Thousands of holidaymakers evacuated from Aegean Sea resorts as country fights more than 50 blazes
The heat intensity of wildfires in Turkey on Thursday was four times higher than anything on record for the nation, according to satellite data passed on to the Guardian.
At least four people were killed by blazes that swept through the tourist regions of Antalya and Muğla, forcing thousands of holidaymakers to be evacuated from their hotels by a flotilla of boats.
Continue reading...Kenya suspends all in-person meetings and gatherings; variant now dominant in Italy, authorities say
Covid-19 vaccinations and masks will be required for all Broadway audience members when theaters reopen in the coming weeks, New York theatre operators announced today.
Audience members will have to wear face coverings and show proof they are fully vaccinated when they enter the theatres, the Broadway League said.
Drug manufacturer Emergent BioSolutions has said it has received inquiries and subpoenas from multiple US authorities related to its abilities to manufacture a Covid-19 bulk drug substance.
Emergent came under regulatory scrutiny after an error led to millions of vaccine doses being ruined at its manufacturing facility in Baltimore, which was producing bulk substance for Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Continue reading...Identity of assailants unknown, but Taliban fighters are known to have penetrated city after US withdrawal
The main UN compound in the capital of the western Afghan province of Herat was attacked by “anti-government elements” on Friday and at least one security guard was killed, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.
The attack, involving rocket-propelled grenades and guns, happened hours after Taliban fighters penetrated deep into Herat city, and heavy clashes with Afghan security forces took place near the UNAMA provincial headquarters, officials said.
Continue reading...Judge expected to award damages worth C$13.4m (£7.7m) to hundreds affected by disgraced doctor’s methods
Hundreds of victims of a disgraced Canadian fertility doctor, including more than a dozen children conceived using his sperm, are set to share a proposed C$13.375m (£7.707m) class-action settlement – the first of its kind in the world.
On Wednesday, an Ontario court certified a class action suit against Ottawa-based Norman Barwin. The legal action was first launched in 2016.
Continue reading...Naval strike group is sailing through waters heavily contested between China and neighbouring countries
Britain has said it has no plans to stage a naval confrontation with China in the South China Sea and that it aims to send its carrier strike group in the most direct route across the contested body of water from Singapore to the Philippine Sea.
The cooling message emerged hours after China’s military and state media warned the UK against provocation as the group, led by Royal Navy aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth, undertakes what had been expected to be a more assertive deployment.
Continue reading...Advanz Pharma and former private equity owners were fined £100m by markets watchdog
A pharmaceuticals firm that inflated thyroid drug prices by up to 6,000% over a decade paid out more than £400m to shareholders and directors during the same period.
London-based Advanz Pharma – and its former private equity owners HgCapital and Cinven – were fined a combined £100m by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday.
Continue reading...With former president’s political rights restored, polls suggest he would thrash Jair Bolsonaro if he stands for election
Anazir Maria de Oliveira has a simple message for the man they call Lula.
“Comrade, I want you back,” said the 88-year-old union veteran and black activist as she celebrated the return of her “guru” to Brazil’s political fray.
Continue reading...Israeli foreign minister contacts Dominic Raab and says ‘Iran is not just an Israeli problem’
Israel has blamed Iran for a suspected drone attack on a tanker in the Arabian Sea that killed two crew, including a British national, and has vowed a harsh response.
The Liberian flagged Mercer Street, which is linked to an Israeli tycoon, was hit off the coast of Oman late on Thursday in what is thought to have been a swarm attack involving multiple drones.
Continue reading...Martine Moïse, who was injured in attack on her husband, recounts moment assassins opened fire
The widow of Haiti’s recently assassinated president has said she suspects his murder was engineered by wealthy Haitian “oligarchs” who have yet to be apprehended.
Martine Moïse, who survived the 7 July assault in which her husband, Jovenel Moïse, was shot dead, told the New York Times (NYT) she was unconvinced Haitian police – who have detained more than 20 suspects – had identified those who ordered and bankrolled the murder.
Continue reading...Measures condemned by media and rights groups as attempt to shut down negative news reports
The Thai government has outlawed sharing news that “causes public fear”, even if such reports are true, as officials face mounting criticism over their handling of the pandemic.
On Thursday, the government tightened an emergency decree imposed more than a year ago that initially targeted false news. The latest constrictions forbid people from distributing “information causing public fear”, or from sharing “distorted information causing misunderstanding which affects national stability”.
Continue reading...J Lo and Ben Affleck did it, but experts urge restraint after lockdown prompts ‘rekindled romance’ dating trend
Relationship experts have warned against romanticising the idea of getting back with your ex-partner, after it was confirmed that one of the most famous celebrity couples of the early noughties – Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck – were indeed back together.
Last week, the actor and singer thrilled fans when they recreated a famous intimate image from J-Lo’s 2002 music video for Jenny from the Block to mark her 52nd birthday, 17 years after their break up.
