Tourist found guilty of causing death through reckless act while on drugs, and of fleeing the scene
A British tourist has been jailed for a year after a Cypriot court convicted him over the hit-and-run death of a Swedish mother in a holiday resort on the island.
The Famagusta district court also revoked the 25-year-old’s driving licence for 18 months on Friday, but authorities did not release his name.
Continue reading...Election-related deaths plague lead-up to voting day in election closely watched by China and Australia
Papua New Guinea is heading to the polls on Monday and there are fears the vote could be more violent than the 2017 elections, in which more than 200 people died.
Violence has plagued the lead-up to the vote. Local media reports that through May and the campaign period, there have been 28 election-related deaths, several injuries, an assassination attempt on a possible candidate, the shooting of an election official and burning of five vehicles.
Continue reading...World Cup winner Megan Rapinoe also among 17 recipients of Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor
The gymnast Simone Biles and soccer player Megan Rapinoe are among 17 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest US civilian honor, the White House announced on Friday.
The two sport stars are being celebrated for their accomplishments in competition and in social activism.
Continue reading...UN body adds Ukrainian borscht-making to list of intangible cultural heritage that includes Neapolitan pizza-slinging
The UN’s cultural body has added the cooking of Ukrainian borscht to its list of endangered cultural traditions, accepting Ukraine’s petition to fast-track its application following the invasion by neighbouring Russia.
Ukrainian borscht-making “was today inscribed on Unesco’s list of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding”, Unesco said in a statement on Friday.
Continue reading...Two countries sign restitution agreement covering more than 1,000 items in German hands
Germany has physically handed over two Benin bronzes and put more than 1,000 other items from its museums’ collections into Nigeria’s ownership, more than a century after they were looted by British soldiers from the once powerful kingdom in west Africa.
The German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, and the culture minister, Claudia Roth, signed a restitution agreement with their respective Nigerian counterparts, Zubairu Dada and Lai Mohammed, in Berlin on Friday afternoon.
Continue reading...Forest fire broke out on Tuesday and destroyed around 100 acres of land – the equivalent of about 50 football pitches
Peruvian authorities say firefighters have managed to control a forest fire near the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu after three days battling the flames.
The blaze near one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites broke out on Tuesday, destroying around 100 acres of land – the equivalent of about 50 football pitches.
Continue reading...Phuc, pictured in 1972 running from napalm attack during Vietnam war, has final laser treatment in Miami
Phan Thi Kim Phuc, whose photograph became a symbol of the horrors of the Vietnam war, has had her final skin treatment with a burn specialist, 50 years after her village was struck by napalm.
Phuc was photographed aged nine as she ran, unclothed and screaming in agony, after napalm was dropped by a South Vietnamese Skyraider attack aircraft. Nick Ut, the photographer who captured the image in June 1972, drove her away to find medical treatment.
Continue reading...Collaboration between national water agency and craft brewer described as ‘highly quaffable’
It is a beer made with only the finest ingredients: premium German barley malts, aromatic Citra and Calypso hops, farmhouse yeast from Norway – and reclaimed sewage.
NewBrew, a collaboration between Singapore’s national water agency and the local craft brewery Brewerkz, has already proved popular and has sold out on tap at the brewery’s restaurants, according to reports.
Continue reading...This blog is closed. All the Guardian’s Ukraine coverage can be found here
Two children are among 18 people killed by a missile strike in Odesa, according to the latest update from regional governor Maksym Marchenko.
He posted to Telegram to say:
As a result of a night missile strike by Tu-22 strategic aircraft from the Black Sea in the Belgorod-Dniester district of Odesa region, three X-22 missiles hit an apartment building and a recreation centre.
As of 9am, 18 victims were identified, including 2 children, and 31 people were hospitalised, including 4 children and a pregnant woman. Another 8 sought medical help. 8 people were rescued from the rubble, including 3 children. Rescue work continues.
Continue reading...Coalition government consults health experts, economists and growers in race to clear legal hurdles within two years
Germany is mulling over the consequences of soon becoming the world’s largest potential market for legally sold cannabis, as the country’s left-liberal government presses ahead with plans to allow the controlled distribution of the drug among adults.
Olaf Scholz’s coalition government has in recent weeks reiterated its 2021 coalition-deal vow to legalise for recreational use what its Green and liberal party minister have taken to referring to as Bubatz, a slang word for weed popular among German rappers.
