In preparation for plan, Ontario has indemnified itself from liability if cyclists are killed on streets that once had bike lanes
Removing bike lanes from busy city streets will increase traffic congestion, according to a Canadian government document leaked amid a furious row over urban infrastructure.
The findings, which come as the province of Ontario goes to war over cycling infrastructure in Toronto, undercut claims that the dedicated routes contribute to urban gridlock.
Continue reading...Kremlin dispatched weapons as payment for 10,000 troops deployed to support war in Ukraine, says South Korean official
Russia has sent air defence missiles and other military technology to North Korea in return for the deployment of troops from the North to support the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, intelligence officials in South Korea have said.
The shipments were the latest expression of a deepening alliance that allies and enemies fear could fuel the escalation of the war in Ukraine, geopolitical tensions in Asia, and potentially even global nuclear arms proliferation.
Continue reading...Former PM, whose daughter died when she was 11 days old, says debate is moving too fast and calls for commission on palliative care
• Gordon Brown: We need better end-of-life care, not assisted dying
The former prime minister Gordon Brown has declared his opposition to the legalisation of assisted dying, saying the death of his newborn daughter in January 2002 convinced him of the “value and imperative of good end-of-life care”.
In a rare and poignant glimpse into the tragedy, he says the time he and his wife, Sarah, spent at their baby Jennifer’s bedside “as her life ebbed away” were “among the most precious days of [our] lives”.
Continue reading...Simone White was one of six people to die in suspected methanol poisoning incident in Vang Vieng
Tributes have been paid to the “beautiful, kind and loving” British tourist Simone White, one of six people to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos.
The six died after allegedly being served drinks laced with methanol in Vang Vieng, a town popular with backpackers. These include the Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both 19, an American man and two Danish women aged 19 and 20.
Continue reading...Chancellor understood to be determined to keep policy despite Treasury analysing ways to soften impact
Rachel Reeves is holding firm against a U-turn on inheritance tax for farmers, despite the Treasury analysing ways of softening the impact.
The chancellor is understood to be determined not to drop the policy even though some Labour MPs – and even ministers – are worrying about the political fallout that has led to farmers protesting in Westminster this week.
Continue reading...Government protests ‘unfriendly and inappropriate’ comments by French president caught on camera
Haiti’s government has summoned the French ambassador to the country to protest about “unfriendly and inappropriate” comments from Emmanuel Macron, who was caught on camera calling the country’s leaders “morons”.
The French president had on Wednesday described the decision of the Caribbean country’s transitional presidential council to oust the prime minister earlier this month amid an escalation in gang warfare as “completely dumb”.
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