PARIS: A proposal to introduce more courses in English and other foreign languages at French universities is set to be debated in parliament from Wednesday amid concerns it will undermine the country's soul and identity.Several leading unions in the education sector have threatened to strike on Wednesday and the influential Academie Francaise, set up in 1635 and the official authority on the language, has led a chorus of disapproval....
SYDNEY: The most senior Catholic in the Australian state of Victoria on Monday admitted the church had been too slow to act on paedophile priests, but insisted things had changed.Melbourne Archbishop Denis Hart was speaking at a state government inquiry into the handling of child sex cases by religious and non-government bodies after hundreds of children were abused by clergy....
CHIANG MAI: Asia's flood-prone megacities should fund major drainage, water recycling and waste reduction projects to stem deluges and secure clean supply for their booming populations, experts said Sunday.Rapid urbanisation has heaped pressure on water resources and drainage systems across Asia, leaving low-lying areas exposed to massive floods such as those that paralysed Jakarta and Manila last year and central Thailand in 2011....
TIMIKA, Indonesia - Twelve workers have been confirmed dead after a mine tunnel collapse in eastern Indonesia, but 16 others are still unaccounted for five days after the accident, the US operator said Sunday. Rescuers on Saturday retrieved one more body and spotted the remains of six other workers, although they have not managed to reach them yet, said a statement from the Indonesian subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan....
LONDON: One quarter of British lawmakers believe there is an unhealthy drinking culture in the Houses of Parliament, according to a survey published on Friday.Some 26 per cent acknowledged concerns, rising to 36 per cent among female MPs, according to the ComRes survey of 150 lawmakers.Eric Appleby, chief...
LOS ANGELES: An Australian choreographer alleged Thursday that Michael Jackson sexually abused him for seven years as a child, a claim the late singer's estate described as outrageous and sad.Wade Robson -- who testified at Jackson's infamous 2005 molestation trial that the star never touched him -- told a TV interviewer that the self-styled King of Pop was a paedophile and a child sexual abuser....
MANILA: The family of dead dictator Ferdinand Marcos enjoyed easy wins in Philippine elections, official data showed Tuesday, with his unrepentant 83-year-old wife leading the clan's political charge.Imelda Marcos captured more than 88 per cent of the votes cast on Monday to win a second consecutive term in the nation's lower house representing the family's northern provincial stronghold, according to the official tally....
MANILA: Graft-tainted ex-presidents, a dictator's unrepentant wife and politicians charged with crimes such as murder and child rape are among the candidates in the Philippines' mid-term elections on Monday.The Philippines has long endured a corrupt and violent brand of democracy in which politicians use their influence to avoid punishment for crimes, creating a so-called culture of impunity that enrages the masses....
BERLIN: Turkey's foreign minister voiced concern Sunday about rising anti-foreigner sentiment in crisis-hit Europe, on a visit to Germany where a neo-Nazi cell's bloody murder spree claimed mostly Turkish migrants among its victims."We, as Turkey, are concerned with rising xenophobia and right-wing sentiments after the economic crisis in Europe," said Ahmet Davutoglu, who had met relatives of those killed by the self-styled National Socialist Underground earlier on his trip....
CAIRO -- Egypt's ousted president Hosni Mubarak appeared in court on Saturday for the first session of his retrial over charges of corruption and responsibility for killing protesters, Xinhua news agency quoted a state TV media report. As the session kicked off around 10:20 a.m. (0820 GMT), Mubarak's two sons Alaa and Gamal, former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and former top...
