Mexican court employees call 5-day strike to protest proposed funding cuts | AP News

Mexican court employees call 5-day strike to protest proposed funding cuts | AP News

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican court employees said Wednesday they will go on strike from Thursday through Tuesday to protest proposed funding cuts, threatening an already creaky court system.President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has proposed cutting funds for the judicial branch, arguing that judges make too much money and often protect criminals.The court employees’ union

Continue reading

The pope’s absolute power, and the problems it can cause, are on display in 2 Vatican trials | AP News

The pope’s absolute power, and the problems it can cause, are on display in 2 Vatican trials | AP News

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Two Vatican trials are coming to a head this week and posing uncomfortable questions for the Holy See, given they both underscore Pope Francis’ power as an absolute monarch and the legal, financial and reputational problems that can arise when he wields it.On Wednesday, the Vatican’s former in-house auditor was in

Continue reading

Spain’s leader mulls granting amnesty to thousands of Catalan separatists in order to stay in power | AP News

Spain’s leader mulls granting amnesty to thousands of Catalan separatists in order to stay in power | AP News

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona accountant Oriol Calvo ran afoul of the law when he was arrested in 2019 during a mass protest by supporters of Catalonia’s independence from Spain that turned violent. A court found him guilty of public disorder and of aggressive behavior toward a police officer — offenses he denies. The 25-year-old

Continue reading

The trees arrived with Polynesian voyagers. After Maui wildfire, there’s a chance to restore them | AP News

The trees arrived with Polynesian voyagers. After Maui wildfire, there’s a chance to restore them | AP News

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — For people around the world, the green leaves that sprouted from a scorched, 150-year-old banyan tree in the heart of devastated Lahaina symbolized hope following Maui’s deadly wildfire this summer. Teams rushed to flood its roots with water, hoping to save a magnificent tree that had provided shade for community events

Continue reading

Failed referendum on Indigenous rights sets back Australian government plans to become a republic | AP News

Failed referendum on Indigenous rights sets back Australian government plans to become a republic | AP News

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia’s failed referendum on the Indigenous Voice has set back the government’s plans to cut the nation’s constitutional ties to Britain’s King Charles III, a minister said Thursday. Australians last week overwhelmingly rejected the referendum that would have enshrined in the constitution an Indigenous advisory body to Parliament. The loss reduced

Continue reading