Continue reading...Armed forces urge residents to seek shelter after twin attacks on southern port city, say Ukrainian officials
At least 18 people have been killed after two Russian missiles struck a multi-storey apartment building and a recreation centre in the southern port city of Odesa in the early hours of Friday, Ukrainian officials have said.
Ukraine’s armed forces issued an alert urging residents to seek shelter after three explosions and air raid alarms were heard shortly before 1am local time.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch calls for donors to cut off funding to security forces and urges international court to investigate
Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip systematically torture critics in detention, a practice that could amount to crimes against humanity, an international rights group has said.
In its report, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called for donor countries to cut off funding to Palestinian security forces that commit such crimes and urged the international criminal court to investigate.
Continue reading...At least 18 dead after Russian missile strikes multi-story apartment building in Odesa; Russian forces withdraw from Snake Island in Black Sea
Continue reading...The January 6 committee cannot charge Trump, but they can make criminal referrals. Here are the key legal issues at stake
In six televised hearings, the House January 6 committee has presented extraordinary testimony about Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and its culmination, the deadly attack on the US Capitol by a far-right mob.
The committee is made up of seven Democrats and two rebel Republicans, Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, who refused to follow their party in bending the knee to Trump.
Continue reading...UK government accused of leaving former employees and their families ‘in limbo’ in Afghanistan, where they are targets for the Taliban
More than 170 people who worked for the British embassy in Kabul remain in hiding in Afghanistan in fear for their lives, almost a year after the Taliban retook the country.
A list of Afghans currently in hiding, seen by the Guardian, shows almost 200 former interpreters, security guards and local staff waiting for a response from the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office, the departments responsible for relocating people at risk. All of those on the list are eligible for transfer to the UK under the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap), intended to bring those formerly employed by the UK government, and their family members, to safety in Britain.
Continue reading...Developing countries’ delegates at UN conference seek recognition of small fisheries’ role in protecting oceans and fighting hunger
Small-scale fishermen and women from coastal nations in the frontline of the “ocean emergency” have accused world leaders and other decision-makers at the UN oceans conference of ignoring their voices in favour of corporate interests.
More than half of the world’s fish caught for human consumption comes from small-scale fishing communities, yet their contribution to food security and ocean protection is not being sufficiently recognised, they say.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Pether, who has been imprisoned for 14 months in Baghdad, has become ‘gravely ill’ according to his family
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has raised the case of jailed engineer Robert Pether with the Iraqi leader, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, as the Australian’s family warns he has become “gravely ill” and is rapidly deteriorating in his Baghdadi jail cell.
Pether has now been imprisoned for more than 14 months following a commercial dispute between his engineering firm and Iraq’s central bank, which had hired Pether’s company to help build its new Baghdad headquarters. Pether’s family say he is innocent and the trial was unfair and compromised.
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Continue reading...Second judge suspended as legal challenge from first judge due to begin, escalating ongoing controversy over separation of powers
Kiribati is embroiled in a constitutional crisis after the government suspended its chief justice, leaving the judiciary in disarray as experts raise concerns about the rule of law. The move escalates an ongoing controversy over separation of powers in the Pacific nation, after Kiribati’s only other high court justice, Australian David Lambourne, was suspended in May.
On Thursday the chief justice, distinguished New Zealand judge William Hastings, was due to begin hearing a legal challenge brought by Lambourne. The suspended judge was seeking initial orders restoring his salary and facilitating his return to the country, ahead of a constitutional challenge to the suspension.
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Continue reading...Twenty hectares near Inca ruins affected in blaze started by farmers burning grass before sowing crops
Peruvian firefighters were fighting to contain a forest fire near the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu as the blaze threatened to close in on the ancient city in the Andean mountains on Thursday.
The fire, which had engulfed an area about half the size of Vatican City, was started on Tuesday by farmers burning grass and debris to prepare to sow crops.
Continue reading...Talks to save 2015 agreement on brink of collapse as Tehran is also accused of testing missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons
Iran has been accused of making “maximalist demands” in the latest unsuccessful round of talks on reviving the nuclear non-proliferation deal at a grave session of the UN security council in which it was widely acknowledged that the talks – and the whole 2015 deal – were on the brink of collapse.
Iranian and US officials, with the EU acting as mediators, held two days of talks in Doha in a bid to break a months-long impasse, but no progress was made on Iran’s central demand that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps be removed from US sanctions and its list of foreign terrorist organisations.
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