Planned strikes cast shadow over Pope’s Portugal visit next month
Lisbon, PortugalReuters Portuguese teachers, railway workers, police officers and garbage collectors are planning protests and strikes during a visit by Pope Francis next month in an effort to force the government to raise wages and improve their working conditions. Francis will travel to Lisbon from 2nd to 6th August to attend the World Youth Day […]
Titanic sub operator suspends expeditions after deadly implosion
Reuters OceanGate, the US-based company that managed the tourist submersible that imploded during a dive to the wreck of the Titanic, has suspended all exploration and commercial operations, its website showed on Thursday. The company did not elaborate beyond a red banner at the top of its website: “OceanGate has suspended all exploration and commercial […]
South Africa gas leak kills 17 as officials suggest illegal mining link
Johannesburg, South AfricaReuters The death toll from a leak of poisonous gas in a South African shantytown rose to 17 on Thursday, as officials suggested the accident was probably linked to illegal mining. Gauteng Province Premier Panyaza Lesufi, visiting the site of the disaster near Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, said investigations were under way to […]
Iran must stop executions of protesters, says UN fact-finding mission
Geneva, SwitzerlandReuters A fact-finding mission mandated by the UN urged Iranian authorities on Wednesday to stop executing people who were sentenced to death for taking part in anti-government protests that rocked the country last year. The death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, 2022, while in the custody of the country’s morality police unleashed a […]
Tunisia removes hundreds of migrants to desert border region – rights group, lawmaker
Tunis, TunisiaReuters Tunisia has removed hundreds of sub-Saharan African migrants to a desolate area along the border with Libya, a local rights group and a lawmaker said on Wednesday, with witnesses reporting dozens more put on outbound trains following days of violence. Disturbances between migrants and residents went on for a week in the port […]
Helpdesk: Worried about AI? You might have AI-nxiety – here’s how to cope
In an article first published on The Conversation, SANAE OKOMOTO, a researcher in behavioural science and psychology at United Nations University, looks at how to handle worries about the rise of AI…
Sudan’s cultural heritage in peril as fighting rages
Cairo, EgyptReuters In Sudan’s capital, precious books in a major library have been burned and the national museum has been cut off for weeks by fighting. In Darfur, another museum is at risk from seasonal rains after projectiles punctured the roof. The conflict that has been raging between rival military factions in Sudan since mid-April […]
IAEA head Grossi vouches for safety of water release at wrecked Fukushima plant
Tokyo, JapanReuters International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday vouched for the safety of Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean after he surveyed the facility. In a major milestone for the decommissioning of the power plant, destroyed in a massive earthquake and […]
Argentine bishop named to Vatican office rejects criticism of his handling of abuse allegations
Buenos Aires, Argentina AP An Argentine bishop named by Pope Francis to lead a powerful Vatican office that ensures doctrinal orthodoxy has rejected accusations that he refused to believe victims of sexual abuse by a priest, saying he took actions when the allegations resurfaced in 2019. Monsignor Victor Manuel Fernández, Archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, was appointed to head […]
IAEA has seen no sign of explosives at Zaporizhzhia yet, more access needed
Vienna, AustriaReuters Experts from the UN nuclear watchdog based at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine have yet to observe any indications of mines or explosives at the plant, but they need more access to be sure, the agency said on Wednesday. Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday accused each other of plotting to […]