Global News

[ad_1] ALEXANDROUPOLIS: Firefighters on Tuesday found the burnt bodies of 18 people believed to have been migrants who had crossed the Turkish border into an area of northeastern Greece where wildfires have raged for days. The discovery near the city of Alexandroupolis came as hundreds of firefighters battled dozens of wildfires across the country amid gale-force winds. On Monday, two people died and two firefighters were injured in separate fires in northern and central Greece. With their hot, dry summers, southern European countries are particularly prone to wildfires. Another major blaze has been burning across Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands for a week, although no injuries or damage to homes was reported. European Union officials have blamed climate change for the increasing frequency and intensity of wildfires in Europe, noting that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire damage on record after 2017. In Greece, police activated the country's Disaster Vi

[ad_1] BRUSSELS: A hard-won deal on the European Union 's negotiating stance for this year's UN climate talks has revealed regional rifts that anticipate global tensions at the COP28 summit . Diplomats from the 27 EU countries spent weeks debating their COP28 position before their climate ministers agreed on Monday to push for deals to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels, triple production of renewable energy and halt the building of coal power plants. The stance sets the EU up to be among the most ambitious major economies at the COP28 gathering of nearly 200 countries, which begins on November 30. But even EU countries clashed over how ambitious to be - and their ministers were locked in talks into the evening on Monday. The faultlines tended to fall between wealthier EU members seeking rapid climate action, and poorer economies concerned about the cost of quitting fossil fuels. The toughest issue concerns fossil fuels - with the EU only agreeing to support a phas

[ad_1] The United Nations Human Rights Council Wednesday approved a Pakistan-backed motion on religious hatred in the wake of the burning of the Holy Quran in Sweden — a move major Western powers opposed. Major Western powers — the United States, European Union, and the United Kingdom — opposed the resolution, claiming it was against their views on human rights and freedom of expression. Pakistan had moved the resolution titled "countering religious hatred constituting incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence" after a man in Sweden burned pages of the holy book, triggering a diplomatic backlash across the Muslim world. As many as 28 countries — including China, India, South Africa, and Ukraine — voted in favour, 12 voted against, and seven countries abstained. Among countries other than the UK and the US, Belgium, Costa Rica, Czechia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monte Negro, and Romania voted against the resolution. Pakistan's

[ad_1] ISLAMABAD: EU Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka has said that her organisation wanted to see more improvement in the country in certain areas, including freedom of expression; situation of minorities; rights of women and gender equality; and also labour rights if it wished to have its GSP+ status renewed. In a video message, she noted that the EU also hoped to see freedom of the media in Pakistan as well as that of religion and belief. The EU envoy expressed her concern over the crackdown on the PTI and its supporters in the aftermath of May 9. “[That] certainly is something that we’re paying a lot of attention to,” she added. “We also are well aware that international NGOs and experts are looking at this. Specifically, the issue of the use of military courts and anti-terrorism courts,” Kionka elaborated. The EU ambassador said her organisation was also well aware that there was a lively debate in Pakistan over both of the issues. Criticising the military court