World Health Organization welcomes country’s ‘crucial step’ in backing use of long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA)
Zimbabwe has become the first country in Africa and the third in the world to approve an HIV prevention drug recently recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Regulators in Australia and the US have already given their backing to use the long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA), and the WHO welcomed the move by Zimbabwe.
Continue reading...Economic and Social Research Institute analysis found ‘substantial reduction in number of products traded’
Trade from the UK to the EU is down 16% on the levels anticipated had Brexit not happened, a new report has found.
Meanwhile trade from the EU to the UK has dropped even further, by 20%, relative to a scenario in which Brexit had not occurred, according to research published on Wednesday by the Economic and Social Research Institute.
Continue reading...Three prison staff and five visitors died after the bombs hit a crowd queuing to drop off parcels for inmates at prison housing political detainees
At least eight people have been killed in explosions at Myanmar’s main prison for political detainees after two bombs exploded on Wednesday morning.
Three prison staff and five visitors, including a 10-year-old girl, died after the bombs hit a crowd queueing to drop off parcels for inmates at Insein Prison, junta authorities said in a statement.
Continue reading...Canada’s foreign minister Melanie Joly said they will meet to discuss protests ignited by the death of Mahsa Amini
Canada is to host a virtual meeting of female foreign ministers to discuss Iran’s “brutal” crackdown on protests ignited by the death of a young woman who was detained by morality police for “improper” use of the hijab.
Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, said she and 14 others will meet virtually on Thursday to discuss the state of women’s and human rights in Iran, Joly’s office said, adding that it would give them an opportunity to coordinate efforts and discuss “ways to increase their collective support for the Iranian people”.
Continue reading...Baptist minister Charles Southall pleads guilty to money laundering as prosecutors say he used cash to cover bills
A Baptist minister renowned in Louisiana has acknowledged stealing nearly $900,000 from his church, affiliated rental properties, his congregants and a charter school.
Charles Southall III, who for more than three decades led First Emanuel Baptist church in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges of money-laundering.
Continue reading...Basketball player, who was arrested at Moscow airport after authorities found vape canisters, thanks supporters
Brittney Griner thanked her supporters from a Russian prison where the detained basketball athlete spent her 32nd birthday on Tuesday.
In a statement released by her lawyers and reported by CNN, Griner said: “Thank you everyone for fighting so hard to get me home. All the support and love are definitely helping me.”
Continue reading...President announces release of 15m barrels of oil from strategic reserve as he fights to keep gas prices in check before midterms
Joe Biden has called on oil companies to pass on their massive profits to consumers as he announced the release of 15m barrels of oil from the US strategic petroleum reserve.
Biden is fighting to keep gas prices in check ahead of November’s midterms. He blamed Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for the global spike in oil prices and said his administration was doing all it could to keep prices in check.
Continue reading...Annual prize awarded to Ukraine’s citizens to honour their fight against Russia’s invasion
The European parliament has awarded the people of Ukraine its annual Sakharov prize for freedom of thought to honour their fight against Russia’s invasion.
“They are standing up for what they believe in. Fighting for our values. Protecting democracy, freedom and rule of law. Risking their lives for us,” the European parliament president, Roberta Metsola, said when she announced the winner.
Continue reading...Russian president says four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia will be put under martial law
If you look hard enough, you’ll spot faded yellow signs proclaiming “fallout shelter” around New York City. They are remnants of a cold war programme that signalled spaces within ordinary buildings – from schools to banks to the Brooklyn Bridge – with adequate supplies and walls thick enough for riding out a nuclear blast safely.
Many of these windowless shelters housed little more than rats and sewage before the practice was terminated in 1979. In 2017, the city’s department of education ordered the “misleading” signs removed from its buildings, but many others remain – vestiges of nuclear fears that never materialised.
Continue reading...President accused of authoritarianism as PM puts end to days of heated parliamentary debate
The French government is to use special constitutional powers to force through its 2023 budget without a parliamentary vote, sparking accusations of “authoritarianism” from the opposition and underlining President Emmanuel Macron’s weakened domestic position since his centrist grouping lost its absolute majority in elections last spring.
“It is our responsibility to make sure our country has a budget”, the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, told parliament as she put an end to several days of heated debate over the government’s pro-business budget, which ministers said would protect people from the cost of living crisis while avoiding tax increases.
Continue reading...Authorities alerted by villagers in Mzimba area, 250km north of capital, to site believed less than a month old
Authorities in Malawi have discovered a mass grave in the north of the country containing the remains of 25 people suspected to be migrants from Ethiopia.
