Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Friday 7 June 2019
Finland's new female-powered government sworn in

By JARI TANNER player — gave environ-
Associated Press mentalists a strong say in
HELSINKI (AP) — Finland's government formation talks
new center-left coalition and the Cabinet's polices.
government has been The party, whose key sup-
sworn in, with the coun- porter base is young, edu-
try's first Social Democratic cated women in big cities,
prime minister in 16 years received three key Cabi-
assuming office along with net portfolios — the posts
a climate issue-focused of foreign minister, interior
Cabinet where women are minister and environment
in the majority. and climate affairs minister.
The 19-member Cabinet of "This is a great day for the
Prime Minister Antti Rinne Greens in Finland and the
— a former finance minis- green movement world-
ter and trade union leader wide. Finland now has a
— was approved Thursday situation where sustainable
in the 200-seat Eduskunta development and tackling
legislature, after which climate change are the
President Sauli Niinisto ap- basis of the government
pointed it. program," said elated For-
Eleven of the Cabinet eign Minister Pekka Haavis-
members are female, re- to, the party's chairman.
flecting Nordic gender Ministers of the new Finnish government pose for a group photo in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, June Haavisto, 61, is a veteran
equality in the nation's poli- 6, 2019. green activist, two-time
tics. Associated Press presidential candidate and
With the Social Democrats a former U.N. special envoy
in power in Sweden since Party, the Center Party, the make the nation of 5.5 mil- done in a socially fair way," with a long experience in
2014, and social democrat- Greens, the Left Alliance lion "a sustainable society Rinne told reporters at the global crisis-solving and
ic parties in Finland and and the Swedish People's socially, economically and Cabinet's first news confer- third-world development
Denmark scoring general Party of Finland clinched a ecologically" with strong ence. issues, particularly in Africa.
election wins in the past coalition deal Monday af- emphasis on environmen- The best election result ever After eight years of tight
few months, the political ter weeks of intensive talks. tal and climate change is- by the Greens — which in- austerity policies by previ-
tide has turned to the left The five parties muster a sues. creased its lawmakers by ous center-right govern-
in the Nordic countries — comfortable 117 seats in "We (the government) five seats to 20 and has ments, Rinne's Cabinet
overcoming strong populist the Parliament. are determined to tackle gradually evolved to be a pledges to boost public
movements in each nation. Their 182-page govern- the challenge of climate mainstream political op- spending by some 1.2 bil-
Rinne's Social Democratic ment program pledges to change. But it needs to be erator instead of a niche lion euros ($1.4 billion).q
Syria rebels launch attack on

government forces in northwest

offensive began Thursday
afternoon with a volley of
rockets and missiles lobbed
at government forces in a
handful of villages recently
captured from the opposi-
tion on the southern edge
of the rebel stronghold. The
Observatory said the reb-
els burned tires to obstruct
warplanes' vision.
The war monitoring group
said rebel fighters ad-
vanced in one of the vil-
lages — Al-Jebeen — after
This photo shows Civil Defense workers searching for victims un- intense clashes. The gov-
der the rubble after an airstrike by Syrian government forces hit ernment and its ally Russia
the village of Ehsim, in Jabal al-Zawiya 10 kilometers (6 miles)
north of the town of Maarat al-Numan in Idlib, Syria, Monday, responded with a wave of
June 3, 2019. airstrikes, including drop-
Associated Press ping barrel bombs on vil-
lages nearby, the Observa-
BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian insur- group said, part of a see- tory said.
gents launched an offen- sawing battle for control of A rebel umbrella group,
sive Thursday against gov- the edge of the rebel-held National Front for Libera-
ernment forces in north- territory there. tion, confirmed the offen-
western Syria, armed oppo- The Syrian Observatory for sive, saying it aimed to re-
sition and a war monitoring Human Rights said the rebel pel government forces.q