World Report

Critics of the Egyption government have accused them of trying to erase all signs of the 2011 Arab Spring. In the UK, approval has been given for the country’s longest motorway tunnel, and in Slovakia, conservationists are alarmed at plans to shoot a quarter of the country’s brown bear population.

In Zambia, temporary cuts in US aid have impacted essential health services and jobs. Meanwhile, Syria has accused Israel of trying to destabilize the country after intense airstrikes on military bases this week. And finally in Nepal, some people are calling for the return of deposed king Gyanendra Shah.

Brazil is gearing up to host the United Nations Climate Change Conference in November. In the US, the Irish American Historical Society faces the challenge of serving an audience fragmented over age and political leaning. And in Mexico, environmental groups have welcomed an increase in the number of butterflies.

In Turkey, people have been protesting against the detention of the politician who is expected to be the opposition's candidate in early presidential elections - Migrants are continuing to leave West Africa on fishing boats to make the journey for Spain's Canary Islands - Why a plan to pedestrianise more of Paris is dividing opinion.

On Friday, former central banker Marc Carney was sworn in as Canada's 24th prime minister. In the UK, the government has given the green light to expand Gatwick Airport. And in India, a Muslim sect is being targeted by the Pakistani government and a far right Islamist party during Ramadan.

Tensions are rising between Greenland and Denmark, as an election is set to take place on 11 March, unaccompanied children who traveled to the Canary Islands from West Africa are finding themselves at the centre of a political row in Spain, while in Czechia a colony of beavers managed to beat bureaucracy and save the taxpayer over €1m.

Canadians have reacted strongly to the threat by Donald Trump of tariffs against Canada. In the Democratic Republic of Congo the UN has warned of a risk of a full scale regional war as rebels and Rwandan forces continue to take territory, and in Turkey there is hope of an end to the 40 year rebellion by Kurdish militants

Syrian prisons used during the al Assad regime are being revisited by former detainees trying to process the cruel treatment they suffered there. In India the worlds largest religious festival is winding down in the city of Prayagraj, and in Denmark mink farming returns to the country after millions of animals were culled during the Covid pandemic.

In Tunisia human rights abuses have prompted a review of EU funding. In Australia it has been another exhausting week for firefighters battling wildfires in the state of Tasmania and in France wine producers are raising concerns about tariffs, climate change and lower consumption amoung young people.

In Togo, 14 people, including an Irish citizen, accused of taking part in demonstrations against the Togolese regime are sentenced to ten years in prison. In the UK a plan to phase out diesel/ petrol vehicles by 2030 has raised alarm in the automotive industry, and Nigeria's government increases telecommunications tariffs on calls and data to 50%.