U.S. meets Venezuelan officials to express concerns over electoral process

[ad_1] WASHINGTON — U.S. officials met representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Mexico this week to express concerns about Venezuela’s electoral process, a White House official said on Friday. The secret meeting was held as an April 18 deadline approached for the United States to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry…

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Surrogate parenthood is ‘inhuman,’ Italy’s Giorgia Meloni says

[ad_1] ROME — Surrogate parenthood is an “inhuman” practice that treats children as “supermarket products,” Italy’s prime minister said on Friday, urging parliament to pass a bill to prosecute those who go abroad for it. Parenting via surrogacy is already illegal in Italy, punishable with jail and fines, but the right-wing coalition of Giorgia Meloni…

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Ghana ruling party presidential candidate says he opposes same-sex relations

[ad_1] ACCRA — The presidential candidate of Ghana’s ruling party, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, said on Thursday he was opposed to “the practice of homosexuality,” a stance he promised to maintain if elected in December. President Nana Akufo-Addo faces pressure to sign into law one of Africa’s most severe anti-LGBTQ bills, which has been criticized by…

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‘Time running out’ in war-torn Sudan as access to aid restricted, WHO warns

[ad_1] The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday that the crisis in Sudan could worsen in the coming months as the distribution of humanitarian aid and medical supplies remains restricted. War erupted in Sudan on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), devastating the country’s infrastructure, prompting warnings of…

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German parliament votes to make it easier for transgender people to change their name and gender

[ad_1] BERLIN — German lawmakers on Friday approved legislation that will make it easier for transgender, intersex and nonbinary people to change their name and gender in official records. The “self-determination law,” one of several social reforms that Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s liberal-leaning coalition government pledged when it took office in late 2021, is set to take effect…

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