Babis Anagnostopoulos claims he is living in fear from those he initially blamed for Caroline Crouch’s death
The Greek helicopter pilot given a life sentence for the brutal murder of his British wife in Athens last year claims to be living in fear of those he initially blamed for the crime.
Weeks after being found guilty of suffocating Caroline Crouch, Babis Anagnostopoulos has said his own life is in danger because he has become the target of a “contract killing”.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been pushing for rapid admission, and says the decision will determine the future of Europe
The EU executive will next week make a recommendation on whether Ukraine should be given candidate status to join the bloc, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said.
Such a recommendation would be a preliminary step on a long road to full membership, and Ukraine would need the backing of all 27 EU governments before candidate status was given. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has been pushing for rapid admission into the EU to provide the country with more security since the Russian invasion.
Continue reading...Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips went missing in the western Amazon, but the search has been called inefficient
Indigenous leaders in the area where a British journalist and Brazilian explorer went missing last Sunday have expressed increasing frustration at the lack of coordination in the search for the two men.
Indigenous expert Bruno Pereira and Dom Phillips, a longtime contributor to the Guardian, were last seen on Sunday morning while traveling by boat on the Itaquaí River in the western Amazon.
Continue reading...Analysis: the assault in Ukraine continues, but it seems clear that real damage is being done to Putin’s economy
• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates
Sanctions have affected many aspects of life in Russia, but one particular shortage has sent the wealthy elite into a spin: beauty clinics are running out of Botox.
The business daily newspaper Kommersant reported this month that Botox imports saw a threefold drop to 74,500 units in the period between January and March compared with the same time last year, after one western manufacturer stopped exporting to Russia.
Continue reading...Shaun Pinner’s loved ones ‘devastated’ after he received verdict alongside Aiden Aslin in what UK calls a ‘sham’ sentence
The family of a British man sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces have said they are “devastated” and called for “urgent cooperation” to secure his release.
Shaun Pinner, 48, received the death penalty, along with fellow Briton Aiden Aslin, this week in what the UK government has branded a “sham” sentencing.
Continue reading...UAE has become haven for superyachts, private jets and ‘dirty money’ since invasion of Ukraine, but has taken no action
Campaigners and politicians are calling for the United Arab Emirates to be blacklisted over its failures to combat the flow of “dirty money” and to enforce sanctions imposed on Russian oligarchs.
The Gulf state has emerged as a key refuge for the Russian super-rich fleeing the impact of global sanctions, with private jets and superyachts linked to oligarchs heading to the UAE after the invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Footage shows man striking and dragging woman outside after she pushes him away
Eight people have been arrested over a vicious attack on a group of women at a restaurant in China, police said on Saturday, in a case that has prompted outrage over predatory sexual behaviour.
Footage of the incident widely circulated online shows a man placing his hand on a woman’s back as she shares a meal with two companions at a barbecue restaurant in northern China’s Hebei province.
Continue reading...The actor has been coy about returning to movies after his blockbuster defamation case – but PR moves are being made
Johnny Depp can probably thank his lawyers and PR for suddenly having a shot at a dramatic public image resurrection, but the question remains whether Hollywood will soon restore him to the big screen he used to dominate.
In the wake of his dramatic win in the defamation case against his ex-wife and fellow star Amber Heard – though Heard herself also won on one count against her former husband’s agent – speculation is now rife that Depp may go back to movies, despite his own claims that he has no interest in returning to the franchise blockbusters that supplied his fortune.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese pledges to reset Australia’s strained relationship with France after settling cancelled contract with Naval Group
The Australian government has agreed to pay €550m (A$830m) in a settlement with Naval Group over the former Morrison government’s controversial decision to scrap the French attack class submarine project.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced on Saturday the confidential settlement would draw a line under the cancelled $90bn project. Labor gave bipartisan support to the Aukus partnership that replaced the project – under which the US and the UK have offered to help Australia to acquire at least eight nuclear-propelled submarines and cooperate on other advanced technologies.
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Continue reading...Richard Marles outlines vision of economic cooperation and military deterrence but warns lack of transparency can upset balance
China’s military buildup must be accompanied by transparency and reassurances to its neighbours or risk triggering an arms race, Australia’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, has said.
