List of All Articles with Tag 'rl'

Kathija Bibi recently retired after 33 years of illustrious service in India's Tamil Nadu state.

Many airlines cannot meet a Saturday deadline to equip their fleets with new 5G-tolerant technology.

Britons have been warned against travelling to hotspots of violence in France as riots threatened to escalate out of control. Newly-updated Foreign Office advice warns holidaymakers to “avoid areas where riots are taking place” as the situation becomes “unpredictable”. A total shutdown of public bus and tram services was ordered nationwide on Friday night after shops were looted and several city centres were ablaze from protesters setting light to cars and buildings. President Emmanuel Macron urged parents to keep teenagers at home, saying his government was considering “all options” to restore order. More than 200 police have been injured in the unrest, which was sparked by the fatal police shooting of a teenager. Some areas were facing curfews. By Friday, 875 suspects had been arrested as authorities struggled to quell the clashes. Violence flared in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, Strasbourg and Lille, as well as in Paris, where a 17-year-old driver of Algerian and Moroccan descent, identified only as Nahel M, was shot dead in the suburb of Nanterre. A dozen buses were gutted by a blaze at a depot in Aubervilliers, northern Paris, and a tram was set alight in Lyon. In Nanterre itself, protesters torched cars, barricaded streets and hurled projectiles at police. Shops, including an Apple store, were ransacked in Strasbourg, while several Casino supermarkets were looted. The interior ministry said 79 police posts were attacked overnight into Friday, as well as 119 public buildings, including 34 town halls and 28 schools. Concerts by French singer Mylene Farmer were cancelled at the Stade de France. In the Chatelet Les Halles shopping centre in central Paris, a Nike store was broken into, and several people were arrested after store windows were smashed in the adjacent Rue de Rivoli, police said. The energy minister said several staff of a power distribution firm were injured by stones thrown during clashes. Nanterre shopkeeper Pascal Matieus said: “It’s become completely out of control. The police have lost control.” British holidaymakers who are already in France or planning to travel there over the weekend have become increasingly worried. The Independent calculates that around 260,000 British travellers are booked on flights, ferries and trains to France on Saturday and Sunday. Newly updated official travel advice warns them of potential disruption. “Since June 27, riots have taken place across France. Many have turned violent. Shops, public buildings and parked cars have been targeted,” the government advice states. “There may be disruptions to road travel, and local transport provision may be reduced. Some local authorities may impose curfews. “Locations and timing of riots are unpredictable. You should monitor the media, avoid areas where riots are taking place, check the latest advice with operators when travelling and follow the advice of the authorities.” While most of the unrest has taken place well away from tourist areas, closing down public transport in Paris and other big cities at night will cause significant problems for many holidaymakers. Britain’s biggest budget airline, easyJet, says it will allow passengers booked to travel on Saturday or Sunday to switch to a different flight without paying the normal £49 fee. A spokesperson said: “Any customers due to fly to France this weekend who would like to change their plans can contact our customer service team for assistance with their options which include a transfer to an alternative flight and we will waive the change fee.” Almost all Eurostar trains from London to Paris at the weekend are full, representing around 20,000 travellers. A Eurostar spokesperson said: “Our services to France are currently running as scheduled and normal ticket conditions apply. “We will continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates on Eurostar.com and Twitter if this changes.” As the Foreign Office is not warning against all travel, holidaymakers will not be able to claim if they decide not to continue with their trip to France, or to come home early. Nahel M was driving a car early on Tuesday morning when he was pulled over for breaking traffic rules, prosecutors said. The teenager was too young to hold a full driving licence. His death, caught on video, has ignited longstanding resentment among poor, racially mixed, urban communities about police violence and racism. Read More Travellers warned to be aware of disruptions amid France riots Mother’s tragic last words with son killed by Paris police sparking days of riots Fear of no end to riots in France after police killing of teen: ‘It’s getting worse’ Paris riots - latest: UK issues France travel warning after looting across city Is it safe to travel to Paris right now? Fear of no end to riots across France after police killing of teen: ‘It’s getting worse and worse’ Paris shooting: Where are the riots in France and why are they happening?

