Category Archives: World News

Spanish town comes together in hunt for ‘Galician Rambo’

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Residents of Pontedeume form patrol after brushes with man they suspect is escaped murder convict Alfredo Sánchez Chacón

Residents of a town in north-west Spain have banded together to try to track down a convicted murderer – nicknamed the “Galician Rambo” for his multiple jailbreaks and extensive knowledge of survival techniques – who is believed to be living in a nearby wooded area.

Alfredo Sánchez Chacón has been on the run since March when he failed to return to prison after being allowed out on a day pass. News that the 63-year-old was missing probably surprised few: Sánchez Chacón, who is due to be in prison until 2025 for a murder in 1996, was already notorious across Spain for slipping out of prison twice.

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New Year’s Eve 2021: celebrations around the world amid concern over Covid – live updates

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Latest updates as fireworks and parties make a comeback around the world following a year of lockdowns and new variants

Another chunk of the planet has just gone past midnight and into 2022. Vladivostok isn’t quite far east enough in Russia to have done so yet – it is still just gone 11pm there – but it looks like the party is in full swing in in Revolution Fighters Square.

There’s a treat in store for traditionalists in London today, as Maya Wolfe-Robinson reports:

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Golden Girls star Betty White dies aged 99

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The actor’s career spanned more than 80 years – but role as Rose Nylund on 80s sitcom cemented status

Betty White, the actor best known for roles in sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls, has died aged 99.

White died at her home on Friday morning, just two weeks before she would have turned 100. Her agent Jeff Witjas told People magazine: “Even though Betty was about to be 100, I thought she would live forever.”

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New Zealand yoga industry suffers as anti-vax sentiment co-opts wellness industry

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Rejection of Covid vaccines among wellness community has been blamed on popular social media accounts that spread disinformation

Many know Wanaka, a picturesque tourist town at the foot of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, for its most famous tree.

The willow, which blooms uncannily from the glacial lake as if floating on water, represents different things for different people. For some, the miracles of a divine nature, for others, a marvel easily explained by science.

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Spain says it is first in Europe to officially count all femicides

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Statistics on gender-based violence broadened beyond cases involving partners or exes

Official statistics on gender-based violence in Spain will be broadened to include killings of women and children by men regardless of whether there was a prior relationship between victim and killer, in what is being described as a first in Europe.

“What is not named does not exist,” said Spain’s equality minister, Irene Montero. “We have to recognise all of the victims and make visible all forms of violence – all machista [sexist] killings – so that we can put in place policies for prevention, early detection and eradication.”

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‘She understood her power’: the death of mafia boss Pupetta Maresca

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Naples authorities refuse a public send-off for the convicted murderer known as Lady Camorra

No crowds attended the cortege for Assunta Maresca, better known as Pupetta Maresca, who died at home this week in Castellammare di Stabia aged 86. Maresca, a convicted murderer and mafia boss also known as Lady Camorra, had been the centre of such frenzied media attention in her life that Naples authorities declared she would not have a public send-off.

“We are seeing on social media a glorification of this woman who is a symbol of the Camorra in our neighbourhood,” Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a regional councillor for the Europa Verde party, said in a letter to the Naples police. “The mythologising of bosses is to be avoided at all costs.”

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24C in Spain, 15C in the Alps: oddly warm end to 2021 in parts of Europe

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Records broken in Bilbao and Segovia, and avalanche warnings in Alps where it is too warm even for fake snow

Spain registered record-breaking temperatures this week and areas of the Italian Alps are forecast to reach up to 15C above the seasonal average in the coming days as much of Europe experiences an anomalously warm start to the new year.

In Bilbao, northern Spain, temperatures hit 24.7C, a high not seen since record-keeping began in 1947. In Segovia, near Madrid, 22.7C was recorded, the highest since 1920, and nearby Avila reached 20.2C, its highest since 1983.

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That’s a wrap: French plastic packaging ban for fruit and veg begins

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Law bans sale of carrots, bananas and other items in plastic as environment groups urge other countries to follow

A law banning plastic packaging for large numbers of fruits and vegetables comes into force in France on New Year’s Day, to end what the government has called the “aberration” of overwrapped carrots, apples and bananas, as environmental campaigners and exasperated shoppers urge other countries to do the same.

Emmanuel Macron has called the ban on plastic packaging of fresh produce “a real revolution” and said France was taking the lead globally with its law to gradually phase out all single-use plastics by 2040.

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‘They lost almost everything’: photographing the terror and joy of refugees in DRC

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Alexis Huguet’s image of this twin girl, born as her mother fled into Congo, captures the fragility of life in the Central African Republic

The picture is a joyful one. Laure, a midwife at a health facility in Ndu, a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, holds a healthy newborn girl. The baby’s mother, Ester, was at the health centre for a postnatal appointment after giving birth to twin daughters.

A couple of weeks earlier, when she was heavily pregnant and due to go into labour at any moment, Ester was forced to leave her home in Bangassou, on the other side of a river, in the neighbouring Central African Republic.

