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Finland went to the polls last weekend in the context of a war to the east, a rising cost of living, and growing inequality. The mood was cynical, and Finns delivered a harsh rebuke to the ruling Social Democrat–led coalition. The results have potentially opened the door to power for the far-right.

The strike actions of the French trade unions and the government employees organisations against the hurriedly passed pension bill in Parliament by President Emmanuel Macron, are set to get a new dimension with the election of Ms Sophie Binet as the new general secretary of the leftwing trade union CGT. For the first time in the 128 year old history of this premier TU body, a woman has been elected as the head of the organization and that too at a time when the entire working population of the country are engaged in a battle against the Macron regime.

Laughing at the places life takes me. Why hello there, Instagram. Thus began the instagram takeover of Zeenat Aman, whose bio reads: “Actor mother, Maverick”. Accompanying the caption was an image of the veteran actor seated at her home on “a lovely sunny afternoon”, wearing; grey—and white—cord set and sporting a silver bob. The post began a talking point as it marked the screen sensation’s return to a public platform over half a century after she burst into popular consciousness playing a troubled young flower child in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971). Holding a marijuana pipe, she was seen iconic Dum maarodum song. Comfortable in her own skin, the model-turned-actor was hailed as ‘game changer’, an unconventional heroine with western looks.

Communal clashes during passage of Ram Navami processions at Kazipara in Howrah followed by another flare up at Rishra in Hooghly has the Trinamool Congress leadership worried about its minority support base. These conflagrations could not come at a worse point as they erupted in the wake of the shock defeat in the Sagardighi by-poll of the nominee of the state's ruling dispensation.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The arson attack inside a coach of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express in Kozhikode, Kerala, which left three persons dead and eight injured, underlines the urgent need to tighten security systems on trains and at railway stations.

Cryptocurrency prices are once again on a rebound. Bitcoin is above $28,000 consistently for some time and most of the leading altcoins are similarly in the green over the past few weeks. The rise in bitcoin prices after remaining subdued for nearly a year coincides with some of the major collapses in the global banking industry.

NEW DELHI: People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), along with the National Network of LBI (Lesbian, Bisexual, Intersex) Women and Trans Persons (The Network), organised a press conference to present findings from a public hearing, where testimonies and lived experiences of queer and transpersons facing conflict from their families were recorded.

The significance of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin’s ‘social justice federation’ cannot be overstated though only the politically illiterate will think of it as a social justice forum, when in reality, it’s a group of like-minded opposition parties seeking to cement opposition unity to dethrone the BJP from all positions of power everywhere.

Passing of Right to Health Bill by the Rajasthan Assembly is a long overdue requirement of the citizens and demand of the health care organizations. This Act gives the residents of Rajasthan right to free healthcare. The right to health thus becomes justiciable, that is the government is now answerable in eyes of law. The Act primarily puts the onus on the state to ensure healthcare to the people and through guarantee of nutrition, safe drinking water, sewerage facilities etc. The patients will have the facility to avail of OPD or indoor care free of charge in the public health facilities.

Work should speak for itself, and when it fails in convincing people, interested parties come forward to defend or to praise the people of institutions who are accused of inefficiency or deliberate omission and commission. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come forward in defence of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) showering praises for their ‘efficiency’ which was very harshly commented upon by the Supreme Court of India only one-and-half year ago. Even recently, a petition has been filed jointly by the 14 political parties in the Supreme Court of India alleging the central agencies have become merely tools of Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to subdue political opposition in the country.