“The grave was discovered late on Tuesday but we cordoned it off and started exhuming today. So far, we have discovered 25 bodies,” said a police spokesperson, Peter Kalaya.
Continue reading...Bob Chan backs calls for UK government to expel any Chinese officials involved in peaceful protest
A pro-democracy protester who appeared to be beaten up by men from China’s consulate in Manchester has condemned the attack as “barbaric” and backed calls for the UK government to expel any Chinese officials involved.
Speaking for the first time since the incident, which was captured on video, Bob Chan said: “I’m shocked and hurt by this unprovoked attack,” adding he had been taking part in a “peaceful protest”.
Continue reading...John Lee pledges to enact anti-subversion law while emphasising need to alleviate brain drain
Hong Kong’s new leader has pledged to enact an anti-subversion law, tighten up cybersecurity and crack down on false information and crowdfunding activities, after China’s Xi Jinping issued calls to reinforce national security.
In his first policy address since becoming the city’s chief executive in July, John Lee also emphasised the need to “proactively trawl the world for talents” to help alleviate a brain drain, acknowledging that the local workforce had shrunk by about 140,000 in the last two years, after a national security law came to force.
Continue reading...Former Wimbledon champion trains at Huntercombe prison where he is serving time for hiding assets, German tabloid reports
Boris Becker is reported to have lost weight and won friends in the UK prison where he is serving a sentence related to his 2017 bankruptcy, according to a German newspaper.
The former Wimbledon champion was transferred from Wandsworth prison to Huntercombe prison near Nuffield, Oxfordshire, in May. In April he was jailed for two and a half years for concealing £2.5m of assets to avoid paying money he owed after his bankruptcy.
Continue reading...Structure would protect areas identified as posing potential risk of large-scale migration from Russia
Finland’s main political parties have backed building a fence along parts of the country’s border with Russia, with work on a short pilot section expected to start as soon as funds have been allocated, Finnish media have reported.
Neighbouring Norway, which also shares a border with Russia in the far north, on Wednesday said it had arrested a seventh Russian national suspected of illegally flying drones or taking photographs in restricted areas in recent days.
Continue reading...Maurizio Gasparri has higher chance of success this time after rightwing coalition’s election victory
An Italian senator has submitted a proposal for an amendment to Italy’s civil code that would recognise a foetus as a human being, which if passed into law could enable pregnancy terminations to be classified as murder.
Maurizio Gasparri, a politician with Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, which is part of the government led by Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy – a party with neofascist origins – expected to be sworn in next week, unleashed a barrage of criticism from members of the opposition when he presented his “rights of the unborn child” proposal to the senate.
Continue reading...Mallikarjun Kharge, a Gandhi loyalist, aims to lead fightback against Narendra Modi’s BJP
India’s Congress party has appointed its first president in 24 years not from the Gandhi dynasty, in an effort to reverse its apparent decline and take on the seemingly invincible Narendra Modi.
Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, a loyalist in the court of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty which rules the party, defeated the rival candidate Shashi Tharoor by almost 7,000 votes in a poll of 9,000 party delegates.
Continue reading...Elnaz Rekabi says she did not intend to compete without headscarf amid fears among public over how regime will react
The Iranian competitive climber Elnaz Rekabi has received a hero’s welcome on her return to Tehran after competing in South Korea without wearing a headscarf as required of female athletes from the Islamic Republic.
Video shared online showed large crowds at Imam Khomeini international airport terminal outside Tehran despite the 4am arrival time of Rekabi’s flight. People clapped and chanted the 33-year-old’s name and handed her flowers inside the terminal.
Continue reading...Chief executive says territory will ‘trawl world for talent’ after lockdowns and political unrest cause brain drain
Hong Kong has unveiled a HK$30bn ($3.8bn) co-investment fund to attract overseas businesses back to the city after an exodus of talent prompted by strict lockdowns and a tumultuous political climate.
A raft of measures to address the brain drain were announced by Hong Kong’s chief executive, John Lee, in his first policy address on Wednesday – although his plans have largely failed to reassure investors.
Continue reading...International Centre of Justice for Palestinians says diplomatic move in Israel in breach of international obligations
A legal group that supports the rights of Palestinians has written to Liz Truss to tell her that it plans to launch a judicial review in an attempt to block any UK government movement of the British embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has commissioned a legal opinion in support of its argument that such a move would be in breach of the government’s international obligations.
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