Continue reading...Top Biden administration official reportedly raised questions about spyware sold by NSO Group
The White House has raised concerns with top Israeli officials about allegations that spyware sold by Israeli surveillance company NSO Group has been used by governments around the world to monitor journalists and activists and – potentially – government officials with close ties to the US.
Brett McGurk, a top Biden administration adviser on the Middle East, raised questions privately about NSO in a meeting last week with Zohar Palti, a senior Israeli defence ministry official, according to reports by Axios and the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Grant Shapps defends decision to put France on UK’s amber-plus list over Beta variant threat
A British cabinet minister has sought to dampen down a growing diplomatic row with France over the imposition of tougher international restrictions on millions of travellers owing to the threat of the Beta variant of coronavirus.
Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, defended the decision to put France on the “amber-plus” list, after the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, on Thursday suggested the variant’s prevalence on Réunion, a French overseas territory in the Indian Ocean, was partly to blame.
Continue reading...With restrictions extended for four weeks, cases growing and a sluggish vaccine rollout, the end of the outbreak seems far away
After five weeks of a tightening lockdown, they were not the words Sydney residents wanted to hear: the leader of New South Wales announcing another month of restrictions and telling the state to prepare for things to get worse, not better.
There was further anguish prompted by the daily Covid case numbers, which were rising daily, despite strict stay at home measures.
Continue reading...Appointment of Guido Bellido ends hopes of a moderate government and is likely to spook jittery investors
A day after being sworn in as Peru’s president, Pedro Castillo has appointed a far-left lawmaker and member of his Marxist party, Guido Bellido, as prime minister, ending expectations of a moderate government.
Beginning nearly three hours late, Castillo swore in an incomplete cabinet on Thursday night that included several figures from the far left and only two women. He did not appoint a finance minister, and Pedro Francke, the favourite for the post, was seen leaving the venue minutes before the ceremony began.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Haiti to Pakistan
Continue reading...Karapiru Awá Guajá, among the last of the hunter-gatherer Awá tribe, survived a massacre and a decade alone in the forest, inspiring others with his resilience and ‘extraordinary warmth’
He survived a massacre that killed most of his family in the Brazilian Amazon and lived for 10 years alone in the forest, but Karapiru Awá Guajá could not escape the pandemic.
Karapiru, one of the last of the hunter-gatherer nomadic Awá of Maranhão state, died of Covid-19 earlier this month. With only 300 Awá thought to remain, they have been called the “earth’s most threatened tribe”.
Continue reading...Proposed legislation would make it an offence to perform conversion practices on anyone aged under 18
New Zealand has introduced legislation to ban conversion practices, saying the practice is harmful and has “no place in modern New Zealand”.
Conversion therapy refers to the practice, often by religious groups, of trying to “cure” people of their sexuality, gender expression, or LGBTQI identity.
Continue reading...Analysis: we have been here before with damning reports on race and policing, and we will almost certainly be here again
• MPs rebuke police for systemic failure to improve record on race
Race issues for the police – after the Macpherson report in 1999 – were seen as a problem mainly affecting the rank and file, which was dominated by the white working class. It was clear that policing would radically change only if government pressured it to do so. Promises were made and very basic targets for the recruitment of ethnic minority officers were set. So why are we still here?
The bitter truth is because those who have the power to do something do not care enough, or lack the will, or focus, or think what the police are doing on race is enough. Critics would say those in power are hampered by institutional racism. The other possibility is that every report on this topic that raised troubling findings has been wrong.
Continue reading...Benevolent dictatorship is not the answer to the region’s real problems
This week has shown that Arab regimes are tough on dissent, but much less interested in its causes. This will create problems for years to come as these states struggle to recover from the pandemic. Tunisia’s presidential power grab is a test for Joe Biden’s democracy and human rights agenda. War has impoverished ancient centres of Arab civilisation. The UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia this week pointed out that poverty now affects 88% of the population in Syria and 83% in Yemen. Even nations once considered wealthy have been brought low by an unhappy meeting of leadership failures and Covid-19. Lebanon’s leaders are begging for foreign assistance after the local currency plummeted in value and the population ran short of food, fuel and medicine.
The Arab world is a varied place. The latest UN survey shows it diverging into wealthy Gulf absolute monarchies; a set of middle-income countries with more people than their oil reserves can comfortably afford; war zones in some of the largest nations such as Iraq; and very poor states. The oil-rich sheikhdoms are pulling ahead and using their financial and military clout to extend their influence, often with disastrous results. The Arab region, says the UN, hosts more than six million refugees and more than 11 million internally displaced persons. There is little coordinated action to deal with the numerous social challenges, including growing poverty, increased unemployment and persistent gender inequalities. Food insecurity has spread. One can be too downcast: the UN hopes for a silver lining in the prospect of peace in Libya.
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