When a draft of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v Jackson opinion that would overturn Roe v Wade leaked in May of last year, US Senator Tina Smith had only three words. “This is bulls***,” the Minnesota Democrat tweeted. She had similar words when Walgreens announced in March of this year it would not dispense abortion pills in states where abortion remained legal. Ms Smith told The Independent in a phone interview that she knew the consequences of overturning the enshrined constitutional right to seek an abortion from her time working at Planned Parenthood as the Minnesota branch’s executive vice president for external affairs. She said her time working there taught her about the effects restrictions have on women’s lives. “The first thing I realized is that for women facing a decision about what to do about an unplanned pregnancy, a pregnancy that they don't want, this is a purely personal decision for them,” she said. “As a policymaker, why do Republicans in the Senate and in state legislators around the country think that they know better than those women whose stories they'll never know? Why do they think that they should be the ones who decide? It’s those women's decisions.” Ms Smith said that the Dobbs decision has led to rooting the question of abortion rights in terms of personal freedom. “You know, they can see this, these stories of individuals and doctors that are trying to provide the best health care, get the best health care for people, and you know, they unable to do that and they can see that that's just wrong,” she said. Sen Smith arrived under peculiar circumstances after then-Governor Mark Dayton nominated her, while she was serving as lieutenant governor of Minnesota, to replace Sen Al Franken amid multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour. Similarly, she has often been overshadowed by Minnesota’s senior Democratic Sen Amy Klobuchar, who ran for president. She and fellow midwestern Democratic Sen Tammy Baldwin, of Wisconsin, have a running joke that reporters and Capitol Hill staff often confuse them. In the past year, Sen Smith has emerged as a stronger presence. She wrote some of the climate provisions in what would become the Inflation Reduction Act. When Sen John Fetterman (D-PA) left the Senate for a few weeks to undergo treatment for depression, she spoke about her own difficulties with the condition. In addition, she’s emerged as one of the strongest voices defending abortion rights. Ms Smith said the Dobbs decision has made the contrast between Democrats and Republicans clearer. In recent months, Sen Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) has blocked military nominations because of the Pentagon’s policy that reimburses people who travel out of state to receive abortions. “What Senator Tuberville is doing is so outside the norms of what we should be doing in the Senate, it's outrageous,” she said. “I just need to point out that what Senator Tuberville is trying to do is to overturn a policy which basically provides women serving in the military with the same access to health care that people that are incarcerated in our federal prisons have.” Few Republicans seem deterred from their opposition to abortion despite the role it played in dulling their efforts to flip the Senate last year. Ms Smith’s colleague Sen Tim Scott (R-SC), now a candidate for president, told the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference last month “thank God almighty for the Dobbs decision.” Former vice president Mike Pence has called for a 15-week national abortion ban. Meanwhile, former president Donald Trump has campaigned as the president who nominated the three Supreme Court justices who made the decision possible. Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, who often places a second distant behind Mr Trump in polls, signed legislation banning abortion after six weeks. As vice chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Ms Smith faces a tough challenge because not only does she have to defend Senate seats in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada – all of which President Joe Biden won in 2020 – she also has to defend Senate seats in three states Mr Trump won twice: Ohio, Montana and West Virginia. “And make no mistake, if Republicans win the Senate or if Republicans win the White House, we can see from their statements, they're going to move to pass a national ban on abortion,” she said, noting how many GOP candidates for Senate oppose abortion. “So, this is the contrast, this is what voters will be confronted with when they cast their votes in 2024,” she said. “Do you want to elect individuals who think they know better, that they should be the ones making decisions, individuals that want to ban abortion rights? Or do you want to elect Democrats who believe that women and not politicians should be making their own health care decisions?” At the same time, Democrats face huge challenges to codify abortion rights. Last week, Mr Biden told donors he was personally uncomfortable with abortion. “I'm a practising Catholic,” he said on Tuesday. “I'm not big on abortion, but guess what? Roe v Wade got it right.” Sen Smith defended Mr Biden’s actions defending abortion rights. “I believe that the President and the administration have moved decisively in all the ways that they can as they look for other ways to the practical reproductive freedom, that's a good thing,” she said. “I'm proud of the work that they've done. I think ultimately, the action that we need to take is legislative action, and that is why we need to win these elections.” Last year, shortly after the Dobbs leak, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer tried to put the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have codified the protections in Roe, to a vote. But Sen Joe Manchin (D-WV) opposed the measure. Even then, Sen Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who later left the Democratic Party to become an independent, opposes removing the filibuster, which demands a two-thirds majority to pass legislation. Sen Smith said if Democrats with the House, the Senate and the White House again, they should get rid of the filibuster. “And you know, we need to work towards a Senate majority that will not only support reproductive freedom but will also change Senate rules so that we can act on that belief,” she said. “And that I think is going to as I said before, that I believe will be a decisive issue in the in the elections in 2024.” Read More Congresswoman who authored abortion rights bill calls Senate’s inaction to codify Roe v Wade ‘such a crime’ Ritchie Torres, the only openly gay Black man in Congress, on how he fights GOP ‘bullying’ of LGBT+ people Republicans try to thread the needle on abortion on anniversary of the death of Roe 'Rage giving' prompted by the end of Roe has dropped off, abortion access groups say Arizona executive order safeguards abortion seekers and providers from prosecution Why some doctors stay in US states with restrictive abortion laws and others leave

VIDEO: Ron DeSantis and Jesse Watters love pizza.

Pulses are the latest headache for India’s central bank as a delayed start to the four-month rainy season

US airlines continued to grapple with flight disruptions heading into the busy weekend ahead of Independence Day, keeping

Barclays Plc has updated its leave policy to provide at least 16 weeks for all new parents in

Nascar is about to hit the road in Chicago for the first-ever street race in its marquee series.

China’s Trip.com Group Ltd. said it will offer childcare subsidies to employees for each newborn child through the

A strike at Geneva airport disrupted travel for thousands of passengers on Friday, fueling fresh concern that protests

Office developers in eastern Europe are setting their sights on projects far from their bread and butter like