LONDON, Jan 12 (Reuters) – As unrest and violence spread across Kazakhstan last week, authorities blocked access to multiple social media sites, prompting thousands of local users to download special applications to mask their location and maintain their access. On Jan. 5, authorities blocked internet access altogether. The effect was[Read More…]

Jan 10 (Reuters) – From delayed ambulances to police shortages, Canadian public agencies hit hard by COVID-19 worker absences have cut back on service, rearranged staff or warned the public that emergency responses may be disrupted. Over the weekend, paramedics in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, said there were briefly no[Read More…]

Jan 11 (Reuters) – Quebec, Canada’s second most populous province, is planning to force adults refusing to get COVID-19 vaccinated pay a “health contribution” in a move likely to spur a debate about individual rights and social responsibility. Premier Francois Legault told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday that the[Read More…]

BRUSSELS, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Last year was the world’s fifth hottest on record, while levels of planet-warming carbon dioxide and methane in the atmosphere hit new highs in 2021, European Union scientists said. The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) said in a report on Monday that the last[Read More…]

MADRID/PRAGUE, Jan 10 (Reuters) – The Czech Republic said on Monday it would allow critical workers such as doctors and teachers to go to work after a positive COVID-19 test, the latest European country to ease restrictions to keep services running as cases surge. As the much more contagious Omicron[Read More…]

* David Sassoli became head of EU parliament in 2019 * He had been admitted to hospital in December * Sassoli was TV journalist who switched to politics (Adds details, quotes) By John Chalmers and Crispian Balmer BRUSSELS/ROME, Jan 11 (Reuters) – European Parliament President David Sassoli, an Italian socialist[Read More…]

VATICAN CITY, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Monday warned against attempts to cancel culture, decrying “one-track thinking” he said attempts to deny or rewrite history according to today’s standards. Francis made his comments in an address to diplomats, the main thrust of which was the condemnation of “baseless” ideological misinformation about COVID-19[Read More…]