Colombia President Gustavo Petro apologized Saturday for a corruption scandal involving the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) as he inaugurated a new session of Congress. During the opening of the 2024-2025 congressional term, Petro also stressed that his administration would reintroduce the health reform bill and pursue changes to labor laws. The UNGRD corruption [...]
Police arrested environmental activist Captain Paul Watson on his ship Sunday in the town of Nuuk, Greenland. Watson is a prominent campaigner against commercial whaling. When he was arrested, Watson was apparently engaged in a mission to traverse the Northwest Passage, a series of waterways through the arctic archipelago of Canada that connects the Atlantic [...]
US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential election on Sunday. He wrote in a letter to the American people: It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest [...]
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) targeted a Yemeni fuel depot and port on Saturday in a strike attack responding to Houthi rebel attacks on Israel over the past months. The strike is Israel’s first retaliation in Yemen following an attack on Tel Aviv by a Houthi drone which killed one person and injured 10 others. [...]
Civil society organizations (CSOs) in Kenya on Saturday condemned the excessive use of force by the police during the recent wave of anti-government protests in the country. The CSOs called for government accountability in law enforcement and the budget-making process. In a joint statement, the CSOs denied allegations by the Kenyan authorities of funding the [...]
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a new bill into law on Sunday amending the pension system in South Africa. The Pension Funds Amendment Bill enables the implementation of the new two-pot system “geared towards bolstering retirement savings.” The bill amends the Pension Funds Act, the Post and Telecommunications-Related Matters Act, the Transnet Pension Fund [...]
The Supreme Court of Bangladesh on Sunday overturned the restoration of the government’s quota system for civil service employment after days of deadly turmoil and clashes between police and protesters. The Appellate Division dismissed the High Court’s judgement on quota reinstatement, stating that 93 percent of government employment recruitment would be based on merit, with [...]
The French region of La Rochelle witnessed clashes between protesters and police on Saturday, amidst demonstrations against new irrigation reservoirs being built. The protests, attended by around 2,000 people, turned turbulent when police intervened, responding with tear gas as some protesters threw objects. Both the police officers as well as the demonstrators reported minor injuries. [...]
The newly elected French National Assembly elected its parliamentary president on Friday, highlighting the challenge the new government faces in securing a majority. This event also led to allegations of ballot stuffing, prompting French lawmakers to call for an investigation. Yael Braun-Pivet, formerly the head of parliament under President Emmanuel Macron’s party Renaissance, won the election [...]
Ukraine Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko announced Friday that Iryna Farion, a former nationalist politician known for her staunch advocacy of Ukrainian language use over Russian, was fatally shot in Lviv. In a statement released via Telegram, Klymenko indicated that investigators are considering several theories, including personal animosity and Farion’s sociopolitical activities, while not ruling out [...]