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Russian foreign minister warns west over ‘aggressive line’ in Ukraine crisis

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Sergei Lavrov says Moscow may be forced to ‘eliminate unacceptable threats to our security’ following Biden-Putin call

Russia’s top diplomat has warned the west that its “aggressive” approach to Ukraine and threat of sanctions could force Moscow to “eliminate unacceptable threats to our security”, after a high-stakes conversation between Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden failed to deescalate the crisis.

The remarks by the Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, were published shortly after the Russian and US presidents held a 50-minute telephone call in which the two sides traded threats regarding tensions over Ukraine.

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Protests over Cristiano Ronaldo statue in former Portuguese colony of Goa

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Local politician says statue is meant to inspire young people, but critics say it is inappropriate

He is idolised as one of the greatest footballers on earth, with his number seven shirt treasured by millions of youngsters dreaming of superstardom. But Cristiano Ronaldo’s astonishing success has not been matched by those seeking to immortalise his image.

A statue of Ronaldo in action unveiled this week in Goa has triggered protests by some locals who say Indian players should be honoured ahead of one from the country that was Goa’s colonial ruler until 60 years ago.

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Hundreds pay respects to Desmond Tutu ahead of low-key funeral

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Mourners queue in Cape Town to see casket of former archbishop, who requested a funeral without lavish expense

Hundreds of mourners queued outside Saint George’s cathedral in Cape Town, waiting to pay their respects before the plain wooden casket bearing the remains of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who died six days ago aged 90.

Clerics, family members, close friends and dignitaries will attend a requiem mass for Tutu, the icon of the fight for freedom in South Africa, on Saturday morning. Their numbers will be restricted due to Covid regulations. President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to read a eulogy.

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‘Waste colonialism’: world grapples with west’s unwanted plastic

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Germany and UK are big exporters of plastic, much of which lies rotting in ports in Turkey, Vietnam and other countries

One hundred and 41 containers filled with rotting plastic waste have been on a journey for more than a year. Scattered between Turkey, Greece and Vietnam, far from their origins in Germany, the containers’ voyage sheds light on the hidden global trade in plastic waste.

Arriving in Turkey in late 2020, shortly before a ban on mixed plastic waste imports came into force, the containers quickly became the centre of a battle between traders, a shipping line, multiple governments and environmental campaigners demanding their return.

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EU countries cut Covid isolation periods in Omicron balancing act

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Ireland latest to change guidance for boosted, as surge across continent threatens economic paralysis

Ireland has become the latest EU country to cut the isolation period for many people who contract Covid-19, as record infection numbers spark fears of crippling staff shortages in essential public services, as well as retail and hospitality venues.

Spain, Portugal and Greece reduced isolation times this week while others, such as Germany and France, are considering doing so and Italy cut its quarantine for fully vaccinated people who come into contact with someone who has tested positive.

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Wildfires sweep through Colorado destroying homes as tens of thousands evacuate – video report

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Two fast-moving wildfires driven by strong winds erupted in northern Colorado on Thursday afternoon, destroying close to 600 homes and forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee.

The fires, burning to the north and south of the city of Boulder, were fanned by gusts that whipped flames and smoke into a frenzy. Officials said during a Thursday evening news conference that the fires had already blackened 1,600 acres

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Two years of coronavirus: how pandemic unfolded around the world

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In December 2019 the WHO was told of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. These charts show how Covid-19 has spread across the world since then

Two years ago today, as New Year’s Eve fireworks lit up skies across the world, news reached the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of “pneumonia” in Wuhan, China, the cause of which was unknown.

There had been several cases in December and possibly as far back as November in the region. But the subsequent WHO announcement was the first time that the world at large was made aware of its existence.

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Death of young woman after FGM revives calls for ban in Sierra Leone

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Maseray Sei, 21, was found dead after undergoing the procedure in a centuries-old ritual carried out by a secret society for women

The death of a young woman in Sierra Leone, almost immediately after undergoing female genital mutilation, has sparked outrage and revived calls to end the practice.

The body of 21-year-old Maseray Sei was found on 20 December at Nyandeni village in Bonthe district, southern Sierra Leone, a day after the FGM took place. Sei’s family said that after the procedure the mother of two boys complained of a migraine and was in pain, with complications from FGM thought to be the cause, according to activists working on the case.

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Isolating Quebec health staff may have to return to work early under new plans

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Canadian province’s government says measure will be required if staffing levels become too low during Covid surge

Quebec healthcare workers exposed to Covid-19 may have to go to work sooner than expected if staffing levels in the Canadian province’s facilities reach a critical point.

Quebec’s health minister, Christian Dubé, made the announcement earlier this week, explaining that in a worst-case scenario the province would have no choice but to insist that isolating employees return to work.

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China bans footballers in national teams from getting tattoos

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Authorities also tell inked players to remove or cover up their designs to set ‘a good example for society’

Chinese authorities have banned footballers from getting tattoos and instructed national team players who have been inked to remove them or cover them up to set a “good example for society”.

A growing number of high-profile Chinese players have tattoos, including the international defender Zhang Linpeng, who has previously been told to cover up while appearing for the national team and his club Guangzhou FC.

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