, launched through the UN and the ICC in 1995, wrapped up in 2024, though some argue that the country remains deeply unstable with prospects for fresh waves of genocidal sectarian slaughter.
- 18. Amongst the EU’s guiding principles the establishment of a --- --- guides the economic outlook.
- 19. The European Parliament reflects the far-right ‘surge’ across the EU. Germany’s AfD, with 14 of its 25 MEPs, set up the ‘Europe of --- Nations’ group in July 2024.
- 21. Under new DUP leader Gavin --- there is renewed uncertainty over the future of the GFA, with significant backtracking on the Windsor Agreement in their 2024 general election campaign.
- 23. The Taliban’s March 2024 announcement that it would recommence --- women to death for adultery highlighted the failure of the lengthy western mission in Afghanistan.
- 25. Sir Jeffrey --- rocked unionism when he was expelled from the DUP after court charges were announced, the hearings starting on the day the public went to vote in the 2024 UK general election.
- 26. The US and UK were forced to backtrack on frequent condemnations of Kosovo after --- seized on the diplomatic signals this seemed to provide to move their troops up to the Kosovo border in 2023. Despite announcing their withdrawal, --- has continued to periodically move its troops up under the guise of exercises.
- 28. The International Court of Justice ruled in July 2024 that Israel was guilty of --- of Palestinian lands and must immediately withdraw and pay reparations.
- 30. President Biden’s May 2024 decision to add higher tariffs on Chinese electrical vehicles imports sparked fresh fears of a --- ---.
Down
- 1. The power of Twitter/X owner Elon Musk to influence public opinion and election outcomes in the UK, USA and elsewhere is a demonstration of the concept of ---. The actions of Brazil in temporarily blocking ‘X’ will be watched with interest.
- 3. The Brexit referendum was held on 23rd June 20--.
- 4. Article 5 of the NATO charter commits its members to --- defence of aggression against any member.
- 7. The massive spike in food and energy prices that followed the Russian invasion of Ukraine is a good illustration of the principle of --- amongst states.
- 8. Under --- von der Leyen the role of --- of the European Commission has become higher profile. A former CDU Defence Minister in Germany she became the 1st woman to hold the role in 2019, and overcame tensions with centrist groups over including far-right parties in her support bloc to get re-elected in 2024.
- 11. The stalling of the IRA over --- is seen as key to explaining the demise of the UUP and rise of the DUP, with Sinn Fein agreeing to delivering on this at the St Andrews talks where Paisley agreed to come on board with the NI Assembly.
- 13. The UK is a --- member of the UN Security Council.
- 14. The UN’s main agency for Palestine relief support, ---, found itself defunded by many western nations after Israel accused it of complicity with Hamas attacks. Germany joined many others in April 2024 in ending this boycott, stating Israel had failed to provide any evidence.
- 16. The rise of far-right Eurosceptic parties makes EU enlargement less likely, but in March 2024 the EU announced it was opening formal accession talks with ---. Its ‘regional neighbours North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania are already ahead in their efforts to join, but all remain far from membership’, with concerns over electoral freedom and the independence of the judiciaries.
- 17. When far right populist Robert Fico was re-elected as PM of --- in October 2024 many within the EU despaired as what was seen as a further example of an EU nation lurching to a pro-Russian, anti-democratic stance.
- 20. Russia argues that the US has no moral authority to criticise it over Ukraine as it has repeatedly used its --- in the UN Security Council to block resolutions with popular support related to Israel.
- 22. The case taken to the ICJ alleging that Israel is committing genocide now has the formal legal support of 13 states, including Spain and Ireland, but was originally launched by --- --- on December 29th 2023.
- 24. The new UK Labour government’s sharp shift to the right on --- is a demonstration of how central the issue has become for western democracies.
- 27. After 10 years with Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg as secretary general, NATO s/elected the Dutch Prime Minister --- --- to succeed him in October 2024.
- 29. The EU Commission reported its concerns with government control over public service media in --- in July 2024.