Hungary’s parliament on Monday passed an amendment to the constitution that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities, a decision that legal scholars and critics call another step toward authoritarianism by the populist government. The amendment, which required a two-thirds vote, passed along party lines with 140 votes for and 21 against. It was proposed by the ...
Between 60,000 and 80,000 households – or up to 400,000 people – have been displaced from Sudan’s Zamzam camp in North Darfur after it was taken over by the Rapid Support Forces, according to data from the UN’s International Organization for Migration. The RSF seized control of the camp on Sunday after a four-day assault that the government and aid ...
One of Russia’s most outspoken generals, sacked and detained after a withering attack on the Defense Ministry two years ago, is returning to the front, according to his lawyer. But according to Russian state media, he’s been handed a poisoned chalice: front-line command of a notorious battalion of ex-prisoners that has suffered massive casualties in Ukraine. Two years ago, Major ...
For hundreds of millions of people living in India and Pakistan the early arrival of summer heatwaves has become a terrifying reality that’s testing survivability limits and putting enormous strain on energy supplies, vital crops and livelihoods. Both countries experience heatwaves during the summer months of May and June, but this year’s heatwave season has arrived sooner than usual and ...
Social media platform Bluesky says it has gained 700,000 new users in the week following the US election. Bluesky, which was originally conceived as part of Twitter by its former chief executive Jack Dorsey, says the new sign-ups are largely from the US and UK. The company has increased its membership from 9 million people in September to 14.5 million ...
The UK has unveiled a punchy new climate goal to slash its emissions by 81% by 2035. The government said it is on a mission to “tackle the climate crisis in a way that makes the British people better off”, by investing in clean, home-grown power and cutting ties with volatile fossil fuel markets. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said: “The ...
A legal challenge over the decision to give consent to the UK’s largest untapped oil field has begun in Edinburgh. Greenpeace and Uplift have jointly raised a judicial review at the Court of Session, arguing consent for the Rosebank oil field northwest of Shetland ought to be paused and reassessed. The two environmental groups are also arguing against the exploration ...
Keir Starmer’s arrival at COP29, with a promise to drastically cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 81%, will be a small ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy start to the climate talks. The election of Donald Trump, who has vowed to drag the world’s largest economy out of the negotiations, was a colossal setback for a round of talks ...
Tweaking the routes of a small number of planes could reduce the warming effect of contrails by half and cost less than €4 per ticket, according to a study. Contrails (or condensation trails) are the lines left in the sky when warm, moist exhaust fumes from an aircraft mix with the cold air to produce ice crystal clouds. They can ...
The Guardian has quit the social media platform X. The news organisation announced its decision on Wednesday to stop posting from official editorial accounts on the platform, formerly known as Twitter. “We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere,” the outlet said ...