Italy's right-wing government on Monday rolled back anti-poverty subsidies introduced four years ago that helped some four million people last year, as critics denounced a "provocation" on the international May Day labour holiday.. Italy's INPS social security agency says the citizens' revenue benefited four million people last year, with an average monthly subsidy of 550 euros.
An intrepid French traveller embarked on Monday on a solo rowing expedition from Poland to France to shed light on the pollution of waterways of Europe.. - Environmental disasters - For Denis Duclos, the museum's director of European and international relations, the expedition offers insight into the condition of Europe’s main waterways.
Moves to check Beijing's aggressive expansion into the trade routes and strategic islands of the South China Sea will headline talks Monday between President Joe Biden and his Philippines counterpart Ferdinand Marcos at the White House.. Marcos is on a four-day trip that follows last week's state visit to Washington by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and a White House meeting in January between Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Uzbekistan has overwhelmingly approved constitutional changes that will allow President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to remain in power until 2040 in a tightly-controlled referendum, election results showed Monday. . - Voting tightly controlled - The constitutional changes also include a ban on capital punishment and the protection of human rights for what Mirziyoyev has called a "New Uzbekistan."
An opposition frontrunner in Thailand's upcoming general elections has given birth two weeks before the polling day, her party confirmed on Monday.. The kingdom is entering the final stretch before the May 14 election with reformist groups, including Pheu Thai and Move Forward, surging ahead of establishment parties.
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma on Monday took up a visiting professor position at a Japanese university, another new academic role for the founder of tech giant Alibaba.. As visiting professor, the magnate is also expected to "provide advice and support" on research topics.
The Taliban will be absent from UN-led talks that open Monday in Qatar on how to handle Afghanistan's rulers and press them to ease a ban on women working and girls going to school.. Women have been barred from most secondary education and universities, and prevented from working in most government jobs as well as UN agencies and NGOs. Though divided on many disputes, the UN Security Council powers united on Thursday to condemn the curbs on Afghan women and girls and urge all countries to seek "an urgent reversal" of the policies.
Fierce fighting broke out again Monday between the army and paramilitaries despite the formal extension of a truce, after the United Nations warned the humanitarian situation reached "breaking point".. "The humanitarian situation is reaching breaking point," he said.
Hollywood faced a cliffhanger moment Monday as talks to avert a potentially catastrophic strike by thousands of TV and movie writers remained unresolved just hours before a crunch deadline.. "I think everybody feels like there's going to be a strike," said one Los Angeles-based TV writer, who asked not to be identified.
Germany launches on Monday a new flat-rate public transport ticket valid across the country, but the 49-euro ($54) price point has raised doubts about the pass's potential impact.. The 49-euro ticket will particularly benefit "urban residents who already have a more expensive subscription", transport expert Oliver Wittig told AFP. Germany is not alone in its efforts to boost rail use in order to reduce emissions from transport.
