Brand partnership for pastis, a traditional Marseille aperitif, with arch-rival decried as ‘stab in the back’
It is the quintessential pre-dinner apéro enjoyed in the Provençal afternoon sun, as unmistakably southern French as the clicking sound of a game of pétanque.
But the cloudy, aniseed-flavoured aperitif Ricard Pastis is leaving an aftertaste even more bitter than its makers intended in the mouths of some football fans in the southern city of Marseille.
Continue reading...Only daughter and youngest child of the former Māori king Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII ascends to the throne in emotional ceremony
The second ever Māori queen in the eight-dynasty reign of the Kiingitanga movement in New Zealand has ascended to the throne in an emotional ceremony attended by thousands at Turangawaewae marae.
On Thursday morning Māori leaders hailed her as the “new dawn”.
Continue reading...Academics say vulnerability of the two countries’ nuclear launch sites makes dangerous mistakes more likely
The US and its allies are capable of threatening and destroying all of Russia and China’s nuclear launch sites with conventional weapons, creating what two experts describe as a potentially unstable geopolitical situation.
Prof Dan Plesch and Manuel Galileo, from Soas University of London, describe a “quiet revolution in military affairs” reflecting increased US military power relative to Moscow and Beijing, particularly in missile technology.
Continue reading...After judge freezes assets of billionaire’s internet service provider, company flip-flops to block social media platform
Elon Musk’s satellite-based internet service provider Starlink backtracked late on Tuesday and said it would accept and enforce a Brazilian supreme court justice’s order to block the billionaire’s social media platform, X, formerly Twitter.
Previously, Starlink informally told the telecommunications regulator Anatel that it would not comply until Justice Alexandre de Moraes reversed course. Now, Starlink has said in a statement posted on X that it will heed de Moraes’s order despite him having frozen the company’s assets.
Continue reading...Belongings and tents removed, and residents bussed away, as part of official policy to deter coastal encampments
French police have cleared a camp believed to have been used by some of the dozen people, including six children, who died after their dinghy ripped apart in the Channel.
In the early hours of Wednesday, belongings and tents were removed and tens of people were bussed away from an unofficial refugee settlement near Calais known locally as the “BMX site”.
Continue reading...With possible election looming, Jagmeet Singh calls end to confidence and supply arrangement with ‘weak, selfish’ party
Canada’s New Democratic party says it has “ripped up” a key agreement with prime minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, sowing uncertainty into the country’s politics as party leaders brace for a possible election.
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh made the surprise announcement on social media on Wednesday afternoon, accusing Trudeau of “caving” to corporate greed. “The Liberals have let people down. They don’t deserve another chance from Canadians,” he said.
Continue reading...Critics say Labour ‘should have run a mile’ from LetterOne after it is acquires 15% of Aberdeen-based Harbour Energy
The government faces growing criticism after a company backed by two sanctioned Russian oligarchs was allowed to become a part-owner of the UK’s largest North Sea oil producer.
Critics of the decision to allow LetterOne, the investment company part-owned by oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, to acquire almost 15% of Aberdeen-based Harbour Energy, warned that oligarchs should have no place owning critical national assets.
Continue reading...President carries out biggest government shake-up since start of war as deadly attacks continue
Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has resigned as part of a wide-ranging government reshuffle designed to give what Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called “new strength” to the embattled country.
Kuleba’s departure, announced in a handwritten note, came as Russia continued its relentless air barrage. At least seven people died and 53 were injured in a missile strike in the western city of Lviv.
Continue reading...New archaeological research adds to view that siege may have been quicker and more efficient than was thought
The Roman siege of Jewish rebels in Masada, one of the founding myths of modern Israel, may have been far quicker and more efficient and brutal than it has been traditionally represented as, according to new archaeological research.
The end of the AD72-73 Jewish Revolt is conventionally depicted as a heroic last stand against the might of Rome by a handful of rebels who eventually killed themselves rather than be overwhelmed by the emperor Vespasian’s forces.
Continue reading...Advocates say profiling ‘characterized many arrests’ as judge awards millions in damages in class-action lawsuit
Racial profiling is a systemic problem in the Montreal police force, a Quebec judge has ruled, as she awarded damages in a class action lawsuit that advocates call a “decision that meets with reality”.
Justice Dominique Poulin found that the city bore responsibility for racial profiling committed by its police officers and was obliged to compensate those affected.
Continue reading...Unicef calls inoculations ‘rare bright spot’ in war, as minister appears to suggest Israel might eventually fully withdraw
The United Nations children’s agency has said that a polio vaccination campaign to inoculate more than 640,000 children in Gaza is surpassing expectations at the end of the first phase of the programme.
