Issues

Over 900 EASO personnel deployed in operations in four EU Member States

The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) has reached unprecedented levels of operational activity in supporting the asylum authorities of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta. At the end of September 2019,…

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Germany in shock after Halle shooting, Merkel attends vigil for victims

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a vigil on Wednesday night in Berlin and expressed "solidarity for all Jews on the holy day of Yom Kippur". Two people were killed by…

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Microsoft gives parents the power to limit the time their kids spend on specific apps

Microsoft is enabling parents to limit the time their children spend on specific apps and games on Xbox, and Windows and Android devices. Following an update to the company’s Family…

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Half of Antarctica’s emperor penguins could be wiped out due to melting ice

More than half of Antarctica's emperor penguins could be wiped out over the next 80 years due to melting ice, scientists have warned. Researchers from British Antarctic Survey said that…

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German cabinet approves climate protection measures

The German cabinet on Wednesday approved climate protection measures designed to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, keeping on track plans by Chancellor Angela Merkel to pass the landmark package this…

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Extinction Rebellion demonstration in Berlin

Activists of global environment movement Extinction Rebellion perform an artificial wave polluted with plastic as they block the Marshallbruecke bridge in front of the German parliament in Berlin, Germany, 09…

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Search continuing in Lampedusa for victims of latest tragedy

Italian authorities are continuing the search for the bodies of the persons that were on-board a boat that capsized earlier this week off the coast of Lampedusa. According to survivors,…

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German police open terrorism investigation after eight injured in truck attack

German police have opened a terrorism investigation after eight people were injured by a lorry that rammed into traffic. Officers have arrested a Syrian man in connection with the incident…

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Italy says Malta migration accord is already operational

Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese said after an EU interior ministers meeting on migrants in Luxembourg Tuesday that "I can't give numbers" of the countries backing a recent swift redistribution…

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UPDATED: Tragedy off the coast of Lampedusa after boat full of migrants capsizes

Update: The Italian Coast Guard and Italian finance police rescued 22 survivors and recovered the bodies of 13 people, all women, after a boat carrying about 50 migrants overturned Sunday night…

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Climate protests block roads in European cities

Activists with the Extinction Rebellion movement blocked major roads in Berlin and Amsterdam on Monday at the beginning of what was billed as a wide-ranging series of protests demanding new…

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Terrorist risk still ‘very high’ in France

France’s interior minister said on Monday that the terrorist risk remained “high” to “very high” in France following the killing of four police personnel by a radicalized colleague. Minister Christophe…

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Migrants arrive from Lesvos island to the Greek port of Piraeus

Women hold their babies after disembarking from the ferry 'Nissos Samos' upon her arrival from Lesvos island to the port of Piraeus, Greece, 07 October 2019. The ferry arrived in…

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Extinction Rebellion day of protest kicks off

Protesters led by around the world led by Extinction Rebellion are calling on governments and businesses to do more to avoid climate catastrophe. Protests began in Wellington's central business district…

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First all-female spacewalk scheduled for 21 October 2019

A handout photo released by NASA on 04 October 2019 shows astronauts Jessica Meir (L) and Christina Koch (R) posing on the International Space Station (ISS) in space (issued 06…

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Germany warns of ‘refugee wave’ bigger than 2015

German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has warned of a larger influx of refugees than that seen in Europe in 2015 while on an official visit to the Greek islands.…

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UN Security Council extends Operation Sophia for another year

The UN Security Council unanimously decided to extend the task of the Operation Sophia, off the Libyan coast, for another year. The resolution adopted under Chapter VII has condemned all…

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Greece accuses Turkey of exploiting Europe’s migrant crisis

Greece’s prime minister accused Turkey on Friday of appearing to “exploit” Europe’s migrant crisis for its own ends and said Ankara can and must control migrant flows to the continent.…

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UN’s Guterres says that a broad climate ‘movement’ has begun, but there’s a long way to go

When it comes to the climate emergency, “we have a long way to go. But the movement has begun,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared in a widely distributed opinion piece, reaffirming his concern over the threats…

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UN refugee chief calls on EU to restore search-and-rescue operations.

On the sixth anniversary of a shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa that claimed at least 368 lives, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi called on EU States to…

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Photo Story: A Cosmic Pretzel

An undated handout photo made available by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) issued on 04 October 2019 shows an image of two circumstellar disks, in which baby stars are growing,…

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Scotland to be first in UK to ban smacking

Scotland is to become the first country in the UK to make it a criminal offence for parents to smack their children. Parents and carers are currently allowed to use…

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Soyuz MS-12 space capsule lands in Kazakhstan

The Russian Soyuz MS-12 space capsule lands about 150 km (90 miles) south-east of the Kazakh town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan. A Soyuz space capsule with U.S. astronaut Nick Hague, Russian…

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71 migrants land in Lampedusa

71 migrants, including two women and a minor, landed, in the pouring rain, in Lampedusa, Italy on Wednesday evening. A Coast Guard patrol boat rescued them in the sea in…

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Typhoon Mitag makes landfall in South Korea

A view of submerged cars in a flooded street in the aftermath of Typhoon Mitag, in Samcheok, South Korea, 03 October 2019. Seoul was expected to receive 30 to 80…

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74th U.N. General Debate saw only 16 women deliver national statements

Having concluded the High-level segment of the General Assembly, where heads of State or senior officials from 192 of the UN’s 193 Member States discussed the world’s pressing issues, President…

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Typhoon Mitag approaches South Korea

A handout satellite image made available by the Korea Meteorological Administration shows Typhoon Mitag, the season's 18th, moving toward South Korea (issued 02 October 2019). Mitag is forecast to land…

