Lawmakers in Scotland passed a contentious law Thursday making it easier and faster for people to change their gender, despite a rare rebellion within the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) and "concerns" from the UK government. . The UK government said on Thursday it shared "the concerns that many people have regarding certain aspects of this bill" and vowed to "look closely" at it.
Lawmakers on Thursday passed a transgender rights bill allowing anyone 16 and over to change gender on their ID card, putting Spain on track to becoming one of the few countries to allow the change with a simple declaration.. The bill simplifies the procedure for changing gender on a person's national identity card, allowing them to request the change based on a simple statement.
Rwanda's army "engaged in military operations" against DR Congo's military in the country's troubled east, according to a report by a group of independent United Nations experts seen by AFP on Thursday. . According to the UN experts' report, Rwanda's military intervened to "reinforce" the M23 as well as to combat the FDLR -- a descendant of Rwandan Hutu extremist groups that carried out the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda.
France's railways face a 100-million-euro ($106-million) bill over a Christmas rail strike organised by ticket inspectors without union backing which has caused a major backlash from travellers, a minister said on Thursday.. "It will probably cost the company around a 100 million euros," he told Franceinfo radio.
FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was due to appear in a US court Thursday to face criminal fraud charges over the spectacular collapse of his crypto exchange.. Their charges were "in connection with their roles in the frauds that contributed to FTX's collapse," he said, without providing further details.
The Greek MEP at the centre of a graft scandal linked to alleged bribes from Qatar rocking the European Parliament insisted she was innocent on Thursday and asked to be released from pre-trial detention.. Qatar also denies the bribery allegations and has warned that continued linkage of it to the scandal could "negatively" impact ties and its natural gas supplies to the European Union.
Russia on Thursday accused Ukraine and the United States of turning a deaf ear to its concerns after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a historic visit to Washington.. "This suggests that the United States is continuing its line of de facto fighting an indirect war with Russia to the last Ukrainian," he added.
Turkey on Thursday praised Sweden for responding to its security concerns but stressed more was needed to win Ankara's full backing for Stockholm's stalled NATO membership bid.. We are doing our job when it comes to implementing the memorandum," he said in reference to a membership deal signed during a NATO summit in Madrid.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday announced the third major minimum wage hike in a year to try and combat a historic jump in consumer prices ahead of crunch elections. . On Thursday the Turkish leader said the country would boost the monthly take-home pay to a minimum of 8,500 liras ($455).
Georgia's ailing ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday looked frail as he appeared by video link at a court that will consider deferring his sentence of abuse of office over poor health.. The founder of Georgia's main opposition force and president between 2004 and 2013, Saakashvili was convicted in absentia for abuse of office and sentenced to six years in prison in 2018.
