The man had handed himself in to authorities, but was dragged out of a police van and set on fire
Algerian police have announced another 25 arrests over the lynching of a man falsely accused of starting deadly forest fires last week, taking the total number of suspects to 61.
The latest arrests were made in several provinces across the country, police said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that the suspects were also accused of damaging public and police property.
Continue reading...Greg Abbott, who was vaccinated in December, is at least the 11th governor to contract the virus
Texas governor Greg Abbott tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, after weeks spent banning local mask requirements and meeting maskless crowds.
Related: Texas officials ask US government for mortuary trucks as Covid cases rise
Continue reading...Tropical Storm Grace has lashed southern Haiti with drenching rains, piling on misery for survivors of a powerful earthquake as flash floods and landslides further complicate relief efforts.
Related: Naomi Osaka to donate prize earnings to Haiti earthquake relief efforts
Continue reading...The Taliban said they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women 'within the limits of Islam', as they held their first press conference since seizing Kabul. During their rule between 1996 and 2001, the Taliban implemented their own strict interpretation of sharia law, preventing women from working and girls from going to school.
Analysis: The stunning US defeat has left Afghans and Americans distraught and confused but some gains may not be easily erased
On 1 October 2001, three weeks after the 9/11 attacks and six days before the bombing of Afghanistan began, there was a small protest march in Washington.
The marchers wore badges saying “Don’t Turn Tragedy into War” and “Our Grief Is Not a Cry for War”, and argued that war was not the inevitable response to the terrorist outrage.
Continue reading...Analysis: US president’s TV address blamed others for the Taliban takeover and tried to distance himself from past administrations
In a televised speech on Monday, Joe Biden defended his decision to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan and his handling of a crisis that has seen the Taliban capture the country in a lightning offensive. Blaming Afghan politicians and the country’s security forces for the calamitous collapse, he also sought to distance himself from previous administrations. But how much of it was fair or even accurate?
Biden: We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals: get those who attacked us on September 11, 2001, and make sure al-Qaida could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again. We did that. We severely degraded al-Qaida in Afghanistan. We never gave up the hunt for Osama bin Laden and we got him.
Continue reading...Officials have declared a dire water shortage at Lake Mead, the US’s largest reservoir, triggering significant water cuts in Arizona and other western states.
The US Bureau of Reclamation’s first ever declaration of a 'tier 1' shortage represents an acknowledgment that after a 20-year drought, the reservoir that impounds the Colorado River at Hoover Dam has receded to its lowest levels since it was created in the 1930s
Continue reading...Former slave who rose through the social ranks was interred at necropolis of Porta Sarno before AD79
The partially mummified remains, including hair and bones, of a former slave who rose through the social ranks have been found in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.
The remains of Marcus Venerius Secundio were found in a tomb at the necropolis of Porta Sarno, which was one of the main entrance gates into the city. The tomb is believed to date back to the decades before Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
Continue reading...Army says warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter planes sent to the south-west and south-east of island
China has launched live-fire air and sea exercises near Taiwan in response to what it called “external interference and provocations by Taiwan independence forces”.
According to a statement from Col Shi Yi, the spokesperson of the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theatre Command, warships, anti-submarine aircraft and fighter planes were dispatched to the south-west and south-east of Taiwan on Tuesday.
Continue reading...The fate of a planned line from Uganda to Tanzania will be the first test of whether anyone was listening to António Guterres’ call to end fossil fuels
If there is one world leader trying to look out for the planet as a whole, not just their own nation, it’s the UN secretary general. Last week, António Guterres was resolute in the wake of the damning report from the IPCC on the perilious climate crisis. It should, he said, sound “a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet”.
He called for an end to “all new fossil fuel exploration and production”, and told countries to shift fossil fuel subsidies into renewable energy.
Continue reading...Warsaw says it will shut down supreme court chamber that Brussels says is a breach of EU law
Poland has told the European Union it will shut down a chamber at its supreme court devoted to disciplining judges, an issue that has been at the heart of a dispute between Warsaw and Brussels.
The Polish government said on Tuesday that it sent a letter to the European Commission on Monday, the for Warsaw to inform the EU’s executive branch of how it would proceed with the disciplinary chamber after the EU’s top court said the chamber undermined judicial independence and contravened EU law.
