Category Archives: World News

Nursery hit by shelling after Russian-backed separatists open fire in east Ukraine – video

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Fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine rose after Russian-backed separatists opened fire across the line of control with Ukrainian forces, hitting a nursery school and injuring three people.

According to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe there were multiple shelling incidents on Thursday morning across the frontline in the Donbas region. 

The nursery attack took place in the city of Stanytsia Luhanska with video showing debris and masonry strewn over a play area

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Covid live: Israel to scrap passport system as Omicron wanes; Hong Kong battles surge in cases

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Israel’s PM says ‘green pass’ system to be suspended as cases decline; Hong Kong to make up to 10,000 hotel rooms available for Covid cases

Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again, taking over the live blog from Tom Ambrose to bring you all the latest global developments on the coronavirus pandemic. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.

We start with the news that the UK government may announce an end to the provision of free lateral flow tests (LFTs) next week. James Heappey, the armed forces minister, has suggested Boris Johnson may scrap free do-at-home tests when he outlines his “living with Covid” plan.

I think that is the direction of travel but the prime minister will shortly announce his conclusions on that.

It’s still important that people test if they have symptoms or if they’re going to see someone vulnerable.

If you take away free tests, that will … make it worse in the long run. It’s not good to get rid of free tests on health grounds nor is it economically the right thing to do.

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France announces military withdrawal from Mali after nine years

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Fears of jihadist push in Gulf of Guinea after Macron and allies pull out

France and its European partners are to begin a military withdrawal from Mali after more than nine years fighting a jihadist insurgency, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, confirmed on Thursday.

Asked at the Élysée if the withdrawal marked a failure for France and its policy of fighting terrorism in west Africa, Macron said: “I completely reject that term.”

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Kuwaiti army allows women in combat roles – but without guns

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Defence ministry says women joining military need permission of male guardian and must wear head covering

Kuwaiti women are angry after the military, having allowed female soldiers to take combat roles, decided they need the permission of a male guardian and banned them from carrying weapons.

Activists have decried the policy as “one step forward, two steps back” after the defence ministry also decided that women in the armed forces, unlike civilians, must wear head coverings.

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British man named as victim of fatal Australia shark attack

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Simon Nellist, 35, was reportedly training for charity swim when he was killed off Sydney

A swimmer killed in what is believed to have been the first fatal shark attack off Sydney, Australia, in almost 60 years has been named locally as a British man.

Friends said Simon Nellist, 35, who was engaged to be married, “loved the water” and was an experienced diving instructor. The British expatriate, who it is understood was living in the Wolli Creek area of Sydney, was reportedly training for a charity swim.

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Devastation in Brazil with scores dead after heavy rains and mudslides – video

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At least 94 people have died after heavy rains sent mudslides and floods through a mountainous region of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state. Petrópolis, the ‘imperial city’ that was the summer getaway of Brazil’s monarchs in the 19th century, was directly in the path of the deluge when it hit on Tuesday. The city’s mayor, Rubens Bomtempo, said the number of dead could keep rising as searchers picked through the wreckage. Twenty-one people have been recovered alive and civilians have joined the official recovery efforts 

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‘It’s an atrocity against humankind’: Greek pushback blamed for double drowning

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An investigation alleges two men seeking international protection were pushed from a boat off the coast of Samos

On 15 September 2021, Sidy Keita from Ivory Coast and Didier Martial Kouamou Nana from Cameroon, boarded a dinghy from Turkey to Greece. Despite making it to the Greek island of Samos, their bodies were found days later, washed ashore in Aydin province, on the Aegean coast.

Interviews with more than a dozen witnesses, analysis of classified documents, satellite imagery, social media accounts and online material, and discussions with officials in Turkey and Greece, have helped piece together what happened over five September days during which the two men died, likely victims of a pushback by the Greek authorities.

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Vietnamese activists routinely placed under house arrest, report finds

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Authorities regularly detain environmentalists, rights campaigners and dissidents to prevent them travelling or attending events, says Human Rights Watch

The Vietnamese government is routinely placing activists under arbitrary house arrest, employing tactics including stationing guards outside their homes, setting up roadblocks nearby and using superglue and padlocks to jam their doors shut, according to a report.

The study by Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented cases involving 170 rights activists, bloggers, dissidents and their family members who were prevented from domestic and international travel between 2004 and 2021. The real number of those affected is likely to be higher, the report warned.

Those targeted had worked on various issues, from land rights and environmental activism, to advocating for media freedom and the rights of political prisoners, to participating in anti-China protests.

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More Polish opposition figures found to have been targeted by Pegasus spyware

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Analysis by Amnesty International linked them to Pegasus Project leak of more than 50,000 phone numbers

The use of intrusive spyware by members of the European Union is expected to face new scrutiny following revelations that the mobile phones of two more Polish citizens with close links to an opposition senator were targeted by a client of NSO Group, according to security experts.

Forensic analysis by Amnesty International found that both Magdalena Łośko, the former assistant to Polish senator Krzysztof Brejza, and Brejza’s father, Ryszard Brejza, received text messages in 2019 that researchers said were technically consistent with spyware attacks by clients of NSO Group using Pegasus.

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Trump interior secretary Zinke broke ethics rules and lied, watchdog finds – live

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While lawmakers were unable to come to a consensus on a sanctions bill for Russia this week, it looks like we may have some movement on the issue here:

The interior department’s inspector general said in a report made public today that Ryan Zinke, the interior secretary under Donald Trump, misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana hometown and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement.

