Sweden set to rent cells in Estonian jails as it runs out of room for its prisoners

Centre-right government rejects long-established national policies focused on rehabilitation and reintegration

Sweden is moving away from criminal rehabilitation in favour of US-style mass incarceration, experts have said, as the country prepares to rent places in Estonian jails to help house its rapidly expanding prison population.

The move to outsource prison places is one of a slew of policies aimed at transforming the Swedish criminal justice system as the centre-right government struggles to tackle gang violence and prisons warn of overcrowding.

Continue reading...

The Killing Fields execution site and two former Khmer Rouge prisons added to Unesco heritage list

The three Cambodian sites’ inscription coincides with the 50th anniversary of the rise to power of the brutal regime

Three locations used by Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime as torture and execution sites 50 years ago have been added by Unesco to its world heritage list.

The three locations were inscribed to the list by the UN cultural agency on Friday during the 47th session of the World Heritage Committee in Paris.

Continue reading...

Sydney family of detained Palestinian woman plead with home affairs minister over visa cancellation

‘We need our auntie back, we need her freedom,’ says cousin of Maha Almassri, who was moved to Villawood detention centre after pre-dawn raid

The family of a Palestinian grandmother detained in Sydney by immigration authorities after a pre-dawn raid have pleaded with the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, for answers about her visa cancellation and “real representation” to secure her freedom.

Maha Almassri, 61, was on Thursday morning awoken by border force officers at her son’s home in western Sydney. She had fled Gaza in February 2024 and entered Australia on a visitor visa shortly afterwards. She was granted a bridging visa in June 2024 after applying for a protection visa.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Father given £1,173 refund from nursery in England after ‘top-up’ fees investigation

Preschool establishment asked for extra compulsory fee for ‘consumables’ – but it should have been free

A nursery has refunded a father almost £1,200 after an investigation found he had been charged mandatory “top-up” fees for hours of childcare that should have been free.

Tiago Gomes’s daughter was eligible for government-funded childcare at the Lake House day nursery and preschool in Bristol but he was told that he must pay an extra compulsory fee for “consumables”.

Continue reading...

Nearly 60 Labour MPs call for UK to immediately recognise Palestinian state

Exclusive: MPs say in letter Gaza is being ethnically cleansed as Israeli defence minister plans ‘forcible transfer’

Nearly 60 Labour MPs have demanded the UK immediately recognises Palestine as a state, after Israel’s defence minister announced plans to force all residents of Gaza into a camp on the ruins of Rafah.

The MPs, who include centrist and leftwing backbenchers, sent a letter to David Lammy on Thursday warning they believed Gaza was being ethnically cleansed.

Continue reading...

MPs and political candidates face ‘industrial’ levels of abuse, minister says

Exclusive: Young people deterred from politics, Rushanara Ali warns, as government plans stricter punishments

MPs and political candidates are facing “industrial” levels of intimidation and harassment, a minister has warned, as the government outlines plans for stricter punishments for those found guilty of abuse.

Rushanara Ali, the minister for democracy, said her colleagues were suffering worse harassment than ever before and warned this was deterring many young people from becoming politically active.

Continue reading...

Science news this week: ‘Bringing back’ giant ancient birds and a shift in Earth’s poles – Live Science

  1. Science news this week: 'Bringing back' giant ancient birds and a shift in Earth's poles  Live Science
  2. 'We're bringing back avian dinosaurs': De-extinction company claims it will resurrect the giant moa in next 10 years  Live Science
  3. Colossal Biosciences’ Next Big Feat: Bringing Back 12-Foot Moa  Yahoo
  4. It’s 12ft tall, covered in feathers and has been extinct for 600 years – can the giant moa bird really be resurrected?  The Guardian
  5. Giant, flightless bird is next target for de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences  CNN
Posted in Uncategorized

Risotto rice under threat from flamingoes in north-eastern Italy

Farmers are seeking ways to fend off birds who are stirring up soil in flooded paddy fields in Ferrara province

An unusual bird is ravaging crops and infuriating farmers in north-eastern Italy: the flamingo.

Flamingos are relatively recent arrivals in the area, and have settled into the flooded fields that produce rice for risotto in Ferrara province, between Venice and Ravenna.

Continue reading...

‘Sheer luck’: how German backpacker Carolina Wilga was found after 11 nights lost in dense Australian outback

With minimal food and water, the 26-year-old drank from puddles, sheltered in a cave and used the sun for navigation

Carolina Wilga spent 11 freezing nights lost in the Western Australian outback, convinced she would never be found.

By “sheer luck” the confused and disoriented German backpacker came across a road, where she flagged down a woman in a passing car on Friday afternoon.

Continue reading...

Trump administration ordered to halt indiscriminate immigration stops in California over racial profiling concerns

Judge issues temporary block in seven counties including Los Angeles after lawsuit accuses government of systematically targeting brown-skinned people

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to halt indiscriminate immigration stops and arrests in seven California counties, including Los Angeles.

Judge Maame E Frimpong on Friday blocked the administration from using what has been called unconstitutional tactics in raids after a lawsuit was filed by immigrant advocacy groups last week.

Continue reading...