Continue reading...French-Canadian director Sophie Dupuis puts human drama ahead of the action in this naturalistic, character-driven film
Here is an arthouse disaster movie from Quebec: a naturalistic, character-driven drama about what it might truly look like if a mineral mine exploded, trapping five workers underground. It’s the second feature from French-Canadian director Sophie Dupuis, who herself grew up in a mining family.
She opens her film in the heat of the rescue: red lights flashing, a response team descending into darkness. One of the rescuers, Max (Joakim Robillard), would be the hero of the Hollywood version, running around hot-headedly, disobeying orders: “Fuck you! I’m going to get the others!” Actually, much of the film is about how damaging it is for Max living with this tough-guy masculinity.
Continue reading...New Zealand will go into a national lockdown on Tuesday night after detecting one case of Covid-19, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced on Tuesday. ‘Delta has been called a gamechanger and it is,’ Ardern said, adding that her government had ‘planned for this eventuality’.
Under level 4, all New Zealanders are asked to shelter in place in a ‘bubble’ that only includes their immediate household or dependents. They can only leave the house to buy food or medical supplies, to access medical care or for socially distanced exercise
Continue reading...Understaffed and underpowered, a Brussels taskforce tries to fight a fake news tide that threatens to undermine the union itself
In April 2020, near the start of the global pandemic, Felix Kartte was working 14-hour shifts as an EU policy officer, struggling to monitor a barrage of coronavirus-linked disinformation.
Articles claiming that the pandemic was a hoax, that it was caused by 5G, that it could be cured by hydroxychloroquine or alternative medicine were going viral across the continent – part of a global phenomenon the World Health Organization warned was becoming an “infodemic.” Kartte and colleagues in StratCom, the EU diplomatic service’s strategic communications division, could detect what they say were patterns of Covid-denier and anti-vaxxer disinformation linked to Russia and to a lesser extent China, being disseminated in several languages across Europe.
Continue reading...Crescent-shaped landmass 50km south of Minami Ioto could disappear due to erosion
The 6,000-plus islands that make up the Japanese archipelago have a new addition, after scientists said an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km (745 miles) south of Tokyo had created a new landmass.
The island was formed in the Pacific Ocean about 50km south of Minami Ioto, the southernmost island of the Ogasawara group.
Continue reading...Following the Taliban’s military takeover of the country, westerners continue to leave. Afghans hoping to escape Taliban rule have gathered in Kabul, with many making desperate attempts to flee. There was chaos at the airport, where troops used guns and helicopters to clear the runways, and several people died in frantic last-minute attempts to escape by clinging to departing planes
Continue reading...Ministers are expected to announce a ‘bespoke’ scheme similar to that put in place for Syrians in 2014
Ministers are expected to announce plans for a new settlement scheme in the UK for Afghan nationals following the Taliban takeover of the country. Similar to a scheme put in place for Syrians in 2014 amid the country’s civil war, this would be in addition to existing structures to assist some Afghan nationals.
Continue reading...PM Jacinda Ardern warns this is ‘only chance’ to stop spread of suspected Delta variant
New Zealand will go into a national lockdown on Tuesday night, after detecting one case of Covid-19.
The entire country will be at alert level 4 – the highest level of lockdown – for at least three days from midnight, and the regions of Auckland and Coromandel for four to seven days.
Continue reading...The famous number has many practical uses, mathematicians say, but is it really worth the time and effort to work out its trillions of digits?
Swiss researchers have spent 108 days calculating pi to a new record accuracy of 62.8tn digits.
Using a computer, their approximation beat the previous world record of 50tn decimal places, and was calculated 3.5 times as quickly. It’s an impressive and time-consuming feat that begs the question: why?
Continue reading...The vast majority of those hospitalized are unvaccinated, but health experts say everyone should exercise caution
The Covid-19 vaccine was supposed to bring life back to normal. Then came the Delta variant.
Real-world data collection continues, but it’s clear that the vaccines do offer significant protection against becoming infected by Delta. They offer even greater protection against severe illness: Among states that are reporting breakthrough cases of Covid-19, fully vaccinated people made up no more than 5% of overall hospitalizations.
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