Moscow announces move that will also bar 10 other UK government members and politicians
Russia’s foreign ministry has banned Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government members from entering the country.
The ministry said the decision was made “in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the UK government”.
Continue reading...Emergency services on high alert in KwaZulu-Natal as search for victims continues, with almost 400 dead
South Africa’s flood-ravaged east has been hit by another downpour of rain, after the catastrophic storm killed nearly 400 people and left tens of thousands homeless.
Flood waters from the deadliest storm to hit the country in living memory engulfed parts of the coastal city of Durban earlier this week – tearing apart roads, sweeping away homes and those trapped inside them, and sinking heavy cargo containers.
Continue reading...After two weeks of relative calm, mayor of city warns residents who have left that it is not safe to return
An arms plant in Kyiv destroyed by Russian long-range air-launched rockets allegedly produced at least one of the missiles used to sink the Moskva warship.
The attack on Friday was widely regarded by both parties as the most significant revenge strike by the Kremlin after the sinking of Russia’s flagship vessel in the Black Sea and a reminder that, despite being liberated from the occupants, the war in the Ukrainian capital is far from over.
Russia’s foreign ministry has barred entry to the country for the prime minister, Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, the defence secretary, Ben Wallace and 10 other British government politicians and members. The move was taken “in view of the unprecedented hostile action by the British government, in particular the imposition of sanctions against senior Russian officials”, Reuters reports the ministry said in a statement.
The battle for Mariupol is continuing. If Moscow captures the city, home to 400,000 people before the invasion, it would be the first big city to fall.
Nine humanitarian corridors have been agreed for Saturday, the Ukrainian deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, announced. Five of the nine evacuation corridors are from the east, in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, which local officials have said is under heavy shelling.
Continue reading...In a Paris suburb, opinion is divided over who to vote for after the defeat of leftwing Jean-Luc Mélenchon
Emmanuel Macron is engaged in the battle of his career to persuade leftwing voters – many of whom have taken to the streets to oppose his government over the past five years – to turn out next Sunday and give him a second term in office.
Both Macron and Le Pen need to win over a chunk of the 7.7 million people who voted for the radical left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, narrowly knocked out in the first-round ballot last week.
Continue reading...Influences from Churchill to Tolkien are woven in to the Ukrainian president’s compelling video addresses
On day 50 of Russia’s invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskiy made his nightly address to the Ukrainian people. Vladimir Putin had confidently expected to seize Ukraine in five days, Zelenskiy said, standing outside his neo-classical administration building in central Kyiv. Putin was now “making friends with reality”, he added mordantly, hailing the bravery and staunchness of his citizens.
There was a reference to Russia’s flagship Moskva, which Ukraine says it audaciously sank last Wednesday with two lethal Neptune missiles. The warship has become a meme and symbol of national defiance, ever since Ukrainian soldiers stationed on Snake Island in the Black Sea told it in the first days of the conflict to “go and fuck yourself”.
Continue reading...Rights groups call for united front against far-right candidate as polls predict a win for centrist Emmanuel Macron
Protests were expected around France on Saturday as opponents of the far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen seek to form a united front to prevent her from winning an election runoff against incumbent Emmanuel Macron on 24 April.
Police warned of possible incidents as demonstrators convened in 30 cities.
Continue reading...Ship carrying 750 tonnes of fuel from Egypt to Malta ran into difficulty in bad weather on Friday evening
A tanker carrying 750 tonnes of diesel fuel from Egypt to Malta sank in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia’s south-east coast, sparking a rush to avoid a spill.
The Equatorial Guinea-flagged Xelo was sailing from the Egyptian port of Damietta to Malta when it requested entry to Tunisian waters on Friday evening owing to bad weather.
Continue reading...Plane crashed as pilot tried to land at East Kimberley regional airport in Kununurra
A passenger has died and a pilot was seriously injured after a charter plane crashed in Western Australia’s remote north.
WA police confirmed the male in his 50s lost consciousness during the rescue efforts and could not be revived.
Continue reading...The vice-president and her husband reported a gross income of $1.7m while the Bidens made $611,000
Kamala Harris and her husband earned more than twice as much as Joe Biden and his wife did last year, according to copies of their income tax returns released on Friday.
Harris and the so-called second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, reported a federal adjusted gross income of about $1.7m in 2021, which was about the same they claimed to have earned the prior year.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has made a direct request to Joe Biden that the US designates Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, the Washington Post reports.
This would be a rare and radical sanction, but Zelenskiy has been firm in putting pressure on the west to assist in Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion, and this is no exception as his country endures atrocities from its northern neighbor.
