Tourist charged with damaging historic Florentine fountain in pre-wedding prank

Police catch woman, 28, climbing colossal 16th-century statue of Neptune to touch its genitals as a dare

A tourist has been charged after allegedly climbing a colossal marble statue in Florence to touch its genitals for a pre-wedding prank.

Experts said the woman caused thousands of euros of damage to the Neptune fountain in Piazza della Signoria.

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A 42bn-euro dilemma: What is stopping EU from holding Israel to account? – Al Jazeera

  1. A 42bn-euro dilemma: What is stopping EU from holding Israel to account?  Al Jazeera
  2. EU divided on suspension of Israel pact as Spain pushes for action  Reuters
  3. EU foreign ministers reject proposal to suspend association agreement with Israel  The Guardian
  4. Suspend EU-Israel Trade Agreement  Amnesty International
  5. Spain Renews Push to Punish Israel After Orban’s Loss  Bloomberg.com
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‘Impossible’ to reopen strait of Hormuz amid ‘flagrant’ ceasefire breaches, Iran says

Iranian forces seize two ships in critical waterway as Washington and Tehran maintain separate blockades

Iranian forces have seized two ships in the strait of Hormuz as the US and Iran doubled down on imposing separate blockades of the shipping waterway.

The standoff over the strait – through which about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied fossil gas passed through during peacetime – has raised doubts about whether stalled peace negotiations will resume.

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Labour MP calls for Starmer’s resignation to end ‘psychodrama’ – UK politics live

Jonathan Brash says ‘own goals’ are distracting from Labour’s achievements

UK inflation accelerated to 3.3% in March after the Iran war triggered the biggest jump in fuel prices for more than three years, Richard Partington reports.

Today the Liberal Democrats staged a photocall to publicise their line about this being “Trumpflation”. Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson, said:

People across our country have been struggling for years with a devastating cost-of-living crisis and Donald Trump’s idiotic war in Iran has added to it. The cost of fuel is soaring, mortgage rates are rising and fixed energy deals are already going up by hundreds of pounds.

But what is utterly inexcusable is that there are politicians in this country - Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch - who are happy to cheerlead Donald Trump as he hikes people’s bills. All the while this Labour government promised to fix the country but instead we’ve got political Groundhog Day: yet more sleaze and scandal.

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White House close to deal of up to $500m to rescue ailing Spirit Airlines

Rising costs have continued to plague the company, now facing soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran

The White House is finalizing a financing package to help ailing US budget carrier Spirit Airlines, which could receive as much as $500m in loans as rising costs continue to plague the company.

News of the potential deal comes as Spirit and others struggle with soaring fuel costs due to the war with Iran.

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Fighter Jets Collide After Distracted Pilots Whip Out Their Phones – The Daily Beast

  1. Fighter Jets Collide After Distracted Pilots Whip Out Their Phones  The Daily Beast
  2. South Korea’s air force apologizes after picture-taking pilots caused fighter jet collision  CNN
  3. South Korean fighter jets collided due to pilots taking pictures, report finds  BBC
  4. 2021 collision of South Korean warplanes caused by pilots taking video, report says  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  5. Pilot’s mid-flight selfie blamed for South Korean fighter jet collision  The Independent
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Federal judge blocks Trump administration restrictions on wind and solar projects

The injunction pauses policy giving senior Trump official direct sign-off on federal clean energy projects

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday struck down several Trump administration actions slowing down development of clean energy, including a requirement that all solar and wind energy projects on federal lands and waters be personally approved by the interior secretary, Doug Burgum.

Denise J Casper, chief judge of the US district court for Massachusetts, ruled that a coalition of plaintiffs representing wind and solar developers were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims that the administration’s actions violate federal statute and would cause irreparable harm if the court did not intervene.

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British woman died in Ghana trying to recoup money from scammers, inquest told

Janet Fordham died in crash after travelling to see man who claimed he would help to recover money from earlier scams

A British woman who was scammed of up to £1m in a string of so-called romance frauds died in a road crash after travelling to west Africa to try to recoup some of her lost fortune, an inquest in Devon has heard.

Janet Fordham was cheated of her life savings and her home over a period of five years by fraudsters apparently based in the UK, Germany, the US and Ghana, the inquest in Exeter was told.

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Roman Abramovich takes Jersey to European human rights court over Chelsea sale proceeds

Lawyers for oligarch claim freezing of £5.3bn of assets ‘unfair and abusive’ amid row over use of funds for Ukraine

Roman Abramovich has gone to the European court of human rights (ECHR), claiming that a criminal investigation into his financial affairs by the Jersey authorities has breached his human rights, according to reports.

The former owner of Chelsea FC, who is under UK sanctions over his links to Vladimir Putin, is being investigated in Jersey over allegations of corruption and money laundering.

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