Thousands of people marched in Brussels on Sunday against a U.N. pact aimed at fostering cooperation on migration, eclipsing a smaller demonstration in support of the deal, the signing of which brought down Belgium’s government last week. Police said some 5,500 people marched in the bigger protest, organized by Flemish ... Read More »
‘All I want for Christmas is democracy,’ say Hungary protesters
Thousands of Hungarians thronged the streets of Budapest on Sunday in the fourth and largest protest in a week against what they see as the increasingly authoritarian rule of right-wing nationalist Viktor Orban. Braving sub-zero temperatures, setting off flares and waving Hungarian and European Union flags, about 10,000 demonstrators walked ... Read More »
Johnson and Johnson knew about cancer-causing asbestos in baby in baby powder for decades, new report claims
New Jersey-based company insists products remains safe Shares of the pharma and medical giant Johnson & Johnson have tumbled sharply after an investigation suggested the company had known for years its famous baby powder was contaminated with cancer-causing asbestos. Reuters published a lengthy enquiry into one of the company’s most ... Read More »
Europe Ukraine forms new unified Orthodox Church in defiance of Moscow
President Petro Poroshenko describes the founding of church as ‘day of final independence from Russia’ For proponents of Ukrainian independence, Saturday was a long-awaited day. Inside Kiev’s St Sophia Cathedral, a unification council of 190 delegates gathered to serve the final rites on the country’s 332-year-old religious ties with Moscow ... Read More »
India’s ruling party aware it must tackle problems after state poll setbacks
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party officials are gathering on Thursday for talks on a general election due by May, with their deliberations overshadowed by the party’s defeat at the polls in three heartland rural states. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the gathering, to be chaired by the ... Read More »
Scientists identify vast underground ecosystem containing billions of micro-organisms
Global team of scientists find ecosystem below earth that is twice the size of world’s oceans The Earth is far more alive than previously thought, according to “deep life” studies that reveal a rich ecosystem beneath our feet that is almost twice the size of all the world’s oceans. Despite ... Read More »
UN states agree historic global deal to manage migration crisis
First international pact on movements of people reached between 164 nations, despite US-led objections The first ever international deal on the migration crisis was signed on Monday by a majority of UN states, despite vociferous objections led by the United States. The historic, non-binding global pact seeking to better manage ... Read More »
Macron bows to protesters’ demands and says: I know I have hurt some of you
President takes emergency measures to placate gilets jaunes but refuses to reinstate wealth tax Emmanuel Macron has bowed to pressure from the street to announce a catalogue of emergency measures aimed at pacifying the gilets jaunes after weeks of civil unrest in France. In a long-awaited address on primetime television, ... Read More »
Brexit in turmoil as UK’s May pulls vote to seek changes to EU divorce
British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday postponed a parliamentary vote on her Brexit deal to seek more concessions but the European Union refused to renegotiate and lawmakers doubted her chances of winning big changes. May’s abrupt move less than 30 hours before parliament was to vote opens up a ... Read More »
Mexico to invest $30 billion to boost growth, stem migration, foreign minister says
Mexico will invest more than $30 billion in its poor southern states over the next five years, the foreign minister said on Monday, boosting the region economically as part of efforts to curb migration. Under pressure from the United States, Mexico is grappling to halt the northward flow of migrants ... Read More »