Beijing court finds Chinese-born singer raped three women in November and December 2020
A Beijing court has sentenced the Chinese-born Canadian pop star Kris Wu to 13 years in jail after finding him guilty of crimes including rape, just over a year after his arrest in China, where he was born and built a lucrative career.
The court in Chaoyang district said investigations showed that from November to December 2020, Wu, also known as Wu Yifan, raped three women.
Continue reading...Student archaeologists unearth Huaca Pintada, described as ‘the most exciting and important find of recent years’
A team of student archaeologists has rediscovered a 1,000-year-old multicoloured mural depicting a deity surrounded by warriors which was last seen a century ago in northern Peru.
Known as the Huaca Pintada, the 30-metre-long wall painted with fantastical images depicting mythical scenes was first found in 1916 by a band of treasure-hunting tomb raiders in Illimo near the city of Chiclayo.
Continue reading...Head of Brazil's electoral court rejects claim from outgoing president’s coalition that said voting machines malfunctioned
The head of Brazil’s electoral court has rejected an attempt by outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro’s party to overturn the results of October’s run-off election, which he lost.
Alexandre de Moraes, a supreme court justice, also fined the parties in Bolsonaro’s coalition 22.9m reais ($4.3m) for what the court described as bad faith litigation.
Continue reading...Jayme Erickson could not recognise girl at scene and only found out her identity at end of her shift
A Canadian paramedic who responded to a road crash last week and worked to help a teenage casualty was unknowingly treating her own daughter.
When Jayme Erickson arrived at the scene of the crash on an icy stretch of Alberta highway on 15 November, she found a teenage girl with severe injuries that Erickson knew were probably fatal. Owing to the severity of the girl’s injuries, Erickson could not recognise her.
Continue reading...Court has ratified results of run-off against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva but incumbent claims audit found signs of ‘malfunction’ in some voting machines
Jair Bolsonaro has challenged the Brazilian presidential election he lost last month to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, arguing votes from some machines should be “invalidated”.
Bolsonaro’s claim seems unlikely to get far, as Lula’s victory has been ratified by the superior electoral court and acknowledged by Brazil’s leading politicians and international allies. It could however fuel a small but committed protest movement that has so far refused to accept the result.
Continue reading...Haitian migrants are being deported from Caribbean country and authorities seem to be targeting people based on their appearance
US officials in the Dominican Republic are warning “darker-skinned” Americans they are at risk of being swept up in the country’s crackdown on Haitian migrants.
The advice from the US embassy in Santo Domingo suggests that authorities there are using a person’s appearance as a criteria for detention of those suspected of being in the country illegally.
Continue reading...Region rejoices as Saudi team ‘writes history’ against South American powerhouse in group stage
Saudi Arabia has said Wednesday will be a national holiday as, on the Jeddah Corniche by the Red Sea, in the heart of the capital Riyadh and in towns and villages across the country, its seismic 2-1 World Cup win over Lionel Messi’s Argentina was celebrated as a coming of age.
The national football side’s remarkable victory was being seen as both a triumph on the pitch and a huge moment on the global sports stage, where the regional power has long sought a place in the spotlight.
Continue reading...Internationally famous musician known for hits such as Yolanda, was a supporter of Cuban revolution
The Grammy-winning Cuban singer-songwriter and guitarist Pablo Milanés, known for pioneering the Nueva Trova movement and for hits such as Yolanda and Amo Esta Isla, has died of cancer in Madrid. He was 79.
One of the most internationally famous Cuban musicians, Milanés recorded dozens of albums and toured the world during a career that lasted more than five decades.
Continue reading...Negotiations in Caracas are part of President Gustavo Petro’s promise to bring ‘total peace’ and end nearly 60 years of civil war
Negotiators from the Colombian government and the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrilla group have begun fresh peace talks, the first major step in President Gustavo Petro’s efforts to end nearly 60 years of war.
Petro, a former member of the M-19 insurgency who took office in August, has promised to bring “total peace” to Colombia by negotiating with rebels and crime factions involved in drug trafficking and illegal mining.
Continue reading...Elizabeth May, who led party between 2006 and 2019, to replace Annamie Paul, who quit following 2021 electoral rout
When Canada’s Green party wanted fresh leadership, it turned to a Princeton educated lawyer and adviser at the international criminal court who became the first Black and Jewish woman to ever lead a federal party in Canada.
But after less than a year of legal feuds, infighting and an electoral rout Annamie Paul stepped down, calling her time as leader “the worst period of my life”.
