Monaco Journal - News from Monaco, Monte-Carlo and the world

The French government on Wednesday defended the arrest of a teenage boy in the middle of class over claims of bullying a transgender classmate, a rare move that angered many pupils and parents despite widespread support for a crackdown on harassment.

Venezuela's government has been intensifying efforts to reduce civic and democratic space, UN experts said Wednesday, voicing alarm at the situation in the run-up to elections next year.

Archaeologists said on Wednesday they have unearthed the oldest wooden structure ever discovered, dating from nearly half a million years ago, which suggests that our ancestors may have been more advanced than previously thought.

Four memorials to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda of more than 800,000 people, mainly Tutsi, were added to UNESCO's World Heritage list on Wednesday, the UN cultural body said.

Italy's antitrust watchdog said Wednesday it has opened an investigation into Ryanair over allegations the Irish low-cost airline is abusing its dominant market position.

The Canadian auto workers union has reached a tentative agreement with Ford, averting a strike as the labor group's US counterpart eyes expanding its ongoing stoppage to more plants.

The European Commission proposed to renew the use of the controversial and widely used herbicide glyphosate in the EU for 10 years on Wednesday, after a report saw no reason to block it.

The European Union and Germany on Wednesday pressed the Polish government to clear up allegations about "serious" visa fraud in a scandal with politically sensitive ramifications for Warsaw's partners in the bloc.

US President Joe Biden launched a new "Climate Corps" on Wednesday to help young people get green jobs, as he tries to sell voters on his plans for a clean energy economy.

India's lower house of parliament passed a bill Wednesday that would more than double the number of women lawmakers in its ranks, following several failed attempts to enact the measure stretching back decades.

Azerbaijan on Wednesday announced it had ended its military operation in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, after separatist Armenian forces agreed to lay down their arms and hold reintegration talks.

Three weeks after Ali Bongo Ondimba was overthrown in a coup, one of his sons and several allies of the ousted Gabon president have been charged with corruption and placed in custody, the state prosecutor said Wednesday.

India's lower house of parliament passed a bill Wednesday that would more than double the number of women lawmakers in its ranks, following several failed attempts to enact the measure stretching back decades.

Wall Street and European stock markets rose Wednesday as traders gear up for an expected pause in the US Federal Reserve's interest rate hike campaign.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday told world leaders humanity's addiction to fossil fuels had "opened the gates to hell" as he kicked off a climate meeting where leading polluters China and the United States were conspicuously absent.

Former Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted the club's re-signing of Cristiano Ronaldo "turned out wrong".

One of France's most iconic paintings, "Liberty Leading the People" by Eugene Delacroix, was taken down from the walls of the Louvre on Wednesday for a restoration expected to last until next spring.

Australia will be looking to improve their breakdown "physicality" when they face Wales in a must-win World Cup clash this weekend, scrum-half Tate McDermott said on Wednesday.

Workers at Apple stores in France are set to strike and disrupt the launch of the iPhone 15 in a battle over pay, trade unions told AFP on Wednesday.

Tottenham forward Ivan Perisic is expected to miss the rest of the Premier League season after suffering a serious knee injury in training.

Vanessa Uwase had little chance of survival when her mother was murdered during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Today, she works at the country's largest memorial to the slaughter -- one of four sites added to UNESCO's heritage list on Wednesday.

Most of Spain's women's national team have agreed to stay with the squad, the government said Wednesday, following a strike by the World Cup winners sparked by the disgraced former president of the football federation forcibly kissing a player.

As a child, Angel Leon spent hours fishing in the marshes of Cadiz in southwestern Spain -- and today the chef draws inspiration from this terrain for his three-star Michelin restaurant.

Turkey on Wednesday parted ways with German head coach Stefan Kuntz after a dire spell in which the national football team failed to qualify for last year's World Cup.

Hospital chiefs on Wednesday warned of danger to patient safety from the latest doctors strike, the first time consultants and junior doctors in England have walked out at the same time.

Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles is set to compete at the upcoming world championships in Antwerp, Team USA announced on Wednesday.

The United States on Wednesday announced $225 million in investments to support emerging democracies in the face of a rise in autocracies around the world.

Marseille have been plunged into crisis just six weeks into the new season as coach Marcelino Garcia Toral left the French giants on Wednesday while the club's president was reportedly considering walking away too after an angry encounter with supporters.

The son of Ali Bongo Ondimba and several allies of the ousted Gabon president have been charged with corruption and placed in custody, the state prosecutor told AFP Wednesday.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan swept to power promising change, but a humiliating military defeat to Azerbaijan and a dramatic escalation in Nagorno-Karabakh tarnished his reputation in the poor ex-Soviet country.

Wales assistant coach Jonathan Thomas warned on Wednesday that Australia would be like a "wounded animal" before this weekend's high-stakes Rugby World Cup game in Lyon.

The UK looked set to backtrack Wednesday on policies aimed at achieving net zero emissions by 2050 with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak expected to water down some of the government's green commitments.