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Russia’s Putin to Visit Kazakhstan on Nov. 9

Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with members of public associations, youth and volunteer organizations and children of late Russian servicemen during a flower-laying ceremony at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky while marking Russia's Day of National Unity in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia November 4, 2023. (Sputnik/Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with members of public associations, youth and volunteer organizations and children of late Russian servicemen during a flower-laying ceremony at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky while marking Russia's Day of National Unity in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia November 4, 2023. (Sputnik/Reuters)
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Russia’s Putin to Visit Kazakhstan on Nov. 9

Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with members of public associations, youth and volunteer organizations and children of late Russian servicemen during a flower-laying ceremony at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky while marking Russia's Day of National Unity in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia November 4, 2023. (Sputnik/Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin poses with members of public associations, youth and volunteer organizations and children of late Russian servicemen during a flower-laying ceremony at the monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky while marking Russia's Day of National Unity in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia November 4, 2023. (Sputnik/Reuters)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Kazakhstan on Thursday, Nov.9, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's office said on Monday.

The two leaders will meet in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to discuss bilateral matters, it said in a statement. Putin and Tokayev will also join by video link a Kazakh-Russian business conference that will be held in the city of Kostanai.

It would be only Putin's third known trip abroad since the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March for the Russian leader on war crime charges, something the Kremlin strongly rejects.

Kazakhstan, like China and Kyrgyzstan, the two other countries Putin has visited recently, is not a signatory to the ICC.

The ICC, which accused Putin of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, obliges the court's 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.

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Thousands Protest Housing Crunch, High Rents in Barcelona

Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
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Thousands Protest Housing Crunch, High Rents in Barcelona

Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Demonstrators march to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Thousands of Spaniards rallied in downtown Barcelona on Saturday to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination.
People held up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living,” and “The people without homes uphold their rights.”
The issue has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world.
The average rent for Spain has doubled in the last decade. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista. The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in country with chronically high unemployment.
Protestor Samuel Saintot said he is “frustrated and scared” after being told by the owners of the apartment he has rented for the past 15 years in Barcelona’s city center that he must vacate the premises. He suspects that the owners want him out so they renovate it and boost the price.
“Even looking in a 20- or 30-kilometer radius outside town, I can’t even find anything within the price range I can afford,” he told The Associated Press. “And I consider myself a very fortunate person, because I earn a decent salary. And even in my case, I may be forced to leave town.”
A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40% of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40% of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27% of renters in that strained economic circumstance.
“We are talking about a housing emergency. It means people having many difficulties both in accessing and staying in their homes,” said Ignasi Martí, professor for Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory.