Category: World

French President Macron to propose draft law enshrining abortion rights in the constitution

French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday his government would put forward a draft law protecting abortion rights in the French constitution within months. France’s National Assembly had in November 2022 already voted in favour of the constitutional change, but without deciding on a timeline. The speech was made on International Woman’s Day, where Macron paid…

French Senate backs controversial plans to raise the retirement age to 64

France’s Senate voted Thursday to raise the retirement age by two years to 64, as the government moves to overhaul the country’s pensions system in the face of strong opposition from labour unions and nationwide strikes. The conservative-dominated legislative body voted in favour of a decisive article to increase the retirement age by 201 votes…

Thousands march for International Women’s Day in Spain as lawmakers debate sexual consent law

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across Spain on Wednesday for International Women’s day. In Barcelona, several thousand female students marched through the city centre, many wearing purple and waving banners reading: “Feminism means fighting” and “We’re brave and we want to be free”. And in Madrid, demonstrators prepared for the main…

The CDP Awards: rewarding cities and businesses taking on the environment and biodiversity challenge

The 2023 CDP awards have been made in Paris at the Louis Vuitton Foundation. The CDP is the non-profit organisation that runs the world’s environmental reporting system. According to their latest reports, only 5% of companies in Europe are putting plans in place to reach the 1.5° climate change goal. The awards are essentially all…

Ukraine war: At least six people killed in wave of Russian missile attacks across the country

Russia unleashed a massive missile barrage on cities across Ukraine early Thursday, killing at least six people and targeting energy infrastructure facilities in the first attack on such a scale in three weeks. Five people were killed in the Lviv region after a missile struck a residential area, according to its governor. Three buildings were…

Who are the most wanted mobsters in Italy?

This Thursday, the trial of Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro begins. Detained in Palermo last January after being on the run for 30 years, the capture of one of the country’s most notorious criminals is a reminder of the ongoing influence and presence of the mafia in Italy. Messina Denaro’s name can now be…

Hiding in plain sight: Why are wanted Sicilian mafia bosses often found so close to home?

Matteo Messina Denaro, the “Last Godfather” is meant to appear before a court in L’Aquila on Thursday, where he’s appealing a life sentence over the 1992 murder of a mafia prosecutor. His arrest, thirty years after his conviction, has raised several questions. Although he was on Italy’s “most wanted” list for decades, ultimately police didn’t really…

What is kickingball and why is it played in Spain?

Kickingball, a mixture of football and baseball is experiencing a surge in popularity amongst Venezuelan refugees around the world, specifically in Spain, Argentina and the US. The sport is played exclusively by women in Venezuela and was introduced to the country by a teacher in 1965 as a variation of the two sports, the game…

A Cuban fishing village ponders its options as U.S. policy shifts

By Alexandre Meneghini and Dave Sherwood ISABELA DE SAGUA, Cuba – At a porchfront coffee stand in the Cuban village of Isabela de Sagua, sunburned fishermen gather at first light to talk of wind, tide and, increasingly, the fine points of U.S. immigration policy. The latest twist: A U.S. “parole” program announced in early January…

Olympics-Russians will win ‘medals of blood’ if allowed to compete, says Ukraine’s Usyk

– Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Russia from the Olympic Games, saying any medals they win in Paris next year would be tainted by the blood of his countrymen who have died in Russia’s year-old invasion. Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Games over the IOC‘s willingness to…