Council

Long-running dispute could be resolved as improved offer is made to workers, who first began strike in January 2025The end of the year-long Birmingham bin strike is now “within sight”, the city council leader has said after committing to an improved offer for refuse workers.On Monday, John Cotton, the Labour leader of Birmingham city council, said a new, improved offer could be made to workers that he hoped would “end the strike once and for all”. Continue reading...

• The UN Security Council failed to reach consensus on a resolution extending cross-border humanitarian aid to Syria, with Russia vetoing the measure on Friday amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Western nations over the Syrian conflict's humanitarian toll. • Russia's veto marks the third such blocking in two years, preventing critical medical supplies and food assistance from reaching 5.5 million internally displaced Syrians, according to UN humanitarian coordinator statements. • Western diplomats warned the blockade could exacerbate an already severe humanitarian crisis, with aid agencies reporting shortages of vaccines, antibiotics, and nutrition programs across northern Syria.

• The Trump administration announced its withdrawal from the United Nations Human Rights Council and ended all support for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which the administration characterized as funding Hamas. • The decision represents a significant shift in US policy toward international human rights organizations and Palestinian humanitarian assistance programs. • The move reflects the Trump administration's hardline stance on Middle East policy and international organizations it views as hostile to US and Israeli interests.

• The UN Security Council failed to authorize cross-border humanitarian assistance into Syria after Russia vetoed a resolution supported by 13 member states on Thursday, April 10, blocking aid deliveries to rebel-held northwest regions. • The veto marks the seventh Russian obstruction of Syria humanitarian measures since 2011, leaving an estimated 4.5 million Syrians in need without international UN-coordinated relief channels. • Humanitarian organizations warn the blockade will exacerbate a severe food and medicine shortage, with winter conditions deteriorating access to displaced populations in Idlib province.

Ron Gibson had recently expressed support for a 14-acre, $500m data center project in Martindale-BrightwoodAn Indianapolis city councilor said his home was fired at on Monday, with a note left behind suggesting he had been targeted over his support of data centers.The case involving Ron Gibson – a Democrat on Indianapolis’s city council since 2024 – comes amid growing bipartisan concern in the US over political violence in the wake of cases such as the September murder of Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist. Continue reading...

• The UN Security Council meeting on April 5, 2026, failed to pass a Ukraine ceasefire resolution after the US vetoed amendments proposed by Russia demanding NATO withdrawal from Eastern Europe. • US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield cited 'unacceptable preconditions' in the Russian text, while 12 members supported a neutral monitoring force of 5,000 troops. • This impasse highlights deepening geopolitical divides, prolonging humanitarian suffering with over 1.2 million displaced since January and risking broader NATO-Russia confrontation.

Riccione’s leftwing mayor, Daniela Angelini, says public purchase is victory for town and ‘act of love and vision’An Italian council has bought a villa where Benito Mussolini spent his summer holidays, partly to avoid the property falling into the hands of “fascist nostalgics”.Daniela Angelini, the leftwing mayor of Riccione, a town close to Rimini along Italy’s Adriatic coast, said the acquisition of Villa Mussolini through an auction was “an act of love and vision” and that bringing it back into public hands was a victory for the entire town. Continue reading...