A Chinese scientist who first decoded the COVID-19 virus held a sit-in protest outside his lab on Monday after authorities allegedly locked him out of it, the latest in a series of attacks by China on scientists working on the coronavirus, the Associated Press reported. In...
Read full story →
El Salvador’s legislature this week approved a change to the constitution that critics said will further consolidate the power of President Nayib Bukele and his ruling New Ideas party, the Latin American Post reported. On Monday, the congress – dominated by lawmakers of Bukele’s party –...
Read full story →
The European Parliament passed a bill this month that will give consumers in the bloc the right to have their old products repaired by manufacturers even after the expiration of the warranty, a move aimed at reducing waste and making goods last longer, Al Jazeera...
Read full story →
Israeli officials on Monday are growing increasingly concerned that the International Criminal Court will issue arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top Israeli officials for their roles in the violence in Gaza and the West Bank, the Associated Press reported. The court, based...
Read full story →
Scotland’s pro-independence leader, Humza Yousaf, resigned Monday after he broke a coalition agreement with the Green Party over climate action targets, Sky News reported. The Scottish first minister said over the weekend he would not step down. But two no-confidence motions brought by the opposition and...
Read full story →
Solomon Islands’ pro-China leader withdrew his bid to remain as prime minister two weeks after the country’s national election dealt him significant losses, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. His decision marked the end of an era for the Solomon Islands, where lawmakers will elect a new...
Read full story →
Haiti's new transition council will vote on the country's next president on Tuesday to replace Ariel Henry who resigned from the position last week, all part of new efforts to bring the Caribbean country under control amid rampant gang violence and a humanitarian crisis, Reuters...
Read full story →
Thousands of Spaniards marched in the capital Madrid over the weekend in a show of support for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, days after the left-wing leader announced that he was considering stepping down because of an investigation into his wife for corruption, the Guardian reported. He...
Read full story →
Kazakhs have been riveted by a high-profile trial over the alleged murder of a 31-year-old woman by her husband, a case that has shocked the country and prompted calls to address the ongoing problem of domestic violence in the resource-rich Central Asian nation, Radio Free...
Read full story →
Protests broke out in Venice this week against the local government’s new initiative to charge visitors entering the venerable Italian city – the first city in the world to do so – with demonstrators saying the fee risks turning the destination into “an amusement park,”...
Read full story →
The government of Slovakia on Wednesday approved a plan to abolish the country’s public broadcaster as part of a string of measures enhancing the state’s control over its media, a move critics said would endanger the independence of the press, the BBC reported. Prime Minister Robert...
Read full story →
Botswana’s government said this week it had rejected a proposal to accept migrants and asylum seekers from the United Kingdom, a plan similar to a deal London reached with Rwanda two years ago, Voice of America reported. Foreign Affairs Minister Lemogang Kwape said British officials had...
Read full story →
Hundreds of thousands of Argentines took to the streets this week in the largest protests since President Javier Milei came to power, criticizing the libertarian leader’s funding cuts to the country’s public universities as part of a string of austerity measures, Reuters reported. Students and professors...
Read full story →
Australian authorities on Wednesday arrested seven teenagers who are allegedly part of a terror network, a week after a 16-year-old stabbed an Assyrian Orthodox bishop during a live-streamed church sermon in Sydney, Al Jazeera reported. The arrests were part of a series of anti-terror raids involving...
Read full story →
Spain approved a plan to compensate victims of sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Catholic Church, with officials saying that the church will finance the compensation, the Associated Press reported this week. On Tuesday, Minister of Presidency and Justice Félix Bolaños said the initiative seeks...
Read full story →
Israel did not provide evidence that a “significant” number of workers in a United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees were linked to militant groups such as Hamas, according to a UN report released this week, the Washington Post reported. At the same time, the UN’s independent...
Read full story →
The British government’s long-debated policy to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing was passed by parliament Tuesday, following years of legal battles, political hurdles and criticism from the United Nations and human rights groups, the Wall Street Journal reported. So far, the United Kingdom has...
Read full story →
The European Parliament approved a new law on Tuesday that would ban products made by forced labor from the European Union market, a measure aimed mainly at China but also other countries accused of engaging in the practice, Euronews reported. With an overwhelming majority of 555...
Read full story →
The head of Israel’s military intelligence resigned on Monday, saying he was taking responsibility for the failure to detect and halt Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,200 people and launched the war in Gaza, Al-Monitor reported. Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva is the first...
Read full story →
The party of the Maldives’ President Mohamed Muizzu won a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, inverting the balance of power domestically and internationally as it will likely strengthen the current government’s pro-China stance, the Associated Press reported. Muizzu’s People’s National Congress (PNC) won 70 out of...
Read full story →