President Emmanuel Macron needs to unify a country divided by the forces of globalization in a national addresses on Monday and end anti-government protests that will cut economic growth by about 0.1 percentage points, France’s finance minister said. Protesters rioted in Paris and cities across France on Saturday in a ... Read More »
Tackle climate or face financial crash, say world’s biggest investors
UN summit urged to end all coal burning and introduce substantial taxes on emissions Global investors managing $32tn issued a stark warning to governments at the UN climate summit on Monday, demanding urgent cuts in carbon emissions and the phasing out of all coal burning. Without these, the world faces ... Read More »
Experts fear real estate collapse in Lebanon
Ghostly apartment blocks and half-built buildings dot Lebanon, as experts and entrepreneurs fear that the country’s key real estate sector is on the brink of collapse. The small Mediterranean country’s construction sector had witnessed an unprecedented boom from 2008, fueled in part by sales to wealthy Gulf Arabs and Lebanese ... Read More »
Putin says Russia will start developing intermediate-range missiles if US does not back down on arms control treaty
‘What will our response be? Simple. We’re going to do the same,’ said Vladimir Putin Russian president Vladimir Putin has suggested Russia would develop intermediate-range nuclear arms in response to the US exiting a key Soviet-era arms control agreement. “It seems our American partners think … they should have such ... Read More »
Macron scraps French fuel tax rise amid nationwide protests and rioting in Paris
‘Yellow vest’ demonstrators planning fresh marches this weekend Emmanuel Macron has scrapped a fuel tax rise following weeks of nationwide protests in France and the worst rioting in Paris in decades. Protesters celebrated the victory on Wednesday, but critics said Mr Macron’s surrender came too late and is unlikely to ... Read More »
Royal jelly research could propel cure for Alzheimer’s, claim scientists
Researchers say similar protein to royalactin in humans builds up ‘self-renewal’ stem cells It is the mysterious substance that turns worker honeybees into queens and fills the shelves of health food shops which tout its unverified powers to fend off ageing, improve fertility and reinvigorate the immune system. Whether royal ... Read More »
Lebanese Army on alert as Israel digs for alleged tunnels
KFAR KILA/BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army said it stood ready to respond to developments along the southern border Tuesday, hours after Israel announced that it started blocking tunnels allegedly dug by Hezbollah. “In light of the Israeli enemy’s Northern Shield Operation, which is related to the alleged tunnels on the southern ... Read More »
Singapore makes strong protest to Malaysia over port extension plan
Singapore has made a “strong protest” to Malaysia over its plan to extend the limits of a port in its southernmost state, saying it encroached the territorial waters of the wealthy city-state. The assertion, which Malaysia called inaccurate, is the latest development in the neighbors’ spats over parts of the ... Read More »
David Attenborough says civilisation will collapse if humanity doesn’t take action on global warming at climate change talks
‘The extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon,’ naturalist warns during COP 24 Civilisations are going to collapse and much of nature will be wiped out to extinction if humanity doesn’t take urgent action on climate change, Sir David Attenborough has warned. The naturalist gave a ... Read More »
Human rights law group calls for tribunal on crimes against Rohingya
A human rights law group contracted by the U.S. State Department to investigate atrocities against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar called on Monday for the urgent establishment of a criminal tribunal to bring those responsible to justice. There were reasonable grounds to believe the Myanmar military committed crimes against humanity, genocide ... Read More »