French government trims growth forecast for 2019 budget: PM
The French government will base its 2019 budget on a slightly lower growth estimate than it had previously expected, the prime minister said, insisting plans to rein in spending remained on track.
Afghanistan’s four top security officials resign – government sources
Afghanistan’s ministers of defense and interior, as well as another security chief, quit on Saturday, government sources said, following the resignation of the president’s national security adviser earlier in the day.
Spanish dictator Franco’s family to oppose exhumation plan: media
The family of Spain’s late former fascist dictator Francisco Franco will use all possible legal means to prevent a government plan to move their ancestor’s remains from a grand monument near Madrid, Spanish media said on Saturday.
Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants enter Peru despite passport rule
Hundreds of Venezuelan migrants entered Peru on Saturday to seek refugee status or for other humanitarian reasons, Peruvian authorities said, despite a new rule prohibiting Venezuelans without passports from crossing into Peru from Ecuador taking effec…
Pope compares Church sexual abuse, corruption to excrement, victims say
Pope Francis vowed on Saturday to end the sexual exploitation of children by clergy during a highly-charged visit to once deeply Catholic Ireland and, according to victims, said the corruption and cover up of abuse amounted to human excrement.
Anniversary of Rohingya crisis marked in Bangladesh camps, Myanmar
Refugees in Bangladesh held demonstrations and prayers on Saturday to mark the passing of a year since the outbreak of a conflict in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state that drove hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims from their homes.
Pope Francis meets Irish abuse survivors
Pope Francis met with eight Irish survivors of clerical, religious and institutional abuse for 90 minutes on Saturday during the first papal visit to Ireland since 1979, a Vatican spokesman said.
Ethiopia’s 2020 vote will be free, won’t be delayed by reforms: PM
Ethiopia’s prime minister said on Saturday an election due for 2020 would be free and should not be delayed by his sweeping reforms to the African nation’s politics, economy and diplomacy.
Sick migrants disembark stranded Italian boat as Salvini defies U.N.
Thirteen sick migrants on Saturday left the Italian rescue ship docked for five days in a Sicilian port and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said he was working on a “positive solution” for the remaining 137 people on board.
Play predicts chilling future for Britain’s prized health service
A desperate mechanic driven to operate on his sick wife is the subject of a disturbing play which looks at the future of Britain’s prized public health service, shown at the Edinburgh Fringe.
