Erstellt am: 24. 10. 2012 - 14:16 Uhr

We are (not yet) the 40 per cent

Reality Check: Gender imbalance on EU company boards; Russian treason laws; Roma memorial in Berlin; Qatar and Gaza; Terrorism and the Internet

EPA/Patrick Seeger

Quotas for women on corporate boards

The European Commission on Tuesday debated a proposal put forward by the Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding to impose a 40% quota of women on the boards of Europe's public companies. Men represent over 85 percent of all executive posts in the European Union, an imbalance some prominent women in EU institutions are trying to correct. Early drafts of Reding's plan would oblige companies to reach a 40 percent female boardroom quota by 2020, or face sanctions, but disagreement over the issue was so great that commissioners decided not to vote on it Tuesday, as planned, and the vote has been postoned. Yet Viviane Reding is not going to give up easily. Vanessa Mock reports from Brussels:

Russia's new treason laws

The Russian Duma passes laws that are widely seen as being intstruments to suppress opposition to the Kremlin. Karen Percy has more from Moscow:

Roma Memorial

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, today opens a memorial to Roma killed by the Nazi regime in WW2. We speak to our Berlin correspondent Kate Connolly:

Qatar and Gaza

Middle East expert Michael Lüders explains why Qatar is taking a key role in the Palestinian territories and the Emir of Qatar is calling for reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah:

Confronting terrorism on the Internet

Richard Barrett outlines his concepts for confronting rather than banning radicalism online.

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