Continue reading...Hebe de Bonafini co-founded Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo in 1977 after her two sons were arrested and then disappeared
Hebe de Bonafini, who became a human rights campaigner when her two sons were arrested and then disappeared under Argentina’s military dictatorship has died, her family and authorities have reported. She was 93.
The death on Sunday was confirmed by her only surviving child, Alejandra, who expressed thanks for expressions of support her mother had received while hospitalised in the city of La Plata. Local officials said she had suffered from unspecified chronic illnesses.
Continue reading...Cuban American, who started recording career at 90 after decades of performing for family and friends, says ‘it’s never too late’
Don’t ever tell Angela Álvarez it’s too late for dreams to come true – the 95-year-old just brought home a Latin Grammy for best new artist, becoming the award show’s eldest winner ever.
The Cuban American musician’s crowning moment came after decades of writing songs but performing them only for friends and family – until, at the age of 90, she went to the Avalon, the historic Hollywood nightclub, and gave her first concert.
Continue reading...Experts say the approval of new infrastructure in geologically vulnerable areas is endangering the lives of residents
Jomary Ortega lives in Ciales, a town located in Puerto Rico’s central mountain range. To get to work and take her daughter to school, she takes PR-146, a highway built on land susceptible to landslides, resulting in a treacherous commute for locals.
But after Hurricane Fiona made landfall on the island in September, Ortega says that much of the highway slid away, or was subsumed by tumbling rocks and mud. “I feared that the road would slide more and I would be a victim – and who would take care of my children?” Ortega said.
Continue reading...Six federal highways blocked on Friday as far-right president has still not conceded defeat in last month’s runoff election
Protesters in Brazil have blocked roads again and lorry drivers threatened to strike in what could be a new wave of support for the outgoing president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Six federal highways were blocked on Friday morning although two were cleared by early afternoon, the federal highway police said in its first bulletin on road closures since 9 November when the first wave of post-election protests dissipated.
Continue reading...Mathieu Godard and Jeremiah Mathias-Polson accused of breaking into Parc Omega in Quebec and killing three wild boar and an elk
Two Canadian men have been charged with entering a safari park in Quebec and shooting three wild boar and an elk, brazen killings that have left staff at the family-themed park in shock.
Police say Mathieu Godard and Jeremiah Mathias-Polson broke through a barrier at Parc Omega on the evening of 10 November.
Continue reading...Gerald Nicolas, 51, accused of conspiring to overthrow government of Jovenel Moïse, who was later assassinated in separate plot
Canadian police have charged a Quebec man with terrorism over allegations he conspired to overthrow the government of the late Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, who was later assassinated in a separate plot.
Gerald Nicolas, 51, stands accused of leaving Canada to facilitate a terrorist activity, facilitating a terrorist activity and providing property for terrorist purposes, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on Thursday.
Continue reading...Despite an abysmal environmental and human rights record, Venezuela’s president is back on the international stage
It is unclear whether Cop27 will have any real impact on efforts to halt climate change but one leader is likely to return from the international summit feeling that the trip to Egypt was well worth it: the Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro.
After years of being frozen out of international relations the Latin American dictator used Cop27 to clearly – if controversially – demonstrate that he is back on the international stage.
Continue reading...President-elect says he will work to save Amazon rainforest and key ecosystems in rousing Cop27 speech
President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told the world that “Brazil is back” at Cop27, vowing to begin undoing the environmental destruction seen under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and work towards zero deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.
Followed by a carnival atmosphere wherever he went on Wednesday, Lula told the climate summit that his administration would go further than ever before on the environment by cracking down on illegal gold mining, logging and agricultural expansion, and restoring climate-critical ecosystems.
Continue reading...Chinese president’s testy remarks about briefings on earlier conversation captured by media pool at G20 summit in Indonesia
Xi Jinping has angrily rebuked Justin Trudeau after Canadian officials shared details of a previous meeting, highlighting the frosty relationship between the two leaders.
In a clip recorded by the media pool at the G20 summit in Indonesia, a visibly frustrated Xi pulls the Canadian prime minister aside and says it was “not appropriate” for details about a previous conversation between the two leaders to have been shared with media, suggesting Trudeau lacked “sincerity” in his approach.
Continue reading...Canadian prime minister met China’s president at G20 summit in Bali amid tensions over aggressive interventions by Beijing
Justin Trudeau has raised “serious concerns” over suspected domestic interference by China in his first talks with President Xi Jinping in more than three years, amid growing frustration over increasingly aggressive interventions by Beijing.
Trudeau discussed his concerns about Chinese “interference activities” in Canada on the sidelines of a Group of 20 meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali, a government source told AFP.
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