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Covid news live: Switzerland to lift most restrictions; UK reports 54,218 new cases

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Swiss shops, restaurants and cultural institutions will not require Covid certificate from Thursday; UK reports a further 199 Covid-linked deaths

British ministers’ plans to scale back free PCR Covid tests could weaken the UK’s defences if a new variant of the virus emerges that results in “significant new waves” of cases, a group representing local public health chiefs has warned.

Before a meeting of cabinet ministers and the prime minister later this week to discuss the “learning to live with Covid” strategy, the Association of Public Health Directors (APHD) said that forcing people to pay for lateral flow tests would also have a “detrimental impact” on take-up, particularly among disadvantaged communities.

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Ukraine crisis: Nato considering new battlegroups in eastern Europe after ‘no sign’ of Russian de-escalation – live

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Nato secretary general sees ‘no sign of de-escalation on the ground’ and says organisation is developing options for bolstering eastern flank

Britain’s defence secretary has said Russia should be judged by its actions when it comes to de-escalating tension at the Ukraine border, adding he has not seen evidence of a withdrawal of troops.

Speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of Nato defence ministers, Ben Wallace told Sky News on Wednesday morning:

We’ll take Russia at its word, but we will judge them on their actions.

Until we see a proper de-escalation, we should all be cautious about the direction of travel from the Kremlin.”

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Spain mourns worst fishing tragedy in 38 years after sinking of Villa de Pitanxo

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The Galicia-based trawler sank off Newfoundland with just three known survivors from the crew of 24

Spain was in mourning for its worst fishing tragedy in almost 40 years, as rescuers warned on Wednesday that it was unlikely they would find any more survivors from a ship that sank in rough seas off Newfoundland.

Search teams have so far confirmed 10 dead and rescued three survivors from a life raft, and the search continues for 11 others who remain unaccounted for.

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Tragic consequences of repatriating asylum seekers | Letter

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Officials often underestimate the dangers faced by failed asylum seekers who are forcibly sent home, writes Jackie Fearnley

The recent Human Rights Watch report on the harm done to Cameroonian asylum seekers, both while they were trying to make their claims in the US and when repatriated in a blaze of publicity, should be required reading for all asylum decision-makers (African migrants deported in Trump era suffered abuse on return, 10 February).

From my experience of helping Cameroonian torture survivors over the past 14 years, I have noted that Home Office decision-makers, and many judges, can fatally underestimate the degree of risk attached to the forcible return process, particularly as failed asylum seekers are viewed as having brought the country into disrepute and can be punished with imprisonment.

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UK has been slower than some countries in giving Covid jabs to younger children

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Progress has been slower than in adults, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts

All nations of the UK will offer Covid-19 vaccines to all 5-11 year olds, with England, Northern Ireland and Scotland all joining Wales in offering the jabs to younger children on Wednesday.

Britain has been slower than some other countries in offering the shots to this age group. Many EU member states began offering vaccination to all children aged five to 11 in December, but progress has been patchy, with authorities blaming hesitancy among parents and some doctors as well as mixed messaging from experts.

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Devastating floods and mudslides leave at least 58 dead in Brazil

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Heavy rains bring destruction to Petrópolis and surrounding mountainous areas in Rio de Janeiro state

At least 58 people have died after heavy rains sent devastating mudslides and floods through a mountainous region of Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro state.

The city of Petrópolis was slammed by a deluge on Tuesday, and Mayor Rubens Bomtempo said the number of dead could rise as searchers picked through the wreckage. Twenty-one people had been recovered alive.

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Coronavirus restrictions ease across Europe despite high case rates

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France, Netherlands and Germany all announce plans to reduce or remove Covid controls

France’s nightclubs reopen for the first time in three months on Wednesday and the Netherlands returns to “almost normal” from next Friday, as European countries continue to lift their coronavirus curbs despite relatively high infection numbers.

Groups may also play to standing audiences in French concert venues, customers in bars and cafes will be allowed to eat and drink while standing at the counter and cinemagoers and train passengers can snack during their film or journey.

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Last Fukushima town to reopen welcomes back its first residents

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Three people have moved back to Futaba, which aims to attract about 2,000 over the next five years

Late last month, Yoichi Yatsuda slept in his own home for the first time in more than a decade.

As a resident of Futaba, a town in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, there was a time when simply spending the night in his family home had seemed an impossible dream.

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France condemns Paris police officer for allegedly insulting sexual assault victim

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Woman’s answerphone recorded officer for three minutes questioning her case

The French government has condemned the actions of a Paris police officer who was suspended after he was allegedly recorded saying a Parisian teacher who made a sexual assault complaint was a “whore”.

Lawyers and rights groups reacted with outrage after a recording was released on the investigative website Mediapart of the police officer repeatedly insulting the woman and questioning her case.

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Human rights lawyers attempt to bring Syria war crimes cases to ICC

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Attempt to target Iranian and Syrian officials includes evidence from civilians forced to flee to Jordan

A groundbreaking attempt to make Iranian and Syrian military officials answerable for war crimes they may have committed in Syria is being launched, as part of an effort to have the cases brought before the international criminal court.

The request includes evidence of Syrian victims forced to flee into Jordan due to attacks and intimidation by the Syrian government and Iran-backed militia groups. It is being brought by the US-based Iran Human Rights Documentation Center in conjunction with Haydee Dijkstal, a UK barrister.

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