Germany marks 25 years of unity
As Germany celebrates 25 years of reunification, Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany cannot solve the current refugee crisis alone. Vanessa Johnston reports.
As Germany celebrates 25 years of reunification, Chancellor Angela Merkel says Germany cannot solve the current refugee crisis alone. Vanessa Johnston reports.
Britain’s plans to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda were swiftly condemned by international humanitarian organizations after Parliament approved legislation allowing the deportation flights to begin later this year. Both the U.N. refugee agency and the Council of Europe on Tuesday called for the U.K. to rethink its plans because of concerns that the legislation undermines human rights protections and fears that it will damage international cooperation on tackling the global migrant crisis. “The new legislation marks a further step away from the U.K.’s long tradition of providing refuge to those in need, in breach of the Refugee Convention,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement.
The UK readied on Tuesday to start detaining migrants within days for deportation to Rwanda after the controversial plan got parliament's approval, sparking outrage from the UN and rights groups.Under the UK scheme, undocumented asylum seekers arriving in Britain would be sent to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be examined and, if approved, would allow them to stay in Rwanda.
These primary races in the pivotal 2024 swing state could forecast trends for the general election.
The Biden administration on Tuesday set a new goal to protect vast U.S. water sources, from rivers to wetlands, as part of a series of announcements marking Earth Week. The administration plans to announce a new goal of protecting, restoring and reconnecting 8 million acres (3.2 million hectares) of threatened wetlands and 100,000 miles (161,000 km) of rivers and streams, according to White House documents. The White House, which is hosting a water summit on Tuesday, also plans to pledge $1 billion to deliver clean water to households on Native American land.
Business activity in the eurozone picked up in April thanks to "increasingly robust" growth in the services sector, a closely watched survey showed Tuesday."Increasingly robust service sector growth was nevertheless accompanied by signs of a further moderation of the manufacturing downturn," S&P Global said.
An expected Israeli assault on Rafah has aid groups scrambling for ways to help the 1.5 million civilians sheltering in the south Gaza city but the uncertain timeline poses a logistical nightmare. Oxfam joined 12 other aid groups in a joint call for a ceasefire on April 3, stressing that more than a million civilians, including at least 610,000 children, were "in direct line of fire" in Rafah.
The clocks had stopped at the exact moment Russian missiles recently ripped into the Ukrainian power plant, where workers were clearing scorched debris under a gaping hole in the roof.Russia has stepped up devastating bombardments on Ukrainian power plants in recent weeks, at a perilous moment for Kyiv as it struggles with manpower and ammunition shortages and loses ground on the front.
The justices are likely to reject the claim of absolute immunity. But even if they do, Trump may already have won by delaying his election interference trial.
Europe's highest rights body on Tuesday called on Britain to scrap a controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, saying it raised "major issues" over their rights and the rule of law.O'Flaherty said the legislation "raises major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law more generally".
President Joe Biden visits Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday to tie opponent Donald Trump to new abortion restrictions, hoping to boost his own chances in a state that has drifted out of Democrats' reach in recent elections. Earlier this month, Florida's Supreme Court cleared the way for a six-week abortion ban starting May 1, a time-frame before many women realize they are pregnant. Biden's re-election campaign quickly declared battle, saying he would win the state in November because of the ban.
London's FTSE 100 stocks index hit record highs Tuesday, catching up with major global peers which have struck all-time peaks this year as inflation cools.The FTSE reached 8,076.52 points shortly after the open, surpassing a record 8,047.06 struck in February last year.
Adobe said on Tuesday it plans to place a tool for full artificial intelligence image generation in its Photoshop software later this year. Adobe's image and video editing tools are widely used by creative professionals, but it faces rising competition from startups such as Microsoft-backed OpenAI, Midjourney and Stability AI, all of which offer services that can generate images from text prompts. Adobe is developing its own image-generation AI system called Firefly, which is trained on data that Adobe has rights to, in order to avoid copyright infringement claims against users.
The Health and Human Services secretary is making moves to run again in California. Maybe even too many moves.
Democrats have signaled that Florida could be competitive but have yet to commit resources to the state. But winning here is almost secondary.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a Russian missile strike that smashed a television tower in Kharkiv was part of the Kremlin’s ongoing effort to intimidate Ukraine’s second-largest city, which in recent weeks has come under increasingly frequent attack. The strike sought to “make the terror visible to the whole city and to try to limit Kharkiv’s connection and access to information,” Zelenskyy said in his Monday evening address. The northeastern Kharkiv region straddles the about 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line where Ukrainian and Russian forces have been locked in battle for more than two years since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
An aide to a German far-right member of the European Parliament has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China, German prosecutors said Tuesday, deepening concerns about foreign interference ahead of June's EU elections.The European Greens on Tuesday called on European Parliament president Roberta Metsola to "speed up" the parliament's investigation into links between MEPs and foreign powers.
Tesla will report Q1 earnings after the bell on Tuesday, giving a much-needed update on the EV maker’s current and future prospects as investor sentiment slides.
At least 5 people have died while crossing the English Channel, according to French media, hours after the U.K. approved the migrant deportation bill. The Voix du Nord newspaper said the bodies were discovered at the Wimereaux beach in northern France on Tuesday. The rescue operation is ongoing and helicopters and boats have been deployed, according to the regional newspaper.
A top U.S. arms control official said on Tuesday the country was likely, although not guaranteed, to meet a new deadline to finalise trade exemptions for the AUKUS defence project with Australia and Britain. AUKUS, formed in 2021 to address shared worries about China's growing power, involves Australia acquiring nuclear-powered attack submarines, and deeper defence cooperation. A 120-day deadline to qualify Australia and Britain for exemptions to the regime passed without certification on Saturday.
Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday and London hit a fresh record, with hopes for earnings this week from tech titans helping to offset worries about the Federal Reserve's interest rate plans ahead of the release of key US growth and inflation data.London rose again, having closed at a record high Monday with the Bank of England tipped to slash interest rates soon thanks to cooling inflation.