Describing the campaign as a “rare bright spot” in almost 11 months of war, Unicef said that 189,000 children had been reached so far as more than 500 teams were deployed across central Gaza this week.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says reshuffle linked to ‘strengthening our state’ after foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba and others step down. This live blog is closed
The mayor of Lviv shared a photo of a mother and her three daughters who were killed in Russia’s attack today.
Norway has contributed funding for buying drones and strengthening Ukrainian air defence.
Continue reading...Carmaker defends plan to close German plants as Volvo ditches target to sell only electric cars by 2030
Volkswagen says it has “a year, maybe two” to adapt to a slump in European car sales, as it seeks to justify proposals to close factories in Germany for the first time in its history.
Separately, the Swedish automaker Volvo said it had ditched a target to sell only electric cars by 2030, opting instead to continue selling some petrol vehicles alongside battery models.
Continue reading...Hvaldimir rose to fame in Norway after his harness sparked suspicions he was Russian spy
Animal rights groups have said that gunfire killed a beluga whale that rose to fame in Norway after its unusual harness sparked suspicions the creature was trained by Russia as a spy.
The organisations Noah and One Whale said they had filed a complaint with Norwegian police asking them to open a criminal investigation.
Continue reading...Residents tell of ‘apocalyptic scenes’ after more than 60mm of rainfall falls on Italian capital in less than an hour
Lightning has struck the Constantine Arch near the Colosseum in Rome during a violent thunderstorm, breaking off fragments from the ancient structure, officials have said.
The fragments were immediately gathered and secured by workers at the Colosseum Archeological Park, authorities in the Italian capital said. The extent of the damage, which occurred on Tuesday, was being evaluated.
“The recovery work by technicians was timely. Our workers arrived immediately after the lightning strike. All of the fragments were recovered and secured,” the park said in a statement.
Rome was hit by a sudden and powerful storm that dumped more than 60mm of rain in less than an hour, equivalent to a month’s rainfall in autumn. The city’s mayor, Roberto Gualtieri, described it as a “downburst”.
Continue reading...Two more people missing and one injured after attack by ‘uncontacted’ Mashco Piro in rainforest
At least two loggers have been shot dead with arrows, one has been injured and two more are missing after a confrontation with members of the “uncontacted” Mashco Piro people in the Peruvian Amazon, according to Indigenous activists who have criticised the government for failing to formally recognise and protect all of the isolated people’s territory.
The deadly attack, which occurred last Thursday but was made known only this week, took place a day before the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) suspended for eight months the sustainability certification of a logging company that campaigners have accused of encroaching on the fiercely territorial Indigenous group’s ancestral land.
Continue reading...James Kirby was among seven WCK staff killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted their marked vehicle in April
The family of James Kirby, a World Central Kitchen aid worker killed in Gaza, have called for an independent investigation into his death and said neither British nor Israeli diplomats had been in touch, even though an internal Israeli inquiry said his death had been a tragic accident.
Kirby was among seven aid workers, including Britons John Chapman and James Henderson, who were killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted their clearly marked vehicle on 1 April. The Israeli inquiry led to the dismissal of two officers.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy says more than 206 people injured as unconfirmed reports say strike targeted military ceremony
Ukraine has experienced one of the deadliest attacks of the war after a Russian missile strike on the central city of Poltava hit a military training institute and a nearby hospital, killing at least 51 people and injuring more than 200 others.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in a video address that, according to preliminary information, two ballistic missiles had “partially destroyed” one of the buildings of the Poltava Military Institute of Communications, leaving people under the rubble.
Continue reading...Political rival says PM ‘sees himself as the state’ after Netanyahu speech ruling out Gaza ceasefire concessions
Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival, Benny Gantz, has accused the Israeli prime minister of putting his personal interests before those of his country after he again insisted on the need for Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday, a position that has emerged as a key obstacle to a ceasefire deal.
Speaking in Tel Aviv at the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference on Tuesday, the centre-right National Unity party leader said Netanyahu had “lost his way” and “sees himself as the state … this is dangerous,” he said.
Continue reading...Ratio of refused visitor visas to approved ones was higher in recent months than any point since height of the pandemic
Canada is taking steps, both official and unofficial, to curb the number of people coming to the country, highlighting the way in which immigration has become a political flashpoint ahead of a federal election.
According to figures obtained by Reuters, the ratio of refused visitor visa applications to approved ones was higher in recent months than at any point since the height of the pandemic. Immigration officials rejected more applications than they approved in January, February, May and June 2024.
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