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U.N. appeals so that countries make ‘digital world’ safer for children

Rising Internet connectivity has the potential to transform children’s lives for the better, but also makes them vulnerable to sexual abuse, online harassment and bullying, recruitment by extremist groups, and…

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For sixth consecutive year, migrant, refugee death toll in Mediterranean tops 1,000 victims

More than 1,000 migrants and refugees have died in the Mediterranean Sea this year, the sixth year in a row that this “bleak milestone” has been reached, the United Nations…

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Taiwan cancels flights, closes schools as typhoon nears

Authorities in Taiwan have shut financial markets, canceled flights and put soldiers on standby as the island braces for the powerful Mitag typhoon. President Tsai Ing-wen urged residents to stay…

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More than 100 dead in floods in India

More than 100 people have died due to flooding caused by heavy rains in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, officials have said. Dramatic images of the impact…

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Rail service in northern Germany suspended due to storm

Rail services in parts of northern Germany have been suspended because of a storm with high winds. Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said on Twitter on Monday morning that long-distance lines…

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Norway increases support for education in crisis situations

‘Some 37 million of the children who are currently out of school live in areas affected by crisis and conflict. The fact that these children are deprived of their right…

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Fire, death and violent protests at main refugee camp in Lesbos

At least one person has died after a fire broke out at an overcrowded refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos, local officials say. They say the charred body…

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German police to increase border checks

Germany's federal police are set to increase the number of random border checks, said Interior Minister Horst Seehofer late Sunday. Germany's borders stretch 3,700 kilometers. Border checks are not common in…

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Greenland’s Humboldt Glacier exposes layers of ice from ancient climate periods

A handout photo made available by NASA shows an aerial view of a lake bounded to the left by Washington Land, a deglaciated peninsula that juts into the Kane Basin,…

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Hundreds of thousands join Canada climate strikes

Hundreds of thousands of people have joined climate strike marches across Canada, with almost 100 events planned in cities and towns. Protesters are taking part in the global climate strike…

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Global Strike for Climate in Pictures

Millions of people across the world are taking part in demonstrations demanding action on climate issues on Friday. The Global Climate Strike Week is held from 20 September to 27…

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NZ students march in second wave of climate strikes

More than 40,000 people packed into the grounds of Wellington's parliament buildings Friday, giving the latest global climate strike a flying start with the largest turnout yet seen in New Zealand. Children…

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160 Italian cities to hold climate strikes on Friday

The international movement Fridays for Future, which involves school students who strike to demand action on climate change, has planned strikes across Italy and 26 other countries on Friday, September…

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‘Childhood is changing, and so must we’, UNICEF declares, as world marks historic convention

Since its adoption 30 years ago, the milestone Convention of the Rights of the Child and its near universal membership has created “unprecedented international solidarity around children’s rights,'' the Secretary-General…

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Joint AU-EU-UN Taskforce tries to find a solution to the migrant and refugee situation in Libya

The AU–EU–UN Tripartite Taskforce on the Situation of Stranded Migrant and Refugees in Libya met this week in New York in the margins of the high-level General Debate of…

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French President says ‘France cannot host everyone’

French President Emmanuel Macron has declared that France "cannot welcome everyone", the latest in a series of comments suggesting tighter new laws on immigration. Macron set the tone last week…

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Don’t buy coastal properties’: UN scientists issue stark warning on climate

No part of the planet will be spared a climate crisis as oceans warm, and glaciers and ice sheets melt, according to a pivotal report by United Nations scientists. The…

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The ISS expedition 61/62 gets ready to launch

A member of the International Space Station (ISS) expedition 61/62, UAE astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri leaves a hotel during the send-off ceremony before the launch of the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft…

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Microsoft’s Xbox To Be First Carbon Neutral Game Console With Test Program

Following this week’s UN Climate Action Summit, Microsoft has announced that through its Xbox, it has joined the newly-formed which consists of 21 leading video game companies who have pledged to…

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IOM, UNICEF Strengthen Partnership to Respond to Needs of Migrant Children

Children as young as 10 are among Ethiopians leaving for better prospects outside the country, many with their parents’ consent. Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country after Nigeria, accounts…

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Actions not words: what was promised at the UN’s landmark climate summit?

UN Secretary-General warned leaders not to come to his landmark Climate Action Summit with beautiful speeches, but to present concrete plans for cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions, and strategies for…

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Twenty-three arrests made in the UK in people smuggling investigations

Twenty-three arrests have been made around the UK as part of a series of ongoing investigations into suspected people smuggling into the UK. The arrests, made between Wednesday 11 and…

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Malta migrant agreement is turning point says Italian PM Conte

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has hailed the agreement Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese reached in Malta with other EU countries on Monday on sharing the burden of the migrants who…

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Activist protest during Malta Ministerial Meeting on Migration at Fort St. Angelo

Activists set banners 'EU Get your Ships Together!' during a Ministerial Meeting on Migration at Fort St. Angelo in Vittoriosa, Malta, 23 September 2019. Interior ministers of Germany, France, Finland,…

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Greek police detain 10 Syrians disguised as volleyball team

A handout photo made available by the Greek police shows a group of migrants dressed as a team of volleyball players at the airport in Athens, Greece, 22 September 2019…

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Installation of Soyuz rocket booster in Kazakhstan

The Soyuz booster rocket FG with Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft attached, is rolled out to the launch pad by train at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, 23 September 2019. The launch…

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Another warning on climate change as UN Climate Action Summit opens in NY

Ahead of Monday's United Nations Climate Action Summit, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that signs and impacts of global heating are speeding up. The data, compiled by the World…

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