Continue reading...Asylum seekers say there is no freedom in Rwanda and fear for their lives if sent to Africa
Small boat arrivals on the Kent coast have expressed fears that they will be removed from the UK and transferred to Rwanda, after hearing the government’s announcement that asylum claims will be processed offshore.
“If they send me to Rwanda, I will not go. I will die here, I will take my life,” Jemal, a new arrival from Eritrea, said. “Do you know how many thousands of miles I travelled to be here? How long I was in [the] desert …? To reach this point, to be here, we all had to make so many sacrifices. A lot of [people] lost their lives on the sea. I left my country now – I cannot go back to Africa.”
In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org.
Continue reading...Gillian Triggs, assistant high commissioner at UNHCR, says plan is ‘symbolic gesture’ that will prove unworkable
The UN’s refugee agency has condemned Boris Johnson’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda as “a symbolic gesture” that will be unworkable in practice.
Speaking to the Guardian, Gillian Triggs, the assistant high commissioner at the UNHCR, said the proposed arrangement would only accommodate a few hundred people a year, making it extremely expensive as well as illegal and discriminatory.
Continue reading...Richard Moore, 57, convicted of 1999 killing of convenience store clerk, to be first prisoner put to death in South Carolina since 2011
A South Carolina prisoner scheduled to be the first man executed in the state in more than a decade has decided to die by firing squad rather than in the electric chair later this month, according to court documents filed on Friday.
Richard Moore, 57, is the also first state prisoner to face the choice of execution methods after a law went into effect last year making electrocution the default and giving inmates the option to face three prison workers with rifles instead.
Continue reading...Diplomatic note believed to talk of ‘unpredictable consequences’ as US readies $800m of military hardware
Russia sent a formal warning to the US not to send more arms to Ukraine or it could face “unpredictable consequences”, it has been reported.
According to the Washington Post, Moscow sent a diplomatic note, a démarche, warning that US and Nato deliveries of the “most sensitive” weapons systems to Ukraine were “adding fuel” to the conflict there and could bring “unpredictable consequences”.
Continue reading...Kremlin yet to release details of possible casualties on Black Sea flagship, as Ukrainians hail its demise
Ukraine has said it is bracing itself for revenge attacks from Russia after the “significant and symbolic” sinking of Russia’s flagship cruiser, the Moskva.
The government in Kyiv said it had destroyed the giant missile cruiser during a combat operation against Russian vessels in the Black Sea on Wednesday. The boat’s ammunition deck exploded after it was hit by two Neptune anti-ship missiles, it added.
Continue reading...Formation of citizens’ militia in Lod in central Israel follows spate of Palestinian attacks across country
Jewish residents in a central Israeli city have formed an armed group they say is for self-defence, after a string of Palestinian attacks across the country sparked fears of a new wave of internal violence.
The mixed city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, became the focal point of communal bloodshed that flared in Israel last year, with the government and police struggling to control clashes between Arabs and Jews.
Continue reading...Analysis: ship’s sinking will shock Russian public and is latest sign war in Ukraine will not end soon
As Russian media and officials struggled on Friday to explain the sinking of the country’s Black Sea flagship, it was clear that the loss of the cruiser and an untold number of its estimated 510 crew was a blow to Vladimir Putin’s war plans and his military’s prestige.
From the beginning, the Russian government tried to play down what had happened. At first its defence ministry claimed an accident had caused a fire onboard. Then the ministry said the damage had been contained and the ship was being towed to port in Sevastopol. Finally, late on Thursday, the ministry announced that the ship had sunk in “stormy seas”.
Continue reading...In run-up to the presidential vote, French premier calls for EU-wide ceiling after head of carmaker Stellantis receives €19m
Emmanuel Macron will push for a cap on excessive executive pay should he be re-elected president after he described as “shocking and excessive” the €19m (£15.7m) pay packet handed to the head of carmaker Stellantis.
Macron, who is campaigning in the run-up to the final vote for the French presidency on 24 April against far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, told France Info radio that he was in favour of an EU-wide ceiling for top executives’ pay.
Continue reading...Dozens of services to and from London cancelled, and strike action hits TransPennine Express routes
Rail passengers face a “disastrous weekend” of disruption as engineering works and strikes hamper one of the busiest Easter getaways in years.
Dozens of services to and from London have been cancelled as Network Rail carries out 530 engineering projects across the bank holiday weekend.
Continue reading...Claim about long-term benefits disputed by MP Andrew Mitchell who describes reported cost of £30,000 a person as ‘eye-watering’
Britain will save money in the “longer term” by sending some asylum seekers to Rwanda, a minister has said after the reported cost of about £30,000 a person was described as “eye-watering”.
Defending the decision to fly out many of those who arrive on the Kent coast to a country more than 4,000 miles away, the Home Office minister Tom Pursglove said it would “crush” the business model of people smugglers.
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