Speaking in Singapore at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday, Marles laid out a vision of economic cooperation balanced with military deterrence, but sounded a warning about militarisation in the Asia Pacific.
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Continue reading...Prices have spiralled out control since invasion of Ukraine as market struggles to adapt
Eldar Gadzhiev’s heart sank when he heard the sputtering from the engine of his Skoda one day in April. Gadzhiev, who owns a fleet of four cars that he leases as taxicabs in Moscow, knew it was a terrible and expensive time for a breakdown.
Prices for spare parts, if you even could find them, had spiralled out of control since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine two months earlier. “I understood that I was in a bad situation,” he said. “I thought: the repairs are going to cost as much as the car.”
Continue reading...Defence secretary says US does not support Taiwan independence, which China says would prompt it to take island back
The US has warned of “especially stark” stakes in the Taiwan Strait if the status quo is unilaterally altered, as China reiterated its resolve to take the island back if it declares independence.
Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on Saturday, US defence secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington does not support Taiwanese independence, and the Joe Biden administration “categorically” opposes any change of the status quo.
Continue reading...Wife of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas accused of ‘undermining democracy’ after Washington Post revelation
Ginni Thomas, the wife of the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, was accused of “undermining democracy” after it emerged that she emailed 29 Republican lawmakers in Arizona in her effort to overturn Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump.
The Washington Post had previously reported that Ginni Thomas sent emails pressuring two Arizona Republicans to reject Biden’s win and choose their own electors.
Continue reading...Cholera warning as Russia accused of razing high-rises in Mariupol without removing bodies; Serbia rejects call to impose Russia sanctions; fighting rages in Sievierodonetsk
Continue reading...Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, missing for more than five days, had failed to show up in Atalaia do Norte at the end of a reporting trip
Hopes of finding a British journalist and a Brazilian guide faded on Friday as police announced an unsettling development in the search for the two men last seen five days ago on a remote river in Amazonia.
“Search teams found on the river, near to Atalaia do Norte, apparently human organic material,” Brazil’s federal police said in a statement.
Continue reading...Show claiming to feature works by Van Gogh, Matisse and Picasso abruptly cancelled as police launch investigation
An exhibition in Slovenia claiming to feature works by Picasso, Van Gogh and Matisse was abruptly cancelled this week over fears some works were forged, prompting a police probe on Friday.
The National Museum of Slovenia planned to officially open the show on Wednesday this week, entitled “Travels” and featuring 160 paintings owned by the little-known Boljkovac family.
Continue reading...Judge refuses to grant interim relief after lawyers for asylum seekers argued policy was unlawful
A high court judge has ruled that a controversial deportation flight to Rwanda that was due to take off early next week can go ahead.
Mr Justice Swift refused to grant interim relief – urgent action in response to an injunction application made by several asylum seekers facing offshoring to Rwanda.
Continue reading...France’s biggest ever criminal trial enters final weeks, with prosecutors expressing regret about unanswered questions
French prosecutors have called for life sentences for 12 of the 20 men suspected of key roles in the November 2015 Paris terrorist attacks on a stadium, bars and restaurants and a rock gig at the Bataclan concert hall.
As the biggest criminal trial ever held in France entered its final weeks, prosecutors summed up the evidence and regretted that there were still key, unanswered questions about the coordinated attacks that killed 130 people and injured more than 490.
Continue reading...Draft legislation to be issued Monday, as Keir Starmer promises a Labour government would repeal law if it passes
Legislation to disapply parts of the Northern Ireland protocol will be published next week, but senior government sources acknowledge it is going to be a “difficult” process to get it through parliament.
The new laws are aimed at unilaterally changing parts of the protocol to make trade easier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, but critics say overriding the post-Brexit treaty could contravene international law.
Continue reading...Vivid evidence around Capitol attack laid out by committee, but Republicans dismiss first primetime hearing as political theatre
The jagged divide in American politics was on full display on Friday, in the wake of the first primetime hearing staged by the House January 6 committee investigating the attack on the US Capitol.
Democrats responded to the dramatic presentation of new evidence and stark testimony about the deadly insurrection in Washington with promises of more to come, especially around the role of Donald Trump.
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