Abroad

Mark Carney says Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise office hasn’t been ‘effective’ since its 2019 setupCanada is eliminating a watchdog that investigates alleged human rights violations committed by Canadian companies operating abroad, after Mark Carney said the office hadn’t been “effective” since it was set up in 2019.The move comes as Canada faces criticism from Donald Trump’s administration over its “unacceptable” efforts to combat forced labour. Continue reading...

• Former CDC director Tom Frieden has warned that upcoming changes to the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) will significantly reduce the CDC's presence in foreign countries. • Frieden argues that slashing this international infrastructure leaves the U.S. more vulnerable to global health threats, citing current hantavirus and Ebola outbreaks as critical examples. • This shift is significant because a diminished global footprint may hinder the ability to detect and manage emerging diseases before they reach domestic borders.

• The European Union has approved an overhaul of its migration policy focused on increasing deportations and establishing detention centers in non-EU countries. • At least five nations, including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Greece, are currently negotiating "return hubs" in Africa based on Italy's existing model with Albania. • The policy allows member states to form bilateral agreements with third countries to host these centers, a move critics have compared to the Trump administration's immigration strategies.

• The "Hindu Hate Tracker" documented 40 reported incidents of alleged religious hate against Hindus across India and abroad between April 6 and April 12, 2026. • A significant controversy emerged in Tamil Nadu on April 8, 2026, after a viral video showed Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin wiping off vibhuti and kumkum applied by a priest. • This event is particularly sensitive as it occurred during active campaign activities for the upcoming 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections.

Mike Banks, who led Trump’s border crackdown, resigned weeks after reports of prostitution allegationsSign up for the Breaking News US newsletter emailMike Banks, the border patrol chief who oversaw the most aggressive militarization of the US southern border in recent history, has resigned with immediate effect.“It’s just time,” Banks told Fox News in an interview. “I feel like I got the ship back on course from the least secure, most disastrous, most chaotic border to the most secure border this country has ever seen.” Continue reading...

Jason Atherton, who has restaurants in Dubai, St Moritz and now Tuscany, says it’s tough to stay afloat in UK hospitality industryA British Michelin-starred chef says he is opening restaurants abroad to subsidise his UK venues against a backdrop of high taxes and a struggling hospitality sector.Jason Atherton is now in Forte dei Marmi, on the Tuscan coast in Italy, where he is preparing his newest opening, Maria’s, which will be in the Principessa hotel. The Sheffield-born chef now has restaurants all over the world, including in Dubai and St Moritz. Continue reading...

Clause says those aged up to 45 may need permission from armed forces to leave country for more than three monthsA little-noticed clause in sweeping changes to Germany’s military service policy has caused uproar after it emerged that the law requires men aged up to 45 to get permission from the armed forces before any significant stay abroad, even in peacetime.The legislation, which went into effect on 1 January, aims to bolster the the military and demands all 18-year-old men fill out a questionnaire to gauge their suitability to serve in the armed forces, but stops short of conscription. Continue reading...

Cases emerge after other people tell of change in Home Office policy on passports that has left people scramblingTwo more British teenagers have found themselves unable to return to the UK because of new Home Office border rules on British dual nationals.Their cases emerged just hours after reports a 16-year-old British schoolgirl was blocked from boarding a flight in Denmark home to the UK because she was a dual national and did not have a British passport. She has missed two weeks of school so far. Continue reading...